have? And I worked in Knox County for years.”
Moon stuck his hands in his pockets. “So you’re saying you don’t think I’m ready.”
“I’m saying you’re jumping the gun.”
Deputy Moon pulled a chair over and sat down in front of Sheriff Strahan’s desk. “Permission to speak frankly?”
The Sheriff shrugged. “Weren’t we?”
The deputy spoke in a low tone, as if he were relaying a wonderful rumor. “Look, Graham. I’ve been working right by your side since the Boyle case. I’ve learned a lot from you. And we don’t even have anyone ranked as a detective on the force.”
“Look, we’re a small force, Kevin. We all do what the play calls for, when the play calls for it. I don’t care if it’s writing tickets or catching a murderer. I don’t have time to think about labels and such. I did remember to name you special deputy.”
“Right! I’m basically your sidekick!”
The sheriff laughed. “All right, Boy Wonder. Settle down. Here’s what’s happened, according to me. You are eager. You want to do a good job so much that it makes you awkward. And I’ve got to tell you, Kevin, as much as you have been right by my side, there have been so many things I have shielded you from. You don’t know. Part of me thinks you’re better off not knowing. Maybe I need you where you are right now.”
“I don’t understand. It just feels like you’re trying to keep me down.”
“Kevin,” Graham said. “I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“I think you’re being overly dramatic, Sheriff,” Kevin said.
“Don’t be offended, man,” Graham said, settling back in his chair. “Your time is coming. But that time is not right now.”
The desk phone buzzed, and Graham punched the intercom button. “Yes, Tamara?”
“There’s a man here to see you, Sheriff.”
Graham shook his head. “Does he have a name?”
“Hold on,” Tamara said. There was a scraping sound as she put her hand over the headset mic, and Graham and Kevin could faintly hear her ask the man what his name was.
“I can’t believe you hired her, Graham,” Kevin Moon said. “I swear I can’t understand your decision making process.”
Graham shrugged. “She passed the exam. She graduated from the Academy. She’s good at what she does, for the most part.”
“She was the suspect in a murder case! You yourself said you think she did it!”
“It was never proven and she was never convicted,” Graham stated. “Her record is clean, and she is now an officer of the law, just like you.”
“I don’t trust her,” Kevin said, pouting like a kid who didn’t get his way.
“You better learn,” Graham said. “She might save your ass one day.”
Tamara came back on the speakerphone. “His name is Joe Nance and he’s from the Historical Society. He says he has some information for you?”
“All right, then,” Graham said. “Send him in.”
Joe Nance was a big guy. His shoulders scraped both sides of the door frame as he entered. Once Graham saw how big the man’s hands were, he was amazed Nance hadn’t crushed the doorknob. Nance was a smiler, and he grinned at Graham and Kevin as he came in. Pleasantries were exchanged, and Nance managed not to crush any delicate finger bones during the shaking of hands.
Graham motioned to the chair Kevin had been sitting in. “Have a seat, Mr. Nance,” Graham said. Graham also sat down in his official Sheriff’s chair, while Kevin stood behind him, arms crossed, a stern look on his face, the strong but silent protector.
“My officer says you have some information for me, Mr. Nance,” Graham said.
“Please,” the visitor said with a dismissive wave. “Call me Josie.”
Graham smiled. “What’s the information concerning, Josie?”
Nance glanced up at Deputy Moon. “Well, I…”
Graham picked up on Nance’s visual cue. “Don’t worry about Special Deputy Moon,” Graham said. “Anything you can say in front of me, you can say in front of him.” Kevin