Reading her expression, the deputy gave her a smart-aleck snort. “What do you think I’ve been trying to tell you? Your niece is looking out for numero uno. How do you think I know that? Because I’m all about looking out for my own interests. Difference between her and me, though, is I wouldn’t throw my own kin under the bus. You need to wise up before she mows your ass down.”

“You don’t understand. Elizabeth is like my own daughter,” Alanna told him numbly.

“Then you raised her for shit. That’s why my kids mind me, or else,” he huffed out arrogantly.

Alanna felt sorry for any child who had him for a father.

“Your sister know her daughter is a lying bitch?”

Alanna winced at the derogatory way the deputy had referred to her niece.

“Elizabeth is a wonderful person. She’s just …” Alanna pressed her lips together, changing what she had been about to say. “I was trying to help her when that trucker kidnapped me and brought me to Treepoint.”

“Really?” He rolled his eyes at her. “That isn’t the same story she’s been telling everyone else. Of course, her being taped up like a mummy when that trucker found her in the trunk of the car you were sitting in has everyone giving her the benefit of the doubt as to who should be believed. Especially when you’re refusing to explain to your lawyer or the sheriff as to why they should believe you over her.”

“This is just a misunderstanding.” Closing the book, she rose from the bed to walk to where he was standing.

“Which you made no effort to clear yourself of. Why haven’t you even asked Diamond to get you out on bail? Damn, I wouldn’t be standing here if I wasn’t paid to be.”

“I have nowhere to go. If I get released, Diamond told me they would monitor me. I don’t have the money to stay at the hotel until my case is heard.”

“You broke?”

“No, but close.” Not yet, she conceded silently to herself. “I’ve already had to use my savings to pay my legal expenses. There isn’t much left.”

“Sounds like you need a place to stay and a job.”

“I don’t have a real estate license in Kentucky, and the company I work for is trying to have my license revoked. I asked Diamond about finding a job in town, and she said there aren’t any.”

“There aren’t in town.” He nodded.

The deputy confirming her lawyer’s assessment of the job market in Treepoint had her feeling defeated. She was at a loss at what to do, feeling as if her life had become quicksand and she was sinking fast.

“But I might know of one in the city limits.”

She gripped a cell bar. “What is it? I’ll take anything.”