Perfect Night (Mason Creek #4) - Terri E. Laine Page 0,7

I am.”

“Used to the city life.”

I nodded noncommittally.

“Since you’re here, I can give you the run down and tour of the department.”

Our first stop was just one door down on the other side. “Here’s your office.”

It was a small, cramped office with a desk and two chairs in front of it. There was a small bookcase behind what would be my chair. I glanced out the side window.

“Nice view of the building next door,” I joked.

“Yeah. You’ll get used to it,” he said before moving on. “Bess is here most days. When she’s not, county handles the 911 calls and will patch it into one of us, whoever is here on call that day. Bess will send you the schedule.”

“Sounds good.”

We walked around the tiny station. There was a small break room in back opposite where two cells were located. We ended back at his office.

“How’s Wyatt with everything?”

“You’ll have to talk to him. I don’t think he’s sour about you getting the position.”

I leaned against the door. “I just heard about Emma’s dad.”

“I wondered why you weren’t at the funeral. I’d keep that not knowing part to yourself.”

“Why?” I asked, truly curious.

“Folks will wonder why you didn’t hear from your sister or parents. They might wonder if you don’t have a good relationship with them. And you’ll end up in that gossip blog by Tate Michaels. I think it’s called the MC Scoop. My wife reads it religiously.”

Tate, Sadie’s cousin, had a gossip column. Great. I inwardly grimaced. That was new. I quickly responded, “Mom called, but I’d been busy with a case and forgot to call back.”

“Another thing to keep quiet. A chief deputy who can’t be bothered to talk to his mother won’t be trusted. If anyone asks, tell them you were late.”

“But I—” Lying just wasn’t in my arsenal, especially on something like this.

“I saw you when everyone came out. You were technically late, weren’t you?” he suggested.

Anyone who had eyes would have noticed I wasn’t quite dressed for the occasion. “I guess.”

“Then go with it. Last thing I need is for my eventual replacement to start the job with people questioning if you are right for it.”

Gossip was the main pastime in Mason Creek. And it sounded like Tate was capitalizing on it. I still didn’t think it was that bad. I maneuvered the conversation to what I’d come here for in the first place and pretended as if Emma hadn’t spoken to me about it. “You were there when they found Emma’s father,” I said.

“Jack found him. I was first on the scene.”

“Jack?” I asked.

“Jack Riddle, he’s the manager of the bar.”

“I thought Doug, Emma’s dad ran the place himself.”

“True enough. But if Doug wasn’t around, Jack was in charge.”

“What happened?” I asked. I wanted his unvarnished opinion, so I kept Emma’s request for my help to myself.

“It appears he had a heart attack and when he fell over, he hit his head on the ground.”

“No signs of struggle? Nothing taken?” I asked.

“No sign of struggle. Nothing of value was taken, including a small amount of cash in the registers and the money in the office safe. But… Emma believes the security disk was missing.”

“Believes?”

“Jack said Doug often changed them. It’s possible he removed it and didn’t put in another for whatever reason.”

“If he did, wouldn’t you find the disk in the office somewhere?”

“We found a set.”

“And?” I prodded.

“And where are you going with this? The man had a heart attack. We buried him yesterday. Let sleeping dogs lie, Aiden.”

“Okay,” I agreed only because I didn’t think he was going to give me much more. “Did you check the other disk?”

“We did.”

“Was the day in question on one of them?”

“No. But who would want to harm Doug? We don’t have murders here every day. Not even every week or month. We may see a manslaughter from a car accident every blue moon. There was just no reason for someone to kill him.”

The sheriff had made up his mind and I wasn’t going to change it. But a missing security disk was reason enough to call Emma’s father’s death suspicious. I would need to tread lightly. The sheriff was well liked. Most people in town would know me or my parents, but I hadn’t been around for several years. They knew the kid version of me.

I tipped my hat. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Eight o’clock.”

I couldn’t remember the last time I started work at eight. “Sure.” Bright and early was my routine when I joined