Close To Danger (Westen #4)(28)
“But when you left, they gave you special access to their systems? Why would they do that? You could leak that to anyone. Do anything to anyone.”
“I said, I left. It doesn’t mean they’ve let me go. I have access because there may come a time when they need me to come back to work. For now, I’m on my own.” As he typed, several screens came into play. Then he opened up a blank page. “Why don’t we start with anyone you think might be the obvious candidate for your stalker?”
CHAPTER TEN
“That was a smoother ride into work than I thought we’d have. What with the blizzard blowing in nearly two feet of snow last night,” Bobby said as she climbed out of the cab of her husband’s gigantic truck.
Okay, it wasn’t really gigantic, more like large. Of course when your spouse was six-feet-three inches tall and you were just five-feet-four, and had to use the special flip down step he’d installed just for you to climb in and out of the cab, the thing felt mammoth.
“Jason said André slept the night here and the pair were out early, making sure the main roads into and out of town were clear. Personally, I’m glad they added our street to the necessary list,” Gage said, taking her hand to walk over the mound of snow and onto the partially cleared sidewalk. “Steady here, the sleet that came in first is frozen beneath the packed snow.”
Glad for the thick work boots that were part of her deputy’s uniform, she held tight to his hand with one of hers, the other laying over her lower abdomen as they walked to the office door. Normally she wouldn’t care about a little fall, especially since she had extra padding in her lower half, but since she was pregnant with their first child, neither of them wanted to risk a fall this early on.
At the door, she let out her breath and he leaned down to kiss her. “Safe and secure.”
“I always am with you.” She smiled at him, letting her free hand rest on his chest a moment as he opened the door for her.
“So, why did Jason go out with André to clear roads?” she asked as they entered the warm sheriff’s office and started stripping out of their winter gear.
“In case André ran into any stranded motorists or accidents, I’d be there to help him,” the youngest member of the deputy division said, coming into the main room munching on a breakfast sandwich in one hand, a to-go box from the café in the other. “Pete had ham and biscuits this morning over at the café. I brought back a dozen.”
“You’re a good man, Jason,” Bobby said as she took the box of sandwiches from him. Despite yogurt and fruit with her coffee this morning, she was ravenous.
“Because he thought to go with André to search for stranded people? Or because he brought you food?” Gage asked, pouring himself a mug of coffee from the full pot in the corner of the office.
“Both.” Bobby grinned before taking a bite of the flakey biscuit and salty cured ham. Heaven. Pete was definitely Lorna’s secret weapon over at the Peaches ’N Cream.
Gage laughed and sat at his desk. “Okay, Jason, did you and André come across anyone stranded out in the snow?”
“Luckily, no sir. At least not on the highway or any of the main streets. A few of the long-haul truckers made it into town before the roads got completely unpassable. Lorna’s had them tucked in at the café last night. They’re hoping to get back on the roads this morning, but I doubt they’ll be going anywhere soon. Roads east of town are pretty bad.” Jason laid several papers in front of him. “Those are the logs of calls that came in. The powerlines are down on the outskirts of town.”
A moment later, the office door opened again and the large form of Deputy Cleetus Junkins entered. “Morning everyone,” he said, stamping snow from his boots over the mat at the door. “Sorry I’m a bit late. I wanted to make sure Sylvie was okay before I came in.”
“And is she?” Bobby asked with a wink.
A delightful blush pinked her friend’s cheeks. “Up and busy worrying about her clients. Afraid some of them, the elderly ones especially, will try to get to the salon even in this weather. Insisted I bring her to work early, just in case. I assured her Westen’s old timers had more sense than that.” He snatched one of the biscuits from the box by the coffee maker where Bobby had set them, then took his seat. “By the way, saw Doc Clint shoveling the snow over at the clinic on our way into town. He said Harriett called him that she’d be late getting to the clinic due to no electricity out her way.”
“Doesn’t she live up the river road beyond where Wes has his cabin?” Bobby said from her desk, already logging into her computer.
“About a mile up the road,” Gage said. “The cabins there are fairly remote. Too bad Wes is out of town. He could help her dig out. It’ll be days before the power company or the road crews can get in there. They’ll want to make sure the town is set and probably the new housing developments first.” He paused a moment, as if far away.
“What is it?” she asked. When he got that look, it usually meant he was playing with an idea.
“Westen hasn’t had a snowstorm like this since before Dad and I moved to town. There’s a lot of elderly folk that live out on the farms and in the outlying areas. We’d best be trying to contact them.”