Grave Secrets (Manhunters 1)

But the boy vibrated with tension beneath Ian’s hand. Jamison slipped off the stool and took a step toward the door. “Mom.”

Savannah didn’t hear her son. She was ripping on the deputy. Her voice drifted through the glass, touching Ian’s ears.

“Nothing any of you do would surprise me. The only thing that would surprise me is any of you thinking on your own instead of following Hank like you’ve got rings in your noses. I know exactly what you’

re doing and why, and it’s not going to make a damn bit of difference…”

Savannah went on. And on. The deputy shut the driver’s door and sauntered around the trunk toward the sidewalk with a smirk on his face. He was older, in his fifties, and smug as hell. When he reached Savannah, he rolled back on his booted heels, lifted his chin, and crossed his arms, sending the nothing-you-say-makes-a-damn-bit-of-difference message loud and clear.

“Since you know so much, Savannah, I’m sure you know that parking within fifteen feet of a fire hydrant violates title nine, section nine-dash-sixty-four-dash-one-hundred and seventy of the Hazard County code—”

“I wasn’t parked within fifteen feet,” she yelled, clearly losing her shit. “You pushed my car in front of it. I have a café full of witnesses—”

“Not one of which will come to your rescue.”

Jamison slipped from beneath Ian’s hand and started for the door. “Mom.”

Ian caught the boy’s arm and crouched to Jamison’s level. “Hey, buddy, they’re just talkin’. Your mom’s okay.”

But her son clearly believed something very different.

Customers were watching out the windows, and the cop was right, not one person seemed the least bit interested in getting involved. Not even her friend, Misty, who drifted toward Jamison, clear apprehension on her face.

“If you stay here,” Ian told Jamison, “I’ll go check on things. Okay?”

Jamison offered a quick nod and scrambled back onto the stool.

Ian dropped a twenty on the bar beside his plate while Misty sidled up to Jamison and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “It’s okay, honey. Your mom knows how to handle those guys by now.”

More nuance not in the file.

Ian moved to the door and reached for his jacket—but it was gone. He glanced around the floor, then out the front—and found Savannah wearing it.

“Now, Savannah…” The deputy hooked his thumbs in his duty belt. “Just calm down. Did you take your medication today?”

“I’m not on medication, and you know it.”

“Maybe you ought to see Doc Brown about that. Maybe that would cut down on all these infractions you’ve been getting lately.”

Ian pushed out the doors. The frozen air hit him like a brick. He drew a slow, tight lungful of ice as he paused behind Savannah.

“They’re all goin’ in your file,” the deputy continued without bothering to glance at Ian. “Wouldn’t look good to have all these random violations piling up. Might make you look…unstable.”

“I hope you’re not calling that”—Ian glanced at Savannah’s ancient Subaru where it now sat dead center in front of an iced-over fire hydrant—“a violation, because I just watched you push that car thirty feet forward with the bumper of your cruiser.”

All eyes turned on Ian, and silence thickened the air. Savannah made a quarter turn toward him, her expression clearly confused to have someone in her corner. “You…you shouldn’t get involved in this. It’s not—”

“This isn’t any of your business.” Corwin—according to his nameplate—pointed at the café. “Just head on back inside and finish your breakfast.”

“I’m a witness to an abuse of power by law enforcement,” Ian told him. “That makes it my business.”

“Too many tickets and your car will be impounded, Savannah,” Corwin continued, undeterred by Ian’s presence. “Now how are you going to take care of a little boy without a car in this freezing weather?”

“That’s not going to be a problem,” Ian said, “because there’s no reason for a ticket here.”

Corwin flicked a look at Ian, dismissing him instantly. “Who’s this, Savannah? You got yourself a boyfriend? Before your divorce is even final? While you’ve got a young boy at home lookin’ to you as a role model? How is that going to look to a judge? You really don’t think ahead much, do you?”

Ian opened his mouth to answer for her, when something bumped the back of his legs.