Page 55

Taking a long lunch meant I’d had to work till ten last night, and man, was I dragging.

No matter how wiped I felt, I always had a hard time falling asleep after a long shift, and I had a feeling that taking the acting sheriff gig was going to see my sleep schedule destroyed and my nerves frayed. Plus, I was anxious. Carey had meetings and obligations at the main station all day today, so this would be my first shift on my own.

But I wanted it and where it could take me. Maybe the dreams I’d told Devo about weren’t so far off—a house of my own, some land. The problem was that I didn’t have any aspirations to be the sheriff. Running for office, campaigning? That was so not me. I loved my job as it was. Why did it have to change?

Looking up at the ceiling as I lay in my bed, I sighed. Everything was changing.

I just needed to push through. That was what I’d always done in the past with hard things.

So get a move on, lazy bones.

But I’d just been dreaming about Devo again, and so badly, I wanted to snuggle back into my feather pillows and catch the thread of that dream, hold on tight, and return to laughing with her in the patch of light streaking in through the little window in the holding room at the station. I laughed out loud when I realized Devo had been locked in a jail cell in my dream.

Was that a subconscious metaphor?

I shook my head. You’re an idiot, Abey, and the sheriff, at least for now, so get. Out. Of. Bed!

Static filled up my bedroom as Shelley held the Press-To-Talk button again far longer than she needed to. She knew it would wake me up and keep me up.

Rolling to the edge of my mattress, I grabbed my handheld radio charging in its base on my bedside table and answered her. “Yeah, Shelley. I’m up. Whatcha got for me?” The memory of what Devo had done to me in the woods still rang loudly in my mind. I couldn’t stop smiling.

But then the urgency in Shelley’s voice had me jumping to my feet. “Emergency at Ace’s House.”

I pulled on my uniform and purple and green mallard duck socks while she talked, then stuffed my feet in my boots and tied them. “What’s goin’ on?” Unlocking my gun safe, I armed myself quickly and located my keys.

“There’s an altercation. I don’t know the particulars, but I can hear some guy yellin’ out in the back alley behind Ace’s House.”

“Lock the doors just to be safe. Who called it in?”

“Red Graves.”

Shit.

“Who’s fightin’?”

“Dunno, but Red reported a kid in danger.”

“10-4. On my way.” It didn’t even occur to me that I hadn’t brushed my teeth till an hour later, so it was a good thing I kept a toothbrush in my locker at the station. But at least I remembered my hat.

* * *

Silently, I raced through sleepy Wisper. I didn’t know what I’d be dealing with, so I turned on my roof lights but didn’t use my siren. It was only a two-minute drive from my apartment, but when I pulled up in front of Ace’s House, the place looked deserted.

The outside lights weren’t on, there were no lights shining in the windows, and the doors were closed. During the summer, at least one was usually left open if someone was there, even this early. Theo liked it that way so the community felt welcome to come inside any time.

Patting my vest, I made sure I had everything I needed and rechecked the safety on my gun in the holster on my hip. When I got out of my truck, I looked down the alley between the station and the center but didn’t see any activity. Shelley had heard voices out back, though, so that was where I headed.

Once I got to the side of the old three-story brick building, I heard struggling. Someone grunted, and I swore I heard the thwack thwack of someone hitting someone else.

Navigating the gravel beneath my feet carefully so I wouldn’t make a sound, I flipped the snap on my hip holster, my hand wavering over my weapon, and peeked around the back of the building by the cement loading dock that opened up into Ace’s House’s storage room.

What I saw put the burn back in my chest again, and it pissed me off so much that I had a hard time catching my breath.

Red scrambled on the ground, trying to get back to his feet in the parking area behind Ace’s House, nursing a split lip and holding his arm gingerly, like it might’ve been broken. He must’ve just gone down, because only a few feet away, another man was yanking on a teenage girl’s wrist, trying to drag her away with him.

“Sheriff’s Department,” I said, lacing as much authority as I could muster into my voice. “Sir, I’m gonna need you to let go of the girl.” The assailant startled and threw a glare at me over his shoulder, and Red stilled. An eerie silence settled over us all, and the crisp morning air reminded me that fall would be here soon.

The man narrowed his eyes. “This is my kid. I’ll do what I want with her.”