Twirled Bond (Holly Woods Files, #5) (11 page)

“I can’t believe you’re getting dressed before coffee.”

I pull my head through the hole and glare at him while I put my arms into the dress. “I can’t believe you’re sassin’ me before coffee.”

He flashes me a grin as he shrugs his shirt on, but it soon drops. “You’re right. Jessica will be at the station quicker than you can shake a stick at her.”

“Or throw it for her to fetch.”

“That might be the politest way you’ve ever called her a bitch.” He kisses the side of my head as he walks past me and back into the bedroom.

I pull a pair of shoes off a shelf—one of the few allowed in the main closet.

“It’s going to make it very hard. You know the sheriff is fussy about who knows what, and usually, the mayor is in that circle. With Jessica doing the paper...” He trails off, but I know what he means.

The mayor will happily hand any information he finds out to Jessica to write up before any other journalists can get it. Great. More drama. That’s what we need right now.

“Come on. We’ll stop by Rosie’s and get everyone coffee. I’ll charge it to the station.”

“Fine,” I say, grabbing my makeup bag. “But I’m getting ready in the car.”

Jessica’s car is outside the station. Right next to the mayor’s.

I groan, jumping out the truck. Six forty-five a.m. is far too early for either of them. Hell, any time is far too early for them.

At least I have my cover story fixed in case Mayor McFuckface decides to question me. Mrs. Russo hired me, so I’m here to get information I need to tell her that her daughter has probably been found.

The worst part is that there are also suspicious-looking cars parked across the street. The faces pressed against the windows give away the fact that they’re part of the media. As well as the stickers on the back windows proclaiming to be from various local news stations.

Thank God Drake wears plain clothes. We look like any other couple walking into the police station. No doubt, if he were in uniform, they’d be swarming us like crazy.

“Briefing room one,” Charlotte, the receptionist, says the moment we arrive.

I swear the woman is always working.

“Thanks,” Drake says. “Here. We got coffee.” He pulls one cup from his holder and slides it across the counter to her.

We leave to the sound of her thanks, and almost instantly, it becomes painfully obvious why this discussion is taking place in a meeting room.

There’s a verbal sparring contest going on in there.

We share a look before Drake balances the holder against his chest and opens the door without knocking. Sheriff Bates and Mayor McDougall are staring each other down in the middle of the room.

If the senior center had a boxing ring, I imagine this is what it would be like.

In the red corner, we have Sheriff Bates, his handcuffs, and his gun. Aaaand, in the blue corner, we have Mayor McDougall, his beer belly, and his ego.

Ding, ding, ding. Round one is under way.

“Randy, if Jessica prints this information before we’re able to speak to the family and offer them the necessary support, Holly Woods is going to become a very unpleasant place to be.” Sheriff Bates flattens his hands on the table at the front of the room and stares him down. “You might run this town, but I run this building. If this story is printed, I’ll have Judge Barnes signing an order that’ll stop her from coming within fifty feet of the station so she doesn’t impede our investigation. Until we get a positive I.D. on the skeleton, no information leaves this building. Is that clear?”

The tension is palpable, thick as hell. So much so that I can taste it on my tongue every time I breathe it.

Not that it stops my brothers from grabbing their coffees from Drake’s hand.

Jessica’s sitting in the corner, one leg crossed over the other, staring daggers at me.
Nothing new here, then.
I barely even offer her a cursory glance before I hand Brody and Dev their coffees and throw the empty holder in the trash. Lord knows we’re never gonna get along, so there’s no point in even trying to make it happen or pretending like it might.

Mayor McDougall’s amber eyes slide toward me. They narrow with thinly veiled anger as they focus on me, and I brace myself.

“Ms. Bond. I can’t imagine why you’re here. You’re not a police officer and have no business here.”

Well, you’re not exactly a cop, either, are you? Idiot.

“Bates, why is she here?” he demands of the sheriff. “Surely sleeping with Detective Nash doesn’t give her a free pass.”

Drake straightens next to me, but I speak before he can.

“Actually,
sir
”—god, that hurts to say—“Mrs. Russo hired me yesterday to find her daughter. If this body belongs to her, I’d like to have that information to pass on so we can discuss how she’d like to proceed. I’m sure you can appreciate that trying to find Daniela when her body may be in the morgue is a waste of my time and resources. I think it’s in our best interests to work together right now to make this as easy as possible for the Russo family.” I hand Sheriff Bates the final coffee from Drake’s holder.

The old man’s eyes sparkle at me, and I swear he cracks a wink before I turn back to the mayor.

“And, as for me ‘sleeping’ with Detective Nash, I think you’ll find that’s a serious relationship that has led to my new hobby being picking his clothes off the floor next to our laundry basket, thank you very much.”

With that, I take a seat behind one of the tables, next to Trent, and sip my coffee.

Trent sighs and leans in with a whisper. “You were doing so well until the laundry basket thing. I was almost impressed.”

I kick him under the table. Prick.

What? I don’t care if he’s the mayor or not. You come out and disrespect my ass like that, I’m gonna shoot you down and put you right. Simple.

“Is it Daniela Russo?” Mayor McDougall ignores my comments and turns back to Sheriff Bates.

“When I know and her family knows, I’ll let you know. Now, if you’ll excuse us, I’d like to speak with Ms. Bond so she has the necessary information to speak with Mrs. Russo later today regarding their contract.” Sheriff Bates raises an eyebrow.

Tension sizzles yet again.

Nobody can win this standoff—let’s be honest. The mayor against the sheriff. They’re both evenly matched in terms of the power they have in this town, so if Mayor McFuckface has any common sense, he’ll leave and come back at a different time.

“Jessica will be calling you this afternoon for your statement,” McDougall says.

“I will be unavailable,” Sheriff Bates responds without batting an eyelid. “We have a case to solve.”

“Then I’m sure Detective Nash will have a few minutes to speak with her. Yes, Nash?” The mayor turns to Drake.

Drake scratches behind his ear. “No disrespect, sir, but I’m also going to be unavailable. We’re going to be working hard to wrap this case up as soon as possible, and that means no individual interviews. Otherwise, we’ll spend more time talking to the media than anything. We’ll have a press conference within forty-eight hours, and we will, of course, extend an invitation to Ms. Shearer.”

Mayor McDougall squares up to Drake—stupid idea, really, given that Drake has a good three inches on him, even perched against a table like he is. “Jessica will call you this afternoon for your statement.”

Drake’s lips twitch to one side. “I’ll make sure my machine is turned on so I don’t miss her message while I’m working.”

I choke on my coffee. Everyone turns to look at me, but Brody has my back—literally—and hits me between my shoulder blades until the tickle in my throat is gone.

“Sorry,” I rasp. “Went down the wrong way.”

Drake raises an eyebrow at me. He knows I’m lying. In fact, I think everyone except the mayor and Jessica does.

Of course, that doesn’t stop her glaring hard at me on her way out. The second her back is turned, Teen Noelle pops up and forces me to flip the bird at her.

Unfortunately, she glances over her shoulder and sees it.

Ah well.

I can’t be immature
and
quick-witted. I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works in high school. Not that I’m bothered that she saw my gesture. In fact, I give so few fucks that the ones that do exist have probably slipped down the back of the sofa and into Never-To-Be-Found-Again-Ville.

So I don’t give those, either.

What. A. Shame.

“Ms. Bond?” Sheriff Bates asks. “Can we discuss this privately?”

“Of course.” I grab my coffee, flick Brody’s ear for the extra-hard whacks he gave me, and follow the older man out of the room.

His office is just down the hall, and Sheriff Bates moves like a man twenty years his junior. He’s swift and smooth, waving off anyone attempting to get his attention with the barest wave of his hand. He holds the door open for me and gestures for me to enter first.

I walk into his office and glance around. It’s the biggest of all of them in the building, and it’s also the brightest. Windows stretch all across one wall, and the windowsill is littered with photos of his kids and his grandchildren. Another wall is lined with bookcases, and the other is home to a black sofa and a very green, potted plant.

Props to him for keeping it alive. I’d kill a cactus given half a chance.

“Take a seat.” He waves his hand toward the desk in the middle of the room and shuts the door. I sit in one of the empty bucket chairs as he rounds the table and sits in a much larger, leather chair. “Good grief. It’s too early for his unreasonable requests,” he says, presumably referring to the mayor. Sheriff Bates presses two fingers against each temple and momentarily closes his eyes.

“It’s never not too early. Trust me.”

He glances up with a tiny smile. “Thank you for getting coffee.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Now. About your contract with Mrs. Russo.”

I put my coffee cup on his desk after a sip. “It’s all but void at this point. I can’t look for Daniela if you’re almost sure Tim has her body. I plan to meet with her after you have to hand her back her check.”

“No need. I spoke with her before she visited with you.” He clears his throat and loosens his tie the tiniest bit. “She said many times her gut feeling is that we have her daughter’s body. I think she came to you to find her as a front because she wants you to find out what led to her disappearance.”

“Which is exactly what you’ll be doing.” I grimace. Damn. Here it comes.

Sheriff Bates leans forward on his desk, his eyes sparkling. “Correct. Randy won’t hire you like he did in the past. Jessica is very much an influence in those decisions. But I think we can work together on this. Even if you and Detective Nash do tend to come to blows in these situations.”

I purse my lips. Only because he doesn’t listen to me when I know I’m right. “Sir, if I can live with him, I can work with him.” It’s been good practice for dealing with his stubbornness. And his with mine.

“I don’t doubt it.” He’s quietly laughing at me—I can see it in his eyes. “Between you and me,we’re not releasing details of this case to the press except brief statements either Nash or I will deliver in conferences. I remember well enough the insanity we dealt with when Daniela disappeared—now that she’s likely been found, it’s going to be worse. We have no idea about the circumstances we’re dealing with here.”

There’s no body to autopsy or tox screen—no obvious cause of death.
“Do you think she was murdered?”

He taps his fingers against the hard surface of his desk and looks over my head at the bookshelves. The look in his eye changes from amused to calculating, and I realize he doesn’t know.

They have nothing except the bones of a teenage girl and a thousand theories that are likely to be nothing more than fluffy fairytales.

“Her skull is damaged,” Sheriff Bates finally says, his deep voice rumbling through the room. “Not shattered, but enough that a section at the back fell away when we started to move her remains.”

Remains. That’s the word I’ve been failing to think of.

“I don’t want to speculate.” He pauses here. “But I believe it’s a very real possibility we’re looking at a murder case.” His phone rings, breaking into our conversation. “Excuse me,” he says, picking it up. “Bates... Uh-huh... Thank you, Charlotte.” He hangs up and looks to me. “I’m sorry to cut it short, but the Russos are here.”

“Don’t worry. Will you send Mrs. Russo to me when she’s ready? I should be in the office all day.” I have a mountain of paperwork so high that Everest would weep. Thank God it’s mostly on my laptop or I’d lose it.

“Of course.” He moves to the doorway and holds the door open for me.

I kiss his old cheek wrinkled with lines and smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Just before we move on with this though... Are you sure I can’t tempt you into coming back to police work? You’d make my life much easier.”

I grin. “Sorry, but no. It’s way more fun to find things out about people through questionable methods.”

He raises his eyebrows as we descend the stairs. “As always, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”