The Heartbreak Sheriff. Elle Kennedy

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СКАЧАТЬ ago! And now, what? You’re going to use that to say I’m mentally ill? That I killed Teresa because I’m insane?”

      “I’m not saying anything,” he said hoarsely. “I’m just telling you what Gregory said.”

      “Well, screw Gregory!” Her entire face collapsed. “And screw you, too, Finn.” A breath shuddered out of her mouth. “I think I want that lawyer now.”

      With a bleak nod, Finn scraped his chair back against the linoleum floor. “I’ll bring you a phone.”

      As he exited the room and closed the door behind him, his legs shook and his chest ached as though someone had pummeled it repeatedly. Maybe not the most macho reaction, but right now, he didn’t feel big and tough. He felt completely powerless.

      He strode through the bull pen toward his office, ignoring the sympathetic look his deputy Anna Holt cast his way. He loved Anna to death, but right now, he didn’t want the younger woman’s sympathy. He just wanted to help Sarah. He couldn’t stand seeing her like this.

      She hadn’t killed Teresa. He refused to believe that Sarah had murdered anyone, that she’d snapped under Teresa’s callous taunts and taken her life.

      She snapped before.

      The unwelcome thought slipped into his head like a damn cat burglar. His hands instantly curled into fists and then anger and shame jolted through him. Like she’d said, he knew better than anyone why she’d broken down. And she was right, he hadn’t handled it the way he should have. But the depression and posttraumatic stress she’d battled all those years ago didn’t make her a killer.

      Finn entered his small, cramped office and swiped the cordless phone from the cluttered desk. Before he could leave the room and let Sarah make her call, his cell phone came to life, bursting out in a ring tone that sounded like a foghorn, which his friend Jamie continued to tease him about. But, hey, it got his attention.

      His jaw tightened as he glanced at the caller ID. Mayor Williams again. That man was like a damned dog with a bone, gnawing at him, refusing to let go until Finn arrested someone for Teresa’s murder.

      “I can’t really talk now, Mayor,” Finn said, his teeth aching from the forced polite tone. “I’ve got Connelly in custody and she requested a lawyer.”

      “Lawyered up, huh?” The law enforcement slang sounded absurd coming out of the mayor’s mouth. “That’s a sign of guilt, isn’t it, Sheriff?”

      “No, just a sign of intelligence,” he couldn’t help but reply. “She’s concerned about her rights.”

      “Well, I’m concerned about who she might kill next. By the way, I’ve got Jonas Gregory here in my office. You’re on speakerphone.”

      Finn fought a rush of annoyance. “Mayor, I don’t think we should jump to conclusions. She—”

      “Did she admit to threatening the victim?” Williams boomed, ignoring Finn’s attempt at defusing the precarious situation.

      “Yes, but—”

      “Good. Then we’re all set.”

      A spark of wariness ignited in his gut. “All set for what, Mayor?”

      “Finnegan, it’s Jonas,” came a second male voice. “Look, I read over the reports you faxed, and I want to move forward with this. We’ve got trace evidence placing Connelly at the scene, she threatened the victim two months prior to her death, and she’s got a history of imbalanced and reckless behavior.”

      Finn swallowed. “What are you saying, sir?”

      “Arrest her. We’ve got a good enough case here, one I can take to a grand jury.”

      Good enough? Finn resisted the urge to hurl the phone into the wall and watch it shatter into a hundred pieces. Sarah’s life, her entire future, was in danger of being taken away for good enough?

      “Sir, with all due respect, I think this might be premature,” he said, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. “Let me and my staff do some more investigating, make some more inquiries—”

      “What more do you need?” Gregory interrupted. “Make the arrest, and then work on tying that murder weapon to Connelly. Right now, we have enough to indict.”

      Knowing when he was beaten, Finn’s shoulders sagged, but he still made a futile attempt at getting some leniency for Sarah. “Can I let her go after she’s charged? She’s a single mother, and she—”

      “We’re not doing that woman any favors.” This time it was the mayor, whose words contained a twinge of outrage that Finn would even consider such an idea. Williams spoke again, now sounding suspicious. “You’re not still involved with her, are you, Sheriff?”

      “Of course not, Mayor. Connelly and I ended our relationship more than four years ago.”

      He referred to her by her last name, hoping it would help distance himself. But it didn’t. Her beautiful face was still imprinted in his mind, the memory of her soft laughter still wrapped around his heart. Didn’t matter what he called her. She would always be Sarah. His Sarah.

      “We treat her like any other criminal, Finnegan,” Gregory agreed. “She stays in lockup until the bail hearing.”

      “And when will that be?”

      “Her lawyer can petition for an emergency hearing, but Judge Rollins is in Charleston, playing a golf tournament. I doubt he’ll fly back for something so trivial.”

      Trivial? Finn wanted shout. Taking a mother away from her child, keeping her locked up for the weekend, was trivial? Rage churned in his stomach. How was a damned golf tournament more important than a woman’s life?

      He suddenly cursed this small town, with its one D.A. and sole judge and closed-minded attitude.

      “Make the arrest and we’ll meet on Monday morning at the courthouse,” Gregory said, his tone brooking no argument. “We really need to figure out how she got hold of that gun.”

      “Yes, sir.”

      Finn was numb as he hung up the phone. He let it drop from his fingers, and it clattered onto the desk, knocking over a small tin of paper clips. Ignoring the mess, he simply stared into nothingness, a chill climbing up his spine.

      He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t arrest Sarah.

      This is your job.

      No, it isn’t, he wanted to snap, but the voice of reason was right. He was the sheriff of Serenade, North Carolina, the man elected by the townsfolk to serve and protect them.

      But who would protect Sarah?

      Feeling as though his legs were made of lead, he trudged back across the bull pen, ignoring the curious look Anna shot him. He made his way down the hall, pausing in front of the interrogation-room door.

      Sucking in a heavy breath, he opened the door and entered the room. “Sarah,” he began gruffly.

      She lifted СКАЧАТЬ