Page 16 of Wolf's Fate
The room was silent for a brief moment, and then the silence burst into a cacophony of voices, and I inwardly groaned. Sitting down, I faced the front, avoiding Lorna’s frown and Lily’s muttering about making things worse.
The sheriff finally regained control of the room, and I didn’t raise my head to meet the hard stare I justknewwas being directed my way. “Okay, let’s calm it down, folks. As I said, we’re investigating, and Willow’s right, while her two incidents yesterday were unfortunate, there is a different feel to them.” He took a moment and then confirmed what I already knew. “It’s possible that what happened to Willow is not connected.”
Not sure that made it better to hear it out loud.
“Everyone, just stay vigilant, make sure your homes are locked up, and keep calm.”
I knew without looking that Mrs. Lippe wouldn’t be satisfied,and from the grumblings that surrounded me, I knew she wasn’t the only one.
“I know it’s unsettling. We’ll get to the bottom of this, and in the meantime, let’s keep being neighborly and look out for each other.”
The meeting broke up, but that didn’t mean we could escape. Several people made a beeline for me, and I answered as little as possible, letting Lorna take control, with Lily jumping in now and again to save me from putting my foot in it again.
Finally, the end was in sight, and just as I was edging to the door, a hand on my arm halted my escape. Looking up, I saw the sheriff.
“Just a few minutes of your time,” he told me.
“Right.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat and nodded. “Of course.”
Dread swirled in my belly. The real questions were about to start.
Lily took one look at me, saw the hard stare of the sheriff, and wisely ushered Lorna out without a word of protest as she left me with him.
“How are you holding up?”
“I’m okay, thanks.” We stood in the aisle between the rows of seats, but he didn’t offer for me to sit down, and I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to. So instead, I switched my weight from foot to foot and probably resembled someone who needed to use the toilet.
“Sleep okay?”
“Yes, I had a great sleep,” I answered quickly, relieved atthe simplicity of the questions, and I knew what I’d done even as the words left my mouth.
“Strange, I can never sleep in a bed that’s not my own.” His thumbs were hooked in his gun belt. The way he stood there, broad-shouldered and exuding authority, he screamed stereotypical sheriff vibes—the kind I’d seen in every TV show I’d ever watched. I almost wanted to ask him if he’d taken acting lessons. The whole stance was too perfect for it to be natural.
“I had a long day,” I told him, breaking eye contact. “I was tired.”
He nodded. “That’s right, you have that illness, the fatigue one.” My smile was tight, but I didn’t elaborate on hisrusticunderstanding of my illness. “I heard about that,” he told me unnecessarily. “I don’t think we’ve spoken before, have we?”
He knew we hadn’t, and his act was pissing me off. “I don’t believe so.”
“Looked into you since last night,” he told me casually. “Not much there, is there?”
“Do you mean in my profile or between my ears?” I should’ve been more careful, but the gleam in his eye when I sassed him told me more about the sheriff than anything he had said so far.
“Quite an inheritance the foster parents left you.” He didn’t react to my look of surprise. “Got anyone you can think of who may target you? To scare you?”
Yup. Some shifters who don’t want me to paint anymore.
“My legal matters were settled.” I held his stare. “Not that I thought you would have access to that information, sheriff?” If my accusation that he’d accessed my files without theproper measures in place bothered him, he didn’t blink, and I decided I wouldn’t either.
Sheriff Lincoln’s smile spread slowly over his face. “Tough girl,” he complimented me. “Good.” He looked around the hall. “Can I be frank with you?”
He thought he’d been anything but that since we’d started talking? “Of course.”
“Your break-ins aren’t related,” he told me. “The others? We know who it is, we just haven’t caught them.”
“Then why didn’t you tell everyone that? Ease their minds?”
“Because I didn’t want to.” His tone held no room for argument. “Dunno why no one else has made the connection,” he added with a sigh. “The vandalism at your place and the art store is on a whole different level. A lot of hate there,” he added, “to shred someone’s belongings like that.”