Page 60 of Sweet Sin

“I apologize. Some stuff went down last night. I was up late, talking to cops and such.”

“Cops?”

“Yeah. It’s a long story. I hope you won’t read about it in the papers, but you might. Suffice it to say, I apologize for not calling you earlier. I could tell you the truth. That my phone was dead and I didn’t know where it was, but would you believe me?”

“I have no reason to disbelieve you, Savannah.”

“I hate to leave you in a lurch, Bridget, but I’m going to have to resign.”

“Resign? You know how shorthanded we are.”

“Yeah, I know, but I haven’t been the best parole officer.”

“You’ve done fine. Your paperwork is impeccable.” She pauses “What aren’t you telling me?”

“That’s just it, Bridget. I can’t tell you. But I do apologize for leaving you in a bind. I hate doing that.”

“Can I talk you out of this?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“What about… Today’s Wednesday. Take the rest of the week off. Use PTO. We’ll talk Monday, okay?”

“Bridget—”

“Monday, Savannah. Okay?”

“No, Bridget. I’m sorry. But I quit.”

“So what next?” Leif asks.

“Savannah and I are free for now. Do you want to have dinner tonight and discuss it?”

“Yeah. You mind if I bring Kelly?”

Falcon narrows his eyes. “How much of your work do you share with her?”

“Everything,” Leif says. “She’s completely trustworthy.”

“Are you going to level with him?” I ask Falcon.

Falcon doesn’t reply.

Leif turns to me. “If he levels with anyone, it will be me. He may ask you and Kelly to leave the room.”

I shrug, though inside my heart crumbles a little. “That’s fine. I just feel like he needs to talk to somebody.”

“Hello?” Falcon shakes his head. “He is right here.”

Leif nods. “We know that, Fal.”

“What’s going down right now,” Falcon says, “has more to do with Savannah’s past than with mine. In fact, it doesn’t have anything to do with mine. Except that it might come bite me in the ass and they’ll decide to charge me with manslaughter again.”

“We won’t let that happen,” Leif says. “Will we, Savannah?”

“I agree. We won’t.” I grab his forearm. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You were protecting me. And I think now I may be able to protect you.”

“No,” Falcon says. “You will not try to protect me, Vannah.”

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