Royce drummed his fingers impatiently on the hard laminate tabletop. He sat in a booth at the back of the diner, an unopened paper in front of him and a half-drunk cup of coffee at his right hand. The same hand, incidentally, still drumming out a nervous rhythm on the table's surface.

His unwavering gaze was trained on the nearby window, watching the cars as they came and went, becoming more agitated with every passing minute. He was a bundle of nerves by the time he saw Sully step out of a large red truck and jog through the early morning mist to the front door.

He watched intently as Sully entered the main foyer, his muscular frame filling the doorway. The young agent immediately began scanning the restaurant. When Sully spotted the sheriff near the back of the restaurant his expression changed. He broke into a smile that lit his entire face as he started toward the back of the room.  Royce watched him with more than a little admiration. The agent made every movement seem easy and fluid, moving with a grace uncharacteristic of his age and stature, as he slipped past tables and floated nimbly around servers in the crowded aisles. 

 "Good to see you again, Sheriff," Sully said, extending a hand.

"You to Sully," Royce replied, standing and taking his hand in a firm grip.

"Have a seat. Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Nope, and I'm starving."

"Well, order whatever you want. I'm buying."

"Oh no, that's fine," Sully said, waving a hand in the sheriff's direction as he slid into the booth across from Royce. "I can get my own."

"I insist. I asked you here. The least I can do is buy you breakfast."

"Alright," Sully answered, shrugging, 'but don't say I didn't warn you."

The two men made small talk until the waitress arrived to take their order. A cheese omelet with a side of bacon for Royce and a Colorado omelet, four pancakes, a side of bacon, and a side of sausage for Sully.

"Where exactly do you plan on putting all that?" Royce asked in amusement and awe.

"It takes a lot of protein and a whole lot of pushups to keep me looking like the young Denzel I am," he said, grinning mischievously.

"Last I checked, Denzel had hair," Royce said, laughing.

"Yeah, well, Denzel just wishes he could pull off the clean-shaven look," Sully answered, rubbing the top of his head with a wink as Royce laughed aloud.

As they waited for the food to arrive they discussed the weather, their favorite sports teams, and even aspects of their job. Everything but what they both knew they were there to discuss. The more trivial topics were beginning to wear thin when the waitress finally arrived with their breakfast. Sully drenched his pancakes in a river of syrup and immediately dug in. After taking a sip of his coffee to wash it down, he addressed Royce, finally getting down to the heart of the matter.

"So, I know you didn't call me out here just to shoot the bull. What's on your mind, Royce?"

https://youtu.be/NBOHAy3qQGY

Unsure of exactly where to start, the sheriff picked at his eggs as he considered. After a moment of hesitation, he looked up from his plate, meeting Sully's eyes.

"I'll be completely honest with you," Royce answered. "I'm a little concerned about where this investigation is headed. You and I have been working together for a little while now, and I have a feeling we might be on the same page."

"Ok. I'm listening." Sully answered, biting into a slice of bacon.

"My concern is that some people may have blinders on when it comes to our suspect list."

"You mean Chris."

"For starters," Royce answered. "I've been going over the evidence and maybe I'm missing something, but as far as I can see, that girl wasn't anything more than a victim. The gunshot residue tests they took the day she arrived at the hospital all came back negative. They found nothing on her hands or clothing. I don't think she was in the room when that gun was fired, and I sure don't believe she pulled the trigger."

"You know GSR tests aren't one hundred percent accurate. There's always the possibility of transfer. Someone could have even cleaned it up. Hands washed; clothes changed, that type of thing."

Royce could tell by the look on Sully's face that he didn't completely buy that explanation, either.

'Alright, let's go with that. Even if that's the case, isn't it our job as officers to make sure that we have the evidence to back these things up? It's just not there, Sully."

"So, what about the guy that found her? What about Jake?"

"That's a little trickier," Royce answered. "Again, I can't point to any hard-core evidence, but I don't think we know everything that's going on there either. There's something he and his granddad aren't saying."

"You think it has to do with this case?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I'm looking into it."

"Ok. Just say that I agree with you, and now hear me when I say I'm not suggesting that I do. Backing you up here could be very bad for my career if the wrong people get wind of it."

"You mean Chris," Royce answered

"For starters," Sully answered. "So hypothetically, should I agree, then what exactly is your plan? I know you must have one, otherwise, you wouldn't have called."

"It's not exactly a plan. More of a favor, really."

"Why am I suddenly very concerned that I might regret this fabulous breakfast you're stuffing me with?"

Royce chuckled. "It's nothing that serious, but it's still a lot to ask. My officers and your agents have been taking turns keeping tabs on Emily and her family. The family thinks it's for their protection, but you and I both know it's a surveillance detail."

"Let me guess. You want me to volunteer to be on surveillance?"

"I do. I'm concerned that if Emily isn't involved, whoever killed the man in that house may be looking to keep her quiet. I've seen enough to know that you're capable of being impartial. I wouldn't ask you to do anything I'm not doing myself."

"I can probably swing that. What else?"

"You just cut right to the chase, don't you?"

"I don't like to mince words and you're stalling, Royce."

Royce smiled to himself. He really did admire Sully. Someone this straightforward and by the book could definitely shake things up. Royce had chosen his contact wisely.

"Ok. I'd like for us to work together on this. You keep me in the loop on your end and I'll do the same on mine."

"Your team should already be in the loop," Sully answered.

This response drew an exasperated sigh and an eye roll from the sheriff. Agent Simmons was supposed to be keeping them abreast of any new leads the Feds stumbled across, but he was dragging his feet getting the information to them, a fact Sully was very aware of.

"Alright, alright, I hear what you're saying. So basically, you're wanting us to start our own investigation?"

"I guess that's as good a way to look at it as any."

"So, say you and I are the ones to crack this case or we find something, what happens then?"

"I will make the most glowing of commendations to every superior you have, suggesting that you single-handedly cracked this," Royce replied.

"No offense, but what is the word of a small-town sheriff gonna do?"

Royce just gave him a tired, knowing smile.

"Son, I know it may look that way to you, but I promise appearances can be deceiving."

"Why would you do that? Why would you let me have the credit for something we worked on together?"

"Well, for one, you're good at what you do, and as far as I can tell, you genuinely care about the cases you work on. You have the ability, I believe, to change a lot of things for the better, and I don't have an issue at all with helping you move a little higher up the ladder so you can do that. More importantly, though, for me, you'll leave and move on to another case when all this is over, but I'll still be here. I love Hart's Ridge and I care about its residents. I took an oath to serve and protect the people of this town and for thirty-plus years, I've made good on that promise. I have no intention of letting them down now."

Sully nodded as he nibbled on a slice of toast. "Feeling a personal and moral responsibility for the people we serve, that I can understand. I'm willing to work with you on this, but make no mistake if Chris knows we're conducting our own investigation behind his, back, it's my job. I need you to understand what I'm risking here."

"You have my word that I will take full responsibility if anybody should get suspicious, and I'll do whatever needs to be done to keep your name from coming up."

"Ok," Sully answered. "That's all I needed to hear. So, where do we start?"

Before Royce could answer, there was a loud ringing from across the table. Sully began fumbling in his pocket before pulling out his cell phone.

"It's Chris," he told Royce before answering the phone.

"Hey, man. What's up?" he asked as he put the phone to his ear.

"Yeah, just grabbing a bite, but I can be right over. What's going on?"

Royce picked at his half-eaten breakfast, listening to Sully's end of the conversation. He could tell by the way Sully was fidgeting that it was something serious.

"Ok. I understand. I'm on my way." He hung up the phone, slipping it back into his pocket as he looked across the table at Royce.

"I have to go. They just identified the body that was found in the house and Chris wants me with him when he talks to the family."

"Did you get the guy's name?"

"No. He didn't say."

"All he told me was that they just got done identifying him at the coroner's office, and he's too disfigured from the initial gunshot wound for them to do a facial identification."

"So, how did they identify him?"

"Using his tattoos. There was one, in particular, the family said he got after they released him from jail. It's apparently, some pretty fancy artwork."

"So, he had a record, then?"

"Yeah. They said the tattoo was symbolic of the new leaf he was supposed to be turning over."

"Really? What was the tattoo?"

"A phoenix. Chris said his entire right arm is wrapped in a drawing of a giant flaming bird."