[When SEALs Come Home 04] - Heated by Anne Marsh

Author:Anne Marsh [Anne Marsh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Anne Marsh
Published: 2015-02-15T07:00:00+00:00

7

“You got a minute?” Sheriff John Tegan paused by her desk. It sure didn’t sound like he was inviting her for a coffee. The man wore an expression as serious as his ironed-to-a-tee uniform. He also didn’t appear interested in sticking around—after dropping his bombshell, he headed straight for his office.

Mercy weighed the joys of paperwork against the joys of a heart-to-heart with her boss. Unfortunately, neither was optional. To fortify herself, she snuck another peek at her phone. Joey had texted her a picture shortly after she’d arrived at work. True to his word, he’d produced a poem. She hadn’t planned on holding him to last night’s promise, but he’d cut letters out of a newspaper and arranged them on what looked suspiciously like his kitchen table. The words weren’t his, but Robert Frost’s.

“Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire.” A little squiggly drawing of a stick man aimed something at a raging fire. She decided to assume it was a fire extinguisher, although, knowing Joey’s sense of humor, it could have been more... personal.

“Sure,” she said to herself. Tegan disappeared into his office, and she stood up and followed him, mentally running over her last week. She hadn’t screwed anything up as far as she knew, and there hadn’t been any unusual calls or activity.

He motioned for her to shut the door behind her, which confirmed her impression that she wasn’t going to enjoy the coming conversation. “Have a seat.”

She sat. Keep calm. Play it cool.

Her boss dropped into the chair behind his desk and fidgeted with a stack of paper. Unlike hers, his desk looked like an avalanche had crossed paths with a hurricane. There was no discernable order to the heaps. She itched to at least restack the stuff, but now was so not the time to do so.

He sighed. Again, not a good sign. “You’ve been with us how long?”

“Nine months.” Nine months, two weeks, one day and approximately eight and a half hours. Not that she was counting. She’d stuck out tough situations and tougher bosses before. She was also damned good at her job, so Tegan’s long face was unexpected.

“Are you giving me my performance review early?” she asked lightly, trying to defuse the tension in the room. Tegan was a nice guy and good at his job. Despite the fact that he was pushing retirement age, he’d been willing to train her, and she’d appreciated the mentoring he’d offered.

He shook his head. “Just some advice,” he said. “If you’ll take it. You’re a damned good deputy sheriff, and I’d hate to lose you.”

“But—” She said the word for him, because she could hear it coming. She was an expert on the Oh, Shit tone. She’d heard it plenty of times before after all.

He puffed out his cheeks and sighed again. “But there are rumors flying around this town, and I need to ask you if they’re true.

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