Page 104 of Swept for Forever
Dom moved before I could even process the question, shifting between me and the deputy like a barricade.
“Come on, Autumn. We’re leaving.”
Whitaker took a step forward. “Sir, this is a very serious incident. I’m gonna need to ask?—”
Dom sighed, pulled out his phone, and scrolled before turning the screen toward the deputy.
“I think you should question her instead,” Dom said flatly. “If you ask me, she’s a dead ringer for that sketch of yours.”
Whitaker’s gaze dropped to Dom’s phone. His frown deepened. His eyes flicked to me, then back down.
His lips parted, but no words came out.
A beat passed, then he took a step back and tucked his tablet away.
“Thought so,” Dom muttered, slipping into the truck.
I barely had time to buckle before I turned to him. “Who did you show him?”
His grin was pure sin. “Jennifer Lawrence.”
I let out a laugh, the tension within me finally cracking.
“There’s my Otter,” he murmured, pulling me closer and pressing a kiss to my hair.
“So, there was an armed robbery at Blodgett Pass, supposedly my doing. And Deborah Sinclair’s disappearance was at the same place. But so far, correct me if I’m wrong, the sketch was only linked to the robbery?”
“I think so,” he said. “But we need to find out if anyone has connected it to Deborah yet.”
“How?”
His fingers drummed against the wheel. “We go to the Buffaloberry Hill substation. I know the deputy who works there.”
I sank deeper into the seat. My pulse hadn’t quite settled. Somebody had set me up. Somebody wanted me to take the fall.
And if Dom hadn’t been with me just now, that rookie might’ve pulled me in for questioning before I had a chance to think.
I looked at him, my heartbeat still uneven. “You really would’ve taken me out of there no matter what, huh?”
His grip on the wheel tightened. “No one’s locking you up, Otter. Not on my watch.”
Even with the storm rolling in, with someone out there trying to frame me, I believed him.
28
DOM
We left the Buffaloberry Hill Sheriff’s Substation empty-handed. Granger, the local deputy, my old friend, was out on a case.
Later, I tried to give Sheriff Colton a call. His wife answered. The poor sheriff was hospitalized for a herniated disc. I wished them well, but it didn’t change the fact that the one man I needed wasn’t available.
I had to think. Fast.
We had a late lunch outside the county, someplace where Autumn’s face wasn’t plastered everywhere. The food at the café was fine. It was not Fredo’s Pizzeria and not Mrs. Sutton’s pies, but it’d do.
While waiting for dessert, I pulled up the sheriff’s office directory, scanning names. Whitaker was there. A handful of others, too. But I needed one in particular.
Autumn shifted beside me, watching my phone screen. “What are you looking for?”
