They’d shifted from responding to a 911 call and looking for the shooter and victim to searching for evidence. The latter required a warrant.
“What about the scene?” Todd asked. “Do you want to expand the perimeter?”
“Secure the area but hold off on the foot search. If we can get a K-9 out here, extra bodies traipsing around could disturb the scent. Call the state police. See if we can borrow a K-9 unit.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Todd turned and strode toward his vehicle.
Despite her personal issues with canines, she valued their ability to sniff out everything from drugs, explosives, and lost kids to suspects.
Bree turned to Rogers. Resentment buttoned up his expression. She didn’t like him challenging her authority. But she also didn’t want to lose him. She was already shorthanded, and his skills as a tracker were valuable. Despite his negative attitude toward her, his job performance over the past three weeks had been solid. Her overall impression of Rogers’s ability as a deputy was favorable. Was Rogers’s poor attitude today a reflection of his dislike for her or a personal response to this particular case?
She studied him for a few seconds. Dark circles hovered beneath his crow’s-feet. He’d been up all night. His shift had officially ended a while ago, and he’d dealt with a potentially dangerous situation running on nothing but adrenaline. To make matters worse, after he left the scene, he’d have to go back to the station and finish the night’s reports.
Bree said in a low voice, “Look, Rogers. I hope you’re right. I hope she did make the whole thing up. I hope we’re all wasting our time. Because I’d rather be lied to than have a loose shooter or a lost victim potentially bleeding to death at this moment. I could never forgive myself if a young woman died because I didn’t look hard enough for her. Or if other people became victims because I didn’t try to find a killer. Or if I allowed myself to be prejudiced against a witness because she was homeless and discounted her story based on her circumstances rather than a thorough investigation of the case.”
Rogers spoke through a locked jaw. “Yes, ma’am.”
Frustrated, Bree took a deep breath. The truth was, while she had plenty of years as a cop to draw on, she had no leadership experience. She’d worked patrol in the beginning of her career, then progressed quickly to detective. She’d worked in cooperation with teams of people, but she’d never been the boss. Navigating the new role of leadership was like picking her way across a field of cow pies blindfolded. Everywhere she turned, there seemed to be a new pile of crap to step in.
She headed for the front of the cabin. Rogers fell into step beside her, and they walked in uncomfortable silence. By the time they reached the clearing, two more deputies had arrived.
She turned to Rogers. “There are enough uniforms here now. You can go off shift.”
He moved away. Though he hadn’t wanted to work on the investigation, his posture was stiff, as if he was irritated at her dismissal.
She could not win.
From what she’d learned of the previous sheriff, he would have fired anyone who challenged him on the spot. Bree couldn’t afford to fire everyone who was difficult. The department had lost almost a third of its deputies. When she’d accepted the job, she’d known the department was in turmoil. She’d known she’d have to rebuild the whole unit, and that the transition process would be painful. Some people naturally resisted growth and change.
But the reality of transforming the sheriff’s department was proving to be more frustrating than she’d anticipated, and she’d been at it for only three weeks.
The hell with it.
Bree stopped at her SUV for her coffee and took a few fortifying sips. She didn’t have the time or energy to deal with attitudes and egos this morning. She had a shooting to investigate. Having a case to work was almost a relief.
For now, she would put aside her department’s issues and do what she did best. She’d solve a crime. She headed for the vehicle that contained her witness.
Todd jogged toward her. “Sheriff?”
She stopped. The title still felt strange.
“State police K-9 units are tied up searching for a university student who went missing over the weekend. The earliest I can get a team out here is late afternoon.”
Bree glanced at the sky. To the east, the sunrise reddened the morning sky, but thick clouds gathered on the western horizon. She pulled out her phone and checked the weather. “There’s more snow on the way. It’s forecast to start by early afternoon.” She wasn’t sure how new snow would affect a dog’s ability to track, but it would cover any evidence on the ground.
“What about Matt and Brody?” Todd asked.
Matt had been tied to her sister’s murder through his best friend, and he’d helped her solve the case. They’d made a good team, but Matt’s history with the sheriff’s department made her hesitate.
“Doesn’t seem like I have any other options,” Bree said.
“Is there a reason you don’t want to call Matt?” Todd asked.
“It would be preferable to use an official team.” Bree didn’t voice her real concerns. One of the deputies who had shot Matt had left the department. The other was Rogers. The incident had officially been declared an accident, but Matt’s interactions with Rogers and the other deputies were understandably awkward. Asking him to work for the sheriff’s department felt like an imposition.
But she’d get to see him again. Despite the fact that she didn’t have the time or energy for a personal commitment outside of her family—as evidenced by her failure to return his messages for the past few weeks—she’d missed him.
Bree massaged her temple. Matt came with departmental complications, but she trusted him. She couldn’t say that about all the men under her command. It would be nice to know someone had her back.
“I’ll call him.” Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she surveyed the uniformed men moving around the scene. She felt confident in her chief deputy. Todd had been one of the people who’d convinced her to accept the position. Most of her deputies seemed glad to have new leadership, but a few resented her appointment to sheriff.
She stepped away for some privacy to make the call. The rising sun reflected off the frozen lake in shades of bloody red. With the exception of Todd, Matt didn’t fully trust her deputies.
Could she?
CHAPTER FIVE
Matt’s phone vibrated. He pulled it from his pocket. Bree.
He might be thirty-five, but seeing her name on his phone screen gave him a rush. He tempered his enthusiasm and cleared his throat. “Hey, how are you?”
“Sorry,” Bree said. She sounded stressed. “I know I should have answered your text weeks ago, but it’s been crazy at work and home.”
“Everything OK with the kids?” Matt worried about them—and her. The Taggert family had suffered more than its share of tragedy.
“Not really, but I don’t have time to get into it now,” she said. “I need to ask you for a favor. You and Brody.”
He could hear wind and voices in the background. Someone yelled for the chief deputy. Disappointment poked him. She was at a scene. She wasn’t calling him back for personal reasons. This was business.