Page 92 of Sawyer
I open it, look over photos of what was left of a burned car, the flames obviously big, given the size of the charred marks on the ground and up the tree.
“Full tank of fuel in the car?”I ask him immediately, my eyes still glued to the file.
“Looks like it.”
“And… time of impact was predicted to be about an hour before emergency services arrived?”I ask, knowing that an accident out there would probably go unnoticed for a while.Until someone smelled smoke or saw flames or drove past.
“That’s the estimate.”He nods, looking at me expectantly.“What exactly are you looking for here, Sawyer?”
I take a deep breath, about to open the biggest can of worms for this small town and for Annabelle with no evidence and just a gut feeling.
“There’s something going on here, Sherriff, that doesn’t feel right.It feels personal.”I give him a look that tells him exactly what I’m thinking.
“Are you suggesting that Steve didn’t die that night?Because if you are, you’re out of your goddamn mind,” he grits out.
“Maybe.But tell me that’s not a possibility.Tell me that bone fragments were found?”I press him.
I close the file, placing it on his desk, waiting for him to refute my claim.But he doesn’t.
“I know men who hurt their women do so because of power, because they want to control them.Annabelle has been controlled for a long time, and the moment she steps out of character with me, things start happening.”
“That’s a very long string you have attached there, Sawyer, but I’ll humor you, if for no other reason to ensure Annabelle knows he’s gone for good.I suggest you leave it with me, for at least a few days.I’ll speak to the team in Williamstown, get them to go over things on their end to ensure no stone was left unturned.”
I breathe out the breath I’ve been holding.
“Can I make a suggestion?”he asks, just as I start to stand.
“Sure.”I wait.
“If you think things only happen when you're gone, then maybe you should go.”
I look at him like he’s crazy, because he is.“I’m not leaving her,” I tell him adamantly.
“I don’t think anything is going to happen while you’re there.If we have any chance of catching who it is, then we need you gone, and we need her alone.”He looks at me, unwavering, and I think I need to vomit.
“You’re asking me for the one thing I just can’t give you.”
“I know.But maybe we can come up with a plan?”he says in a way that makes me think he already has one, and so I lower back down and take a seat.
42
Sawyer
Looking at the jet, I grit my teeth.
I left Annabelle.Not only have I left her, but I had to lie to her.She can’t know what we’re up to.We need her to act as she normally would, which killed me, because I saw the fear in her eyes when I walked out her door.She was quick to mask it, acting tough and stoic, as is her nature, but I saw it.I saw it in Kevin’s eyes as well.Their gazes pierced me straight through the heart, enough to have me almost pulling the pin on the entire thing.They both understand what happens after I leave, but the sheriff is right; if we want to encourage the perpetrator out of hiding, then this is the only way we can do it.
Now, as I stand on the tarmac at the small Whispers airport, night having fallen, I take a deep breath and force myself to walk up the metal stairs to my jet slowly.My legs feel like lead, my body begging me to turn around, my mind a mess.It’s true, I have work to do, a lot of it.But jumping in my jet and leaving her is the last thing I want.
“All ready, sir?”my pilot asks, and I nod as I look at him from under my brow.No, I feel like telling him.How can I be ready to leave the woman who I know is my forever in a situation where she could come to harm?How can I leave those boys?I swallow hard, giving him approval to leave, unable to speak the words.
I look out the window, the dark sky making me feel more trepidation than normal.As the jet door closes, I pray that the sheriff is in place with his men and can handle it.Tanner knows something is up.Both he and Connor, along with my brother, Sutton, have been calling every day, and when I said I needed to go to the city, I was surprised they didn’t turn up and give me a black eye themselves.They weren’t happy, offering their place for Annabelle.Sutton told me how disappointed he was when I said I was needed in my New York office, putting this plan the sheriff had into place.While I don’t love it, it does make sense.Me leaving Whispers and jumping on my jet will bring out the perpetrator and the sheriff and his team can then catch him before I fly straight back here to be with my family.
Doing circles in the air nearby is not my idea of a good time, though.That, and the fact that the sheriff is severely understaffed, yet quietly confident he knows what he’s doing.It leaves me feeling unsettled.But I don’t have much of a choice.
The whole thing makes my muscles constrict and my stomach churn.I left her at the very last moment, after dinner, right before the boys went to bed, not wanting her to be alone all night, yet having to trust the law enforcement that they actually know what they are doing.
“We’ll be at altitude in about fifteen minutes,” the pilot says over the speaker, and I close my eyes as I feel the wheels leave the tarmac, my heart lurching now that I’m no longer on the ground.As we ascend, we cut through the clouds, and my knee bounces as I grab my cell.
