Making It Right (Most Likely To #3)

The bruises had faded, the stitches removed. Jo put on her uniform and her belt. She’d removed some of the weight but kept her handcuffs, her gun, and her extra clip. Everything else was sitting on the dresser by her bed. Desk duty, she reminded herself.

She’d gone to the high school in the morning and watched as the remaining seniors that were going to state paced themselves. Drew and Tim rounded out her distance runners, and the relay team was there, too.

It felt good to pull the moist morning air into her battered lungs.

She stayed long enough to pitch a few pointers to Drew and Tim. They didn’t need her at this point, both of them hungry for a spot on the podium.

Oregon was a hard place when it came to track. Some of the best schools in the sport were there, and the competition for a state title was fierce.

Still, they had a chance.

She was proud either way.

With a half-eaten donut and a cup of coffee, Jo took her place behind her desk. It was surprisingly clean.

“Glynis? Where is all the mail?”

“Most of it was taken care of.”

“What?”

“Deputy Fitzpatrick stayed on top of things. I have the papers that need your signature.”

Jo wasn’t sure she liked being replaced. “Where are they?”

Glynis moved to the filing cabinet behind Jo’s desk. “In here.”

Jo peered into the cabinet, felt her heart skip. “Where are all my files?”

“Archived. Anything over seven years. I’ve been scanning and shredding.”

“You’ve done what?” Jo’s voice rose an octave.

“It’s okay. I scanned everything. I’ve let it slip the last couple of years. Deputy Emery told me I should make room.”

“Is that right?”

“Is something wrong?” Glynis asked.

Jo ran her hands over the files, opened the next drawer.

Gone . . . everything around the time of her father’s death was gone. “I want to see the scanned documents.”

“Of course.” Glynis scurried off, and Jo slammed the file drawer.

“Welcome back, Jo.”

Jo tried to keep her cool as she turned to see Karl in her doorway.

“Thank you.” She didn’t make eye contact.

“It’s been quiet without you here.”

A snarky comment about how quiet it would have been had she tumbled off the cliff sat on her lips.

She kept quiet.

“Listen, Jo. I’m sorry.”

She found his eyes.

“I was shitty before the accident. Said some things I didn’t mean.”

He sounded sincere. “You don’t want my job?”

“Not at your expense. I admit it’s been hard at times. I remember sitting in this office, talking with your dad about your crazy teenage years. To have you take his place wasn’t the easiest thing for me.”

“I thought we were past all that,” Jo said.

“I thought I was, too. Sometimes the past comes back to haunt us.” Karl shook his head as if removing thoughts. “Anyway. You might not believe me, but I’m glad you’re back.”

Not sure what to make of his words, she decided mutual ground was best. “You’re going to Drew’s state meet, right? I’ll make sure everything is covered here.”

“Fitzpatrick has done a lot already.”

Jo wanted to scream at the man. “Karl. I’m talking as a friend, not as your boss. Drew wants you there.”

“I don’t know. After the incident at the school I think my being there will just make it worse.”

“What incident?”

Karl shuffled his feet. “Nothing.”

“Sounds like something. Spill.”

“Someone on the football team said something. There was a fight.”

“What?” She hadn’t heard of any fight. “Drew?”

“No. Almost, but no. That little Tina is good for him. Gustavo threw the punch.”

Jo hadn’t seen Gustavo since the team’s trip to the hospital to visit her. “What on earth for?”

“Apparently there’s some shitty gossip going around town. I’ve pissed off all the dog lovers in town, and some think I strung up Cherie’s dog.”

To have her concerns vocalized by the man she herself had begun to blame was either brilliant on his end to drag her off his scent or stupid for putting himself on her radar.

“Jesus, Jo . . . not you, too.”

“No,” she denied too quickly. “Of course not.”

“Right. I need to go before I say something crappy and undo all the fence mending I’m trying to build.”

Jo stood a little too quickly, felt the pull in her side. “Karl, please. It’s been a stressful couple of months.”

“Yeah. You have no idea.” With his parting words, he turned and left.

Jo rested her head in her hands and silently cussed the universe.



Gill stood over the mangled mess of Jo’s car. It scared him every damn time he looked at the seat she’d been in.

“Agent Clausen.”

“Mac?”

“Right.” They shook hands. Gill had been in contact with the mechanic in charge of investigating Jo’s accident.

“You have something for me?”

“I do. I started with the brake recall. The ABS actuator damaged O-rings, which decreases the brake fluid pressure . . . causes a delay in the ability to brake in time.”

“I know how brakes work,” Gill told the man.

“Right. Anyway. You said Sheriff Ward reported a lack of brakes altogether. That hasn’t been reported on this recall. In fact, other than this accident, there hasn’t been anything other than a fender bender.”

“So were the O-rings damaged?”

Mac shook his head. “No.”

“So what caused the brake failure?”

Mac waved Gill over to a computer and pulled up a magnified image. “What am I looking at?”

“Brake line. Front right tire.”

As with any image magnified a zillion times better than what the naked eye could see, it looked frayed. Gill knew better than to think the entire tube was faulty.

“This is normal.” Mac pulled up another image. “This one is off the line in the back right tire. Smooth, perfect. The left lines were shot from the wreck.” He flipped back to the first image.

Gill looked closer. “What’s this?”

“That,” Mac paused, “is a hole.”

“From what?”

“Ten thousand dollar question. Looks too smooth to be organic.”

“Organic?”

“From a rock on the road, an animal biting it.”

“Big enough to cause the brakes to completely fail?”

“With enough time the leak would bleed the line and malfunction. But I didn’t like what I saw, so I looked again.” Mac pulled up another image. This tube was a dark gray, larger.

“Power steering line.”

“You’re good,” Mac praised him. “Either River Bend has vampire mice puncturing holes into lines or we have someone trying to kill your sheriff.”

Gill left the auto shop with the phone to his ear.

He called Luke first. “Don’t let Jo drive anywhere.”

“Why, what’s going on?”

“Her accident wasn’t an accident.”

“What? Does she know this?”

“Not yet,” Gill said, jumping into his car and heading straight to his office. “I’ll be back in town tonight. Confiscate her Jeep, take the battery out of the squad car. Just don’t let her drive.”

“I’m on it.”

“And don’t tell her anything.”

“But . . .”