Page 26 of Crossing Lines

“Right, well, either way, I aim to catch the killer as quickly as possible.” Sam tapped the warrant. “This will help.”

Jamison nodded slowly. Sam wondered if Jamison was playing at some game, but when he looked into his eyes, he didn’t see deceit. Maybe Jamison was the straight shooter and Wilson was corrupt. Hard to tell.

“Thanks, Mason.” Henley left, turning back to look at Sam as he opened the door. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Meow!”

Major swatted the toy, and it fell to the ground just as the door shut behind Henley.

Major sat on the side of the desk, glaring at Sam as if challenging him. So he did want to play. Maybe the cat was finally coming around. Sam picked up the toy and threw it into the squad room.

Major’s green gaze followed the trajectory of the toy. Then he looked at Sam, flicked his tail, jumped from the desk, and trotted off toward the filing cabinet.

“So much for playing. Lucy would have been happy to chase that,” Sam yelled after the cat.

Sam almost made it back to his office before he was interrupted again. This time it was Marnie Wilson. She wore a white blouse with jeans, giving her a down-to-earth “common man” look. Was that on purpose so the locals would relate?

“Hey, Harry Woolston said you were busy, but I saw the lights on when I drove past and figured I’d stop in. Is this a bad time?”

“No.” It was, but Sam would rather just get it over with. She had something to say and would probably persist until she did.

“Oh, good.”

They went to the squad room, and Sam gestured toward a chair. “Have a seat.”

“Oh, this won’t take long. I was just wondering about permitting for businesses and certain incentives.” She stopped in front of the filing cabinet, perhaps unaware that Major was crouched up top now, glaring at the top of her head.

“What do you mean?” Odd question, what was she getting at?

“Like for energy companies. Do the town incentives include variation to the zoning laws for things like clean energy and job-creating resources?”

“I’m not sure. That’s not really my department. We enforce the zoning laws, but I’m not familiar with the incentives.”

“Oh, okay.” Marnie glanced around, apparently not ready to leave, and Sam wondered if she had an ulterior motive.

“Do you have an energy company?” he asked, wondering where the odd question had come from.

Marnie laughed. “No, I’m just trying to solidify my positions on certain topics when I run for mayor. We’ll be starting to campaign in full soon.”

“Jamison mentioned that.”

Marnie tilted her head and looked at him. “I hope I have your support.”

“I’ll have to see where you both stand on the issues first.”

A crease formed between Marnie’s brows, but she forced a smile. “Of course.”

Major slowly snaked his paw forward and batted at a stand of hair so gently that Marnie didn’t notice.

“Is that all you wanted?” Sam was anxious to get back to work. He only had another half hour before he was supposed to head out to Jo’s to pick up Lucy.

“Yes.” Marnie started to leave then hesitated. “I heard about the murder. Terrible thing.”

“It is.” Sam nodded toward his office. “I was just working on it, trying to chase down some leads.”

“Oh, of course. I don’t want to keep you from that important business. Nice to see you again.”

“You too.”

---