Page 30 of Searching for Valor

Izzy’s shoulders stiffened. “I’m not leaving here until?—“

“It’s not a request, Delgado.”

chapter

ten

The silencein the sheriff’s cruiser was thick, broken only by the hum of the engine. Izzy sat stiffly in the backseat, arms crossed over her chest, glaring out the window at the passing trees.

It stung that Ash didn’t trust her enough to let her drive herself. Even Rylan offering to drive her to the station hadn’t worked. So now Ash was in the Tahoe in front of them, Rylan was trailing in his truck, and she was stuck in this car that smelled like someone had vomited in it recently, with Deputy Cole Reed.

Of all her former co-workers, of course Reed had to be the one Ash assigned to drive her. He was a pompous ass who never missed an opportunity to get under her skin. Always quick with a snide comment or a condescending look that made her blood boil.

She felt his eyes on her and tried to ignore it.

“Must be weird being on the other side of the glass, huh?” Reed said finally.

“I’m not under arrest.”

Reed snorted. “Not yet anyway.”

Izzy’s jaw clenched against the urge to tell him to fuck all the way off. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

“Funny how things change,” he continued, his tone dripping with false sympathy. “One minute you’re the golden girl, the next I’m hauling your ass to the station for questioning.”

Don’t take the bait. Don’t take the bait.

Her nails dug into her palms as she fought the urge to lash out. Reed’s words were like salt in an open wound, reminding her of everything she’d lost. Her badge, her purpose, the trust of the people she cared about most. All because of one impossible choice.

“I’m not being hauled anywhere. I’m cooperating with an investigation.”

Reed let out a humorless chuckle. “Right. And I’m sure it has nothing to do with you trying to weasel your way back into the department’s good graces. Rawlings won’t take you back.“

Dammit, that stung. She sucked in a sharp breath at the quick pain of it, and nearly gagged on the stench.

Ugh, that was bad.

Which gave her an idea.

She smirked at the back of Reed’s head. “What did you do to piss off Sheriff Rawlings?”

Reed’s eyes narrowed in the rearview mirror. “What are you talking about?”

“This car reeks like someone puked their guts out in here.” She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “So I figure he must be pretty pissed at you to assign you the vomit-mobile to chauffeur the department pariah. Did you forget to file paperwork again? Lose evidence? Or, let me guess— you hit on the sheriff’s sister, and he found out. No, wait, couldn’t be that. Zak wouldn’t let you keep breathing if you hit on his wife. Oh my God, did you hit onRose?”

Reed’s knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.

“Holy shit. You did.” This guy must have a death wish if he thought hitting on the sheriff’s wife was a good idea.

“It—wasn’t like that. It was a misunderstanding. It was a compliment, but she took it the wrong way.”

Izzy highly doubted that Rose Rawlings, the gorgeous, tough-as-nails owner of the Mad Dog Pub, didn’t know the difference between a compliment and a come-on.

“I can’t believe you still have a job. And your balls. I’m assuming you still have them, and Rose didn’t cut them off…?” She watched with satisfaction as Reed’s jaw ticked, a vein pulsing in his temple.

Yeah, not so fun being on the receiving end, was it?

She enjoyed his seething silence the rest of the way to the sheriff’s department and offered him a bright smile when he was forced to open the locked door for her. “Good seeing you again, Reed.”

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