Mercy Kill_ A Mystery - Lori Armstrong [62]
How well I knew that about Mr. Coffee Connoisseur. “So have you heard about Pete’s new venture? Enticing the masses in Eagle Ridge to buy four-dollar cups of coffee?”
“I imagine that we, in the sheriff’s department, won’t have a choice but to patronize it. Can’t be accused of showing favoritism.” She kept her eyes on mine. “I have a package for you. When the coast is clear, I’ll slide it under the table.”
“Okay.” I watched Mitzi duck down beneath the hostess stand. “All clear.”
With stealth I admired, Kiki passed it to me, while nonchalantly sipping her coffee. My fingers briefly grazed the edges of a manila envelope before I secured it in my trusty wonder bag. “What is it?”
“Is Mitzi hovering anywhere nearby?”
“No. She’s wiping tables.”
“She’s got hawklike hearing. I swear she’s Dawson’s best source in this town. I debated coming in here or bringing it to you later.”
“How’d you know where I was?”
Kiki quirked a brow. “Dawson’s web of spies. How do you think he tracked you to the bank parking lot so fast after you left Pete’s?”
Damn.
“Besides, I thought you’d want to see this right away. It’s the coroner’s report on Jason Hawley.” Kiki leaned forward. “And the list of Jason’s personal effects.”
“How’d you manage that?”
“Wasn’t easy. It came yesterday, and the boss immediately locked it in his desk.”
I frowned. “Is that standard procedure?”
“No. Which is why I know something is up. He didn’t show it to Jazinski or me. And neither of us was allowed to catalog the contents of the victim’s vehicle or the motel room.”
A small sheriff’s department meant all employees, from the deputies to the office support staff, knew damn near everything that went on in the county office. So why wasn’t Dawson sharing with his coworkers?
Maybe because he suspects those coworkers are leaking information about an open case to his competition.
“Why are you telling me this?”
Kiki removed her hat and raked a hand through her hair. “As a candidate for sheriff, you should be in the loop on current cases. Plus, I think you actually care about catching whoever killed Jason Hawley. Dawson doesn’t seem to have the level of dedication you do. Which bugs the crap out of me and is also why I’m backing you.”
“I appreciate it, but does Dawson know you’re supporting me?”
“No. He never would’ve left me alone at the station today.” Her nose wrinkled. “At least Jolene was working and not Jilly.”
“Jilly?”
“The receptionist who fancies herself a supermodel?”
Ah. Robo-Barbie. “Who hired jiggly Jilly?”
“Who do you think?”
Dawson. Typical he’d chosen a hot chickie to play fetch and carry for him. “How’d you find out about the report?”
“Claire Montague dropped it off personally.” Kiki scowled. “Stupid woman was all puffed up like a peahen, bragging that her instructions were to give it only to Dawson. That’s not all she wanted to give him, if you get my drift.”
A burst of jealousy flared inside me. “Is he interested in her?”
“Not in the slightest. When Dawson left to go home for lunch, I snuck into his office and copied the file.”
“Did you have a chance to look at it?”
“Only to see a bunch of medical gibberish. You’ll have to do some research to decipher it, which is why I wanted to give it to you as soon as possible.”
“Thank you.”
Mitzi delivered my food. The mix of fried onions, melted cheese, tangy horseradish sauce, and toasted bread smelled heavenly, but I’d lost my appetite. All I wanted was to hole up in my office at the ranch and dissect the reports.
Kiki stood. “I’ll let you enjoy your lunch.”
I didn’t linger after the plates were cleared.
FOURTEEN
As I zipped toward home, I tried to stop obsessing about what information the reports held and took a moment to enjoy the drive. Even my dirty windshield couldn’t mask the sky’s brilliance. Cloudless. Vast. An intense shade of blue that straddled the color spectrum between turquoise and sapphire.
Few artists had captured the magnificence of a spring sky. Plenty of talented hands showcased the bleak winter sky. Or the hazy, hot, dry hues of a stormy summer sky. Or the color-leached