He touched his nose self-consciously. “Sure. Just bruised a bit.”
“I should’ve had an officer drive you home last night.”
“I was awake,” Brian protested. “It wasn’t my fault.”
“Deer strikes happen all the time to wide-awake drivers,” Nick pointed out.
“True.” She focused back on Nick. “Anyway, Sam’s now out of danger and cooperating in exchange for a plea bargain, so we should be able to round up the rest of the group. Nonetheless, Rugo—” She tapped his chest above his folded arms with a finger. “—you should stay away from my department, and watch yourself around my deputies. McNaught was well-liked, and they think you’re the reason we lost a good man last night.”
Nick snorted. “Good man?”
“Whatever he got involved with, yeah, he once was a good man, a good cop. He flipped out about me and how I was running things, and went way the hell over the line, but he’d been protecting and serving Winrowd County for seventeen years before that. You didn’t pull down some gangbanger. A veteran is dead, and no matter what he’d done, a lot of people are not happy.”
Brian could see the line of Nick’s jaw twitching as he said, “I’m guessing that my application to join up as a deputy is going in the trashcan if I submit it?”
“Unless I want a mutiny, yeah.” She took a long, slow breath. “Look, I’m gutted that Kyle went bad, and I needed to know the truth. But I can’t put you on the job here. Nor anywhere gossip reaches from here. In a lot of eyes, there’s one thing worse than a crooked cop.”
“The cop who turns on him.” Nick nodded grimly.
“That’s not fair!” Brian pushed to his feet. “McNaught and Sam were the bad guys and Nick stopped them.”
“I’m sorry.” Gannet turned to him. “I wish life was fair but Rugo knows how it works. I’ve taken a lot of flak to clean house, but if I get rid of everyone angry about how it went down with McNaught, I won’t have a department.”
Charlie said, “Are you going to do anything to protect him from reprisals, if push comes to shove? How clean are you really running?”
“I’ve told my people to leave him alone, and if I hear one word about harassment or false arrest, I will come down on them like a ton of bricks. I don’t think it’ll be unlivable for you, but I’d advise both of you— all three of you— to stay under the speed limit and don’t spit on any sidewalks.”
“Nice.” Nick’s tone was bitter. “Great doing business with you.”
“What about Lori?” Brian asked. “What about Yasmin? Or Zander? Are the deputies mad at them too?”
“If they had nothing to do with last night, they should be fine.” For a moment Gannet’s shoulders slumped and she gazed away from him out the window. “Just don’t get in my people’s faces, right? Let things settle.”
“Like, I shouldn’t be seen riding with Doc in his truck?” Nick’s voice held an acid bite Brian couldn’t interpret. “Might put him at risk?”
Gannet straightened. “The DA will let you know if your testimony’s going to be required going forward. Have a nice day, gentlemen.” She strode out without looking back.
“And that,” Charlie said as the door shut behind her, “is part of being on the force I don’t miss one fucking bit.”
“I thought she was one of the good cops,” Brian said.
Charlie sighed. “The hell of it? She is.” He turned to Nick and met his eyes. “Are we that much better, shielding Damon?”
Brian wanted to shout yes, that Damon was just doing his best, that he didn’t hurt really innocent people, just guilty ones. But the words caught in his throat, as Nick turned to stare blankly out the window.
Chapter 26
They said nothing until the sound of the sheriff’s car disappeared down the drive. Then Nick whirled and put his fist into the wall. Brian yelped in sympathy. He wanted to grab Nick’s hand and check for damage, but locked his fingers together instead, because he could see the echo of Nok Nick’s explosive anger in the way Nick stood.
“Oh, smart, Nicko.” Charlie’s tone was wry, but his eyes were careful.
“Fuck off, Charles.” Nick rubbed his knuckles.
“You can’t pretend you’re surprised. You knew how it’d play out, taking down a cop.”
“So? I don’t get to be mad that I screwed myself over?”
Brian blinked. “You already knew you’d never get to be a deputy if we turned in McNaught?” He hadn’t