Chapter 21
BEX
Iwalked into the sheriff’s department Monday morning under more security than I’d ever carried to a regular shift.
Black Castle’s independent mirror was recording every system action, while Wraith and Smoke were close enough to reach me without making the sheriff’s department look like it was occupied by an armed motorcycle club.
Corbin had walked me through the safeguards this morning before I left, driven to the office by a driver Black Castle sent over. I was as protected as they could make me without being stuck in the house.
I was happy to be back at work, but it still felt strange to badge in and head for my console like this was any other day. And judging by the atmosphere in dispatch, I wasn’t the only one feeling off.
Everyone knew something serious had happened with Nina’s call and the lockdown that followed; they just didn’t know how deep it ran. Hopefully me being back would shake something loose soon.
I logged in, adjusted my headset, and pulled up the current board.
Routine traffic moved across the screen, and I settled into the rhythm the way I always had, doing my best to ignore the awareness that every action I took was being mirrored somewhere Corbin could see.
I was darn good at my job, so it shouldn’t matter who listened in.
This was what I’d argued for. Now I had to prove it was worth the risk.
A few hours into my shift, a familiar voice cut through the low radio chatter.
“Look who they finally let back in.”
I glanced up and found Seth standing near my console. “Hey, Deputy Pritchard. Miss me?”
“Say it with me, Bex.” He paused before slowly sounding out, “Seth.”
“Fine, since I’ll be done with my probationary period soon and have known you almost forever…good morning, Seth.”
“Much better. And I did miss you. Dispatch runs smoother when you’re on the board.” He nodded at the screen. “How’s it feel being back?”
“Busy.” I answered a status check from a unit, logged it, then looked back at him. “You on days this rotation?”
“For now.” He stayed where he was, his gaze drifting to my console again. “Heard the system’s locked down pretty tight after everything with that call you took a couple of weeks ago.”
“Seems that way.”
He took a sip of coffee, still watching the screen. Then he asked, “You still have that handwritten note you took while the call was coming in?”
The question surprised me since my father had deliberately kept that paper out of general discussion.
It was the only surviving record that hadn't been erased, and only a handful of people were supposed to know it existed at all. There was a slim chance Seth was one of them, but I couldn’t be certain until I talked to my dad or Corbin.
“Nope, I handed it over when I was debriefed. You know how those things go.”
“I sure do.” He flashed me a smile. “It was quick thinking on your part to jot it all down while everything was fresh in your head. A great example of why dispatch runs smoother when you’re here.”
I forced myself to smile back, even though questions were swirling in my head. “Thanks, Seth. That means a lot coming from you.”
He stayed another minute before saying goodbye.
I finished the next two calls on autopilot, counting down the minutes to my break. When it finally came, I stepped into the women’s restroom, made sure all the stalls were empty, pulled out the phone Corbin had given me, and called him.
He answered on the first ring. “Bex.”
“Seth Pritchard just asked if I still had the handwritten note from Nina’s call,” I announced before giving him a replay over our entire interaction.
“You’re on break?”
“Yeah, I ducked into the bathroom so nobody would hear me.”
“Stay put,” he ordered. “Wraith is going to come and take you down to your father’s office.”
“What about Smoke?” I asked.
“Gonna see if he can locate Pritchard.”
“Okay.”
There was a knock on the bathroom door, and Corbin murmured, “Wraith is there. Be careful, baby.”
“I will,” I promised.
Wraith didn’t say much as he escorted me straight down to my father’s office. Dad had his phone in hand when we walked in, but he put it on speaker as soon as the door closed behind us.
Corbin’s voice came through. “The mirror caught Pritchard accessing a fuck ton of shit he shouldn’t have. Including Nina’s restricted incident index and Bex’s sealed original statement. All from a dispatcher workstation shortly before he approached her.”
“I haven’t assigned him any cases connected to those files,” my dad growled.
My unease was growing. “And I don’t see why he’d need to access any of that as the communications liaison.”
The easygoing deputy who I’d known since I was a kid had been digging through records he had no reason to touch. I’d been hoping for a lead but never expected it to point toward Seth.
“I’ll call Pritchard in.” Dad raked his fingers through his hair. “He can try to explain why a communications liaison needed information on a restricted incident and my daughter’s sealed statement.”
“I’ll keep digging on my end,” Corbin promised before he ended the call.
Twenty minutes later, Pritchard was in my dad’s office while Wraith and I waited in a conference room down the hall.
When it was over, my father did one of the hardest things a man in his position could do.
He stripped a deputy he had trusted for years of his badge, department weapon, building credentials, and system access. Effective immediately.
Seth was on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
Pritchard left the building angry, with an unmarked unit following him. I didn’t need anyone to tell me the club would pick up the surveillance the moment the undercover tail became too obvious.
When my dad called me into his office, he stood at the window with his back to me, his shoulders rigid.
“Did he have a good reason for accessing a dispatch terminal?”
Turning to me, he shook his head. “The bastard tried saying he was checking whether the new security measures created problems for patrol. As if it’s his fucking job. Or your personnel file had anything to do with his bullshit reason.”
I could see what this was costing him, but there wasn’t much I could do to fix it. “He made the choice. Not you. You trusted a deputy with a clean record. That’s not a failure. The betrayal is his.”
“I know.” He let out a long breath. “But it stings that I don’t have enough to arrest him yet. All I can prove so far is unauthorized access. I need more evidence to connect him to the rest.”
“You and Corbin will get it.” I had no doubt about it.
“At least with Pritchard out of the building, I feel a little better about you working dispatch.”
“Good.” I crossed the room to give him a quick kiss. “Because I’m headed back up there now.”
I still had two shadows during the rest of my shift, but I had no complaints about the driver swap when it was time to go home since Corbin picked me up. He didn’t push for conversation on the way, just kept one hand on my thigh like he needed the contact as much as I did.
When we were inside the house, he suggested, “Go change. I’ll handle food.”
It’d been a long and emotional day, so I didn’t argue. I stripped out of my work clothes, pulled on one of his T-shirts, and came back down. He was pulling ingredients from the fridge, and I slid onto a stool at the island.
“It’s too bad I don’t drink.” I propped my chin on my hand and watched him.
“I have a paper due Friday on trauma-informed interviewing. The professor wants sources that aren’t just the usual journal articles everyone cites.
I might need to pick your brain later for ideas on where else to look since you can find just about anything online. ”
He glanced at me, and something shifted in his expression. His eyes were heated, but there was also recognition there. As though he’d realized something important.
After shoving the food back in the fridge, he came around the island and stepped between my legs. “I love you.”
It wasn’t what I’d expected him to say, but it was exactly what I needed to hear. “I love you too.”
Corbin’s arm locked around my waist as he pulled me closer. Then he punctuated our words with a kiss that felt different from all the others we’d shared. More meaningful now that we’d given voice to our feelings.
And my awful day turned into one of the best ever.