sheriffwolfeâ:
People were, Brandon had learned through hard-won experience, generally a nuisance; what little they could offer him, be it money, or power, or clout (though he didnât find he much desired that) wasnât often worth the price of having to interact with them. As such, heâd been holed up either at home (or the station, when Cosette needed what she referred to as personal space but what seemed something more akin to just being left the fuck alone, which Brandon could respect, if not appreciate), plugging away on any leads he had for Madison Redding and generally keeping his head above water just long enough to keep from sinking into the bureaucracy of what the law allowed versus what he wanted to do. But tonight, Cosette had made her annoyance toward him abundantly clear, and the station wasnât necessarily inspiring any sort of breakthrough as of late, so he decided to venture out into the public after something of a sabbatical for some coffee and a piece of pie, plunking himself down in a corner booth at the diner and working through his notebook to attempt to connect some dots of the case.
This was, he quickly learned, a mistake.
Feeling eyes boring into him, Brandon finally took a sip of coffee without looking up, chasing it with, âWhatever you wanna ask, or whatever you gotta say, Iâd suggest just doing it.â Before I lose my patience, he omitted, having a tenuous grasp on that as it was.
She had tried to explain this to Harriet time and time again. Marigold didnât have some sort of intimate inside line into Brandon Wolfe. He didnât let down his gruff intimidating exterior with her, they werenât close friends. The man had this way of being passively kind, making it feel more accidental than intentional. Like he was simply too tired to put in the work it would take to be actively unkind but that didnât make her special or trusted. But Harriet was a dog with a bone, a dog with a whole skeleton at the back of her mind and she wasnât going to let up until Marigold gave her something.
When he addresses her without looking up she almost loses her nerve. She didnât follow him here, her own piece of pie half finished and her coffee half drunk before heâd entered. But it was an opportunity she had to take advantage of. âCould you stand some company?â she queried gently. âMy seat was offering me nothing but sun in the eyes.â
Please say yes. Please say no.Â
Marigold doesnât know how to do this. She doesnât know how to be secretive, dishonest. So she focuses on what she can say honestly. âYou look tired, how late were you at the department last night?â