Lucy Score - Things We Hide from the Light

THINGS WE HIDE FROM THE LIGHT

Copyright 2023 Lucy Score

All rights reserved

No Part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electric or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission from the publisher.

The book is a work of fiction. The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

ISBN: 979-8-88643-904-5 (ebook)

ISBN: 979-8-88643-905-2 (paperback)

lucyscore.com

021623

In memory of Chris Waller, the reader husband who reached out and asked me to include the word gusset in a book just so he could win a bet with his wife. Kate, I hope it makes you smile when you find it again inside.

Nash

T he federal agents in my office were lucky for two reasons.

First, my left hook wasnt what it had been before getting shot.

And second, I hadnt been able to work my way up into feeling anything, let alone mad enough to make me consider doing something stupid.

The Bureau understands you have a personal interest in finding Duncan Hugo, Special Agent Sonal Idler said from across my desk where she sat with a ramrod-straight spine. She flicked her gaze to the coffee stain on my shirt.

She was a steely woman in a pantsuit who looked as though she ate procedures for breakfast. The man next to her, Deputy U.S. Marshal Nolan Graham, had a mustache and the look of a man forced into something he really didnt want to do. He also looked like he blamed me for it.

I wanted to work my way up to pissed off. Wanted to feel something other than the great, sucking void that rolled over me, inevitable as the tide. But there was nothing. Just me and the void.

But we cant have you and your boys and girls running around mucking up my investigation, Idler continued.

On the other side of the glass, Sergeant Grave Hopper was dumping a pint of sugar into his coffee and glaring daggers at the two feds. Behind him, the rest of the bullpen buzzed with the usual energy of a small-town police department.

Phones rang. Keyboards clicked. Officers served. And the coffee sucked.

Everyone was alive and breathing. Everyone but me.

I was just pretending.

I crossed my arms and ignored the sharp twinge in my shoulder.

I appreciate the professional courtesy. But whats with the special interest? Im not the only cop to take a bullet in the line of duty.

You also werent the only name on that list, Graham said, speaking up for the first time.

My jaw tightened. The list was where this nightmare had begun.

But you were the first one targeted, Idler said. Your name was on that list of LEOs and informants. But this thing is bigger than one shooting. This is the first time weve got something that could stick to Anthony Hugo.

It was the first time Id heard any kind of emotion in her voice. Special Agent Idler had her own personal agenda, and nailing crime boss Anthony Hugo to the wall was it.

I need this case to be airtight, she continued. Which is why we cant have any locals trying to take matters into their own hands. Even if theyve got badges. The greater good always comes with a price tag.

I rubbed a hand over my jaw and was surprised to find more than a five-oclock shadow there. Shaving hadnt exactly been high on my priority list lately.

She assumed Id been investigating. Reasonable given the circumstances. But she didnt know my dirty little secret. No one did. I might be healing on the outside. I might put on my uniform and show up at the station every day. But on the inside, there was nothing left. Not even a desire to find the man responsible for this.

What do you expect my department to do if Duncan Hugo comes back here looking to shoot holes in a few more of its citizens? Look the other way? I drawled.

The feds shared a look. I expect you to keep us apprised of any local happenings that might tie in to our case, Idler said firmly. Weve got a few more resources at our disposal than your department. And no personal agendas.

I felt a flicker of something in the nothingness. Shame.

I should have a personal agenda. Should be out there hunting down the man myself. If not for me, then for Naomi and Waylay. Hed victimized my brothers fiance and her niece in another way, by abducting them and terrorizing them over the list that had earned me two bullet holes.

But part of me had died in that ditch that night, and what was left didnt seem like it was worth fighting for.

Marshal Graham here will be staying close for a while. Keeping an eye on things, Idler continued.

Mustache didnt look any happier about that than I was.

Any particular kind of things? I asked.

All remaining targets on the list are receiving federal protection until we ascertain that the threat is no longer imminent, Idler explained.

Christ. The whole damn town was going to be in an uproar if they found out federal agents were hanging around waiting for someone to break the law. And I didnt have the energy for an uproar.

I dont need protection, I said. If Duncan Hugo had two brain cells to rub together, he wouldnt be hanging around here. Hes long gone. At least, that was what I told myself late at night when the sleep wouldnt come.

All due respect, Chief, youre the one who got himself shot. Youre lucky youre still here, Graham said with a smug twitch of his mustache.

What about my brothers fiance and niece? Hugo kidnapped them. Are they getting protection?

We have no reason to believe that Naomi and Waylay Witt are in any danger at this time, Idler said.

The twinge in my shoulder graduated to a dull throb to match the one in my head. I was low on sleep and patience, and if I didnt get these two pains in the ass out of my office, I wasnt confident I could keep things civil.

Mustering as much southern charm as I could, I rose from behind my desk. Understood. Now, if yall will excuse me, I have a town to serve.

The agents got to their feet and we exchanged perfunctory handshakes.

Id appreciate it if youd keep me in the loop. Seein as how Ive got a personal interest and all, I said as they hit the door.

Well be sure to share what we can, Idler said. Well also be expecting a call from you as soon as you remember anything from the shooting.

Will do, I said through gritted teeth. Between the trifecta of physical wounds, memory loss, and the empty numbness, I was a shadow of the man Id been.

Be seein you, Graham said. It sounded like a threat.

I waited until theyd strutted their asses out of my station before snagging my jacket off the coat rack. The hole in my shoulder protested when I shoved my arm into the sleeve. The one in my torso didnt feel much better.

You all right, Chief? Grave asked when I stepped out into the bullpen.

Under normal circumstances, my sergeant would have insisted on a play-by-play of the meeting followed by an hour-long bitch session about jurisdictional bullshit. But since Id gotten myself shot and almost killed, everyone was doing their damnedest to treat me with kid gloves.

Maybe I wasnt hiding things as well as I thought.

Fine, I said, harsher than Id intended.

Heading out? he prodded.

Yeah.

The eager new patrol officer popped up out of her chair like it was spring-loaded. If you want lunch, I can pick something up for you from Dinos, Chief, she offered.

Born and raised in Knockemout, Tashi Bannerjee was police academy fresh. Now, her shoes gleamed and her dark hair was scraped back in a regulations-exceeding bun. But four years ago, shed been ticketed in high school with riding a horse through a fast-food drive-thru. Most of the department had skirted the line of the law at some point in our youth, which made it mean more that we chose to uphold it rather than circumvent it.