If You See Her by Shiloh Walker Read Free Book Online Page B

The sheriff’s schedule was her domain, and she ruled it with an iron fist—hell and damnation would rain down on any who interfered.
    Including the sheriff.
    “It’s okay, Ms. Tuttle. He’s probably here to see if there’s any news about the fire at his place.”
    Remy could almost hear her teeth clenching, gritting together. “He could have called. It’s common courtesy.”
    “Yes …”
    Remy grabbed a pad of paper and scrawled something down, held it up.
    Dwight saw it and grinned, winked.
    Then, without missing a beat, he continued. “But he’s had a rough week, a rough year, really. It’s our Christian duty to be understanding, especially in this trying time.”
    “Humph.” Ms. Tuttle didn’t sound terribly impressed. “You’re right, of course.”
    “Send him on back. I’ll speak with him, and afterward, I’ll do my best to make sure he understands the importance of calling. We can’t have him messing up the schedule.” At that, Dwight rolled his eyes. As he put the phone down, he muttered, “You’d think she was handling the president’s daily affairs, sometimes.”
    In under a minute, there was a brisk knock at the door and Ms. Tuttle stood there, a petite woman with steel-gray hair and snapping green eyes. She steppedaside to let Ezra enter and then, with a dismissive sniff, she closed the door behind her.
    They waited until the familiar plodding tread of her thick-soled shoes had faded before Ezra looked at Dwight, a golden-brown brow cocked.
    “Our Christian duty?” Ezra asked.
    Dwight grinned. “Did she have her speakerphone on?”
    “Nah, just turned up loud. Guess she’s hard of hearing—I heard every damn word.” Then he glanced at Remy, gave him a short nod. “Jennings.”
    If Remy wasn’t trained to notice things about people, he wouldn’t have seen it. Ezra was good. Damn good. There wasn’t really that much that gave him away. Just a faint tightening around his eyes. No change in his voice, nothing in the way he moved. Just that thing around the eyes.
    Knowing what he knew about cops, Remy suspected King had been in touch with Nielson about the fire … and other things, like the weird stuff that had happened at Lena’s place.
    Had the guy suspected something was off?
    Was that why he was here?
    Regardless, Nielson would probably tell him about the Hollister woman, and it was going to be one hell of a shock when he saw that picture, when he realized who the woman was.
    And it was something Remy didn’t need to be here for, he decided.
    Although he still needed to discuss things with the sheriff, he reached for his briefcase and went to stand up. “Dwight, I’ll catch up with you later.”
    “No.” Ezra stopped, hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his worn-out jeans. “Actually, I’d planned to look you up later … you might as well hear it now.”
    Remy paused, then slowly settled back into the chair,hooking one ankle over his knee. “Exactly what do I need to hear?”
    Instead of saying anything, Ezra slid a hand inside his pocket. Tugged something out. Whatever it was, it was small, small enough to hide inside the palm of his hand, and he kept it tucked there, where Remy couldn’t see it, where the sheriff couldn’t see it.
    “I can’t give any good reason why I picked this up,” Ezra said, his voice distracted. “I was staring at the house, watching it go up in flames, thinking about how proud Grandma always was of that house, how much she loved it. I was so fucking pissed. Still am. I looked down, and there it was.”
    “There what was, Ezra?” Dwight asked.
    Remy’s gut went hot, tight.
    Clenching his jaw, he stood up.
    Ezra’s green eyes cut to him.
    They should have been hard, cold as ice, or hot with fury.
    But what Remy saw was pity.
    And he knew. Somehow, he just knew.
    Even before Ezra uncurled his hand and let that gold cross swing from his hand. Remy closed his eyes, looked away. But he could still see that cross, swinging