“We also have a bigger budget because of that,” I remind her, and she instantly glances to the side guiltily. A lot of people complain about her center, but the same people forget how much money her business brings to town and how much good we’ve already done with that.
“True.” She clears her throat. “Anyway, I talked to her and think we should hire her. I can set up the time for you to interview her too.”
“No need. Hire her.”
“What?” She blinks in confusion.
“Hire her,” I repeat a bit louder, not sure how she didn’t hear me the first time.
“I m-mean, you don’t want to interview her yourself?” She suddenly starts stuttering. I’ve never seen her do that before.
“You already did. I trust you,” I reply as I rise from my chair, finally ready to go forthattalk.
She’s still standing frozen, slowly blinking at me with confusion.
“What?” I ask, irritated that she’s still here withthatlook on her face.
“Are you okay?” she finally mumbles.
“What the fuck is wrong with you today?” I blow up in irritation.
“You. Something is wrong with you.” She points that annoying finger at me. “You are the most controlling control freak of all control freaks in the freakishly controlling land, and you just told me you don’t want to check out a person you’ll be hiring. Do I need to call nine-one-one?” She throws a thumb behind her back. “I can call Mark to come and check you. Just in case, you know.” She blinks again dramatically.
“Get outta here.” I wave her off, and she retreats back to her table, cackling like a very annoying hyena.
A knock on the window stops me right before I leave my office. It’s the same gray parrot. He’s been coming here frequently, proving that I’m not going crazy. At some point, I even called Jennica to make sure she saw the damn talking bird too. The feathery thing refused to utter a word in front of her, but the moment she closed the door, the bird turned into a snitch.
Turns out, he’s totally capable of forming complete sentences, and his favorite activity is to spy on people. The weird bird has becomemylittle snitch. Every time he comes to my office, he’s got another rumor he heard from someone. He repeats their sentences completely, sometimes even mimicking voices, so it doesn’t take much to guess who was talking.
“Not today, Bird. I’m in no mood to listen to folks’ gossip.”
He knocks on the window with his beak again.
I sigh. “What do you want?”
“Smash. Smash. Smash Roberts,” he keeps repeating, nodding his head.
I rush toward the window, shooshing him away. “Go away. You’ll start another damn rumor with your smashing Mrs. Roberts.”
He flips his wings and takes off. When I pass Jennica’s office, her cheeks are red from silent laughter. I send her a stink-eye and go outside, ignoring the silent questions sent my way.
I decide to take the car. I could walk, sure, but then I’d have to talk to people who would stop me every ten feet, and I’m in no mood for that. A few minutes later, I park next to Town Hall.
Another minute later, I’m standing in front of Mrs. Roberts, who’s sitting in her chair with raised brows over her blue-rimmed glasses.
“How can I help you, Sheriff Benson?” She sounds utterly pleased with herself.
“You know well enough how you can help me.” I make my voice stern. “You can’t make Josie jump through hoops because of your pettiness.”
“And you know all about pettiness, don’t you?” She leans back and fixes her glasses with a finger. “How about my niece, who went on a date with you, but you never called back? Not even once. And then you bring that… thatfilthy womanto your house.”
I come closer to the damn window separating us, hoping I’m calm enough not to break the fucking thing. “Do not call Josie filthy. Or anything else other than Ms. Monroe.”
She smiles, but I keep staring until her smile dies down. Another minute passes, and my teeth are almost ground to a pulp while her forehead begins sweating.
“You didn’t call my niece back,” she squeaks. “Are you too good for her now when you got yourself a city girl?”
The vein in my temple starts pulsating. “I didn’t call your niece because she reports everything back to you, and you report everything back to my mother. And I don’t need my mother to know all the ways I like to fuck.”
