Page 5 of Silent Neighbor

Finn placed a hand on her uninjured shoulder. "We'll get our chance, Sheila. But we have to do this by the book. Otherwise, it'll compromise everything."

Sheila nodded, but her eyes never left the door to the interrogation room. She had waited ten years for this moment. What was a few more hours?

Finn cleared his throat. "Listen, Sheila, there's something else we need to discuss."

Sheila turned, her brow furrowing at his tone. "What is it?"

"There's a town meeting tomorrow morning," Finn said. "I think you should be there."

"A town meeting? About what?" Sheila asked, confusion momentarily displacing her fixation on Mills.

Finn hesitated for a moment before answering. "It's about Natalie... and about choosing a new sheriff to replace her."

The words hit Sheila like a physical blow. Natalie. The older sister in whose shadow Sheila had always lived; the sister who had been shot in the line of duty, an injury because of which she'd been confined to a wheelchair; the Olympic kickboxer who, unable to cope with her new limitations, had taken her own life.

And Sheila had been the one who discovered her, no less.

The wound of Sheila's loss was still raw, the grief a constant ache in her chest. And now the town was already moving to replace her?

"It's too soon," Sheila protested.

"I know it feels that way," Finn said, his voice gentle. "But it's been over half a year. The town needs leadership, and we can't leave things in limbo indefinitely."

Sheila closed her eyes, feeling the weight of everything pressing down on her: her mother's unsolved murder, Natalie's suicide—and now the possibility of stepping into her sister's shoes, of taking on a responsibility she wasn't sure she was ready for.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw Finn watching her, his gaze steady and supportive. "You don't have to decide anything right now," he said. "Just be there, listen to what they have to say. Okay?"

Sheila nodded slowly, her mind whirling with conflicting thoughts and emotions. She turned back to the interrogation room, where Mills sat, still and silent. So much hung in the balance.

Justice for her mother. Her own future. The future of Coldwater.

I'll find out what happened, she silently whispered to her mother as she stared at Mills. No matter what it takes, no matter what I have to sacrifice… the truth will come out. I'll make sure of it.

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