Mayhem & Mistletoe, стр. 48
“Listen here, you little ferret ....”
Barney straightened in his chair. “Did you know that insulting a police officer is a felony?”
He might’ve been able to run that shtick on some newbie off the street, but I wasn’t going to fall for it. “Then arrest me.” It was a challenge, a dare really, and we both knew it. “Just be forewarned, if you take me into custody — which I can see you doing because you’re a walking turd — the story I write on my incarceration will be front-page news the second I’m out.”
Barney didn’t look bothered at the prospect. “I’ve always fancied myself a celebrity.”
“Will Jake feel the same?”
That was enough to back Barney down. I knew for a fact that Jake considered Barney a drain on his payroll. The man refused to take early retirement and Jake didn’t have the evidence to force him out. Shoving me in a cell on a trumped-up charge might give him what he needed. It would be worth it to me, but Barney didn’t look as if he agreed.
“The sheriff is not receiving visitors or taking calls.” Barney’s tone was icy. “You can leave your name and I will forward the information to his secretary.”
I racked my brain, hoping for a way to force him to my way of thinking. “Fine. I’ll figure out a different way to get in touch with him.”
“Have fun.”
“Oh, I intend to.”
I was huffy when I stormed out of the sheriff’s department. Instead of hopping in my car and zooming away, I decided to walk around the building. I had hope one of the doors that led to the inner sanctum had been left ajar. The odds were long, but I had to try.
Unlike in parts of northern Michigan, southeast Michigan’s snow patterns were much weaker. That’s not to say we didn’t see big dumps of the white stuff here and there. The storms didn’t usually hit until after Christmas, though, and the time between storms was generally significant enough that most of it melted before the next round. I could walk close to the windows without getting my feet wet or losing a toe to the cold.
I was halfway down the line of offices when I came across one without the shades drawn. I found Jake sitting at his desk. I leaned back, surprised, and counted the office windows. Sure enough, I’d made it down far enough to reach his inner sanctum.
His back was to me and he looked engrossed in whatever he was looking at on his computer, a hand on his forehead rubbing at the tension most likely building there. Even though it had been more than a decade since we’d graduated high school, he looked the same.
His hair was still thick and black, and he wore it longer when we were younger. When he joined the military, it was shorn so short you could almost see his scalp. These days he opted for something in the middle, pushing his hair into a messy bird’s nest that made him look like a model rather than a sheriff.
My heart pinged watching him. I could’ve banged on his window and demanded he let me in, which he would’ve done just to shut me up, but he looked vulnerable enough that I had second thoughts and took a step back.
That’s when he saw me. Er, well, he probably didn’t realize it was me. Perhaps it was a moving shadow that alerted him to my presence. He jerked his head in my direction, widened his eyes when he realized who was staring at him from outside, and then grimaced.
I had a choice. I could slink away, leave him to whatever he was doing, and pretend I wasn’t acting like a crazy stalker, or I could do something else. Instead of going the polite route, I squared my shoulders and headed for the external door just outside of his office.
Jake slowly shook his head.
I narrowed my eyes and waited.
He didn’t move to get up from his desk to let me in. That meant I had to convince him it was in his best interest to go against his instincts.
I walked back to the window and unleashed my most belligerent glare.
He held strong for a moment, but then shook his head and slammed his hands on his desk before pushing himself to his feet. “Go away,” he yelled through the window. “I’m too busy to deal with you today.”
“No.”
“Go away.”
“No.”
His eyes flashed dark, his voice muffled by the glass. “Avery, I have a lot to deal with today. It doesn’t include you. I need you to go away.”
“I have something I want to tell you about.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “I’m busy. You’ll have to wait. Go to the bubble and make an appointment.”
Like hell. “I want to talk to you now.”
“No. Go back to work.” With exaggerated calmness, he pulled out his desk chair and sat back down, turning his back to me. I knew he wanted to turn and check to see if I was still standing behind him, but he held strong.
That didn’t mean I was finished.
I dug in my pocket for my shark mittens. I tugged them on and held them up to the window, fashioning them as puppets.
“I think the sheriff means business,” the first shark said to the other in a loud voice. “He wants us to go away.”
I lowered my voice for the second shark. “I don’t really care if he means business. We have a job to do too.”
“But he saves lives,” the first shark whined.
“We inform the public,” the second shark said. “I think the public wants to know about Hypno.”
That did it. Jake jerked his head in my direction, his eyes wide. This time he was on his feet right away, scurrying toward the door that led to the outer hallway.
I left the sharks on as I