brother throw the stop sign on the side of the road the morning of the accident. She picked it up and was going to use it as a decoration for her bedroom because she’s nuts about Aiden, poor thing. After the wreck, she got scared and didn’t know what to do. She took it to your house to ask for TJ’s advice, and when something happened that hurt her feelings, she hid it in the kitchen and called in an anonymous tip. Zach will deal with the Marshall brothers upon their return at the end of the week. In the meantime, as I mentioned, you must keep this information confidential.”
“I don’t understand. I thought the Marshall family was out of town.”
“They left later that morning. The boys were out causing trouble early.”
Savannah was shocked. Mandy West had tried to place the blame on TJ? “Why did Mandy do it? They’re friends.”
“That’s something we’re going to let TJ explain to you. So that’s the story.” Gabi folded her arms, lifted her chin, and added, “Now, aren’t you glad you didn’t run off last night after all?”
“Zach told you.”
“No, actually, TJ mentioned it. Dammit, Savannah, I am so pissed at you! It’s one thing for you to be afraid of being in love. I get that. But running out on your friends? You couldn’t call me? Why?” She pointed to her badge. “Because of this?”
“Gabi, you don’t understand. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“That’s totally obvious. You couldn’t trust us to do our jobs? This after Zach has busted his ass to prove your innocence?”
Savannah recalled the words Zach had thrown at her last night. I don’t think it’s necessary to tell you about the progress I’ve made toward proving Kyle Vaughn and his mother ran those drugs, not you. “I don’t understand. What has he done?”
“Only called in every marker he had with both the feds and with people in Georgia. He went to bat for you, Savannah. He put his reputation on the line for you. He believed in you. And what do you do? You’re ready to run out on him at the first sign of trouble. You should be ashamed. That’s not how you treat people you care about. People you love and who love you. Well, guess what. I think I’ve changed my mind about you. You don’t deserve Zach. You don’t—”
“That’s enough, Gabriella,” Zach snapped.
Savannah twisted around to see the sheriff, tall and handsome and cold as a winter wind, standing with his hand on TJ’s shoulder. TJ looked both happy and pained, as if the weight of the world had lifted from his shoulders at the same time as he wanted to melt in embarrassment.
Savannah stood, her heart pounding, her mouth suddenly dry as burnt toast. “Zach, can we talk? Privately?”
If possible, his expression grew harder. “In my office.”
He led the way into his office and gestured for her to take a seat. He shut the door, then took his seat behind his desk. Silence dragged out for a long moment. “You wanted to talk?”
“Yes.” She started out with the easy one. “Thank you for what you did for TJ. I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.”
“I did my job.”
Short. Clipped. Still angry. She knew she deserved that.
She went on to the next subject, this one more difficult. “May I ask about something that isn’t your job? Will you tell me about Georgia?”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “Gabi made it sound like more than it is. I made a few calls. Asked a couple people I know to take a look at the case. They found someone who was willing to talk, and we used what they learned to convince Georgia to reopen your case.”
Reopen my case? “I don’t understand. They can’t revoke my probation, can they?”
“They’re working to overturn your sentence, Savannah. They followed the money and ran a sting. Got Kyle Vaughn to talk to an undercover. We have on tape that he and his mother used you as a mule without your knowledge. Francine would load up your car, and while you were in class, Kyle and his cohorts would make the transfer. Nobody likes a dirty cop, so they are moving quickly on what we found. They’re pounding the last nails into the coffins now. You should expect arrests within the next couple of weeks.”
“Arrests?” She couldn’t believe it, so she wanted him to say it flat out. “Whom are they going to arrest?”
“Kyle and Francine Vaughn. After that, you’ll need