the can was made in. It wasn’t often Mat missed the San Francisco PD, but right now he’d sacrifice one of those doughnuts for a more experienced team of deputies and more funding.
Slowly, like Indiana Jones lifting the lid of the crate holding the Holy Grail, Mat raised the top of the doughnut box, breathing deep, filling his lungs with the heavy scent of sugary fried goodness. The box contained a baker’s dozen of everything scrumptious from a new bakery that had opened on Spring Street—dangerously close to the station. Mat reached in and grabbed one. He was just stuffing the last bite of a glazed old-fashioned into his mouth when his personal cell phone buzzed from inside one of the pockets of his jacket.
Fumbling to wipe his fingers and swallow the last of the doughnut at the same time, Mat barely managed to retrieve his phone before it stopped ringing. He wished he’d thought to pour himself coffee to wash it down with. Doughnuts were meant to be enjoyed, not bolted down.
“Lo,” he said around the doughnut.
“Hey, Matty.” The voice was that of his sister.
“What’s up, El?”
“Um, is this a good time to talk? I know you’re at the station, but I wanted to talk to you when Mom wasn’t around. You’ve been so busy I haven’t been able to catch you at home.”
Something in her voice had Mat sitting up and taking notice. “Of course. Let me find someplace a little more private.”
No one else was in yet, but a private phone conversation would guarantee someone arriving—it struck him as odd that no one except Birdy and himself had checked in, but he’d figure out why that was after talking to Ella. Mat made his way through the bullpen to a rarely used side exit that opened out to a breezeway between the station and the older brick building that had once housed the Island Times. The bitter March wind cut viciously through his thin cotton shirt, and goose bumps formed on his arms. He’d left his coat hanging on his chair, but he wasn’t going back inside to grab it. Leaving the door propped slightly open with a rock, Mat moved a few feet away from the entrance, his back to the wind.
“Okay, what’s up?”
“I’m leaving Richard. I’m hoping to come home—we—me and Riley, I mean.” Ella rushed out the words as if she’d practiced them, her tone firm.
“Are you okay? What’s going on? Talk to me.” Mat forced himself to keep his voice calm.
“Richard and I are over. It’s been over for a while now, but I didn’t want to admit to myself—admit that I failed. The only good thing left is Riley.”
The sheriff in Mat had to ask, “Has he been… hurting you? Or Riley?” Because if Richard had laid a hand on Mat’s sister or his niece, Mat was going to take him apart piece by piece and dip him in a vat of fresh lemon juice.
“No.” Ella drew in a shuddering breath. “No, not that way. He’s—he’s having an affair. Thank god, because otherwise he’d blame this on me. But I don’t have anything. I was scared to take more than what we need to fly home again. Richard controls most of our money. Not all, but most.”
“He is a complete shit, and I never liked him.” That was the truth. Richard was one of those people who claimed other people’s successes as his own and somehow got away with it. But Ella had loved Richard, so Mat had tried his best.
“Mat, please. I know you’re right, but—this is really hard for me. I just want to make sure you’re okay with a six-year-old and your sister moving back into the house.”
“Jesus, Ella, of course. Why would you have to ask me that? It’s more than okay. I want you guys there. I miss you; I love Riley. We’ll get through this, okay?”
He waited for a few minutes, because Ella burst into tears at his words, the receiver crackling and popping as she sniffled. Mat waited until she calmed herself down, wondering how long she’d been carrying the weight of her marriage around, how long she’d been worrying and thinking and wanting to leave Richard but not knowing if she could, if her family would support her.
“I’ve got your back, Ella; Mom and I both do.”
“I’m so ashamed,” Ella whispered. “And I haven’t told Mom yet because—with the funeral and the thing with Fiona, it seemed selfish to announce I wanted to come