Chapter 44 Jagg #2
“Hang on a minute. Your uniform was clean, though, when you responded to dispatch ten minutes later and showed up at the scene.”
He nodded. “I had a spare shirt in my patrol car. I ran back to the car, and by the time I was getting there, Tanya was radioing me to the scene. I threw up, changed my shirt, and went back. I had blood on my pants and I was sure you’d notice. But you didn’t.”
He’s right. I didn’t notice. I was already spellbound by Sunny.
“Why didn’t you come clean? Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Seriously?” Darby’s voice pitched. “I am brand new to the job, Jagg, and I shot someone in the face. The pastor’s son.
I recognized Griggs instantly. We’re around the same age.
The freaking pastor’s son,” he emphasized, wild-eyed.
“I know how this story goes. I’m not stupid.
Even though it was justified, I’d be put through the freaking ringer, then pushed to desk duty until the Chief got a reason to fire me.
This stuff doesn’t fly in small towns. I’d lose everything I worked for.
” Tears swam in his eyes. “This job is the first time I’ve ever felt worth something.
Like I was doing something that mattered.
Like people respected me. First time since I was a stupid, nerdy, little kid. ”
“You had multiple times you could have come clean to me.”
“Not true. You’ve had your head so far up Sunny’s butt, I felt like I couldn’t say anything that wouldn’t set you off.
And besides, every second that passed, I felt like I was in too far.
” He shook his head. “I’d be out the door and bullied out of town.
I’d never get another law enforcement job in my life. ”
It was true. Every bit of it. … Including my head being up Sunny’s ass.
I couldn’t help but pity the poor kid.
My hands fisted at my sides. It suddenly felt like my world was spinning out of control.
“Get up.”
Darby’s face tilted upward.
“Get off the ground. Get up.”
Darby pulled himself off the ground, his uniform covered in dirt, streaks of dried tears down his cheeks.
“Wipe your face.”
He swiped the back of his hand over his cheeks.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well. What are we going to do now?”
He blinked. “We?”
“Gotta come up with something, right?”
Hope sparked in his swollen eyes. “Anything. Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it, Jagg. Anything. Please.”
“First. Grow up. Man up. If you’re going to be in this job, you need to hold your head up, square your shoulders, and remind yourself every damn day that it’s your town. Stop taking orders, stop following me around. Carve your own path. And start at the gym.”
He blinked again.
“Every single day, I want you to start your morning in the gym. Put on some muscle, kid. That way, the next time someone engages you in hand to hand combat, you won’t have to blow their face off.
” I turned, walked back to my Jeep, pulled a plastic container from the back and hurled it at him.
“Protein. Tastes like crap, but drink it. Bulk up. Become someone you’re proud of.
Someone people don’t want to mess with. You’ll be the rookie for a while and they’ll treat you like one, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept it.
Prove them wrong. Be the first in the gym every morning, be the first in the office every day.
Work your ass off, above and beyond. Do something to make them respect you. It’s time to man up, Darby.”
He took a deep, shaky breath. “Okay. Okay. Man up. Got it.”
“Good. Here’s what’s going to happen now. You’re not going to say a word about this to anyone. Not a word. You got that? Not a single one.”
He nodded, eyes wide.
I continued, “You’re going to go home, stay home, stay out of this for a while. Tell Colson you’re still following me, whatever you need to do to appease him, but stay low until I find the Black Bandit. You got that?”
“We can pin it on him.” Darby’s eyes flared with excitement. “On Kenzo Rees, the Bandit. We can pin it on him. He shot Seagrave, then Griggs… while trying to get to Sunny, perhaps? It makes sense. It fits. We can pin it on him.”
“We can’t pin it on him until we find him, can we?”
He nodded, color beginning to return to his cheeks. “Okay. Yes.”
“Now, get home. Mouth shut. Man up.”
“Yes, sir.”
I turned to head back to the Jeep when—
“Jagg?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“Thank me when it’s over.”
Something in my gut told me the end was coming soon, but only if I wasn’t too blind to see it. I climbed into my Jeep, ordered Max in the back, and watched Darby—the mystery third person from Sunny’s attack—reverse down the road.
My stomach rolled.
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it. The man who killed Julian Griggs was not only right under my nose, but was helping on the case.
Why hadn’t I seen it? Why hadn’t I put that piece of the puzzle together? The kid had blood on his pants, for crying out loud, and I missed that. I didn’t even consider the very obvious fact that Darby fit perfectly into the timeframe and location to be the mystery third person.
I didn’t miss stuff like this. My entire career—my reputation—was built on noticing the smallest clues that everyone else overlooked. It’s what made me good at my job.
I was one mistake away from being told to turn in my badge. My life. The only thing I knew. Why, all of a sudden, wasn’t that my primary focus? My primary concern? Why wasn’t I doing everything in my power to keep my job, instead of sabotaging it?
There was only one explanation for my sudden insanity.
Sunny Harper. The beguiling fallen angel as enchanting and hypnotizing as a siren, sending men to their knees with a single sparkle of those green eyes.
She’d said herself that she wasn’t good for me.
She was right.
She was blinding me.
How many details had I missed since laying eyes on the enchantress?
The thought made me want to slam my fist through the windshield.
I was embarrassed.
I was slipping. Colson was right.
I was slipping.
And I knew why.
… And I knew exactly what I had to do.