her way to make Savannah feel as unwelcome as possible.
Aware that a response was expected, Zach opened his mouth; a dry croak was all he managed. Clearing his throat, he tried again, “She didn’t tell me. What did she—”
She held up her hand to stop him. “No, wait … I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I don’t want to talk about that time. Okay?”
Her remote expression was telling. The hurt lingered, still festering. The wound between him and his mother had been closed, but the one with Savannah was still open and painful. Zach knew he couldn’t take away the pain, but he would tell her the truth—all the nasty, ugly, dirty truth. Not yet, but soon.
Returning to their previous topic, Zach took the notepad and pen she put in front of him and started listing names. Tension filled the air.
Finally she broke the silence with “So who’s your prime suspect for the vandalism?”
“One of my deputies.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Tells you a lot about the kind of law that was running this town.”
“Who’s your deputy?”
“Clark Dayton.”
Her eyes widened in obvious astonishment. “Clark is a deputy? I would’ve thought he’d be dead or in prison by now.”
“If it weren’t for Mosby, he might’ve been. He dropped out of college and came back here to live. Started working for Mosby not long after.”
“Why did you keep him on?”
“I had no reason to get rid of him. He might’ve been an asshole back then, but they’ve been known to reform.”
“If you’re suspecting him, apparently he hasn’t.”
“I’ve had no real reason to complain till now. Other than having a shitty attitude sometimes, he’s competent.”
“So why do you suspect him?”
“I thought he seemed a little too smug yesterday when we were at one of the crime scenes. After I left here last night, I drove by Henson’s house. Dayton’s car was in the drive.”
“You suspect Ralph Henson’s in on it, too?”
Zach merely nodded at her question. Explaining why Henson would love to see him fail and leave town was a discussion for another day.
“Just because Clark and Henson see each other after work doesn’t mean they’re guilty.”
“No, but my gut tells me I’m right. Now I just have to prove it.”
She grabbed the notepad from him and said, “Who else?”
As Zach named a couple of other men who’d been vehemently opposed to him becoming police chief, he watched Savannah. Had he really thought he could see her again and be satisfied with just her forgiveness? Though having her offer that forgiveness would go a long way in easing his conscience, he was stupid for even considering that it would ever be enough. For ten years, he’d tortured himself with what might have been. Could he really let her go without doing everything he could to recapture what they had?
“Savannah, I—”
She looked up and Zach swallowed his words. The panicked expression on her face gave him his answer; her words confirmed the thought. “Zach … no. I can’t.”
With barely a pause, as if the moment never existed, Zach said, “The locations of the vandalisms are Henson’s Grocery, Dale’s Car Wash, Opal’s Flower Shop, Max’s Garage, and Gertie’s Wash and Wait.”
“And the school building,” she added.
“Yeah. That’s not consistent with the other properties, but the message was clear. They couldn’t have said it more plainly than if they’d taken an ad out in the paper. It was meant to piss me off.”
“And it did.”
“Hell yeah.”
“How do Dayton and Henson tie into these locations?”
“I spent a good part of the day checking courthouse records. Besides his grocery store, Henson is financially tied to the car wash, the flower shop, and the garage. Dayton’s aunt is Gertrude Barnes of Gertie’s Wash and Wait.”
Savannah nodded. “Definitely suspicious.”
He reached into his pocket and withdrew a sketch he’d drawn earlier of Midnight. Smoothing it out on the table, he used the pen to point at the likeliest locations for their next hit. “I figure these businesses, before they decide to do something more drastic.”
Savannah went to her feet and peered over his shoulder. This was as close as he’d been to her in ten years. Zach did his best to ignore her scent, delicately sweet and beautifully familiar. Closing his eyes briefly, he willed his aching body to settle down. He was damn lucky she let him get this close to her; no way would he jeopardize that by going after what his body demanded.
He pointed to a row of businesses on Cooper Street. “It took some digging, but I found three