Mann 01 - Where Angels Rest by Kate Brady Page A

hair that was rumored to have lost its pigment when he was a child, in the months after he found his mother dead. Nick had heard stories of trauma doing that to people, but until meeting Rodney, never knew it was real.
    “Sheriff?” Rodney said, and Nick shook his outstretched hand.
    “How did you know it was me?”
    “The silence when you walked in was deafening. I take it you aren’t alone?”
    Nick heard the accusation in his voice. “Erin Sims and I are having a talk. That’s what I came to tell you. I didn’t want you to hear it from somebody else.” He paused, searching for the right words. There was no good way to tell a man that you were about to investigate his uncle for murder. “Look, Rodney. About Jack. I’m going to try to do this right. I want you to know I’m not going to let this turn into a circus.”
    “So noted,” Rodney said, but Nick wasn’t feeling the love. Rodney had a protective streak, particularly for Margaret. Nick had always wondered if it was because Margaret and Rodney’s mom had been identical twins. That had to be strange for a kid, even a blind one.
    Nick went back to where Erin Sims waited.
    “Rodney Devilas,” she said.
    “Yes. He can make out shadows and shapes, but wouldn’t have been able to identify you. That didn’t seem… right.”
    “Always protecting your citizens. Even the ones who don’t deserve it.”
    “Rodney’s been through enough in his life. The least we can do is try to keep him out of it while you tear apart the only family he has.”
    Sims flushed. “My brother is about to die, Sheriff. Forgive me if my top priority isn’t the emotional welfare of Huggins’s nephew.”
    “Okay, easy,” he said, but understood.
    Rebecca came back and Nick said, “Two coffees, two orange juices, and
brötchen
.” He looked at Sims. ”A standard breakfast okay?”
    Sims nodded and Rebecca left with the order. The same breakfast nine out of ten patrons ordered every morning. Nick leaned onto his forearms and got down to business. “I want the truth: Did you vandalize your own motel room?”
    Sims looked at him like he was out of his mind. “How would I have done that? I’ve been with you since last night.”
    “Deputy Hogue was right. You could’ve hired it done when you got to town.”
    “Oh, for the love of God. I barely had time to check in to the motel and get over to Hilltop House, let alone scout out a hired thug. Check my flight time if you don’t believe me.”
    “I will,” he promised, but he did believe her. Wished he didn’t. It would be easier if she were the bad guy. He leaned back. “Okay, I’ve read all the paper we could get over a weekend. Now I want to know what’s
not
there. Start with your brother.”
    Her eyes widened—emerald green in this light—and he realized she hadn’t expected him to ask. She’d assumed he wouldn’t bother. “Justin was a senior in high school,” she began. “He lived with my husband and me.”
    “Why? Were there problems at home?”
    “Of course not. Everything was fine,” she said, but it came out a little too rushed to sound sincere. “Our mother moved and Justin wanted to stay in the same school, that’s all. David and I had room.”
    “Okay.” Could be.
    “Justin had a part-time job at a community center, setting up for conferences and banquets and things. Lauren McAllister was part of an event there. She had some artwork on display for a show and Justin got this crazy crush. He was seventeen and she was nineteen.”
    “He admitted to sleeping with her.”
    “They dated a little. And before you point it out, he also admitted to having an argument with her the day she was killed.”
    “Over another man.”
    “Over John Huggins.”
    “Over an
unidentified
man,” Nick insisted. “From what I read, there was no proof it was Huggins. Hell, he would have been almost twenty years older than Lauren. And married.”
    “Right,” Sims said, with an edge that could have cut diamonds.