The Canyon Creek Murders

*Chapter 23 *

A few short moments later, three smiling faces that told the Sheriff that the initial shocked reactions were just that and that there was nothing to worry about. Giving him an opportunity to make his excuses and leave them to it. "Now that you're all here, I need to pop out for a while, so I shall leave you all to get reacquainted," he told them as he made his exit.

"FBI agent huh? I must admit, I didn't see that one coming," Sam finally asked.

"To be honest, neither did I," Sarah Brookes answered with a slight chuckle. "I thought my career path was already sorted." Both Sam and Hank looked on like a small child being given a bedtime story. Sarah picked up on the hint and continued. "It seems I had made quite an impression on Brian Masters when he was with us in Eustice. After you guys left, he stuck around for a while and did his best to try and recruit me. At that point, I was dead against the idea. I had my eye on the captain’s job and fully believed that's where I was heading."

Sam, in particular, frowned at that suggestion. From what he recalled; Captain Beesley had been around the same age as their regular captain back home in Resmar and was certainly nowhere near retirement age. Unless he was moving on, why would she be having designs on his job? Having noticed the confusion Sarah let out a sigh before continuing once more. "I can tell you now, Captain Beesley is not a well man. Even when you guys were with us, he was having regular hospital appointments."

Hank’s eyes opened wide. "That makes sense," he claimed, raising his finger to the air. "Generally, when he left the station, he would pop his head into the office to let us know where he was going. Especially in the early days when... well... you know."

"Yes, I know," Sarah responded, remembering how unwelcoming and inhospitable things were in the beginning.

"Well, there were a couple of times where we went to look for him, but he was nowhere to be seen," Hank added.

"And now you know why," Sarah responded. "He liked to keep things like that private. I was the only one around that knew. And I only knew because I was being lined up to take his place." Neither Sam nor Hank responded to that, but quietly they were both surprised by this revelation.

Not that either of them doubted her credentials to do the job. She had been widely regarded as the best detective around in Eustice. Plus, without her input and assistance, they might not have closed their own case as quickly as they did. So, it would have been a natural progression in many ways. It just all came a little bit suddenly.

"Beesley had planned to retire towards the end of the year and by the time you had arrived in Eustice, he had already written a very strongly worded letter recommending me as his successor," Sarah added further. "There was nothing official, but he was convinced I was going to get the job and I was inclined to believe him. I was so excited. He took me under his wing and began to show me the extra duties required and the general day-to-day running of the station. Actually, that was another little reason for the greetings you guys received.

“I knew nothing of your involvement until the day before you arrived. It was the first time in about six weeks that anything happened around there that I didn't have any previous knowledge of. I felt a little....maybe not betrayed...but certainly let down by that. And then for you to arrive and instantly take over the biggest case we'd had in years.... well, you know the rest."

"Yeah, we know the rest," they both replied with a wry smile. This soon developed into a laugh which all three shared together.

"So, what happened then? I mean what changed your mind?" Sam finally asked.

Sarah looked a little surprised at being asked that question. "The, erm, situation with Dustin. Just made things a little awkward," she answered, almost with a matter-of-fact kind of tone in her voice, although the blank expressions coming back at her told her that neither Sam nor Hank had any idea what she was referring to. "Wait...you mean....you didn't...," a flabbergasted Sarah Brookes stuttered. "They didn't tell you," she finally commented.

“Tell us what?” Sam asked. Both he and Hank looked confused, not sure if that was meant as a question or not.

"Wow. I'm so sorry guys. I thought you knew," she added apologetically. "I'm afraid this isn't going to be easy to hear." Sarah flipped her gaze between the two of them. Her eyes finally locked in Hank’s direction before continuing. "Dustin Moorland was suspended from active duty pending an investigation into how your personal details, including your apartment address in Eustice, ended up in the public domain."

“What?” Hank roared; his eyes began to bulge as she said that. His face became redder as the anger built up inside him.

"As far as I know, there was no evidence to prove that he was involved or that he had any idea where the information would end up," Sarah continued, possibly trying to soften the blow. "But for me, it was too much. The fact they had enough on him to suspend him in the first place, meant that I had lost all respect for him. Both as a detective and as a person.

“I certainly didn't want to work with him and even if I had taken over from the captain, I wouldn't have wanted him on my team either. I felt as though I was in a no-win situation. Eventually, I realized the FBI job was a way out of that."

"Excuse me a minute," Hank said as he got up and walked out of the station, visibly shaking. Sam slumped in his chair, staring down towards the floor, his arms out in front of him on the table. Without even thinking about what she was doing, Sarah instinctively reached out and took hold of Sam’s hand. "Are you OK?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, sure," Sam answered. "I mean, it's a lot to take in, but yeah, as OK as I can be," he added. As he did, he extended his thumb, gently stroking the back of Sarah's hand. He slowly raised his head up and they both held eye contact for several moments, bringing a smile to each of their faces.

It had been a natural reaction and without even realizing it, they had just answered the one question they both subliminally at least needed answering. Whatever attractions, thoughts, or feelings they had built up for each other while working together previously, were not only still there, but were just as strong as they'd ever been.