If looks could kill, Tess would be joining Jack.
Caitlin wrinkled her nose, disgust plain on her face. “I should’ve known. You’ve been nothing but trouble since you appeared in my town and now you’ve got the nerve to drag me into it? At my home?”
“Cait, that’s not fair.”
Ignoring Maria, Caitlin stopped in the middle of her sidewalk. As if she couldn’t be bothered going any closer to the other two women. She perched her hands on her narrows hips, her stare boring holes right through Tess.
“Look, I don’t know what kind of spell you’ve cast on my guys, but you can just stop it right now.”
“Caitlin!”
“Luc, Mase, they're all better off without you.”
Unwilling to let Maria defend her, Tess found her voice. “It’s not me. I didn’t—”
“I warned you not to come between Mason and Hamlet. What were you thinking?”
Her cheeks were on fire. To think she’d come all this way to stop something bad from happening, only to be scolded like a naughty child. Ducking around Maria, Tess stood up, facing off against the belligerent sheriff.
“I was thinking that I didn’t want to come between anyone. Forget it. I don’t know why I even tried.” Her fists tight, she glanced over her shoulder, past Maria, looking for an answer that she’d never find. Biting down on her bottom lip, she turned back to Caitlin. Tess flexed her fingers, exhaled softly. “I’m sorry for trying to… hell, I don’t know. Whatever. I’ll just go.”
“Tess,” Maria called softly behind her, “don’t do that. You came here for a reason. You don’t deserve to be attacked. Maybe if you explain… go on, sweetie. Tell Caity what happened with you and Mase.”
“What did you do to my deputy now?” Caitlin demanded.
That was the problem, wasn’t it? What did she do?
Tess hesitated. “I just—”
The piercing shot rang out into the gloom of dusk. Unlike the day before, it was only the one time.
Once was enough.
Maria screamed.
Tess, flashing back to the doctor’s office, curled in on herself and dropped to the curb.
The sheriff, standing alone on the walkway, glaring daggers at her opponent instead of being aware of her surroundings, was an easy target. Depending on where the gunman was hiding, it was nearly impossible to miss her.
And he didn’t.
She opened her mouth again, the softest gasp escaping from her as the force of the bullet slammed her two steps back. Her eyes widened in surprise. Red blossomed on the sunny yellow of her blouse. An instant later, she crumpled to the grass in front of her home.
Maria was still screaming.
The constant high-pitched shriek was background noise to Tessa as her training kicked in. Just like when Lucas had been shot, she tamped down her fear and sprang into action. Scrabbling in the grass, she stayed low to the ground in case gunfire rang out again. When she reached the sheriff, she dropped down and grabbed for her limp wrist, desperately searching for a pulse.
It was pointless.
Sheriff De Angelis was dead.
22
Over the next few days, Lucas called in as many favors as he could. Most he didn’t have to. Outrage and grief poured in as news of Caitlin’s death spread throughout Hamlet and the neighboring counties. Bonnie’s inn was full of outsiders who came to offer help in finding her murderer. When the Hamlet Inn had no vacancies, one or two were invited to stay at Ophelia, including Detective David Rodriguez.
Despite two witnesses on scene, there were no leads. Led by Rodriguez, crime scene investigation teams from the next town over worked around the clock, looking for clues, finding evidence and questioning nearly every single one of Hamlet’s residents.
Because of her position as head of law enforcement, the outsiders took over point on the investigation. No one seemed to argue. They were too busy mourning.