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TASSIA

I’m well aware of the gossip about me circulating around the sheriff’s station: Tassia, the ex-criminal who came to work in the evidence room; Tassia, what the hell was the sheriff thinking, hiring her and putting her in charge of evidence; Tassia, pretty but untrustworthy due to her past.

I’m also well aware of the gossip circulating around Frost Valley where the sheriff and his deputies are concerned. Rumor has it they share everything, including their women. I’m not at all put off by that. I’m actually curious.

At the moment, I’m frantic and struggling to remain calm after getting called up to the bullpen. It’s only been a short while since the cufflink incident, and my mind goes through the worst possible scenarios in record time.

The elevator doors ding, the bullpen opening up before me with its overloaded desks and ringing phones. The Frost Valley Sheriff’s Department has a team of ten full-time deputies and twenty police officers currently on loan from Catskill in an attempt to get the area’s crime stats under control.

“You wanted to see me?” I ask as I step out of the elevator.

“Hi, Tassia, yes.” Tyler gets up from behind his computer and motions for me to follow him across the room. We stop in front of a massive whiteboard, covered with printed photographs and photocopies relevant to the Tanya Burrow and Dina Kellogg murders. He gestures at the board, then looks at me. “What do you think?”

“What do I think about what?” I reply, confused.

Mitch and Lucas join us at the board. “Thank you for coming up,” Lucas says, smiling softly.

“What am I doing up here?” I ask. “If it’s about the cufflink, I’ll say it again. I did everything by the book, and I didn’t?—”

“It is about the cufflink, but you’re not in trouble, I promise,” Lucas cuts me off.

“Oh. Okay.” I look around, noticing how some of the other deputies are looking at me. Sideways glances. Fleeting frowns. They clearly don’t believe I should be up here.

“So? What do you think?” Tyler asks again, pointing at the whiteboard.

“I want to answer this right, but I’m not sure I get the question.”

Tyler comes closer, just a few inches, but it’s enough to make my body temperature spike.

“You pointed something out from the evidence collected at Tanya Burrow’s murder scene, giving us a fresh lead. It got us face-to-face with the man whom we now believe killed both her and Dina,” Tyler says.

My jaw drops. “Wait, what?”

“The cufflink belongs to William Jade. Hamilton drugstore employee and suspected drug dealer,” Lucas chimes in. “We’re still digging into his history, his financials, but he’s going to crack soon enough.”

“We’ve got him in holding downstairs,” Mitch adds. “The idea is to let him stew for a while?—”

“Before he starts singing like a bird, right?” I interject. “I know the drill.”

I was on the receiving end of such treatment a couple of years ago, and it absolutely sucks.

Tyler gives me a curious look. “We gathered everything we know about both cases on this board. The victims, the people they frequently associated with, our suspect and the people who run in his circles based on his social media activity, plus a few other items of interest. We’re hoping you might be able to go over all the evidence we collected from both crime scenes and help us make a connection.”

“Fresh eyes, brilliant mind,” Lucas mutters. “Timothy was right about you.”

“So you think I’m brilliant?” I quip.

“We do. You just gave us a hell of a break in not one but two murder cases,” Lucas reiterates. It sounds like the kind of validation I was secretly longing for but didn’t know I needed.

I take a deep breath and sit on the edge of the nearest desk, staring at the board for a while. I recognize most of the images from the case boxes and from the online files in my evidence log. My photographic memory can be a blessing and a curse, becausethe sight of Tanya’s bloodied body has yet to leave my system. It likely never will.

“I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes here,” I mutter and look around. “What do the others say about my involvement?”

“You’re worried about the other deputies?” Mitch scoffs. “We’re all working toward the same goal here, Tassia.”

“Isn’t this weird, though? I mean, I’m staying at your place, with the three of you. I’m working here, despite my criminal record. And now, I’m getting involved in your cases. Isn’t it unethical?”