a physical force.
He could remember peering out the long, narrow windows that overlooked the town square. Or zooming his toy cars over the wood-planked floor while he and his mother waited for Rudolf to finish up his paperwork and take them to dinner. Or the memorable weekend his father had made him stand in the corner for endless hours after he’d been caught smoking in the garage.
Glancing around he realized he could barely recognize the place. The wooden floor had been covered by a thick carpet and the windows were hidden behind heavy drapes. The leather furniture had been replaced with IKEA closeout specials, with lots of shelves and filing cabinets on rollers. Even the chairs had wheels. And the walls had been stripped bare of the framed pictures of the town that his father had collected over the years, to be replaced with bulletin boards covered with MOST WANTED posters.
It looked sterile, and bland, and the sight of it caused a visceral pain inside Kir that nearly sent him to his knees.
Clenching his hands, he sucked in a slow, deep breath. And then another one. At last he managed to make his way to the chair and sit down, although his emotions remained raw.
Kathy watched him with a frown, easily sensing his distress. “Why are you terrifying my deputy?”
Kir glanced toward her desk, which appeared remarkably tidy. His father usually had stacks of files and notebooks filled with his scribbled reminders or details of his ongoing cases.
“Did you listen to the tape?” he abruptly demanded. He hadn’t expected to see the sheriff. He wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to discover if she had any new information.
There was a short silence before she gave a shake of her head. “No.”
“Christ.” He shoved himself upright, the chair wheeling away. “Are you deliberately trying to let the serial killer run loose?”
She sent him a fierce scowl. “Sit down and shut up.”
“I—”
“Do you want me to explain or not?”
Kir ground his teeth, grabbing the chair to steady it before sitting down. “This had better be good.”
Kathy pressed her hands flat against the empty desk, her expression sour. “I haven’t listened to the tape because I’ve turned the case over to the task force that’s arriving today.”
Kir blinked. He hadn’t been expecting that. “What task force?”
“When I was in Madison to deliver the evidence from the crime scenes, I asked to meet with the Feds. It’s obvious we don’t have the staff or the resources necessary to track down the killer.”
That was astonishingly reasonable, Kir silently conceded. And completely out of character for the sheriff who’d been aggressively possessive about the investigation. He studied her in confusion. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“Because I don’t answer to you,” she snapped.
Her harsh response rasped against his exposed nerves. He leaned forward, his eyes narrowed with annoyance. “All I want is for the killer to be stopped,” he said between clenched teeth. “Why are you trying to make Lynne and me the enemy?”
“You’re interfering in official law enforcement business. I have enough on my hands without amateur sleuths bumbling around creating chaos.”
“It’s more than that. From the beginning you’ve had a chip on your shoulder.”
Kathy flushed. “Bullshit.”
Kir refused to back down. “Are you trying to claim you weren’t determined to pin the murders on Lynne?”
“I was following the evidence,” the sheriff stubbornly insisted. “Not only were the victims knocked out by dart guns that are regularly used by vets, but the sedatives could be directly traced to her clinic. Or have you forgotten that fact?”
“That was easily explained by Chelsea.”
“Too easily.”
Kir stiffened. There was an edge in her voice that made the hairs on his nape stand on end. “What are you talking about?”
A humorless smile curved the woman’s lips. “Did you ever consider the possibility that your girlfriend convinced her lover to seduce Chelsea?”
“Why would she do that?”
“To have a fall guy in case things went south.” Kathy said the words with a coup de grâce flourish. As if she’d made some point that should have stunned Kir with its brilliance. Instead he was baffled by her logic.
“So who’s the fall guy? Chelsea or Nash?”
“Either one. Maybe both.” She made a sound of annoyance. “Neither one had the brains to realize they were pawns.”
Kir remained confused. “Why would Lynne go to the trouble of stealing her own drugs? Wouldn’t it be easier to convince one of them to steal from another vet? Or even to buy the drugs in Madison or Green Bay?”
Kathy’s jaw tightened.