Chapter 3
BEX
Ipushed through the side door of the comm center half an hour before my shift started the next day and immediately spotted the man striding out of Mr. Hendrick’s office. Cipher was already here.
When his eyes met mine, I felt the jolt of sensual awareness I’d only ever experienced with him.
But he’d been clear he wasn’t going to act on it, and even if that hadn’t dissuaded me from approaching him, I couldn’t afford to act unprofessional during my probationary period.
Sometimes it seemed like Mr. Hendrick was harder on me because I was the sheriff’s daughter.
Dragging my gaze away from him, I dropped my bag at the desk I normally used, pulled my lunch out, and headed for the break room. After putting my cooler bag in the fridge, I sat at one of the tables and took a few deep breaths. My attention needed to be focused on my job, not Cipher.
While I tried to get my head on straight, a familiar figure stopped beside my chair. Tilting my head back, I smiled. “Hey, Deputy Pritchard.”
“Afternoon, Bex.” He shook his head with a sigh. “How many times do I need to tell you to call me Seth?”
This has been an ongoing thing between us since I started working here.
He’d been with the department since I was in middle school, and he’d always been the easygoing one at every cookout and Christmas party.
His wife made the best potato salad in the county, and he’d never once treated me like I was just the sheriff’s kid.
Wrinkling my nose, I mumbled, “Sorry, it just feels weird when we’re at work.”
“Haven’t heard you call your dad by his title yet,” he teased.
“Yeah, well.” I shrugged. “That’s different.”
“I suppose so.” He tilted his chin toward the door. “You been around long enough today to know how things are going with the guy from Black Castle?”
I shook my head. “Nope, just got in.”
Seth raked his fingers through his hair. “Not sure how I feel about your dad calling in outsiders, but at least Cipher seems like he knows what he’s doing.”
“Uh, yeah. You could put it that way.” But only if you wanted to massively understate his abilities.
“He asked a lot of questions about radio procedures and how we coordinate with you all during overlapping calls.”
He sounded irritated, but it made sense for Cipher to speak with him. Seth had been the department’s informal bridge between patrol and dispatch for years.
“He’s thorough.”
Seth chuckled. “That’s one word for it. I’ll catch you later.”
With the time ticking down until my shift started, I couldn’t hide in here any longer.
I headed over to my desk and logged into my console.
Then I organized my things exactly where I liked them, all while trying to ignore the low murmur of Cipher’s voice as he spoke with a dispatcher just coming off shift.
It wasn’t long before his shadow fell across my console.
“I need you to walk me through the call again.”
Irritated that he hadn’t even bothered to greet me, I swiveled my chair to face him fully. “I already gave my statement. Multiple times.”
“I know, but I need to hear it directly from you again.” His dark stayed on mine as he leaned his hip against my desk. “Start from the moment you picked up the line.”
The clinical tone he was suddenly using with me only increased my annoyance.
Straightening my spine, I recounted the entire call while Cipher watched me with unnerving focus.
When I finished, he nodded. “That’s all for now.”
Before he could turn and walk away, I murmured, “Wait.”
“You have more information?”
After three weeks of silence, and then our softer interactions the night before, I resented that the only thing he seemed to want from me today was data. But my feelings weren’t important here. Too much was at stake.
“I’ve been thinking about the rollover that replaced Nina’s call.
It wasn’t random.” I lowered my voice so it wouldn’t carry across the room.
“Whoever created that incident knew exactly where unit 2-Adam-9 was and how to pull them away without the deputy asking any questions. They used a rural mile marker on the east side of the county that gets frequent callouts for what are often accidents with serious injuries.”
I could practically see the wheels turning in Cipher’s mind. “Someone involved in the plan is familiar with Sable Canyon.”
“And my dad’s department specifically,” I added.
He’d concluded that they knew dispatch procedures last night.
But this was even more detailed than we’d realized.
“To make that particular choice, they’d have to understand our response times, coverage gaps, and how dispatchers choose which unit to send. ”
He came to the same conclusion I had. “It was the perfect fake incident.”
“Yes.”
His dark eyes narrowed in thought. “You’re saying the person who erased the call has local operational knowledge.”
I nodded. “The only options that make sense to me are that they either work here or they’ve been close enough to learn our patterns.”
Cipher pushed off the desk and straightened. “I’ll factor that in.”
I watched him walk toward the next person on his mental list, feeling an odd mix of pride that he’d actually listened and irritation because he hadn’t given any sign that he saw me differently from the other dispatchers and deputies he was grilling.
I did my best to ignore his deep voice over the next two hours, but I wasn’t very successful. When my dad came in and pulled Cipher aside a couple of hours later, I sighed in relief. But then I heard what Dad had to say.
“Nina’s been cleared for a short interview. I’m heading to the hospital now.”
I stood before he could finish. “I want to go with you.”
Dad’s brow furrowed. “Bex—”
“She already trusts my voice. I was the one on the line with her when she needed help,” I pointed out, already grabbing my things because I refused to let him talk me out of this.
“I’m not sure the doctors will allow more than two people at a time.”
“I’ve been training in victim advocacy. She’s more likely to open up to me than to two men she’s never met, no matter how careful you are.” I jerked my thumb at Cipher. “Especially when one of them looks like him.”
My dad snorted, then nodded. “Fine. But you follow my lead if she starts to shut down.”
Cipher fell into step with us as we left the building, without remarking on what I’d said.
The drive to the hospital was quiet. I sat in the passenger seat of my dad’s Tahoe and tried not to notice how aware I was of Cipher’s motorcycle behind us.
Yet again, I failed spectacularly. But at least I managed to paste a professional expression on my face when I climbed out of my dad’s SUV and headed into the hospital.
Nina was in a private room on the second floor, one arm in a sling and bruises already darkening along her cheek and jaw.
When my dad introduced each of us, and I greeted her, Nina’s eyes filled with recognition. “You’re the one who answered.”
“I am.” I pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down so we were at eye level. “You’re safe now, Nina. We’re just here to ask a few questions if you’re up for it.”
She nodded, but her breathing had already started to climb.
Drawing on my victim-advocacy training, I murmured, “It’s okay. We can go as slow as you need. Can you try breathing with me for a second? In through your nose…that’s it. And now out through your mouth.”
I walked her through a few cycles until some of the tension eased from her shoulders. My dad stayed by the door, and Cipher leaned against the wall next to him.
“Can you tell us what happened before you called?” I asked.
Nina swallowed. “I saw Jeff outside. Through the living room window. He was just standing there, staring at the house. Then my phone started going off.”
When she paused, I gently prodded, “Was it Jeff?”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t have known right away if I hadn’t spotted him because I had his phone number blocked. He must’ve gotten a new one.” She reached for the cell on the bedside table with her good hand and unlocked it with shaking fingers. “He sent these right before I hid.”
She turned the screen toward me.
Unknown caller
You really thought that a protected address would hide you?
I paid good money to find it.
The first texts were scary, but the next few shocked me.
Unknown caller
Don’t bother calling anyone else.
The cops aren’t coming.
They’ll be too busy with a supposed rollover.
The bastard knew exactly what was going to happen.
Nina sniffled, her eyes filling with tears. “He was so sure the police wouldn’t come in time. But you made sure they rescued me. Thank you.”
“I was only doing my job.” I reached out to squeeze her hand. “But you’re welcome.”
We chatted for a couple more minutes before the nurse came in. “Time’s up. She needs to rest now.”
My dad stepped forward. “We really need to secure those texts before he tries to wipe your device remotely. Do we have your permission to download the phone data so we can build our case?”
“Um, yeah. Whatever you need.” Her hand shook as she held her cell out to my dad. “Will I get it back soon?”
Cipher took the phone from my dad and nodded. “A few hours at most.”
“Okay.”
When we were out in the hallway, where Nina couldn’t overhear, I muttered, “The text about the rollover wasn’t a guess. Someone told him exactly what was going to happen.”
“You’re right.” Cipher looked up from the phone screen. “Someone with access fed him the information. And based on these time stamps, they did it before the call was ever erased.”
His focus returned to the device as we left the hospital, the automatic doors sliding shut behind us. My dad was on his phone a few paces ahead, but Cipher remained beside me.
I glanced sideways at him. “You’re very quiet.”
He didn’t look up. “I’m thinking.”
“Dangerous habit.”
That earned me a tiny twitch at the corner of his mouth. It was by no means a smile, but I still counted it as a victory.
Three weeks ago, he’d made it clear we weren’t happening. But now I wondered if he actually believed it.