An hour was how long it took her to both break down and call Deputy Gillie and for him to arrive. In uniform but driving his personal vehicle, he had to coax her into letting him inside. He leaned against the doorframe as he persuaded her, a certain intimacy in his manner that made my gums ache. I hadn't received any fresh intel from Kane on Mia's life in Keeling in over fifteen hours. That meant my knowledge of Gillie came from the hundred-dollar "tip" I'd given the waitress at the roadhouse. I had no idea how well Mia knew Gillie from before she left Keeling. He could have been the first man to part her legs and sample her sweet stores or the one she had dreamt of opening to. At least she hadn't let him stay last night or any real amount of time. His interior security check had lasted no more than fifteen minutes before she pushed him out the door -- far more gently than she had ousted me and with a smiling laugh instead of tears.As far as competition went, I liked Deputy Gillie a lot less than old man Keppler.
