Part 3 (1/2)

Chloe was quick to comply. When shed taken several photos of the cat, she hurried back to show Sarah, only to find her deep in conversation with Whittaker, who was actually chuckling.

Seeing Chloe, he stopped short, then drained his gla.s.s. When he turned toward the cruiser, Sarah reached out to hold him back. I was about to tell Chloe about your devilish sense of humor, she said.

Dont believe a word of it. Mack ran his fingers through his close-cropped hair, resignation settling over his features.

Well, Myron Hapes had a workshop behind his house, Sarah began. A shed, really. Used to relax after a day of delivering the mail by doing woodwork in the evenings. Now when nature called, hed avail himself of an old outhouse on the back of his property. If Estelle Hapes knew I was telling you this, shed have a cow, especially seeing how proud she is of that new twenty-thousand-dollar bathroom she had put in off the master bedroom.

How was this s.h.a.ggy-dog tale going to connect with Whittaker, and how was he going to react? Chloe wondered. Right now his arms were crossed and his eyes were closed as if he was writing up the report of the recent high-school meeting in his head.

Come October, the elderly woman continued, Mack carves a jack-o-lantern, lights it and puts it in Myrons outhouse after dark. Nearly gave the poor man a coronary. Mack was all of six. My, but I can tell you talesSo can most of the neighbors.

I paid my debt to society, the deputy deadpanned. Washed and waxed Mr. Hapess Pontiac every Sat.u.r.day for four weeks.

Funny, Chloe said, getting into the spirit. Perhaps I should follow up on this. Discover what other former scoundrels are now county leaders.

Whittaker froze. Are you here to dig up dirt? Or are you here to write about a department in transition?

A good storys always worth the investigation.

Even Sarah bristled. Well, you wont find any dirt on the sheriff or Mack. They are truly Colum Countys finest. Why, Macks a war hero. Got the medals to prove it.

That and a dollar-fifty will get Ms. Atherton Chloe, she said.

Chloe he repeated her first name as if it were strictly against regulations a cup of coffee at Rachels Diner. We need to get you back to the B and B. Afternoon, Miss Sarah. Thanks for the tea. Abruptly he marched out to the patrol car.

When Chloe started to follow him, Ms. Culpepper asked, Youre not here to make trouble, are you?

No, maam. I plan to write the facts.

Theres facts and then theres truth.

Ill keep that in mind.

Shed found the human-interest core to her story.

CHAPTER THREE.

D ID YOU HURT YOURSELF climbing that tree? Chloe asked.

Mack started. d.a.m.n, hed blocked the extra presence out of the cruiser. No. I didnt hurt myself. He pressed down on the accelerator.

He needed to check back at the office and have a quick briefing with the staff. A heads-up concerning this article, which was becoming more intrusive than hed antic.i.p.ated. He needed to see Tanya. And he needed to remember not to call this kid reporter Chloe as shed insisted. More than the familiarity rattled him. The name itself was unsettling. Feminine and faintly seductive. When hed said it, it had nearly pulled him out of business mode.

Where do you live?

Her simple question caught him off guard. What does that have to do with your story?

Everything has to do with my story until I sort out my notes and choose a central theme.

I thought we agreed the focus would be the department. The team.

Thats what you want it to be.

Hed seen how Athertons face had lit up while Miss Sarah was talking. Reporters loved to chase human-interest stories the way Buster loved to chase squirrels. So let this rookie reporter humanize Breckinridges story, or McMillans or Sooners. His was confidential. There were some things even the electorate had no right to know. He winced as he thought of Miss Sarah describing him as a war hero.

Atherton reached out and ran her fingers lightly over the instruments on the patrol cars dashboard, distracting him.

Dont touch, he snapped.

You or the dashboard? she asked, pulling her hand back. Where do you live?

Not in one of the expensive new developments, he replied, ticked at himself for explaining. So you can stop suspecting misappropriation of department funds. Make that double-ticked for elaborating.

Where, then? She rolled her window down. Then up. Then halfway down. Then settled in to review the photos shed taken. The questions not out of line. A big issue in many metro areas is that teachers, firefighters and police officers often cant afford to live in the neighborhoods they service. Is it the same in Colum County?

Above the office theres a small barracks. I live there.

She plunked the Nikon in her lap. Do the other deputies? The surprise in her voice warned him to be cautious.

Not full-time, he admitted.

Why do you?

Because Im married to my job. He wasnt about to tell her how the sheriff, afraid Mack might backslide into alcohol, had installed him in the barracks. When his life had stabilized, Mack hadnt seen much point in moving, although his parents kept bugging him about how they kept his room at the farmhouse available, should he ever want to return home.

Thankfully, the bed-and-breakfast came into view. He pulled the cruiser to a head-snapping halt in front.

Deputy Whittaker?

Without enthusiasm, he turned to look at his pa.s.senger. He could use a drink.

Your doubts about our working together wouldnt come from the fact that Im a woman, would it? she asked.

He gritted his teeth. Working with womeneither in the department or in the armyhad never been a problem. But how could he say so now without sounding defensive? Im sure well get along fine.

Good. See you tomorrow. She got out of the car, but left her scent behind. Light. Appealing. Like fresh-baked goods. Simpler days.

He didnt answer her. Didnt set a time for their meeting again. Didnt look in her direction. As soon as he heard her door click, he put the patrol car in gear. Automatic drive.

Chloe watched as Deputy Whittaker drove away, not like a cop, but like a hotrodder. The man was as th.o.r.n.y and closed as a pinecone after the rain. Why, back at Ms. Culpeppers, when Chloe had suggested he call her by her first name, had he not made the slightest, begrudging suggestion she call him Mack? And why had he gone all wooden when the elderly woman mentioned his combat medals? Unless the other deputies proved as intriguing, Chloe was determined to follow Whittaker until she had himand the pull he exerted in the countyfigured out.

Shouldering her heavy backpack, she made her way up the front walk to the bed-and-breakfast, a rambling two-story structure that, despite the rockers on the front porch and the planters still filled with winter pansies, looked as if it might once have been a saloon. Chloe wasnt sure whether June Parker would be offended or amused by that observation.

Chloe was fascinated by the owner. Part nineteenth-century sweet magnolia and part savvy twenty-first-century businesswoman, Ms. Parker was an exquisitely groomed woman of indeterminate age. As well as running a bed-and-breakfast, she apparently gave comportment lessons to the town children and headed an investment club for retired womendiscreet signs at the front desk advertised as much.

Afternoon, Miss Atherton. Wearing a large sun hat, hot-pink Crocs, gardening gloves and an ap.r.o.n that read Im not oldI just need repotting, Ms. Parker knelt in a flower bed. Will you join us for tea at four? Everything on my tea cart is homemade.