Page 10 of Forever Dark
“Call it whatever helps you pack.There’s no way out of this.Besides, it’ll be good for you to go home.It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
Selena let out a breath through her nose and turned toward the dead screen at the front of the room.Her reflection stared back at her in black glass.Dark suit.Pale blouse.Hair pinned neatly at the nape.Younger than her forty years.Composed, if you didn’t know where to look.Meg knew where to look.
“Harlan County,” Selena said quietly.
“Yes.”
“Not just near it.Itishome, Meg.You know I haven’t been for years, and the issues with my dad and sister…”
“I’m aware.”
That almost made her smile.Meg only used that tone when she thought Selena was wasting both their time.
Meg tapped the folder with one finger.“You might as well do some good over there.The sheriff’s office called for help because the scene bothered them.That matters.They need an expert.That’s you.”
Selena glanced down at the file again.
One image had stayed with her already.The chair in the choir loft.The body arranged with care.The kind of staging that said the killer hadn’t simply wanted someone dead.He had wanted something stated.Something seen.She would have been lying to herself if she’d told someone it wasn’t intriguing.But why did it have to bethatchurch?
“Who’s the sheriff now?”she asked.
Meg’s face did not change, but Selena knew her well enough to catch the nearly invisible hesitation.
“It’s in the file when you have a chance to go over it… But… That’s… That’s where there’s a slight complication.”
Selena didn’t like the sound of that.“What sort of complication?”
“It’s a Sheriff Chase who is the lead in Harlan County.”
Selena felt her blood pressure rise.
Connor Chase.
Of course it was Connor Chase.
The county had not frozen in time waiting for her, but apparently one part of it had remained exactly where she left it.Sheriff now instead of deputy, maybe.Older.Harder around the edges.Still there.A link to the past she had amputated from her life a long time ago.
Still in Harlan County.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Selena said, rubbing her forehead with her finger for a moment.“Wouldn’t it be wiser to send someone whodidn’tdivorce the investigating sheriff?”
Meg studied her.“You can do this job, Selena.It has to be you, I’m afraid.I can’t go back and reassign, the higher-ups were quite clear about that.”
Selena picked up the folder again, more to occupy her hands than because she needed another look.“You really think sending me back there for a few weeks is going to cool people off around here?”
“I think it gets you out of the line of fire while this briefing ripples upward.I think it puts a very good agent on a case that could turn into something ugly.I think it reminds certain people that the Bureau sends its best where they’re most useful.”
“That almost sounded flattering.”
“Don’t let it go to your head.”
A reluctant smile touched Selena’s mouth and disappeared just as quickly.
The realization of it all hit Selena.“I don’t want to lose my assignmenthere.My whole life is here.Friends, colleagues, everything I’ve built.”
She caught her reflection in the glass doors nearby.Now was she suddenly looking older?Age was death by a thousand cuts.It almost felt like being put out to harvest.
Sympathy washed over Meg’s expression.“I know how hard you’ve worked to be here.This isn’t the end.It’s just a little step back.”Meg reached into her jacket pocket and produced a folded sheet of paper.“I already booked you a flight.Oh, and if you have to, try to bury the hatchetwithyour ex-husband, notinhim.”
