Free New Leaf by Catherine Anderson Page B

chose, Barney Sterling could destroy the solid reputation she was trying so hard to rebuild.

Chapter Five
    Barney fumed half the way home, until he realized he was doing fifteen miles an hour over the speed limit. He jammed his foot on the brake, pulled over briefly, and smacked his free hand against the dashboard. A speeding ticket would look just great in the personnel file of a county deputy, and he’d be damned if he’d give Miss Taffeta Brown the satisfaction of being responsible for a mark against his character.
    He rolled down his window and took several head-cleansing gulps of cold air before he calmed down enough to think straight. He had heard some tall tales in his time. Either the Brown woman had an unrivaled imagination or she was—just possibly—leveling with him. Not that it would make much difference, either way, but at least then he wouldn’t feel so repulsed by her that he couldn’t be her friend.
    When he reached the outskirts of Mystic Creek, he took a right off North Huckleberry onto Creek Crossing Road to stop by the department headquarters. Before he ran home to feed his horses and fellexhausted into bed, he intended to do a little research on Taffeta Brown.
    When Barney entered the building, Doreen glanced up over a bank of monitors, momentarily ignoring the voice of Serena Paul, another deputy, that came over the radio. She smiled at him, and snapped her bubble gum. Her curly red hair gleamed in the fluorescent lights that hummed softly above her. “Hey there, Deputy Barney. Have you taken time to polish that bullet in your pocket today?”
    Barney walked straight past the woman without speaking. Myriad smells drifted through the rear desk area when he stepped inside. Someone had ordered in pizza from Wood Fyre Delights, a parlor a little west of there. He saw the crumpled box stuffed in a trash can. The unmistakable aroma of a hamburger and fries also assaulted his nostrils. His empty stomach snarled in response.
    Sheriff Adams, an older man who had developed a paunch, emerged from his office preceded by his belt buckle. His thinning brown hair, now threaded with silver, sported a circular indentation from the Stetson he normally wore. “What are you doing here, Sterling?”
    “I’d like to use one of the department computers for a while if that’s all right.”
    Adams arched a grizzled eyebrow, and his intense brown eyes filled with question. “Personal or department related?”
    “Personal. I have two systems at home, but the Internet speed here is faster.”
    Adams stepped over to the coffee machine, presenting his back to Barney. “Help yourself. Just don’t lose sleep and be an asshole tomorrow.”
    Barney grinned. “Speaking of which, you’re here mighty late. Did something come up?”
    “Nah. The wife is out of town visiting her sister, so I went to the Cauldron for supper.” Marietta, Blake Adams’s spouse, was a plump blonde with a smile that could melt ice and a personality to match. Barney imagined that the sheriff felt lost without her. “On the way home, I decided to stop in here and check on things. Nothing to do at the house but eat chips and watch TV.”
    Barney moved deeper into the room, which accommodated six metal desks. The deputies in Mystic Creek shared the office furniture and equipment. Because they rotated in and out, doing desk duty only when they weren’t working in the field, six computers facilitated everyone. Barney waved at a couple of buddies and then got on a computer toward the back of the room where no one would see what came up on the screen.
    Barney knew the newspaper in Erickson, Oregon, was named the
Sentinel Guard
because the publication was sold at newsstands in Mystic Creek. When he ran a search on Taffeta Brown in the online archives, he came up with nothing. He decided she might be using her maiden name now, so he ran a search on attorneys in Erickson with the first name Phillip. He found several, but he was able to rule out over half