I shot to my feet. “That is not what happened. Ajax came on to me. You of all people know what he’s like. You know how he’s treated me from the day I set foot in this office.”

“If you can’t handle the working conditions of this department, you never should have gone after the job,” Jerry replied. “Let’s face facts. You’re not cut out for it. You never were.”

“Because I’m a woman? Or because I won’t sleep with your nephew?”

The sheriff took a sealed number ten envelope from his desk and pushed it toward me. I could see my name where his secretary had typed it in capital letters. deputy rebecca todd.

“This is a copy of the complaint,” Jerry told me. “It includes Ajax’s statement. There will be a formal inquiry. If the complaint is sustained, you’ll be subject to punishment up to and including dismissal.”

I shook my head. “You’re going to fire me because Ajax stuck his hand up my dress?”

“You should know that I discussed the facts of this matter with your husband, too.”

“My husband?”

“Ricky confirmed Ajax’s version of the events.”

“He wasn’t even there to see it! He’s just saying that because I kicked him out. Sheriff, this isn’t fair.”

Jerry wasn’t even listening to me anymore. He shuffled his papers, put on his reading glasses, and glanced at me as if he couldn’t understand why I was still in the room. “That’ll be all, Rebecca.”

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

“He’s not going to fire you,” Darrell told me as I drove us back to the crime scene at Gordon Brink’s house.

I hadn’t told him what happened with the sheriff, but he already knew. Everyone in the department knew, because Ajax was already spreading his version of the story. The version where I came on to him, rather than vice versa.

“Jerry’s been waiting for an opportunity to fire me for two years,” I said. “And this is it.”

Darrell shook his head. “Whatever happened with Ajax wasn’t your fault.”

I glanced across the front seat. I knew he was trying to be nice—he was always nice to me—but this was a day where I didn’t want to feel good about myself. I’d made too many mistakes, and I was paying the price.

“What makes you so sure, Darrell? Do you think I’m some kind of angel? How do you know it didn’t happen exactly like he said?”

“If you hit Ajax, he gave you a good reason to hit him. I know what he’s like. More to the point, I know you, Rebecca.”

I made the mistake of saying the first thing that popped into my head. “I’m not one of your daughters, Darrell. Don’t treat me like one.”

He shut up instantly.