Storm Damage - C.P. Smith Page 0,78

a man then head back in their direction. Before he reached them, Jake put out his hand for Logan to shake. “If Ty trusts you, that’s good enough for me. Truce?”

Logan didn’t hesitate to take his hand. “I was never at war with you, kid. I’ve had enough of it to last three lifetimes.”

_______________

Ty and Logan watched Jake disappear inside the bar. The deep line between the kid’s brows had lifted finally when he looked at Logan, saying more than words could that Jake was finally at ease with his sister’s relationship with him.

“Jake doesn’t seem to want to kill you anymore.”

“Yeah. We sorted it out.”

“Hope you can sort out what’s happened to Duke as quickly.”

One problem down, a million to go. “I’m heading to Duke’s office to look for clues. You wanna tag along?”

“If it will help, I’m free.”

City hall was three blocks from the bar, so they walked the distance. It seemed as if most of Ennis was crowding the street as they made their way to the nondescript building housing the police station. It was clear no amount of snow kept these seasoned residents inside.

Duke’s office was on the second floor of the two-story building. Even though it was Saturday, the library was open. With each resident they passed on their way up to the second floor, a cheerful, “Afternoon, Ty. Afternoon, Chief Storm,” echoed down the hall. Logan wasn’t surprised news had traveled about his temporary appointment, but he was still caught off guard by the friendly reception.

As they passed the door to the mayor’s office, a balding man in his fifties poked his head out. Like most of the residents in Ennis, the man sported a flannel shirt tucked neatly inside dark colored jeans and snow boots. Ty stopped when the man, who Logan assumed was the mayor, stepped into the hallway.

“You must be Logan Storm,” the man said putting out his hand. “I’m Jordan Blake, the mayor of Ennis.”

“Mayor,” Logan acknowledged.

“I’ve been waiting for you. I wanted to get another update on Duke and give you the keys to his office.”

Logan stepped back as Blake led the way to the police chief’s office and waited while he unlocked the door. When they stepped inside, Logan automatically searched the space for anything that looked out of place or missing from the day he’d waited with Skylar for Josh to be released.

Logan noted a bottle of whiskey rested on the desk in plain sight of anyone who entered. Duke didn’t strike him as the type of man who drank on duty, so he moved to the desk and began to search the surface for any clue that would point him in the direction of a killer.

“Chief Storm,” Blake began, sitting in one of the two visitors’ chairs opposite the desk.

“Call me Storm, Mayor.” Logan hadn’t looked up as he spoke. A brochure for a tiny island off the coast of Mexico lay on the desktop next to a half full glass of amber liquid. Logan picked it up and flipped it over, but stopped when his name, written on a sheet of paper, caught his attention.

“You don’t want to be called Chief?”

Logan sat in Duke’s chair, the leather crackling as he settled into it and picked up the sheet of paper. “Just Storm. This is temporary until you can find a replacement.”

Logan’s rank and serial number were printed on the paper, along with his discharge date. Duke had done his homework on Logan like he’d said.

“Temporary? I was under the impression Duke had personally picked you as his replacement.”

“I agreed to step in until we found out what happened to Duke,” Logan stated, finally looking up at the mayor. “I’ll cover for him until his disappearance is solved, but I’ve had my fill of policing people. I spent the better part of ten years with a gun in my hand, right now I’d rather pour a draft beer with my woman.”

“He’ll reevaluate his position once Duke is found,” Ty appeased, sitting next to the mayor.

Logan’s attention shot to Ty. “Reevaluate?”

“Don’t make any rash decisions when you’re less than a day on the job.”

“Precisely,” the mayor agreed. “We need someone with your experience. Settle in and see how it goes before you decide.”

Logan noted the gleam in Ty’s expression.

“You on the council, Ty?”

His gleam turned into a full on smile. “Youngest member in the history of Ennis.”

“Fucking politicians,” Logan mumbled under his breath.

“Have there been any new developments? Any evidence that points you in any direction?” the