Broken Trust. Sharon Dunn

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ you access the most recent files.” She pointed. “If you go through that door, there’s a quiet room with a computer. You can work there.”

      He had to be honest—no matter how hard he tried to dismiss it, who they had been to each other ten years ago was affecting how they related to each other now. “I’m sorry. I know this puts you in a difficult position.”

      Christine’s tone softened. “It’s all right. We’re both just trying to do our job.”

      Wyatt sat down at a wooden table that had a desktop computer on it. Except for a clock, the walls were bare. The only other furniture was a row of file cabinets.

      Christine closed the door a few minutes after he sat down, but he could still hear her moving around and talking on the phone.

      After three hours of reading, his only conclusion was that this was a place that didn’t have much crime. Mostly vandalism by teenagers and stolen farm equipment. But there was an illegal-weapons charge against a man named Angus Morrison that intrigued him.

      Wyatt closed the window on the computer and rubbed his tired eyes. Considering that they thought this would be a two- or three-day assignment, this felt like a waste of time. He pushed his chair back, stood up and entered the main room.

      Christine was gone, but the dark-haired deputy sat at her desk typing.

      “Did you find anything that was helpful, Mr. Green?” She didn’t look up from her computer.

      “Nothing that stands out. I don’t suppose you’ve noticed anything?”

      “I can’t tell you anything more than Sheriff Norris did. She did ask me to offer to take you anywhere you needed to go or at least give you directions. It’s easy to get lost once you get out of town with no road signs.” She pushed her chair back and walked toward the coffeepot.

      “That’s just the problem. Right now we are looking at thousands of acres of private and public land. We need a way to narrow down the possibilities. The best thing would be to ferret out someone who knows something and is ready to talk.”

      Deputy Mitchell shrugged. “We’re not lying to you when we say we haven’t seen or heard anything. Are you sure you’re right about him coming up this way? Wouldn’t Lansky have come into town with his little boy if he’s here?”

      “Not if he was being careful and didn’t want to risk being spotted.” He crossed his arms. “Emmett is not stupid. He knows we are looking for him. His plan is probably to lie low long enough for the intensity of the investigation to let up, then he’ll take his kid somewhere we can never find him. The window of opportunity for us to find Tyler is pretty narrow.”

      After she poured herself a cup of coffee, Lisa sat back down in her chair. “That poor little boy. I do wish we could help.” She clutched her coffee cup and stared off into space.

      Even the deputy seemed a little guarded around him. Maybe if he could tear down some walls, she’d be willing to prod her memory a little harder. He rocked back and forth, toe to heel. “So, a woman sheriff and a female deputy. That’s pretty forward thinking.”

      Color rose up in Lisa’s cheeks as she sat her coffee cup down. “You mean since everyone in rural areas is backward thinking and behind the times.” The deputy stood up and faced Wyatt. Her tone was slightly confrontational. “We’re not as narrow-minded as you might think.”

      Great, Wyatt. Open mouth, insert foot. His attempt at friendly conversation had had the opposite effect of what he had hoped. “I didn’t mean anything by my comment. I am sure you and Christine do a great job.” Did the young deputy know about the FBI disaster ten years ago? She couldn’t be more than in her early twenties. Maybe she was from around here and had been a kid when the whole thing had happened.

      Deputy Mitchell maintained a stiff-shouldered stance. “Christine is a good officer. She got elected by a huge majority. With all her experience and training, we’re lucky to have her, and I know the extra income helps her out since Dustin died.”

      A lump caught in Wyatt’s throat. Dustin was dead. As the shock spread through him, he struggled to keep his tone neutral. “Where did Christine go, anyway?” Confusion made it hard for him to think what he should do next. Christine wasn’t under obligation to give him an update on her life, but she’d had opportunity at the farmhouse to tell him and hadn’t.

      “She went to drop some paperwork off over at the courthouse, and then she was going to the school for her daughter’s choir program.” Deputy Mitchell looked at the clock. “She should be headed up that way now. It’s just two blocks over and around the corner.”

      The news about Dustin was like a tornado whirling through him. He managed a casual response. “Great, I’ll see if I can catch her.”

      Christine buttoned her light coat against the spring chill. The morning had not been very productive. She kept staring at the door and wondering what Wyatt was doing. She hated herself for not being able to free herself from thoughts about him. She’d been young and naive when she’d first met him. How could he still have an emotional hold on her?

      Despite being older and wiser, all the emotions that had kept her hanging on in a dead-end relationship ten years ago had coursed through her like a dam breaking the moment she’d seen him. The way she felt around him made her afraid of losing control. There’d been an opportunity to tell him about Dustin, but she had needed the safeguard of him thinking she was still a married woman.

      Christine shoved her hands in her pockets as the high school came into view. The building that housed the lower grades and Eva’s kindergarten was just beyond that.

      Maybe she was still feeling vulnerable. It had only been a year and a half since Dustin’s accident. Wyatt had probably had twenty girlfriends in the past ten years. The man was a rascal.

      It would be easy enough to just let Deputy Mitchell assist him if he needed it. That would solve all her problems. Once Wyatt saw that the feds were looking in the wrong place, he’d be gone.

      She heard footsteps behind her and glanced back. Wyatt ran to catch up with her. “Can’t this wait, Wyatt? I’m on my way to see Eva’s choir program.”

      “I’ll walk with you. Just give me a minute.” He reached out and gripped her arm just above the elbow. He held her in his gaze like a laser locked on a target. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it.

      What was he struggling to say? He hadn’t let go of her arm, and even through the thickness of the coat, she felt herself responding to his touch and remembering what it was like to be held by him. She managed a businesslike tone. “So did you find anything in the files that was helpful?”

      “One of your reports was about confiscating a shotgun with the barrel sawed off.”

      His reading of the reports had been very thorough, but they didn’t give the full picture. “Angus is an old man. He didn’t even know that what he was doing was illegal.”

      “It’s my only lead. Who else does he know? Who does he hang out with?”

      “I had procedural obligation to file a report on Angus.” A lump formed in her throat. “The Bureau researches behavior from sunup until sundown. But if you truly know someone, you know if they are capable of a crime.” She planted her feet. “Don’t make me point the finger of guilt at that old СКАЧАТЬ