her pocket and came back, eyeing them like she was trying to make up her mind.
“Okay, Sam, I’m going to walk you down to the conference room and stick you in there. If you make trouble, I’ll tell Chief Porter to run over your Mustang with his fire truck.”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“I don’t care right now. Come on.” She bent, grabbed Sam’s arm, and hauled him up to his feet. To Nick, she said, “You two sit right there.”
Brian stared after her as she frog-marched Sam off down the hallway and into a side room. A moment later, she came out and locked the door from the outside. For a second, she slumped and ran her hand over her forehead, looking older and exhausted, but when she straightened, she strode toward them with her usual confidence.
“Now you two.” She pointed a finger. “Rugo first. You have anything that proves you’re ex-LEO on you?”
“Um. You could call the MPD. Although at this hour on Christmas Eve, I’d hate for you to wake my old boss for a character reference. She’d probably have my balls for breakfast.”
The sheriff pulled a small notebook out of her pocket and began scribbling. “Who was your boss?”
“Lieutenant Erika Olson in Narcotics. On my last undercover op, anyway.”
“Got a number for her?”
“Of course. Can I get out my phone?”
“Sure. No fast moves.”
Nick slowly pulled out his phone. He rattled off a phone number, then said, “Oh. Hey, I got an idea.” He began flipping through screens, tapping something in. “Here. My bank account. Paycheck direct deposit from the MPD in October.” He held it out.
The sheriff looked down at the screen, then nodded and relaxed visibly.
“Not that I couldn’t be crooked. We had our share in the MPD,” Nick said. Brian wanted to kick him for playing devil’s advocate.
“Right. When did you leave the force and why?”
“A couple of months ago.” Nick hesitated, then came up with, “After that last undercover job, I was a bit messed up. Had a hard time back in uniform. It didn’t go over well with my superiors.”
“You were fired?”
“No, but I could see it coming if I didn’t leave first.”
The sheriff leaned her hip against the desk again, eyeing both of them. “If I call your lieutenant, what’s she going to tell me?”
Nick glanced away. “I’m not sure. She was kind of bitter. But I hope she’ll tell you I was a good cop and I try to protect the people who deserve it.”
“And what happened tonight?”
Nick hesitated. “No Miranda warning? Am I under arrest for anything?”
“Not yet. You’re just a witness. Unless I think you’re lying to me.”
Nick ran through his part of the tale. The sheriff listened intently, her head cocked. At the end, she said, “You’re sure it was Sam who lit the blaze? No chance he followed someone else who actually did it?”
“I didn’t see the moment of ignition but it was him. There was no one else there. He had the can in his hands when he went back there. I tackled him barely a moment after it started.”
“You didn’t hear footsteps or another car?”
“No. Nothing. Did he give you a description of his imaginary arsonist?”
Gannet just turned to Brian. “Anything you want to add?”
He blinked, working his mouth to try to get out of the fog that was sucking him down. “No, ma’am. I have video of some of it, on my phone. The one your deputy took. But I was too far behind. It doesn’t show that bit. Only the fire at the end.”
“How long was Rugo with the MPD?”
Brian rubbed his eyes. Why was she asking him? “Three years, I think? Maybe more. I didn’t know him then.” He’d meant, back when Nick joined, but the sound of his words reminded him that he needed not to connect himself with the MPD at all. Luckily, that phrase had come out in a way that worked. Way to go, subconscious.
“Where’d you meet him?”
Brian hesitated for a beat, wondering if Nick would jump in, but when he stayed silent, Brian said, “In Florida a couple months ago.” That was the cover story. The basics. He shut his mouth on anything more before he screwed it up. His brain was floating in gray fluff. “Floating fluff.”
The startled look on Gannet’s face made him realize he’d said that out loud. Nick coughed.
“Sorry,” Brian added. “I’m beat. We drove a long way today.”
Nick took up the thread, telling the sheriff about going to Nebraska to meet with his