Page 28 of Forever Dead

The cold in the morgue had followed him somehow. Sunlight fell across the parking area, but he barely felt it.

He climbed into the SUV and shut the door.

For several seconds he sat without moving.

Then he unlocked the phone and dialed the number from the message.

Morimer answered on the third ring.

“Well. Sheriff Chase.”

Connor gripped the steering wheel with his free hand. “Morimer.”

“How’s work going?”

“What do you want?”

“That’s no way to talk to an old friend.”

“You’re not my friend.”

A quiet chuckle came through the speaker. “You wound me.”

Connor stared through the windshield. “If you think you can blackmail me, you’re making a mistake.”

“I know I can blackmail you.”

The certainty in Morimer’s voice made Connor’s jaw tighten.

“That video of you handing me six grand is just the beginning.”

“That was to help find a suspect, Morimer. You know damned well.”

“I know what it was for, Sheriff. But appearances are more important. Optics, dear boy.”

“Then you know it wasn’t a payoff.”

“The video doesn’t show that.”

Connor closed his eyes briefly.

He could still remember the room, the money on the table, the calculation that had seemed justified at the time. Six thousand dollars to buy information when they were desperate for a lead. Morimer had taken the cash and delivered what Connor needed.

Connor had known there would be a price.

He had just been arrogant enough to think he could decide when it was paid.

“You’re a horrible bastard, Morimer.”

“Maybe. But I’m a practical one.”

“Say what you called to say.”

Morimer’s voice lost its amusement. “Do you think your predecessor was on the take with me because he wanted to be?”

Connor said nothing.

“You think men wake up one morning and decide they’d like to spend the rest of their careers doing favors for people like me?”