Watching Erin do her job, he decided he should wait before he tried to talk to her. She was busier right now than a one-legged cowboy trying to kick his own ass. Maybe he could grab a bite to eat and then catch her at the sheriff’s department later.

* * *

The back parking lot at the sheriff’s department was for law enforcement only, but Wyatt knew that was where he would most likely spot Erin as she came or went. He’d rarely seen so many police vehicles in one place, some of them two or three years old, others brand-new. All the bubble tops might have given Wyatt a nervous stomach if he’d been a criminal, but as it stood, he sat in his truck and ate two calzones from the Jake ’n’ Bake for supper and drank a giant-size soda. He was feeling just a little sleepy by the time Erin walked out the rear door of the building. Wyatt climbed out of his truck. She hesitated midstride and then changed direction to come toward him. He liked the way she strode with brisk steps, her legs solid under her slender but toned body.

When she reached him, Wyatt had every intention of thanking her for calling him about Kennedy, but she spoke first. “I need a glass of wine. No. Correction. I need a whole gallon, straight into a vein.”

The artificial daylight cast by the yard lights enabled Wyatt to read her lips, and he was initially startled by the vehemence he saw in her expression. He considered all that had happened and decided she truly had been through one hell of a day. “Are you off shift? I’d be happy to get you some wine to say thank you for helping me head Kennedy off at the pass. He had murder in his eyes.”

“I almost wish he’d finished the deed before you got to the creek!” She leaned against the fender of his pickup. “That little punk is inside, whining like a baby because his father refuses to lawyer up and get him out on bail. I can barely stand to look at him.” She fixed Wyatt with a tear-filled gaze. There was a look of utter defeat in her eyes. “I want to take him apart. A good cop doesn’t allow himself to think that way. That’s why this job isn’t right for me. I can’t compartmentalize my emotions. I’m either walking around feeling hollow or I’m upset. Most of the time, I just go for the hollow feeling.”

Wyatt’s heart hurt for her, and even worse, he had no answers. “I’m sorry, Erin. Feeling hollow all the time is no way to live.”

The tears in her eyes slipped over her lower lashes. “I’m sorry for turning someone else’s tragedy into being all about me and my stupid job. It’s not right, I know, but I can’t seem to focus on anything but the fact that I let Jenette Johnson fall through the cracks.”