Page 14 of Hold Your Breath

“An ex-boyfriend, but he wouldn’t do anything like this.”

“You sure about that? People can surprise you.”

“Positive.” Despite the ugliness of their breakup, the ridiculous thought of Brent tramping around in the snow slashing tires made her smile grimly. “He’s not a fan of getting his hands dirty.”

“What’s his name?”

“Brenton Lloyd.”

Chris scribbled in his notebook and then looked at her. “Any other possibilities?”

“Not that I can think of. Sorry. I lived a very boring, nonconfrontational life.”

“Okay.” He closed his notebook and stood. “I’ll do some digging. In the meantime, keep your eyes open. Park in well-lit, heavily trafficked areas as much as you can. Don’t be closing the coffee shop by yourself. Here.” He handed her a card. “Call me if anything else happens or you remember something that might be relevant.”

“Got it.”

His serious expression faded and was replaced by a hint of a smirk. “Hang around Callum as much as you can. Don’t think he’d mind.”

“Uh, yeah, no. I annoy him. Greatly.”

The smirk turned into a full-on grin. “Just saying. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you at the reservoir yesterday, and I wouldn’t say he looked annoyed. Befuddled, maybe.”

“Befuddled?”

“Befuddled.”

“I thinkyoumight be the befuddled one, Deputy Chris, if you think Callum Cook has any interest in me.”

He laughed. “Deny it all you want. But you’re not the dashing law enforcement officer with the keen eye for observation.”

With a snort, she turned for the door. “Keen eye, my ass.”

As she walked through the lobby, a harassed-looking Rob barged through the front doors. He stopped his forward charge just short of crashing into her.

“Sorry about that, Lou,” he said.

“No harm done.” She eyed his frown. “Rough day?Anotherrough day, I mean.”

“State investigators are here.” His scowl started to return. He looked a little worn around the edges. On him, the exhausted look was surprisingly appealing. Although she wasn’t interested in Rob that way, she was surprised he’d managed to remain single. The stoop of his shoulders made her want to watch over him as he took a much-needed nap, and she couldn’t be the only woman who felt that way. “Which means dealing with the usual dick-measuring.”

Confused, she asked, “But I thought you asked them to come?”

“I did. It’s just the typical bullshit that happens when you put a bunch of people who are used to being in charge together on one crime scene. Too many alpha dogs always leads to a snarl or two.” He shook his head and looked at her sharply. “Enough about that. Did you need to talk to me?”

“No, Chris already took my report.”

“Report?”

She shrugged. “Someone slashed a couple of my tires.”

Rob looked over her shoulder, and she turned to see Chris joining them. “I’ll have the report to you by the end of my shift,” the deputy said.

“Good.” Rob turned back to Lou. “Sorry to hear about your tires. I’ll make sure we look into it. You’ll have to excuse me now. I just need to pick up a couple of things before heading back out to the scene.”

“No problem.” She took a step toward the door. “Good luck with the whole dick-measuring thing. Thanks, Chris.”

Both men lifted their chins in the exact same good-bye gesture, forcing Lou to have to quash a smile before it could make it to her lips.