“Are you all right?”
“I bailed out before he hit. I’m fine.”
“But he wrecked your truck.”
He shrugged. “That’s what insurance is for.”
Chapter 29
Stella and Sheriff McCoy shut themselves away in the interrogation room with Jed Franklin. Mattie finished writing her report and decided to check in with Brody. Followed by Robo, she tapped on Brody’s office door, and he called to her to come in.
“Have a seat,” he said when she entered.
His office could have been decorated by the government. Photos of the Colorado state governor and the United States president were mounted on the wall behind him, the room anchored by a utilitarian metal desk with two standard-issue plastic-covered chairs stationed in front. State and federal flags hung in each corner. There were no personal items on his desk, except for an attractive wooden pen and pencil holder. Otherwise, the desktop held a computer, in and out baskets, and a rack of file folders.
Mattie sat in one of the hard-backed chairs. “I want to thank you for helping me with Robo the last few days. I appreciate your support.”
Brody waved away her words with his hand. “You work real hard with that dog, Cobb. And good job on the scent lineup. No telling how we can use that skill in the future.”
“I know it. Scent identification is a huge step up in his training. I’m pretty proud of him.”
“You should be.” Brody cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. “But I need to tell you that I’ve been concerned about you lately.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“You’re looking pretty strung out, and you’re not acting like yourself.”
Once, Mattie could’ve described his own behavior that way; she avoided his gaze by looking at the desktop. “Are you concerned about my performance?”
He paused, and she raised her eyes to look into his intense blue stare. “You’re doing okay. It’s hard to pinpoint. Maybe you’re not as tuned in as you once were.”
Mattie nodded. “I understand. I’ll remedy that.”
“And you can take a lesson from LoSasso about weighing the evidence before jumping to a conclusion. We could all do that.”
Brody used to be the worst offender, but she agreed that she’d been the one this time. “Noted.”
He pushed back his chair and stood. Brody wasn’t as polished as the sheriff, but Mattie took it as a sign of dismissal and rose from her chair as well.
“That said, I want to add that I think you and Robo are the best K-9 team I’ve ever come across, and I’m proud that you serve in this department.” Not used to giving out compliments, he looked embarrassed as he extended his hand.
Mattie shook hands, squeezing hard to match his grip. “Thanks, Brody. It means a lot to have you say that.”
“Don’t let it go to your head.” He frowned, looking more like the Brody she knew. “Now clock out and go home. Overtime is through the roof.”
“All right, but can one of you call and update me when Stella and the sheriff are done with Franklin?”
“Sure thing.”
Mattie left his office and went directly to the time clock. After punching out, she went back to say good-bye to Rainbow and ask her something she’d been too busy to address. “I’m getting ready to go home, but I have a question for you,” she said.
“Shoot.” Rainbow giggled. “I guess I shouldn’t say that to an officer of the law.”
Mattie smiled and then felt her cheeks warm. There was no reason to be embarrassed, but the topic she was about to bring up felt loaded. “I was wondering if you knew about any yoga classes nearby.”
“Oh, my gosh! I can’t believe you just asked me that!”
Mattie braced herself. “Oh?”
“Anya and I have been talking about this for weeks. They want to start community yoga with a night class and a weekend class at the hot springs, and guess who they’re going to hire to teach it!”
“Who?”
“Me! Did you know I’m a certified yoga instructor?”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Do you want to join a class?”
This was going too fast. “I don’t know, but I’ll think about it.”
Rainbow examined her with a steady gaze. “If you want, I’ll give you some private lessons first. Then you can decide about joining a class.”
Her friend seemed to know her so well. “I’d love that. I need to learn the breathing stuff.”
Rainbow grinned. “I’ll teach you that and some of the basic poses. Want to start tonight?”
She couldn’t help but feel lighter as she returned Rainbow’s smile. “I’m beat. I need to take a night off. But how about sometime tomorrow?”
“Done. We’ll set something up.”
They ended their conversation, and there was nothing more for Mattie to do but go home. After loading up Robo, she began to drive, her emotions turbulent. She’d like to go see Sophie’s chicks as promised, but she couldn’t. Not with Olivia still there. As long as she could stay at work, she could avoid getting caught up in her thoughts, but now that she was heading home, they started to siphon her into a downward spiral. She struggled to remain objective.
She strived for perfection in every undertaking, and it smarted to know that others had found her performance lacking. Brody typically threw out sarcastic comments or sardonic observations while coaching his subordinates, and his conversation with her had hit home as both concerned and considerate. Something she wasn’t used to. It made her feel even worse, and it undermined his praise. She winced, knowing she needed to get back on track.
When she’d been in the cellar with Sophie, memories had surfaced. Solid memories from her childhood rather than the amorphous hints she’d remembered earlier. And the good news was—it hadn’t killed her. She’d handled it, just as her therapist had suggested she would. She needed to discuss it with Lisa Callahan during their next session, but she could already feel her intense anxiety starting to dissipate.
It would take longer to deal with the anger, but at least she could set up the right targets to shoot at. And maybe Willie and her mother didn’t belong among them. Maybe it was time to get back in touch with Willie. Mama T had been nagging her to do it. Maybe she should.
Once home, she fed Robo, took a shower, and dressed in sweats. She unwrapped a large pressed-rawhide bone and gave it to her dog. He tossed it and play posed around it, making her laugh, before he settled down with it for a chew. Realizing she felt hungry, she made a turkey sandwich from lunch meat she thawed in the microwave, grabbed an apple, and took her plate out to the porch to eat. Robo trotted outside to the yard, carrying his rawhide by one end, the other dangling downward from his mouth. He placed it in the weedy grass, putting a paw on it to hold it still while he gnawed. She watched him while she ate.
It grew chilly as the sun set behind the western mountains, so she went back into the house, calling Robo to come along with her. He held the rawhide high like a trophy as he came.
Someone knocked on the door. She opened it to find Stella on the front porch.
“Can I come in?”
“Of course.” Mattie opened the door wide.
“I told the others I’d update you on the interviews.” Stella came inside, stripping off her jacket and throwing it on a chair. She kicked off her loafers and collapsed onto the far end of the sofa. “You got a beer for me?”
“Sure. You want a sandwich?”
“Nah, I’ll get something at home.”
Mattie went to the kitchen and retrieved a beer from the six-pack in the refrigerator, a supply she kept mainly for Stella. “Here you go,” she said, handing it to her before settling, one leg tucked under the other, on the opposite end of the couch.