It was the most productive performance of my life.

Chapter 4 — How Things Work

At the station, Sheriff Roy Prescott sat behind a heavy oak desk, drinking coffee from a ceramic mug, in no hurry at all.

“You military boys always think a uniform makes you important.”

“My wife is in emergency surgery,” I said flatly.

“And you’re wasting time here because you need to understand how things work in my county.” He slid an official manila incident report across the desk.

According to it, Camila had trespassed on Trent’s construction site, threatened company employees, and accidentally fallen down an unfinished stairwell.