Page 35 of Welker

“Okay,” Moira raised a brow, urging Mase to continue.

“So, I explained your compromised situation, told her your department was short-staffed, and that you’d been put on leave for an indefinite period of time. Hayden was…intrigued, to say the least, by what’s going on, as I knew she would be when given the details. After we talked, she accessed the national website that all sheriffs’ departments share, and found that Gladstone is advertising for help.”

Right. The prick couldn’t have been bothered to hire anyone while she’d been busting her ass covering all the extra shifts, but now that she was out of commission, he was more than willing to look for extra hands.

“What does that have to do with…all this?” she asked shrewdly.

Moira had an idea as to what was going on. She wasn’t stupid.

“It seemed to me and Hayden—and a lot of our team who’ve been discussing it—that something’s off with how Gladstone treated not only the MC investigation and trial, basically leaving it all to you, but also with the attitude they’ve adopted where your break-in is concerned.”

Moira nodded her agreement, waiting patiently for Mason to get to his point.

“The office Hayden works in is a tight-knit bunch, and when she told the story to her boss and asked about applying for the job—bogusly and undercover of course—he readily agreed that something sounded fishy, and if anyone could find out what was going down, it would be Hayden.”

“So she’s…?” Moira was dumbstruck.

“…putting together a kick-ass résumé with stellar references from her boss, and hoping she’ll get the job.”

Moira frowned. “If Gladstone, Pickenstahl, or the pair of them are rotten, Hayden might be putting herself in danger.”

Mason laughed, holding the phone out for Moira as the person on the other end of the line obviously had something to say about that. “She wants to talk to you.”

Moira hesitantly reached for the phone. It was one thing for her teammates to come to her rescue. It was another thing entirely for a complete stranger to ride in on a white horse.

“Hello?” Moira asked, tentatively.

“Hi, Moira. I’m Hayden, and I can’t wait to meet you. Mason says you’re an awesome part of his team, and I’m so sorry that shit has been dropping on you like it has. If all goes well, I’ll be digging into your woes within the week.”

Moira swallowed, feeling that a warning was necessary. “You know you could be putting a target on your back,” she stated.

Hayden laughed. “Which is why my very overprotective husband, Boone, will be joining me. I’m no slouch, but he’s a big-bad-cowboy, takes his protective streak of me very seriously, and kicks some serious ass, so we’ll be fine. Besides, we’ve always wanted to visit Maine.”

What could Moira say to that? In one sentence, Hayden had pretty much negated all Moira’s arguments.

“If you’re sure…”

“I am. I just hope I can convince your boss that I’ll be a worthy addition to the department.”

Moira pondered that for a second, and decided to give her a few pointers. “Just agree with everything he says, and don’t come off sounding too self-assured. That’s where Gladstone and I have had our problems. Pickenstahl, too. They’re old school, and thinks that we women should take a back seat to our male counterparts.”

“Fuck that,” Hayden responded vehemently, which made Moira like the deputy, even more. “But if playing the subservient female is what it takes to get the job, I can pretend, at least for a little while,” she chortled.

“What will you be looking for if they take you in?” Moira asked, curious. She had a few ideas, but wanted to hear from Hayden, what she thought to accomplish.

“Scuttlebutt on how your boss and your colleagues actually feel about you. A deep, surreptitious dive into what they’re up to in their off time with the help of a friend named Tex. I’m also very good at making myself extremely pleasant, and even invisible when the need arises, so I’m sure people will talk while I’m around. They’ll never suspect that I might have an interest in what’s going on with you.”

“I have to say that a lot of the guys in the office are pretty good about buckling down and working with me when the situation calls for it,” Moira told her. “There are only a few who simply…ignore me.”

Hayden grumbled, and Moira continued.

“In particular, I guess, if I were you, I’d be looking into Gladstone, Pickenstahl, and a newer deputy, Henley Murphy, who’s been with the department for about six months, ever since he took the place of one of our deputies who was killed while on duty.”

“Tell me about that,” Hayden urged.

It was a sad chapter in their department. Moira had liked the young, father of two, who’d been killed.

“Deputy Alstead was beaten to death one night about eight months ago,” Moira related with a bite to her voice. “Gladstone spearheaded the investigation, but never found his murderers.”

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