“You shouldn’t be doing night patrols without anyone else’s knowledge,” Ben said, his voice more irritated than I’d ever heard.
“Last time I checked, my badge had the number two and yours had the number four. You don’t have the authority to question me.”
“Did you find the trap?” I asked. The heads of both men turned slowly to look at me, as if I had magically appeared out of thin air.
“There was no trap,” Kyle said through gritted teeth. “And I thought we were going to drop it.”
Shit.
“So something did happen last night?” Ben turned his attention back to Kyle.
Shit.
“Nothing important. Rylie thought she saw someone break into the reservoir. Thought she saw a trap.” His tone mimicked my high-pitched voice only with added annoyingness.
“I did,” I insisted. “I was driving around and saw some guy in waders climb over the fence in Muddy Water Cove.”
“Climbing that fence in waders would be nearly impossible,” Kyle said. “But since you brought it up, I may as well let Ben in on my thoughts that you could be the MWB.”
“That’s not possible. I wasn’t even here when the traps started showing up.” I looked at Ben, pleading for him to believe me. “I was only out there to catch the killer. And when I got down to the shoreline, there was a trap. The water was swirling just like it had when we found the trap, Ben.”
Ben eyed me with a skeptical look on his face. If he didn’t believe me, no one would.
“So did you find it?” Ben finally asked Kyle.
“There was nothing there.”
“Did you even look?” I asked, my tone becoming more frantic. “What if there was another body?”
“Why don’t we all go back there now and see?” Ben suggested. “Though I’m not sure if it’s in your best interest that we find one, kiddo.”
“I don’t have time for this. I’ve been patrolling all night. Freaking office politics. One little dead guy and everybody’s got their panties in a knot. The two of you can go do your little investigatory work. I’m going home. I’m ready to see my wife.” Kyle turned to leave then turned back. “I’m keeping my eye on you. One more misstep and you’ll be asked to turn in your badge.”
Panic welled inside me. Staying out of trouble was not my forte.
Ben looked like he was going to stop Kyle but then decided against it. When Kyle had driven off in his personal truck, we each took one of the ranger trucks and headed back to Muddy Water Cove.
I knew before we had even gotten out of our trucks. There was no trap beneath the waters. I didn’t know whether to be frustrated or relieved. Had I been seeing things the night before? Or maybe the MWB had been back since Kyle’s last circle around the reservoir to remove the trap.
“Looks like there’s nothing there.” Ben shrugged. “Probably for the best so Kyle can’t try to pin it on you. What’d you do to make him hate you so much?”
“I don’t know, but I do know what I saw last night. A guy in green waders jumped the fence. And there was a trap.”
“I hate to break it to you, but guys jump the fence all the time to get a better shot at the big one. It’s not like the reservoir is Fort Knox. That’s why we sometimes have overnight patrols, like what Kyle did last night.”
“But he didn’t tell anyone about it.”
“It wasn’t on the schedule, no, but Greg probably knew. And that’s the only person he has to tell since he is Ranger Two.”
“Do summies ever get to do overnight patrols?” I urged him to say yes. I needed this. I needed my chance to catch the murderer in action and prove my innocence.
“Well . . .” he rocked back on his heels studying me. “If a full-time ranger were there to assist in your learning, then possibly . . .”
“Great!” I would have jumped for joy if it wasn’t for the eighty-pound boots on my feet. “How about tonight?”
“Tonight? You’ll be hard-pressed to find someone to sign up for tonight.”
“Can we at least put it out there?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Sure. I’ll send out an email and see what we get.”
Within five minutes of Ben sending that email, both Antonio and Kyle responded that they’d be there.
“Who would you rather work with tonight?” Ben asked.
I didn’t really love my options. My choices boiled down to the guy who wanted me fired and thought I was a criminal or the married guy whose physique made me feel like a hormonal teenager. Either way, I’d have to do my best to avoid them if I was going to catch the killer.
“Never mind. Looks like you don’t have a choice. Kyle pulled rank. I guess he wasn’t joking about keeping an eye on you.”
Carmen stood when I walked into the main office. “Have you found the killer?”
I looked around to make sure no one was listening. “Carmen, are you absolutely certain that Dave was with you the night Ronnie was murdered?”
“Absolutely, one hundred percent.”
“Then could you please talk to Luke about Dave’s alibi? He promised to keep it confidential.”
She shook her head so hard, I thought her gum might fly out of her mouth. “Nope, no way. I know what they mean when they say confidential.” She air quoted the last word, flashing her pink sparkly fingernails. “They mean, they will only tell the people who need to know. Which in cop-speak means everyone.”
She had a point. Cops did like to gossip, even if only between themselves.
“And if my husband ever finds out that Dave is my lover—”
Dave and lover in the same sentence? Gag me.
“He’d divorce me and leave me with nothing. He’d take my car and my house and probably even my . . .” She looked down at the cleavage that peeked out from her shirt. “No, he can’t take these.” She crossed her arms over her
