The Heartbreak Sheriff by Kennedy Elle

Author:Kennedy, Elle [Kennedy, Elle]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-12-07T06:00:00+00:00

“I did not kidnap that baby,” Anna exclaimed fifteen minutes later, her dark eyes filling with tears. She turned to Finn in accusation. “How could you even think that, Sheriff? How could you?”

Finn’s heart rolled painfully in his chest. In the four years of serving as Serenade’s sheriff, he’d learned how to distance himself during interrogations. It was hard to do, especially when the person sitting across the table was someone you knew well, someone you saw around town and had coffee with in the diner. But he’d always made a heroic effort to keep that distance, to treat each matter objectively and get past the fact that sometimes people he called friends might need to be punished.

But this was unbelievably difficult. This was Anna, for Pete’s sake.

After he’d shown her the security tape, he’d let Parsons take over the questioning, mostly because he couldn’t even look at his young deputy without wanting to clock himself in the face. As Parsons made the reason for this chat clear, Anna’s confusion and wariness had transformed into outrage that palpitated in the room.

“Then why did you buy baby clothes in Grayden?” Parsons demanded.

“It…they were for my cousin,” she sputtered. “Linda. She lives in Charlotte and just gave birth to a baby boy. His name is James.” Anna’s tears spilled over, two rivers of misery that rippled down her cheeks. “You can ask my parents. They’ll tell you it’s true.”

Parsons looked unaffected by her obvious distress. “We’ve seen the tape, Deputy Holt. You look like a nervous bunny rabbit on it. The owner of the store said you refused to talk about the purchase.”

“Because it hurt!”

The outburst had Finn’s insides clenching. There was no mistaking the agony ringing from her voice, and in that moment, he realized that this really was a mistake. Anna’s actions, now that he’d learned of her infertility from Max, made a hell of a lot more sense.

“I can’t have children, okay?” she cried. “Maybe one day I’ll adopt, the way Ms. Connelly did, but that doesn’t mean I’m fine with it. When I see a baby, it still makes me sad. And when my cousin, who’s the exact same age as me, just gives birth to a beautiful little boy…”

She let out a shaky breath. “I was buying those things for James, and the entire time I was in the store, I just wanted to run from there. I don’t care if that makes me a coward, but it hurt.”

She finished in a rush, leaving both men slightly stunned. Finn’s throat was so tight he could barely speak, but he managed a quick nod at Parsons, who slowly pushed back his chair.

“We’ll be right back,” Finn said, unable to meet Anna’s eyes.

In the hall, Parsons crossed his arms, but the look in his eyes told Finn that the federal agent was on the same page. “She didn’t do it,” Finn murmured.

“Yeah, I don’t think so, either.”

“We need to let her go.”

This time Parsons disagreed. “If we do, I’m assigning Ferraro to keep an eye on her.

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