Dead Woman Crossing J.R. Adler (early reader chapter books txt) 📖

as if he had endured more in his life than most others. Sure, the job can do that to you—dead bodies, missing children, rape, all the worst parts of humanity rolled into one lovely package, delivered to your doorstep daily that you get to keep opening again and again—but this wasn’t that, this was… personal.

“Officially, and in person, I’m Sheriff Sam Walker,” he said, holding out his large hand.

Kimberley shook it. “I’m Kimberley King, or I guess Chief Deputy King now.”

“In here, I’ll call you Detective King. I know what that means out where you came from, and it was no simple feat, especially in the NYPD, the most respected police force in the country, maybe the world. In my book, once a detective, always a detective,” he said with a wink.

He was clearly impressed with her credentials. He had mentioned on the phone that they never had anyone on the force come from the NYPD before. She assumed it was a major reason why she got the job. The NYPD immediately garners respect, as does the title of detective. Put them together and people look at you like you’re some sort of action hero.

“Let me show you around,” Sam said, motioning with his hand.

They walked through a couple sets of doors before coming into a large room with two rows of three desks. A deputy sat at one of them, typing vigorously on his keyboard. He glanced up and nodded at the sheriff. He looked young, maybe early twenties, with blond hair and a goatee that was barely visible, just like his presence.

“Deputy Burns. This is our new chief deputy. Kimberley King,” Sam introduced.

Deputy Burns stood from his seat. Kimberley could see now he was average-sized. His features were soft, almost feminine. He gave a crooked smile and saluted Kimberley, like a toy soldier.

“Burns, what the hell are you doing?” Sam let out a sigh, shook his head, and scratched at as his eyebrow.

The deputy lowered his hand and dropped his smile. “Uhh… sorry.”

Kimberley let on a smile and shook the deputy’s hand. “Nice to meet you. If you feel more comfortable saluting me, I won’t stop you,” she teased.

He cracked a smile back.

“Almost done with those reports?” Sam asked.

“Just about. They’ll be on your desk before end of day.”

Sam gave an approving nod.

The deputy returned to his desk, immediately diving back into his work.

Kimberley looked around the large room. A couple of the desks were tidy. A couple were messy with papers strewn about on them. The walls were covered in several large bulletin boards. One was plastered with posters of lost animals. One was a splattering of information related to unsolved crimes, like hit-and-runs and robberies. And another was probably the handiwork of Barb: deputies’ birthday, kudos, events in the community. Unlike the other bulletin boards, it was colorful, well organized, and up to date. She didn’t know Barb, but she suspected that this was definitely Barb’s touch.

“Here you are, Kimberley,” Barb’s voice called behind her.

Kimberley turned around to find Barb with a wide smile holding two cups of coffee. “I got one for you too, Sheriff. You both take your coffee the same way,” she said with a wink while handing each of them a steaming hot mug of black coffee.

“Thanks, Barb,” Sam said with a slight tilt of his head.

“Thank you,” Kimberley said, taking the cup.

“Anything else I can get for you two?”

“Nope. All good here.” Sam nodded.

She upheld her smile as she backed away and exited through the set of doors she came through.

“She seems great.” Kimberley took a small sip to test if the coffee was temperate enough to drink it.

“Barb? She’s worked here longer than I’ve been alive. If you don’t like celebrating your birthday, don’t tell her when it is. She brings in balloons and cake and gets everyone to sing ‘Happy Birthday,’” Sam said with a grin.

“Noted.”

They stared at one another for a moment too long; the moment beyond that one single moment that makes the moment a little awkward. Sam cleared his throat and gestured with his free hand around the room.

“So, bathrooms are on the right and the door on the left side leads to a small kitchen break room with a fridge, microwave, table, and chairs. Most people eat at their desk or on the road, but it’s there if ya want to use it.”

Kimberley followed Sam, walking down the aisle that separated the two rows of desks.

“Most of the daytime and nighttime deputies share desks—we’ve got four on days and five on nights. Deputy Bearfield is our most senior deputy, so he’s got his own space.”

“Where’s the rest of the deputies?” Kimberley asked, glancing around.

“Patrolling. Burns is our newest deputy, so he’s on paperwork.”

Kimberley nodded, following behind.

At the far end of the room were two side-by-side offices with big glass windows so they could look out into the rest of the sheriff’s station. On the left, a nameplate on the door read “Sheriff Sam Walker.” The office on the right had a nameplate that read “Chief Deputy Kimberley King.” He walked into the office and flicked on the light. Inside was a desk with a computer, a swivel chair and two chairs on the other side of it. A filing cabinet and a storage wardrobe were against one wall, and the other wall had several shelves filled with random books and binders. On the desk sat a large succulent with fleshy, thick green leaves in a black pot.

“The succulent is from Barb,” Sam commented.

Kimberley smiled. “Of course it is.”

“Nothing special about the office. It doesn’t have a window or anything, but it’s your own space. You can store clothes in the wardrobe rather than having to use the locker room. The desk chair is comfy. We can get rid of all these books for you.” He pointed to the shelves on the wall filled with books and binders. “Some of the deputies here think those shelves are for storage,” he said, shaking his head.

“It’s perfectly fine. I mean