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"This letter looks like it may be important, sir."
Sheriff Brock Lotus suppressed a sigh. He'd long since given up hope of getting his Chief Deputy to stop calling him "sir."
He forgets it when we're in crisis situations. Guess I should just be thankful we're not in one now.
"What's special about it, Bunker? Other than the fact that the Sheriff's Department hardly ever gets letters of any kind?"
Kurt Bunker was frowning. "It's from a place I never heard of, in New York State. So probably a small town. But the return address says it's from the Mayor. He sent it Priority Mail. And addressed to you, by name. So unless he actually knows you, he went to the bother of looking up the name of the Sheriff of Banshee County."
"Huh. That is interesting," Lotus admitted. "I'm sure I don't know anyone who could be Mayor of a town in New York."
He took the envelope and opened it - noting, with some amusement, that while Bunker was very deliberately not looking at it, he wasn't walking away, either.
But after he'd skimmed the first few lines, he quickly folded the page and said, "Uh, Kurt - I think you have other work to attend to."
"Of course, sir."
Bunker hadn't suppressed his sigh.
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After introducing himself, Mayor Gary Sloane had gone on to explain that his town, like Banshee, was a county seat. Their Sheriff had been forced to resign - because he was corrupt, facing felony charges - and Sloane was responsible for hiring a new Acting Sheriff, to serve till the next election. He wanted an outsider, because several locals he might have considered had been caught up in the corruption scandal.
And he'd interviewed an applicant who seemed ideally qualified for the job. A former Sheriff of Banshee County: Lucas Hood.
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Lotus was stunned.
My God. He's doing it again? Pulling the same stunt, even using the same alias?
He heard himself - midway between rage and hysteria - ranting, "I was Deputy to a criminal?"
He'd taken for granted that whatever his former boss was doing now, he'd be doing it thousands of miles away from Banshee. And using a different identity - perhaps even his real identity.
I never even learned whether he'd caused the death of the real Lucas Hood! If he had, of course he wouldn't have told me.
Even if he hadn't, stealing the guy's identity required way more than taking his wallet. Big-time criminal skills.
Shaking his head, he returned to Sloane's letter.
It included a brief summary of Hood's background. The real Hood's background, up to his arrival in Banshee.
And the fact that he had a glowing letter of recommendation from an FBI Special Agent, Veronica Dawson. Lotus had suspected that before they left Banshee, they'd been sleeping together.
But this was the heart of the letter:
"He told me he'd probably still be Sheriff of Banshee County, if not for a tragic experience. He actually witnessed, but couldn't prevent, the murder of one of his deputies, Siobhan Kelly. Who was also the woman he loved. He and you - then his Chief Deputy - trailed the killer to Louisiana. And when he resisted arrest, Sheriff Hood shot and killed him in self-defense.
"After that, Banshee held too many painful memories for him. And he also felt he needed at least a temporary break from police work. So he resigned - knowing he'd be leaving the Sheriff's Department in your very capable hands, and you'd be able to run unopposed in an election.
"He spent two years just traveling, supporting himself with odd jobs. Then he returned to Banshee - as he always intended, temporarily - because he'd learned a close friend of his had been one of the victims of a serial killer.
"Special Agent Dawson had been sent there to investigate the serial killings. And because she learned about Mr. Hood and asked for his assistance (as she told me), he did assist her in determining a Satanic cult was involved, and identifying its leader. Then the Satanists abducted her, and Mr. Hood assisted you in rescuing her and apprehending the cultists (save for the leader, whom Agent Dawson shot and killed in self-defense).
"After all that, Mr. Hood tells me, he realized he was ready, willing, and able to take on the job of Sheriff again. But not in Banshee! Partly because of the still-painful memories - but also because you, a native and lifelong resident, are doing a superb job.
"I would have hired him on the spot, without consulting you, except for one thing that worries me. I asked him whether he'd gotten any actual grief counseling after Deputy Kelly's death, and he admitted he hadn't. So I'm asking you: do you think he's stable? The right man for the job?"