The Heartbreak Sheriff. Elle Kennedy

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СКАЧАТЬ Anna called. “I think you need to get up here.”

      “What’s going on?” Finn called back, eyes narrowed.

      “There’s an FBI agent here. He says he’s taking over the case.”

      Sarah noticed the visible shock on Finn’s face. Without another look in her direction, he stalked off, his heavy black boots thudding against the cement floor.

      Wariness climbed up her chest. An FBI agent had arrived to take over the case? On a Sunday?

      That didn’t sound good. At all.

      When Finn marched into his office, he found a tall, fair-haired man in a crisp black business suit standing by the minuscule window overlooking the brick wall of the building next door. The man turned when the door opened, offering a tight smile as he said, “Sheriff Finnegan. Pleasure to meet you.”

      Finn advanced on the man, wincing when he noticed the grease-covered Chinese food containers littering his desktop and the white dress shirt slung over the back of his chair. He hadn’t bothered to tidy up yet, and the slept-in office definitely didn’t offer a good first impression.

      But the agent made no mention of the mess, simply leaning forward for a handshake that Finn reluctantly returned. “I’m Special Agent Mark Parsons,” the man added. “I’ve been asked to assist you on the Donovan investigation.”

      Finn smothered a curse. He could probably take a wild guess as to who had contacted the Bureau. Or maybe two guesses, since the M.O. fit both the mayor and district attorney of Serenade. Apparently, the bastards didn’t trust him to stay impartial.

      “Assist, huh? Because my deputy just said you told her you were here to take over the case.”

      Parsons’s smile didn’t even falter. Finn decided, right then and there, that he didn’t like the guy. There was something predatory in those pale blue eyes, something that Finn frequently glimpsed in the D.A., that power-hungry glint characteristic of a man desperate to climb all the way to the top. He wondered if Parsons was new, some rookie looking to make a name for himself. Finn made a mental note to ask Jamie if she knew the man.

      “She must have misunderstood me,” Parsons said smoothly. “I simply relayed the instructions given to me by my supervisor—that this investigation required a new pair of eyes.”

      Since Anna had a better read on people than most psychics, Finn doubted his deputy had misunderstood. Parsons was here for one reason—to stick his nose into places it didn’t belong and try to punch another notch in his glory belt.

      Christ, and just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse.

      “Mayor Williams said we’ve got a suspect in custody.”

      Finn bristled at the we. “Yes, I arrested the owner of the town’s art gallery yesterday. Sarah Connelly. Her hair was found at the scene, along with a partial fingerprint on the table near the body.”

      “Yes, I was informed of that, as well.”

      As Parsons sat on the edge of the sheriff’s desk, making himself comfortable, Finn battled a burst of anger. He had no intention of working with this man. Parsons was too cocky, too smooth in his expensive suit. He had slime bag written all over him.

      “I was also told there’s still the matter of the murder weapon,” Parsons went on in a brisk, professional voice. “So our first order of business is finding out exactly where the gun came from, and how it wound up in Connelly’s hands.”

      “Look.” Finn took a breath. “With all due respect, Agent Parsons, I’m not sure what you could possibly do that my staff and I haven’t already done. The gun is untraceable, wiped of any prints. And if we’re being forthcoming with each other, I have to tell you, I don’t think Sarah Connelly killed Teresa Donovan.”

      A knowing glimmer entered Parson’s eyes. “Does the fact that she’s your ex-girlfriend have anything to do with that conviction?”

      “No,” Finn snapped. “But our past association does come into play here. I know Sarah. She’s not a killer. She runs a gallery, she’s involved in community events, and she just adopted a baby. She’s a good person.”

      “Good people have been known to snap and commit murder.” Parsons stared at him with a condescending expression that made Finn want to deck the guy. “Sarah Connelly has a history of instability. She is certainly capable of killing Teresa Don—”

      “So it’s true!” a female voice shrieked.

      Both men spun around to gape at the raven-haired woman who’d burst into the office without knocking.

      Finn tamped down an irritated sigh as Valerie Matthews barreled toward him, her gunmetal-gray eyes blazing with what could only be described as perverse satisfaction. “I knew that crazy bitch was up to something! The way she befriended Agent Crawford so she could squeeze information out of her …”

      Valerie trailed off deliberately, which only succeeded in pissing off Finn even further. Like her younger sister, Valerie was the nastiest, most unlikable woman Finn had ever met. She and Teresa had been two peas in a despicable pod, determined to make the lives of everyone around them miserable, as if that could make up for the crappy childhood they’d endured.

      When Cole Donovan had been shot, Finn had actually begun to think that Valerie might have changed, that she was starting to let go of some of her craziness. Valerie had been knocked unconscious when Teresa’s ex-lover had taken Jamie hostage, and when Finn visited her in the hospital, where she was being treated for a concussion, Valerie had been … pleasant. Sweet, even.

      Looked like she was back to her old self.

      “I expect you to send that woman to the gas chamber,” Valerie spoke up, pure loathing in her voice.

      “I’m not a judge,” Finn answered with a sigh. “I can’t sentence Sarah to death just because you demand it.”

      Those silver eyes fumed. “All I’m demanding is justice,” she snapped. “I’ve been sitting around for a month, waiting for you and your incompetent department to find justice for my sister, and—”

      “And now you have it,” Agent Parsons cut in effortlessly.

      Finn’s hand tingled with the urge to punch the man in the jaw. “Isn’t that a little premature to say, Agent? Sarah hasn’t even been indicted yet.”

      But Valerie’s entire face had lit up from Parsons’s reassurance, and both of them ignored Finn as she stepped closer to the other man. “And who might you be?”

      Finn stifled an incredulous groan. Flirting? She was flirting? During a discussion about her sister’s murder?

      “Special Agent Mark Parsons.” Finn half expected the guy to puff out his chest like a damn peacock. “And you must be Valerie. Your name came up in the case file I read on the plane.”

      “So you’re leading the investigation now?” She held her hand up to her heart. “Thank heavens. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for someone to take charge.”

      It irked Finn like no tomorrow how Parsons didn’t СКАЧАТЬ