Part 5 (1/2)

Standing practically toe-to-toe with him, she didnt bat an eyelash. I havent determined yet whats personal and whats of public interest.

So youll cast a wide net regardless of who might get hurt? Burt. Duke. What have they got to do with your story on the department?

You tell me. Her gray eyes were filled with shadows. Why would a sheriffs deputy accept cash, a rather sizable chunk, from a man some describe as a vagrant, then turn around and give cash to a kid whos been suspended from school for drugs?

So she had been tailing him. And talking to more people than Rachel. He didnt know whether to throttle the reporter or the local gossips when he found out who they were.

That wasnt a rhetorical question, she insisted as he eyed her in stony silence.

He clenched his hands at his sides so that he didnt reach out for her notebook and recorder. Didnt throw them on the ground and grind them under his boot heel. From one afternoons observation, you think Im both on the take and buying drugs.

I dont know. I saw something that could or could not be deemed suspicious. Id like to hear your explanation. Especially, since you claimed when I first met you, that this new department was squeaky clean. And for this week, at least, youre the face of the department.

Clearly the woman had her sights set on a career beyond the Sun. On a tabloid career. Both Burt and Duke have had a rough go of it. Leave them out of your story.

And the cash?

She wasnt going to give up until she had her answer, and he wasnt going to let her threaten either Burts or Dukes tenuous hold on rehabilitation. Better she learn something personal about him.

Burt was repaying a loan I made him to see him through between jobs. And DukeI rewarded him for a decent report card. Finally.

Relatives of yours?

Friends, he replied through gritted teeth.

Do you see how easily you cleared up this misconception? she asked, tilting her head so that her strawberry-blond hair swung gracefully to one side. She spoke with a faint smile as if the two of them were friends, too. Who moved easily from a minor disagreement back to compatibility.

What he felt was poles apart from friends.h.i.+p. Why didnt you ask me before jumping to conclusions?

Thats the sad part. She sighed dramatically and played with the ends of the blue silk scarf tied around her neck. You made it perfectly clear you didnt want me around.

I did not.

Then why did you foist me off on Deputy Breckinridge?

To get a womans perspective on the department.

She regarded him as if she didnt believe it.

Mack inhaled sharply as an ugly thought began to dawn. You were snooping around, deliberately creating drama this afternoonwhich you knew would get back to me eventuallybecause you were ticked that I wasnt giving you my full attention. Maybe you thought you could find something you could use asI hesitate to use the word blackmail leverage?

She stuck her finger in the center of his chest. And pushed. Im not that kind of reporter. I was simply doing my job as best I couldaloneonce it became evident you werent taking my a.s.signment seriously. An a.s.signment, I might remind you, your boss requested.

When it looked as if she might poke him again, he took a step backward. Lady, dont try to throw your weight around. Im bigger than you by a good hundred pounds.

Her cheeks flamed red, making the freckles across her nose stand out. Im not going away, Deputy Whittaker. Im staying right here in town for the next five days. My article about your departmentand that includes youand its relations.h.i.+ps with the citizens of this town will appear in the paper. With or without your help.

He thought of Duke and Burt and how easily Athertons journalistic point might lead to real hurt. He thought of Samantha and how the press had nearly ruined her new life in Applegate. He thought of his own recent past.

Real reporting is one thing, he said. Tabloid bottom-feeding is another. How would you like someone digging into your background? Not necessarily looking for substance or the truth, but just scratching the surface until something t.i.tillating turned up?

Her notebook slipped out of her hand and clattered to the stone path. Before she bent to retrieve it, he thought he saw a flicker ofdoubt? Pain? Fear?

Tomorrow morning, she said, rising, once again composed, Ill be at headquarters. Seven sharp as the s.h.i.+fts change. You can tell me then if I can expect your cooperation.

She didnt look at him as she gathered her things and stowed them in her backpack. Now Im going inside to organize my notes. And to give you time to come to your senses.

With the bearing of a person twice her stature, she swept by him and into the house.

Leaving him stunned at the dismissal.

Let me come to my senses? he shouted after her when he finally found his voice. Let me come to my He stopped bellowing when June Parkers face popped up at the kitchen window.

IIm sorry, Ms. Parker, he said.

Dont be, she said brightly. Its good to see youre back from the dead.

CHAPTER FIVE.

O MINOUS CLOUDS HUNG OVERHEAD as Chloe, cell phone pressed to her ear, hastened down Main Street past stores that wouldnt open for several hours yet. The early morning call from her editor, Deirdre Kinkaid, was going on much longer than Chloe thought necessary. If this made her late for the change in s.h.i.+fts at the sheriffs department Trouble was, shed mentioned to Deirdre how the deputy was resisting her attempts to find the storys center, and Deirdre had immediately begun to rethink her decision to move Chloe from the Living section to special reports.

You have to be tougher, Chloe, Deirdre insisted. As a womanand a pet.i.te woman, at thatyou have to work extra hard to project the gravitas that will gain you respect Blah, blah, blah. Chloe had heard all this before. Her name was too soft, her stature too unimposing, her face too girlish to be taken seriously. Well, it wasnt true, and this article was the opportunity to prove the lie.

And with Macks uncomfortable counter-questioning yesterday into how shed feel if someone rummaged around in her past, she was determined to remain steadfastly professional. She was proud that the Sun had never had to print a retraction for one of her articles. She, of all people, knew the hurt that ill-researched reporting could cause.

Im sorry, Deirdre, she said, interrupting her editors monologue at the front door of the sheriffs department, but the reception is awful in this valley. Youre breaking up. Ill e-mail an update. Bye.

Once inside the building, she was confronted with a hubbub of activity. Staff from both the morning and the graveyard s.h.i.+fts came and went with serious glances at a large television on a wall in the central area, tuned to a weather channel. The map of the Southern U.S. now on the screen was overlaid with a pattern of yellow and red boxes. Chloe knew them well. Tornado watches and warnings.

Tough as she wanted to appear, she had a Southerners deep-rooted apprehension of such forecasts.

Repositioning her backpack over one shoulder, she followed several deputies who were making their way to a meeting room on the far side. There she could see Mack making changes on a dry-erase board.

Listen up! he barked as the deputy behind Chloe closed the meeting-room door. Some a.s.signments have s.h.i.+fted. McMillan, youre still on desk. We have a pile of tips related to that fake-lottery-ticket scheme. I want you to begin making some sense of them. Sooner, youre still on patrol. West sector of the county. The story today is the approaching storm system. With the tornado watch in effect, we have to make sure the trailer parks on alert and any elderly folks living alone have a place to go if the watch is upgraded. Mind the skies, everyone.

Hands clasped behind his back, Mack began to pace at a podium bearing a large sheriffs department seal, his expression as dark as the lowering sky outside.

Breckinridge, you and I are changing places, he said slowly as if this wasnt a decision hed come to lightly. Youll supervise transfer of prisoners at the courthouse, while I take the east sector patrol. He took a deep breath. Ms. Atherton will be riding with me.

So, hed come to his senses.

The rest is as written on the board, he concluded. The other s.h.i.+fts are on call if we need them. Stay alert.

Once the deputies began leaving, Chloe asked, Why did you switch a.s.signments with Breckinridge?

Theres a lot that can go wrong when youre transferring prisoners, he replied, his demeanor hard and unyielding, in stark contrast to the pa.s.sion he displayed the day before.