Page 15 of Blood Bearon
She rounded on him with a glare. “The city isburning. While you seem not to care, there are people out there that need my protection. I’m not going to go home and sleep while they’re in danger. Once things taper off, I’ll get some sleep. Now go away before I change my mind and arrest you. Again.”
Watching him go, Rachel realized she hadn’t even got his name.
“That’s some fine detective work you’ve done there, Corningstone,” she muttered, still trying to wrap her head around what had happened, and her decision to let him go. Why did she even care about him? The old her would have arrested him and let his ass rot in jail until he confessed.
Because everything you saw and felt said he wasn’t guilty of anything.
Hopefully, she wasn’t being an idiot about it.
Her radio went off before she could think about it any further.
“All units, all units, we have multiple reports of a fire at...”
Her hand automatically reached into the front seat and grabbed the mic. “This is Corningstone. I’m on it,” she said, slamming the mangled door closed and getting in.
It was time to do her job.
9
Wiping at her eyes and stifling another yawn with the back of her arm, Rachel shuffled into the office, feeling more like a zombie out of a b-level television show than a hard-nosed police detective. The puffy tenderness under her eyes hadn’t been dispelled by a coffee just yet and would probably require another cup or two before she resemblednormal.
“Corningstone, you look like shit.”
She glanced over at Martin’s desk, giving the sergeant a slow up and down. “Really? I thought I did a pretty decent job of dressing up as you. I forgot the beer belly in the car, but otherwise, I nailed it.”
“Fuck you,” the portly beat cop fired back.
“In my nightmares,” she muttered just loud enough for the whole office to hear, earning her a few chuckles.
“Corningstone!”
Her head came around as Sheriff Dottner’s voice barked through the room. Immediately, she winced and rubbed at her neck as tired muscles protested the sudden movement, still not loosened up since she’d rolled off her couch thirty minutes ago after about three hours of sleep.
“Yes, Sheriff?”
“My office.” Dottner’s head disappeared back through his door.
Mumbledooooh’swent up from the room.
“What are we, in grade school?” she snorted with a roll of her eyes. “Grow up, people.”
Nobody responded, but eyes tracked her progress down through the rows of desks and cubicles anyway. It didn’t bother Rachel that most of them hoped she would get in some sort of trouble, the big hot-shot city detective they disliked simply because she wasn’t from around there. Most of them assumed she thought herself better than them, though that couldn’t be further from the truth.
A large figure sat hunched over outside of Dottner’s desk, head resting in his hands, as if he was snoozing. There were no handcuffs around his wrists, so Rachel paid him no mind, pausing just long enough to rap her knuckles on the door before entering.
“You wanted to see me, Sheriff?” she asked.
“Close the door.”
Frowning, she stepped fully inside and shut the door behind her. Was she in trouble after all?
“How are you doing?”
Rachel shrugged. “Tired as shit, Sheriff, like everyone else here, but that’s the nature of it. I’ve pulled long shifts like this before, so I’ll manage.”
“Good to know, because I think you’re going to have to.” Dottner sat, and motioned for her to do the same.
“If it’s all the same, Sir, I’ll stand. I need to keep moving.”
