Dangerous Places by Susan Hunter

Author:Susan Hunter [Hunter, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781951249687
Publisher: Severn River Publishing
Published: 2019-10-15T22:00:00+00:00

30

A text from my mother stopped me from entering the oasis of my air-conditioned apartment just as I put my hand on the door. She’d found Lacey’s old Barbie dolls and had them ready for me to pick up at St. Stephen’s. I hopped back in my truck and drove to the parish office where she was working that afternoon. As I reached for the box, I said, “Hey, when is Father Lindstrom coming back? He must have caught all the trout in Idaho by now. I miss him.” Father Lindstrom is one of my favorite people in the world.

“I do, too. I just heard from him this morning. Not for another ten days. He said to say hello, to you, by the way. Did I see you drive up in a pickup?” She started singing the chorus of “Big Ol’ Truck,” a popular country song from the ’90s.

“Please don’t.” Before I could explain my new mode of transportation, my cell phone rang.

“Leah, have you got a minute?” My usually laid-back friend Jennifer from the Sheriff’s Department sounded tense and angry.

“Sure. What’s up, Jen?”

“Your boss. Your ex-boss that is. I know why the Sheriff’s been so mad, why he’s cracking down so hard on leaks. Rebecca Hartfield is pushing him out of office, that witch.”

That was pretty strong language for Jennifer. “Slow down. What’s she done?”

“She’s blackmailing him, or extorting him or whatever you want to call it, that’s what, and he won’t fight her because of Roxie.”

“Who?”

“Roxie, one of our dispatchers. I’m not supposed to say anything. You have to promise this is off-the-record. Pinky-swear you’ll never tell.” She waited for me to agree. This must be serious.

“OK, OK. Now, what?”

“Roxie’s little girl was killed in a car crash five years ago up in Oneida County. After that Roxie fell apart, started drinking, lost her job. But she went to rehab, got it together, and Lester hired her. Only a few people know her story. She kinda fell off the wagon a few weeks ago, the anniversary of her daughter’s death, I guess. She showed up drunk for her shift. Lester sent her home.”

“I’m still not following. How does blackmail figure into this?”

“Last week Rebecca called and told him she had an anonymous tip that a dispatcher with a drinking problem was putting officers at risk, and Lester wasn’t doing anything about it, because he was having an affair with her.”

“Is she? And is he?”

“No! She’s been clean and sober since that night. And the Sheriff isn’t having an affair with her, he’s in AA with her!”

“Lester’s an alcoholic?”

“He’s been in AA since way before I started here. He only told me because he wanted me to know there were certain calls he was always going to take. He’s a sponsor. Right now, he’s Roxie’s sponsor.”

“Wow.” I tried to wrap my head around the picture of Lester, the old-school, gruff, law and order man as compassionate AA sponsor. It wasn’t easy.

“All right. Who gave Rebecca the tip? And where

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