* * *
LILY PARKED HER patrol car behind the courthouse, a single-story, faded brick building the sheriff’s department shared with the county clerk, the treasurer, the commissioner of revenue and the mayor. With the colossal, pineapple-shaped sugar maple that for decades had served as the front lawn’s centerpiece, and the surrounding century-old oaks and lush camellias scattered like guests at a cocktail party, the property was lauded as being especially eye-catching in the autumn. Lily no longer paid attention. Fall had officially become her least favorite season.
The mayor’s assistant wasn’t at her desk—not surprising, since it was Saturday—so Lily knocked twice on Rick Whitby’s open door and strode into his office. Or candy store, as Lily’s dispatcher, Clarissa, liked to call it, since the mayor had a credenza lined with clear glass jars he kept well stocked with sweets. Licorice sticks, mini chocolate bars, lollipops, jelly beans—his sweet tooth provided a clever means of staying informed, since the addicts he created couldn’t stay out of his office.
As long as he didn’t start dealing peanut M&M’s, Lily had no problem resisting temptation.
He hadn’t heard her knock. He stood with his back to the door, right hand dipping a paper cup into the jelly beans while the left held the lid aloft.
“Mayor Whitby,” she said.
The clatter of jelly beans told her she’d startled him. With a muffled clank, he replaced the lid on the jar and turned to face her.
The mayor was a lanky, languid man in his fifties with thinning blond hair and a perpetual flush on his face. His title was actually County Executive Officer, but “mayor” was much less of a mouthful. He was popular, a shirtsleeves-and-cold-brew kind of politician, but his hard-at-it look was an act—the man was lazier than an overfed hound sleeping away a hot summer afternoon.
Lily had always suspected he’d run for mayor solely as a means to jump-start his love life. Not long into his term, he’d ended his relationship with his assistant, Paige Southerly, a woman several years his senior. Paige still worked for him and Lily didn’t know how she did it, every three or four months taking the newest girlfriend’s calls, scheduling dinner dates and sending flowers. Paige insisted their affair had run its course and as long as her boss kept the dish of butterscotch candies stocked, it was all good.
“You’re not dressed for the fund-raiser.” The mayor gave Lily a once-over as he fished a yellow jelly bean out of his cup.
Yeah, she’d known that was coming. Hazel Catlett and a handful of volunteers were hosting a barbecue to raise money for the citizens’ center. As sheriff, Lily should be there, but it was hard to drum up the enthusiasm to mingle with a bunch of happy families.
She needed to get over that. And she would. Just not today.
“JD will be there,” she said. “There are only two of us now and you know we can’t both go.”
When Whitby failed to scold Lily for complaining about her long-ignored deputy vacancy, her stomach did a little side step. Whatever he was about to say would not be pleasant. Not for her, anyway. The gleam in his bright blue eyes indicated he was looking forward to it. Either that, or those were damn good jelly beans.
Her fingers curled around her equipment belt and she pulled in a stealthy breath. “What did you want to see me about?”
He held out the cup and rattled it. When she shook her head, he set the cup on the credenza, brushed his hands together and strolled to his desk. “I have something important to discuss with you.” He scraped a fingernail over a front tooth to loosen a green gummy wedge. “Here’s the thing. I’ve decided to fill that deputy position like you’ve been asking.”
Lily blinked. “Thank you. JD hasn’t had a real vacation in over a year. I’ll get busy writing up an ad for the paper—”
“That won’t be necessary. I already hired someone.”
Damn it. “Without consulting me?”
“I am the mayor.” His grin revealed he’d missed a sliver of purple.
“What about the town council?” The mayor did have the right to hire and fire county employees, but he didn’t ordinarily do it without the council’s okay.
“Bought ’em each a steak dinner and one of Ivy Walker’s cheesecakes.”
“You bribed them?”
“I distracted them.” He wilted into his leather club chair, as if her resistance had exhausted him. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d pressed the back of a hand to his forehead. “Your new deputy is Vaughn Fulton, on temporary loan from the Erie police. He reports on Monday. I asked his captain to email you his qualifications so he can get right to work.” He closed his eyes and let his head fall against the back of the padded chair.
Lily tightened her grip on her rig. “May I ask how this Officer Fulton of the Erie PD heard about little ol’ Castle Creek and its three-man department?”
“Four again, with Deputy Fulton, and I invited him to apply.”
“You mean you offered him the job.” She frowned. “Fulton. Any relation to Emerson?” She’d liked that old son of a gun. He’d died a few months back, the weekend she’d been taking her recertification training in Harrisburg. She’d regretted not being able to attend the service.
Slowly, Whitby pushed himself up out of the chair and slid his hands into his pants pockets. “Emerson Fulton was his great-uncle. He was also a good friend of mine. His nephew is on a temporary leave of absence while he handles his uncle’s affairs. I gave him a call, asked if he’d be willing to help us out for a while.” His voice tightened. “He’s a decorated city cop. You should be pleased.”
Pleased that he’d casually made her a victim of the old-boy network? That he was forcing her to work with, to entrust JD’s life—her life—to someone she’d never even met, let alone interviewed?
He had to be kidding.
Too bad he didn’t look like he was kidding.
For a while. He’d used the phrase for a while.
“So we’re only talking a few weeks here,” she said carefully.
He shrugged and grabbed his suit coat. “I imagine he’ll be around for a month or two. Maybe even until Thanksgiving.”
Oh, come on. The first throbs of a headache tapped at her temples and she forced her jaw to unclench. “That’s three months away.”
He pulled his keys out of his jacket pocket and gave them a jangle before shooing Lily toward the door. “I’m locking up.”
For a lazy man, he sure was moving fast.
“I’m the one who’s responsible for those in my employ,” she reminded him as he herded her into the hallway. “The people of Castle Creek elected me to keep this county safe, and you’re making it hard for me to do my job.”
“No. You’re making it hard for me to do mine.” He frowned at the wall, shoved his suit coat at her and straightened a painting. When he turned back around, he caught her off guard with a wink. “And I outrank you.”
Hot prickles of resentment chased across Lily’s skin and she thrust his jacket back at him. “What if I talk to the council?”
He brushed past her, heading for the front entrance. “How impressed will the people of Castle Creek be when they find out their sheriff refused to work with a fellow officer—an officer who recently lost a well-known and beloved uncle to kidney disease—simply because she couldn’t bring herself to trust the word of their mayor?”
“That was a pretty energetic threat,” she muttered.
“I know, right? Must have been the jelly beans.”
She wasn’t