Standing practically toe-to-toe with him, she didnt bat an eyelash. I havent determined yet whats personal and whats of public interest.

So youll cast a wide net regardless of who might get hurt? Burt. Duke. What have they got to do with your story on the department?

You tell me. Her gray eyes were filled with shadows. Why would a sheriffs deputy accept cash, a rather sizable chunk, from a man some describe as a vagrant, then turn around and give cash to a kid whos been suspended from school for drugs?

So she had been tailing him. And talking to more people than Rachel. He didnt know whether to throttle the reporter or the local gossips when he found out who they were.

That wasnt a rhetorical question, she insisted as he eyed her in stony silence.

He clenched his hands at his sides so that he didnt reach out for her notebook and recorder. Didnt throw them on the ground and grind them under his boot heel. From one afternoons observation, you think Im both on the take and buying drugs.

I dont know. I saw something that could or could not be deemed suspicious. Id like to hear your explanation. Especially, since you claimed when I first met you, that this new department was squeaky clean. And for this week, at least, youre the face of the department.

Clearly the woman had her sights set on a career beyond the Sun. On a tabloid career. Both Burt and Duke have had a rough go of it. Leave them out of your story.

And the cash?

She wasnt going to give up until she had her answer, and he wasnt going to let her threaten either Burts or Dukes tenuous hold on rehabilitation. Better she learn something personal about him.

Burt was repaying a loan I made him to see him through between jobs. And DukeI rewarded him for a decent report card. Finally.

Relatives of yours?

Friends, he replied through gritted teeth.

Do you see how easily you cleared up this misconception? she asked, tilting her head so that her strawberry-blond hair swung gracefully to one side. She spoke with a faint smile as if the two of them were friends, too. Who moved easily from a minor disagreement back to compatibility.

What he felt was poles apart from friendship. Why didnt you ask me before jumping to conclusions?

Thats the sad part. She sighed dramatically and played with the ends of the blue silk scarf tied around her neck. You made it perfectly clear you didnt want me around.

I did not.

Then why did you foist me off on Deputy Breckinridge?

To get a womans perspective on the department.

She regarded him as if she didnt believe it.

Mack inhaled sharply as an ugly thought began to dawn. You were snooping around, deliberately creating drama this afternoonwhich you knew would get back to me eventuallybecause you were ticked that I wasnt giving you my full attention. Maybe you thought you could find something you could use asI hesitate to use the word blackmail leverage?

She stuck her finger in the center of his chest. And pushed. Im not that kind of reporter. I was simply doing my job as best I couldaloneonce it became evident you werent taking my a.s.signment seriously. An a.s.signment, I might remind you, your boss requested.

When it looked as if she might poke him again, he took a step backward. Lady, dont try to throw your weight around. Im bigger than you by a good hundred pounds.

Her cheeks flamed red, making the freckles across her nose stand out. Im not going away, Deputy Whittaker. Im staying right here in town for the next five days. My article about your departmentand that includes youand its relationships with the citizens of this town will appear in the paper. With or without your help.

He thought of Duke and Burt and how easily Athertons journalistic point might lead to real hurt. He thought of Samantha and how the press had nearly ruined her new life in Applegate. He thought of his own recent past.

Real reporting is one thing, he said. Tabloid bottom-feeding is another. How would you like someone digging into your background? Not necessarily looking for substance or the truth, but just scratching the surface until something t.i.tillating turned up?

Her notebook slipped out of her hand and clattered to the stone path. Before she bent to retrieve it, he thought he saw a flicker ofdoubt? Pain? Fear?

Tomorrow morning, she said, rising, once again composed, Ill be at headquarters. Seven sharp as the shifts change. You can tell me then if I can expect your cooperation.

She didnt look at him as she gathered her things and stowed them in her backpack. Now Im going inside to organize my notes. And to give you time to come to your senses.

With the bearing of a person twice her stature, she swept by him and into the house.

Leaving him stunned at the dismissal.

Let me come to my senses? he shouted after her when he finally found his voice. Let me come to my He stopped bellowing when June Parkers face popped up at the kitchen window.

IIm sorry, Ms. Parker, he said.

Dont be, she said brightly. Its good to see youre back from the dead.

CHAPTER FIVE.

O MINOUS CLOUDS HUNG OVERHEAD as Chloe, cell phone pressed to her ear, hastened down Main Street past stores that wouldnt open for several hours yet. The early morning call from her editor, Deirdre Kinkaid, was going on much longer than Chloe thought necessary. If this made her late for the change in shifts at the sheriffs department Trouble was, shed mentioned to Deirdre how the deputy was resisting her attempts to find the storys center, and Deirdre had immediately begun to rethink her decision to move Chloe from the Living section to special reports.

You have to be tougher, Chloe, Deirdre insisted. As a womanand a pet.i.te woman, at thatyou have to work extra hard to project the gravitas that will gain you respect Blah, blah, blah. Chloe had heard all this before. Her name was too soft, her stature too unimposing, her face too girlish to be taken seriously. Well, it wasnt true, and this article was the opportunity to prove the lie.

And with Macks uncomfortable counter-questioning yesterday into how shed feel if someone rummaged around in her past, she was determined to remain steadfastly professional. She was proud that the Sun had never had to print a retraction for one of her articles. She, of all people, knew the hurt that ill-researched reporting could cause.

Im sorry, Deirdre, she said, interrupting her editors monologue at the front door of the sheriffs department, but the reception is awful in this valley. Youre breaking up. Ill e-mail an update. Bye.

Once inside the building, she was confronted with a hubbub of activity. Staff from both the morning and the graveyard shifts came and went with serious glances at a large television on a wall in the central area, tuned to a weather channel. The map of the Southern U.S. now on the screen was overlaid with a pattern of yellow and red boxes. Chloe knew them well. Tornado watches and warnings.

Tough as she wanted to appear, she had a Southerners deep-rooted apprehension of such forecasts.

Repositioning her backpack over one shoulder, she followed several deputies who were making their way to a meeting room on the far side. There she could see Mack making changes on a dry-erase board.

Listen up! he barked as the deputy behind Chloe closed the meeting-room door. Some a.s.signments have shifted. McMillan, youre still on desk. We have a pile of tips related to that fake-lottery-ticket scheme. I want you to begin making some sense of them. Sooner, youre still on patrol. West sector of the county. The story today is the approaching storm system. With the tornado watch in effect, we have to make sure the trailer parks on alert and any elderly folks living alone have a place to go if the watch is upgraded. Mind the skies, everyone.

Hands clasped behind his back, Mack began to pace at a podium bearing a large sheriffs department seal, his expression as dark as the lowering sky outside.

Breckinridge, you and I are changing places, he said slowly as if this wasnt a decision hed come to lightly. Youll supervise transfer of prisoners at the courthouse, while I take the east sector patrol. He took a deep breath. Ms. Atherton will be riding with me.

So, hed come to his senses.

The rest is as written on the board, he concluded. The other shifts are on call if we need them. Stay alert.

Once the deputies began leaving, Chloe asked, Why did you switch a.s.signments with Breckinridge?

Theres a lot that can go wrong when youre transferring prisoners, he replied, his demeanor hard and unyielding, in stark contrast to the pa.s.sion he displayed the day before.

And you didnt want me in the way, she finished for him.

Transfer of prisoners is a dangerous business. He picked up his Stetson from the podium. If you want to see that, you can review the surveillance videotapes.

He wasnt protecting her. It was obvious he was protecting the workings of his department. At the same time hed given himself an a.s.signment that would give her full access to him. She suspected that he hoped to direct the activities while keeping an eye on her. She was essentially being babysat.

Not a satisfying thought, especially after her conversation with Deirdre.

Are you coming or not? Standing in the meeting-room doorway, the deputy eyed her without a trace of emotion. How could someone that handsome be that cold?

Mack resented the energy it took to keep himself under control. Energy that would be better spent on his job. With a nasty storm system approaching, he needed to be a hundred places at once today, not reined in and distracted. But after his outburst yesterday, he absolutely knew he needed to keep his true feelings in check if the Sun article was to end up an honest depiction and not purple prose. Or personal profile.

Im coming, Atherton said, pulling the camera from her backpack. Whats first on our agenda?

You heard me in the briefing.

Were patrolling the eastern part of the county, she said, pointing the expensive camera at him.

He turned his head, pretending to check the time on the wall clock. Leave me out of your photo shoots. By the end of the day, youll have more-dramatic subjects than me.

Im checking my batteries, she replied, ignoring him. Did you, by any chance, talk to the sheriff last night?

What do you mean?

Im riding with you again. I thought he might haveencouraged it.

I didnt talk to him. He didnt need Garrett ordering him to cooperate with this reporter. All on his own, hed come to the painful decision to make himself accessible. Impatiently he swept his hand toward the doorway.

Do you think theres a real possibility of tornadoes? she asked as they made their way through the building and out to the parking lot. There was a nervous edge to her voice, leading him to believe she might not be as tough as she let on.

Its a h.e.l.luva system, he said. And the barometers already plunging.

Will we be checking on Ms. Culpepper? she asked, standing by the pa.s.sengers side of the patrol car, gazing at him across the roof, waiting for him to unlock her door.

Yes, well be checking on her. And His parents. Great. Why did he have to a.s.sign himself the eastern sector? Whistling Meadows.

Whats Whistling Meadows?

Instead of unlocking the cruiser for her, he picked at a splatter of mud on the fender. If he was going to have to answer her questions, he might as well be forthcoming on the innocuous ones. Its a llama farm. It belongs to the sheriffs wife.

I know the runaway-heiress story.

So it wasnt an innocuous question. Shes nothing like yall made her out, he snapped, unlocking the car and getting in. You arent going to resurrect that disaster, are you?

Puh-leeze! she said, sliding into the seat beside him. She was becoming quite the annoying fixture in his daily routine. Give me more credit than that.

Unsure whether she might harbor a reporters curiosity for a behind-the-scenes tour, he considered skipping the check on Whistling Meadows. But Rory was stateside again and attending eighth grade under the McQuire housekeepers care, while the man who used to own the farm was looking after the llamas until Garrett and Samantha got back from their honeymoon. Both Geneva and Red were getting on in years, and Mack would feel better if he saw for himself the three were all right.

In awkward silence, he and the reporter drove the few miles out of town to the llama farm.

A gust of wind hit the patrol car as Mack turned into the dirt drive that led to his friends place. He could see Red helping Geneva take down laundry that flapped wildly on the lines beyond the kitchen stoop. The six llamas, normally curious and social where humans were concerned, were huddled together under a tree halfway up the slope of the inner pasture. They didnt pay the slightest attention to the cruiser. Animals had an eerie sixth sense about approaching bad weather.

He pulled to a stop in the farmyard as Geneva hurried into the house with a basket of laundry. Red came over to the drivers side of the car, and Mack rolled down the window. The air, loaded with moisture, smelled of humus. Yall okay up here? Mack asked.

Were fine, Red replied, eyeing Chloe with curiosity. Got the weather channel on. Got the crank NOAA radio in case the power goes out. Got the root cellar if all h.e.l.l breaks loose. But Genevas worried about Rory. The bus picked up the kids as usual this morning. You think the schools gonna send em home early?

Call the board of ed.

Red stuck his arm across Macks chest. Im Red Harris, he said to Chloe. Farm manager.

Pleased to meet you. Im Chloe Atherton, she replied, shaking his hand. From the Western Carolina Sun.

Ah. Red shot a sly smile at Mack. The interview the sheriff dumped on our deputy here. Put him back in a foul mood with that announcement, Ill tell you. Two steps forward, one back. Glad to see hes rising to the occasion, though. Cant hurt that youre pretty.

We have to shove off. His foot on the brake, Mack put the cruiser in gear. As long as youre prepared.

We are. Red had the bra.s.s to wink at Chloe as he clapped Mack on the shoulder. Rory wants to know if this newspaper articles gonna interfere with game night?

It shouldnt, Mack muttered, rolling up the window, before slowly turning the cruiser around.

In the rearview mirror Mack saw Red, hands on bony hips, staring and grinning until Geneva came out of the house with an empty basket and gestured for him to finish helping her.

Whos Rory to you, and whats game night? Mack found the closeness of Chloes voice discomfiting.

They have nothing to do with the job.

Everything has to do with the job. Remember the sheriffs given me carte blanche. She pulled a sheet of paper out of her backpack. If you want to see a printout of the e-mail in which Sheriff McQuires given the go-ahead You e-mailed the sheriff on his honeymoon? Mack applied the brake too heavily as he came to the end of the Whistling Meadows drive.

Chloe clutched the dashboard. Its the least-invasive way to clear things up. He didnt have to answer.

But he would, Mack thought sourly, turning onto the county road. Because both Garrett and Samantha would think putting Mack out there was the best way for him to re-socialize. Well, they didnt understand that after a tour of duty in a war-torn h.e.l.lhole, life wasnt so simple. People werent what they appeared. And the man who didnt guard his back at all times was a fool. And worse.

So whos Rory to you, and whats game night? Chloe persisted, shaking her e-mail printout for emphasis.

Let her stew a bit.

Mack drove the short distance to Sarah Culpeppers under a sky as dark as his mood. Rorys my G.o.dson, he replied at last, pulling into Miss Sarahs yard. Dust devils flecked with leaves roiled in the dirt. Fridays we hook up for pizza and Nintendo Wii. And no, the reporter wasnt invited.

He got out of the cruiser. Ill be right back.

Through the windshield, Chloe followed Macks retreating form. What would she have done if hed actually looked at the e-mail from Sheriff McQuire and read, instead, a library printout of her overdue books?

So what about Rory? A G.o.dson? Go figure. If she were to single out a particular person as a childs G.o.dparent, it would be someone a tad warmer than the deputy. Shed seen him in action with the kids at the high school. All cool, no-nonsense authority. Not an ounce of humor or playfulness. Shed love to see him caught up in Wii.