Page 144 of The Best Shot

Then he walked toward us.

He gave Shaun a long, unimpressed look before turning to me.

“You Hale?”

“Yeah.”

His gaze dropped briefly to my knuckles, then he looked at Annie. “Annaleigh.”

Annie’s smile came out weak, the bravado slipping just long enough to show the nerves underneath before she pulled it back into place.

“Hey, Darryl,” she said.

He motioned for Shaun to come closer then asked, “Anybody need an ambulance?”

“No,” Shaun said.

The officer looked at Annie.

“I’m fine.”

His attention dropped to her wrist. “That doesn’t look fine.”

“It looks worse than it feels.”

He exhaled, then faced the three of us. “Anybody want to make a report?”

“I do.” Shaun pointed at me. “He hit me first.”

The deputy looked at Annie’s wrist again.

“You sure that’s where you want to start?”

Shaun’s mouth went flat. “He stole my truck.”

“Did you see him take it?”

“No, but he sent me a picture.”

“From his number?”

Shaun hesitated. “No.”

“Did you see him driving it?”

“No.”

“Anybody else see him driving it?”

Silence.

He nodded toward Annie. “What I can see is an injury on her wrist. What I have are multiple witnesses who saw you grab her first.”

“I didn’t hurt her.”

Annie laughed, short and flat, but Darryl kept his eyes on Shaun. “She gets to decide whether she agrees with that.”

Shaun worked it over, looking for the angle.