Rapid Fire by Jessica Andersen Read Free Book Online

your
responsibility anymore.”
     
    But the
words rang false, banging up against the vow she’d made just that morning, when
she’d decided it was time to stop sulking because nobody believed her, time to
get out there and prove that her Wexton Henkes was their man. Their Mastermind.
     
    “To hell
with it,” she said, though she wasn’t sure whether she was rejecting Thorne,
her vow or the whole complicated mess. She climbed out of the car and stalked
into the PD, ignoring the stab of nostalgia for the walk she’d taken almost
daily for the first nine months she’d lived in Bear Claw, and had managed only
a handful of times in the past three months, while her suspension dragged on.
     
    She had
taken two steps toward the conference room when Chief Parry appeared in his
office doorway. “We’ll meet in here.”
     
    Maya
paused. “But the task force meetings are always in the conference—” Then she
stopped herself, took a breath and nodded. “Of course. Sorry.”
     
    Aware of
the curious stares of the desk clerks and the cops gathered outside the
conference room, she lifted her chin, not wanting them to know how much it
bothered her to be back in the PD with no resolution of her status in sight.
She held her back stiff as she strode into the chief’s office and sat in the
visitor’s chair, feeling every inch an intruder in her own workplace.
     
    Chief
Parry remained standing in the doorway, and moments later called, “There you
are, Coleridge. I want you in here, too.”
     
    Maya
winced but didn’t protest. What would be the use? Instead, she schooled her
expression to professional blankness as Thorne entered the room and the chief
closed the door before taking the chair behind his wide, cluttered desk. In the
absence of a third chair, Thorne leaned back against the glass door and shoved
his hands in his pockets in a study of casual interest.
     
    His
presence filled the room and scraped her already raw nerve endings, but she
didn’t let it show. Instead, she turned her back on Thorne and focused on the
chief. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
     
    Parry sat
silent for a moment, and his eyes flicked to Thorne and back to her, passing a
silent message she couldn’t interpret, one that set her nerves to a razor’s edge.
Then the chief said, “Look, Cooper, I know this hasn’t been easy for you, but
you’re not helping yourself one bit with these antics.”
     
    A nasty
disquiet twisted in her stomach. “I’m not sure I’m following you.”
     
    The chief
scowled. “What were you doing at the Chuckwagon Ranch?”
     
    Knowing
he was going to be ticked, Maya shifted in her chair. “When I was checking on
connections between the State Park and the Natural History Museum, I found that
Wexton Henkes is on both boards. Turns out he’s also a major underwriter of the
college hockey rink and owns most of the Chuckwagon Ranch.” She paused, aware
that the chief’s face was rapidly purpling. “I thought I’d check the place out
for myself.”
     
    “And
nearly got yourself killed, along with an innocent child,” Thorne said. His
voice was quiet, but loaded with condemnation. “You didn’t think to bring this
to Chief Parry? To your friends in the Forensics Department? You thought going
Lone Ranger was a good idea? What if you’d gotten yourself—”
     
    “It was a
fishing expedition,” she interrupted without turning toward him. “I never
expected Henkes to come after me like that. If I had just—”
     
    “Enough!”
Parry slapped his desk hard enough to make the papers jump. “I’ve had enough of
you persecuting Henkes. First the child abuse thing and now this? I won’t hear
of it.” He made a short, vicious chopping motion with his hand. “It’s over, do
you hear me? We both know you haven’t got any evidence. You’ve got theories and
your own personal bias. I don’t know what you’ve got against Henkes and
frankly, I don’t care. I just want you to leave him alone. Hell, I