Page 18 of In Safe Hands

“He did, but I’d like to hear it from you directly. Sometimes third-person reporting can turn into a game of Telephone.” His smile was slight, but it still made Daisy relax a little.

“Okay. It was about three thirty this morning—”

“How did you know what time it was?”

“I looked at the clock in the training room before I went upstairs.”

The way he watched her intently, as if he was memorizing every word that came out of her mouth, was unnerving. “You weren’t sleeping?”

“No. Sometimes I have insomnia.” Despite her nerves, she had to smile. “Plus, I was dying to try out Max.”

“Max?”

“The department’s old grappling dummy that Chris brought me. Thank you for letting him do that, by the way.”

The sheriff’s eyes widened slightly, as if in surprise. “Of course,” he said, sounding more like he was talking to himself than responding to her thanks.

Daisy eyed him curiously, which seemed to shake him out of his thoughts.

“So, you and Deputy Jennings are dating?”

She hadn’t expected the question, even though it seemed to be a common assumption, at least amongst that day’s visitors. “No. We’re friends, but it’s not…romantic.”

When the sheriff eyed her for a long moment, Daisy felt her cheeks get hot. She was annoyed at herself for blushing, since it probably made Coughlin think she was lying about not being involved with Chris. Shaking off both the embarrassment and the self-directed irritation, she told herself that, even if they had been dating, it wasn’t the sheriff’s business.

“When I was in my room,” she said, hoping to change the subject, “I saw a marked sheriff’s department SUV in front of 304, that house that’s for sale.”

“Did you see the squad number on the back?”

She shook her head, regretting her silly backward lunge once again. “No. It was parked with the front end facing the Storvicks’ house, and I…uh, wasn’t watching when he drove away.”

“He? So you saw the driver?”

“I did, but he had his coat hood up, so I couldn’t see his face.”

“You’re sure the person was male?”

“Yes. I had a weird angle, watching from the upstairs window, but I’m pretty sure he was tall and big.”

“Big?”

Under the sheriff’s unwavering gaze, Daisy found herself shifting from foot to foot. Once she realized she was fidgeting, she forced herself to stop. “His coat was too bulky to really see his shape, but he wasn’t a skinny guy.”

“What did you see him doing that made you think it wasn’t a routine call?”

“Well, he wasn’t wearing a uniform. And he was carrying something over his shoulder that was wrapped in a tarp.” She paused. It was one thing to sound crazy when she was talking to Chris or even to Lou, but telling the sheriff was a whole different matter. “The shape of it and the way it moved, especially when he dropped it into the back of the SUV, reminded me of a…um, a body.”

The sheriff stared at her silently. She couldn’t read his expression, and his silent regard made her nervous enough to drop her gaze to the tile floor.

“A body,” he finally repeated, his voice flat.

“Yes.” Dredging up her conviction, she met his eyes. “Especially when a boot fell out of the bottom of the tarp.”

Daisy desperately wished she could tell what he was thinking, but the sheriff had that impassive look down pat.

“What kind of boot?”

It was only after she sucked in air that she realized she’d been holding her breath during the silence. “It was black, or maybe just dark-colored.” She closed her eyes and tried to picture it lying on the packed snow that covered the road. “I’m pretty sure it was a man’s boot because of the size.”