Page 113 of The Rogue

I don’t need them to tell me what’s going on.

I’ll find out on my own.

What I do with it is another story.

Noah’s wide-eyed without the espresso dad sent me here with, but he gladly takes it.

“Thanks.”

I sit on a black leather chair across from him at his spotless glass desk.

Noah leans back with a question in his eyes. “Bullet hole?”

My eyes dip to the list he’s got in front of him. “I don’t think she knows I’ve seen it.”

He sighs, sitting up. “You sure this is what you want? Look for a woman who doesn’t want to be found?”

“She said she’s coming back.”

“Of course she’s coming back. When she needs another job or when she gets bored or whatever other reason, she keeps showin’ up.”

“City girl who loves small towns,” I mutter, remembering Tessa’s words to me one night when she told me where she’s from.

“What?”

“Somethin’ she said to me.”

Noah shakes his head. “Loves small towns. Hates doors. And I thought I had the weird one.”

He taps his pen on the glass table. “Do you remember her first time here?”

I scoff. I’ll never forget it. She was a hell of a spitfire then. Had passion, beliefs. She looked…hell, maybe a decade younger. She’s lost some of that since. It’s like something’s been sucking the life out of her these last few years. Like she’s given up.

“Yeah. She was workin’ at the Hideaway Police Station.”

“Okay. Any chance Sheriff can tell us anything?”

A vague memory strikes. And I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before. “He knows something. When she messed with their computers and deleted all their violations, they were going to arrest her. But then Sheriff got a call, and they let her go. He wouldn’t tell me why. Just walked away from me.”

Noah’s brows skyrocket. He picks up the phone and puts it on speaker.

“Sheriff Bradshaw’s office.”

“Paula, hi. Noah Reeves.”

“Hey, Noah. Who’s complaining to you about us now?”

“My brother.”

“The hockey player?”

“No. The grumpy one.”

“Oh. Well feel free to tell him to pay us a visit and we can settle this my way.” There's a smirk in her voice.

I laugh. “Hey, Paula.”

“You two playing games again. I’ll get the Sheriff for ya. Hang tight.”

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