Page 4 of Seducing the Sheriff
Another door was located on the tub side, which opened up to the laundry room, the dining area on the other end of the kitchen, and the bottom of one of the sets of stairs. The other was a sketchy-looking, winding wrought-iron staircase that inexplicably went through a hole in the ceiling of the expansive living room.
I wasn’t keen on using them for anything other than maybe a plant stand. They didn’t seem very trustworthy. Perhaps an escape route? I had so many questions.
At the moment, my biggest query involved a rotting carcass. Seeing as the smell had put me off my food, I decided to make this my quest for the evening. If the animal was in the wall or under the house, I’d wait until tomorrow to decide how to deal with it. But if it was in the alcove closet or cabinet, then I wanted it removed immediately.
A thorough examination with my flashlight didn’t uncover anything in the cabinet, so I moved on to the closet. It was empty, since I hadn’t hung anything in there yet, and wasn’t all that practical. It wasn’t anywhere near either the front or back, which meant it wouldn’t work as a hall closet to hang coats. The downstairs bedroom next to it had its own closet.
In addition, it was awkwardly placed. The cabinet was short and angled to accommodate the area beneath the stairs, a creative use of space. The closet was wedged between that and the bathroom threshold. Overall, its existence made zero sense. I had so much work ahead of me that I hadn’t given a thought as to how I might reconfigure this bizarre section.
I shone my flashlight in the closet, checking the corners, searching for mouse holes or cracks in the seams where the plywood backing of the closet had been hastily assembled. I shook my head at the simple painting of a Day of the Dead skull underneath which the presumed artist had declared ‘my best closet ever’.
I begged to differ.
Who knew if the artist and signee were the same, since nothing could be certain at this point regarding this house. I let out a long sigh. Since I had set up shop with the air mattress in the furniture-free living room, I could walk away for the night and add it to the list for tomorrow. The fetid smell wouldn’t travel that far. I grunted. How could it? There were way too many twists and turns to get there.
Right as I switched off the flashlight, something caught my eye, and I quickly flicked it back on. I fell to my haunches, frowning at the tiny gap beneath the back wall of the closet. When I stood, it was hard to notice, but near the floor, it was easy to see that the skull board didn’t extend all the way down. At least half an inch was exposed between the bottom and the floor.
I also realized that the board was much newer than the ones on the sides. Whenever it had been placed there, it wasn’t when the closet was built. It also stood to reason that since it was wedged between the underside of the stairs and the bathroom wall, there must be open space behind the closet.
I rose to my feet so I could grab a crowbar. For all I knew, it could be Rodent City behind that board. Any mouse worth his mettle could easily squeeze underneath that gap. For that matter, rats probably could, too.
I didn’t have to go far to retrieve the required tool. Other than surplus wood and paint, I had all my supplies inside the house. When I returned, I set up the lantern part of the flashlight on a step stool to help guide my way. There was an exposed lightbulb with a chain pull in the center of the alcove, but it barely cast a glow in the back of the closet.
I jammed the end of the crowbar into the gap and tugged. Whoever placed it there had secured it well, but plywood was plywood, and after several heaves, it began to crack. With a solid tug, most of it split open, and I used the claw of my hammer to break the rest of the bits free.
While struggling with the wood, I’d bumped into the step stool, and the lantern went askew. I set down the hammer and grabbed the flashlight so I wouldn’t get a nasty surprise if the mice were skittering toward me.
I lifted the lantern, and it filled the dark, empty space beneath the stairs with light. Stumbling backward with a cry, I dropped the flashlight, the sound of it clattering on the chipped wood floor making me jump again.
The space might be dark, but it sure as hell wasn’t empty. When I’d shone my light, I was greeted with the vacant stare of a mummified corpse.
Chapter Two
Cash
“It’s an alien butt,” Rosie said from the doorway.
I knew that. I’d eaten enough of the cookies from Destiny’s Flying Saucer bakery. I just wasn’t sure what it was doing on my desk. I’d spent the afternoon at a meeting with the mayor and local businessmen, and I was sure it wasn’t there when I left.
“Did you put it there?” I asked, then realized how ungracious that sounded as her lips pursed.
I could hear Mom sighing in my head as she pointed out—yet again—to “thank people instead of interrogating them, Cash.” MindMom had a loud voice.
“I mean, thank you, Rosie.”
Rosie was my new assistant. Or rather, I was new in the police department. She’d been here forever as Police Chief Wally’s sidekick, but he had semi-retired as police chief of Charming Butte and Bobcat Stump. I had been elected the new county sheriff and currently divided my time between Charming Butte and an office on the other side of the county. As Rosie was left without a boss and I was without an assistant, it made sense to put us together.
We had an…uneasy relationship. I think she expected me to be Chief Wally MkII, and, much as I respected the old man, that was never going to happen. I mean, the guy was older than dirt and I got the feeling the residents wanted to make life easy for him, especially Rosie.
I was new to Charming Butte, having grown up on the other side of the state, but I was an experienced law enforcement officer with my own way of doing things. Time would tell if Rosie and I could make it work.
She sniffed and curled her lip. “I didn’t leave it there. I have more taste.”
Now I was confused. Who else would buy me an alien butt cookie?
Rosie must have caught sight of my furrowed brow. “Dexter Chase came by this afternoon. He brought them for the whole department as thanks for catching the cattle rustlers last week.”
“Ahhh.”
