Temptation Trails (The Haven Brothers #3)

He paused and the gravity in his expression made me more than a little bit nervous. “What about the Pasco incident? You still struggling?”

“No.” My voice was filled with honest conviction. I’d shot a man in the line of duty and I had zero regrets. It wasn’t that I was flippant about what I’d done. I’d taken a man’s life and that was no small thing. But he would have killed my brother Zachary, and Marigold.

In the aftermath, I’d been put on administrative leave while the agencies involved did their investigations—standard protocol. I’d met with a therapist a few times to process the incident, then been allowed to come back to work.

“The situation in Pasco was intense,” I continued. “But I’d do it again if I had to.”

“We all know you saved lives that day. But sometimes that stuff comes out when you don’t expect it.”

“Are you suggesting I’m suddenly going around threatening and intimidating people because I had to take the life of a human trafficker in order to save my brother? Or because I’m raising a teenager? Or maybe it’s because I’m dating someone. Is that it?”

“Don’t get defensive—”

“Of course I’m going to get defensive.”

“Here’s the bottom line. I don’t want to put you on leave. I need you out there doing your job. But I do have to look into these claims. It’s protocol. And the timing of everything is… troubling. So if there’s something going on in your personal life that’s bleeding into your work, deal with it.”

“I’m telling you, there isn’t anything. It’s just normal life stuff.”

He paused, his dark eyes scrutinizing me. “I’ll take you at your word. For now. And maybe it is a coincidence. I’m not saying I don’t trust you, just that I have to tread carefully. I’m not only responsible for the safety of the citizens in my jurisdiction, I’m responsible for maintaining their trust. We enjoy a good relationship with the people in this town. I don’t want to compromise that.”

“I hear you.” Trust in law enforcement could be a fragile thing. I knew that as well as anyone. “Just don’t put me on leave. I’ve got too much to do.”

“I won’t unless I have to.”

“Fair enough.” I stood. “Anything else?”

Jack shook his head. I could tell he wasn’t happy about any of this, for my sake as well as his. He wanted to believe me, but he had to do his job.

I left his office and went back to my desk. The complaint filed by Matt was particularly troubling. I hadn’t threatened him. Not even close. I’d barely interacted with him at all. Okay, so I’d kind of marked my territory. But one look at him and I’d been able to tell he was trying to hit on Harper. A guy could see that sort of thing. Of course I was going to put an end to that. Definitively. That wasn’t a threat, whether I’d been in uniform or not.

Just a man protecting his woman.

But the whole situation was unsettling. No formal complaints in my entire career, and suddenly there were three? How was that possible? The threat to my job pissed me off. Not only was it my livelihood, it was my life.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up, but no one was around. Was I being paranoid? Or was something off?

I didn’t know. But I had to stay sharp if I was going to find out.

CHAPTER 21

Harper

My eyelids were strangely heavy as I piped cream cheese frosting onto a batch of red velvet cupcakes. It seemed like I’d slept fine the night before, but maybe I’d tossed and turned more than I thought.

I put the piping bag down and sank onto a stool. For the last week or so, I’d been getting tired in the afternoon. I kept wondering if I was about to get sick. It felt like my battery was running low.

Maybe I needed some fresh air. I loved the fast pace of my job, but it also made it easy to forget the outside world existed. A little sunshine would do me good.

That, and food. Maybe I wasn’t eating enough.

I finished frosting the cupcakes so they could go in the case, then told Beth I’d be out for about an hour. I’d get outside, take a short walk, and grab lunch. Hopefully that would energize me for the rest of my day.

After taking off my apron and hanging it on a hook, I grabbed my purse and went out the back door. It was June and the days were getting warmer. The sun felt great on my skin and the air was fresh. Perfect for a walk through town.

I glanced at my car in the back parking lot. No unexpected packages. There hadn’t been another once since the murder bear. Hopefully that meant it had been a mistake, or whoever had left it—whether it was Matt or someone else—had decided to stop.

That was a relief.