Page 42 of The Irish Rogue

Barely seconds later, a tall man wearing the brown uniform of the local sheriff’s department came out. He had sharp, dark eyes and a look about him that screamed, “Don’t mess with me”.

“I’m Sheriff Donovan,” the man said, extending his hand. A moment later, his eyes narrowed. “I know you. Where have we met?”

“Last summer, you helped me when Kennedi was being harassed by some jerk named Brody.”

They shook hands and the sheriff nodded. “Right. Right.” He seemed to be thinking about something, but came to some sort of conclusion. That’s when he noticed Declan in his car carrier. “And who are you?” he asked, his voice turning amused. He shot a playful glance at the receptionist. “Do I need to arrest this young fellow for illegal adorableness?”

The receptionist laughed. “Be serious! This is about that red dress situation.”

The sheriff straightened and looked at Sean. “Right. Come on back. I’d like to hear what you’ve seen.”

Sean followed the man back through a secured doorway, carrying Declan. Once in the office, Sean unstrapped Declan, placing him on his knee as he cradled him against his body. The little guy was starting to sit up straight, but he wasn’t quite there yet. Sean had read that it was around four months that most babies were able to sit up on their own.

“So, what’s going on?” the sheriff asked.

“I’m Sean Byrne,” he explained. “I’m not from around here, but I’m working with Tom on a business deal.”

“Tom is a good man. I hear that he and Dorothy are considering retiring.” The sheriff narrowed his eyes. “Are you going to mess up his operation after buying it?”

“I’m going to try to maintain the current atmosphere, if the deal goes through,” Sean replied. “But Sheriff about the–”

“Call me Mick,” the sheriff interrupted. “Everyone around town does.”

“Mick, when I was here last year, I caught a flash of red in the woods when I was driving around town.” He paused, thinking back to that day. “Correction, I was out in the farming area when I saw the flash of red. But at the time, I didn’t think anything of it.”

“Go on,” the man said. “Do you remember where you were?”

Sean shook his head. “I was just driving down random roads, trying to get a feel for the town. I don’t think I could even recognize the area if I drove past it again. Sorry.”

“That’s okay. But was that the only time?”

“No, last year, I dismissed it, thinking it was just kids running through the fields.” Sean grabbed a toy for Declan to replace his fist in his mouth. The little guy grabbed onto the toy, stuffing as much of it into his mouth as possible. “The next time I saw a flash of red was right after I landed yesterday. I was getting off my plane and–”

“Where did you fly into?”

“Henson Airfield,” he replied.

Mick’s pen poised above his notebook. “You flew in on a private plane?”

Sean shrugged. “Yes, but is that relevant?”

Mick chuckled. “Nope. Just not something that we see often around here.”

Sean continued. “I saw someone in the woods, just beyond the airstrip. It was just another flash of red, which I didn’t concern myself about. Again, I assumed it was a kid in the woods.”

“What time was this?”

“I can check with my pilot for the actual time,” he replied, “but it was just before lunch.”

“Okay, anything else?”

“Yes. Last night.”

That caught Mick’s attention. “What did you see last night?”

“I got to my rental place right before eleven pm. I didn’t turn on any lights, so I guess that the other houses just assumed that the rental property was still vacant. Because they didn’t seem to even try to hide from me.”

“And what did you see?”

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