Killerfind by Sharon Woods Hopkins Read Free Book Online Page B

several days .
    Before she could comment, the phone rang. Woody
answered, switching to his professional voice. “MCB Mortgage and Insurance.”
    When the phone rang again, she answered the other
line. The caller identified himself as a deputy sheriff. It seems they had a
report that needed filling out. When she explained to him that she needed to be
at work, instead of admitting that she’d forgotten her promise to stop by first
thing this morning, the words “warrant for your arrest” made the decision easy.
“I’ll be right over.”
     

     
     
     
    fter all
the reports were
signed, Sheriff Reasoner personally escorted Rhetta to the parking lot. The
rain had stopped, allowing the late summer sun to peek through the parting
clouds. The asphalt smelled of wet dust and sulphur.
    “Give Judge McCarter my best regards, won’t you?”
Reasoner beamed a megawatt smile down at Rhetta, showing off bright white
teeth. She decided he must’ve had them recently whitened. No one over
thirty-five could have natural teeth that looked like Chiclets gum—perfect
little squares. He removed a wide brimmed Stetson that perched squarely on his
head, and then finger-combed his thick black hair. He replaced the hat
carefully, and smoothed the brim. “You know we wouldn’t have arrested you, of
all people, Mrs. McCarter. The deputy got just a little more, shall I say,
enthusiastic, than he should have.”
    The deputy’s “enthusiasm” involved a two-hour
questioning followed by a thirty-minute wait for the report to be typed. Rhetta
had to call Woody to have him cover her appointment with a prospective customer.
    “Oh, you can be sure I’ll be telling my husband all
about our little visit today,” Rhetta said, beaming her best phony smile back
at him, and aiming her key fob toward her ride. The headlights flashed,
signaling the door was unlocked. Reasoner was up for re-election this year. In
the past, Randolph had always been one of his biggest supporters. After today,
she decided she didn’t like the slippery-smooth politician and would convey her
opinion of him to Randolph. She slammed the door shut and started the ignition.
    She and Randolph usually didn’t argue about
politics, even though they were politically opposite. She was liberal while her
husband always had an “R” after his name when he ran for judge. However, she
found the sheriff way too smarmy for her liking and would tell Randolph so. It
had nothing to do with any party affiliation. No party had the market on slime
balls cornered.
     Reasoner had acted as if he was her newest best
friend, assuring her that he would do everything he could to try to get her Z28
back to her as soon as possible. He didn’t realize she overheard him tell the
clerk that “she’d be lucky to get that car back in time for her retirement
party, right after she signs up for Medicare.” Then he belly-laughed. She
wanted so badly to tell Reasoner she’d heard him, just to hear what he’d say,
but she decided to hold that information for Randolph to deal with. Rhetta was
pleased to see that the clerk had shot the sheriff an unpleasant look, and
didn’t join him in his mirth.
    After Randolph’s accident a few months back, all of
the law enforcement officers she had talked to were convinced he had been
driving drunk, especially Reasoner. When she proved that Randolph wasn’t drunk,
Reasoner hadn’t bothered to call Randolph and extend his good wishes. Now he
was sucking up looking for political support. The creep.
    She tried her best to squeal the tires as she left
the parking lot, but Trailblazers were not Camaros. She couldn’t even make the
tires whimper. All she managed to do successfully was to fish-tail on the
still-wet pavement. She pounded out her frustration on the steering wheel. “I
want Cami back.”
     
    *
* *
     
    LuEllen
was on the phone, and Woody was interviewing a young couple when she finally
made it back to the office. Rhetta’s stomach rumbled, reminding