what? Nick crouched and looked up at the house. The other ground-floor light went out, then a new one lit up on the second floor. McNaught was probably going to bed.
I could break in and search that desk.
Nick shook the crazies out of his thoughts. He’d bet McNaught hadn’t gotten to be chief deputy to Sheriff Gannet by being either stupid or careless. There was probably an alarm, and he was damn sure to be armed. Breaking into his house without a vital reason would be nuts.
Time to jot down the details before he forgot them and then meet up with Charlie. Now they had some evidence, they could put their heads together and make more plans. He eased away from the window and crept silently back toward the road.
Chapter 21
Brian heard two cars pull up to the house and stopped pretending to work on his reading assignment. He kept it up on the screen in front of him, though, as proof he hadn’t been sitting around waiting for his man to get home. Even if he had.
Nick strode in the door with Charlie close behind him. Charlie looked tired, but Nick’s eyes glowed and there was a bounce in his step. He ruffled Luger’s ears vigorously, shoving the dog’s head aside as Luger nosed at them both. “Get off, you hairy mutt. Charlie doesn’t need you knocking him over.”
“I need a cup of coffee, after all that beer.” Charlie shrugged out of his jacket. “But I’m not too lame yet to handle your dog.”
“Sorry.” Nick’s grin dimmed but didn’t go away. “Luger, go lie down. I’ll make coffee.”
Since Brian clearly wasn’t going to get to give Nick the sexy welcome home he’d been imagining, he pushed up off the couch. “I’ve been sitting for hours. I’ll make it. You can tell me how things went.”
“Thanks.” Nick dropped on the other end of the couch and waved Charlie to the recliner. “They went good. We tied Sam to McNaught and the vandalism.”
“We hope.” Charlie lowered himself stiffly into the chair. “Depending on what you got recorded, Nicko.”
“Yeah.” Nick tugged out his gear. “Let’s check it.”
“Hang on, wait for me.” Brian put the kettle on, then hurried back to sit beside Nick.
The first part was an audio recording. The voices were pretty clear, the deeper one cold and angry. Charlie said, “That’s McNaught talking to Sam?”
“Yeah.” Nick frowned as the recording cut off.
“It’s not great evidence, is it?” Brian reached over to play it again. “Sam accuses him of ordering the vandalism but he never really admits it.”
“No, but it’s pretty damned suggestive. What I really wish I had was audio of the phone call he made afterward. My video won’t tell us much.”
Charlie said, “Phone call? Video? You were there?”
“I hiked over to the house with my gun to make sure you had backup, in case McNaught decided to do something drastic about our Samuel. I was hiding behind the trash bin when you drove away.”
Of course he was. With his gun, ready for action. Brian didn’t let himself so much as sigh. You fell for him when he was a cop. No complaints now. It was his rule. He’d talked it over with Dr. Murphy, aware that he had to let Nick be Nick, as long as he wasn’t being crazy. He couldn’t be treated as an equal himself if he tried to fence his partner in, and this was totally Nick, making sure he had Charlie’s back against the second-ranking cop in the county.
Charlie said, “What we have isn’t bad.”
Nick sighed. “Everything from when you planted the device on Sam is inadmissible, though. Illegal recording inside a residence when neither party gave permission. The last thing I want is to show Gannet I’m happy to break the law to move a case. Especially when she’s been draining her swamp. She might bust my ass just on principle. So we can’t share that part with her.”
Charlie said, “Sorry, Nicko. It was an irresistible impulse.”
“Well, it worked, but we can’t admit it.”
“It sure looks like McNaught and Reggie are working together. Maybe for more than one goal. McNaught doesn’t seem to be focused on the money.”
“The sheriff job for McNaught.” Nick pulled out his phone. “Money for Reggie. Or influence, down the line. He’d own McNaught.”
Charlie nodded. “So we don’t go to Gannet yet. It sounds like McNaught was pissed, and maybe worried. What do you think he’ll do next?”
“He called someone.” Nick keyed up a video. A tall, broad-shouldered