Page 29 of Grimm County Wishes (Grimm County Lawmen #4)

A l picked through the array of sandwiches on the table, hunting for his favorite, grilled chicken with avocado and Swiss.

One of the best things about working with a television show was the catered lunches.

When he first started with the sheriff’s office, he earned a reputation for being a huge eater, usually grabbing two plates worth of free food.

He played it off as needing fuel for his intense workouts, but he was really snagging it to take home to Jeannie.

Even now, years later, it was hard to resist taking an extra sandwich for later. But whether that was the trauma from food insecurity or because the new bakery in town was fire, he’d worry about later.

Grabbing a white chocolate and cranberry cookie and a cup of sweet tea, he looked around the dining area for an open seat .

“Hunter!” he called out, walking to where his colleague sat next to Diane. “What’re you doing here?” He looked over at Diane. “Is it Bring Your Brother to Work Day?”

She snickered. “Of course not. But I had an idea for a scene, and we needed Hunter’s expertise.”

“Oh, some kind of nerdy shit?” Al took a bite of his sandwich, groaning as the flavors hit his mouth.

He’d have to post about the bakery on his social media.

So many new businesses didn’t make it, and his stomach would be devastated if this place was one of them.

What was the name again? Big Blue’s Bakery?

No, that wasn’t it. Little Red’s Deli? He shrugged. Jeannie would know.

He needed to find out if the remaining ladies of interest could cook.

Maybe that could be worked into a challenge.

If he had to take a guess, Mercedes had the best chance.

She had that whole “taught by Grandma” vibe.

Iona seemed more of the order-in type, and Jazz, well …

He scrunched his nose. She had microwave meals and leftover Chinese written all over her.

“Something like that,” Diane said, bringing him back to the conversation “We have to clean up those rooms in the Holding Cell. I thought it’d be funny if we had a scene where Hunter checked out all the beds and couches with his magic light.

” She grinned, and Al knew which light she was referring to.

The one that showed whether any fluids were present.

Al chuckled. If Hunter wanted to waste his day off shining a flashlight around, that was his business. But their family was pretty tight, so maybe he’d wanted to hang out with Diane. Al had done lamer shit before to hang out with Jeannie.

Hunter nudged Al with his elbow. “I gotta say, man, I’m impressed.

I’m only halfway through the house and I’ve already found five of your hot spots.

How you managed to bang all over the house and not get caught is amazing.

You are a master of stealth. I’m just glad you’re on our side now. ” He pointed to the badge on his vest.

Al set his sandwich on the plate, suddenly losing his appetite. “What are you talking about?” He hadn’t had sex with any of the contestants. He hadn’t even kissed any of them, much to Lindsey’s disappointment.

“Dude, it’s okay.” Hunter patted him on the back. “You’re on a dating show and you’re supposed to propose soon. No one will fault you for getting to know some of the ladies a little better.”

“But that’s the thing. I haven’t hooked up with any of them.”

Diane looked up from her plate. “Well, I’m not sure which is worse. Either Al’s a prude and this show is going to tank, or the cleaning people dropped the ball after the previous rental.”

“Gross,” Al said, picking his sandwich back up. “Where exactly did you—you know what, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

Hunter ate a handful of chips and looked up at the ceiling. That was his thinking pose, and Al knew to give him a few minutes.

He cleared his throat and looked at Diane, then over to Al, his eyes scrunching.

“It’s more likely that the cleaning crew did do their job, given that the owner wouldn’t want to jeopardize any repeat business from the entertainment folks.

The more likely scenario is that someone during this rental was having sex on the pool table.

And on the couch. And on the bean bag chair. And—”

“Enough!” Al shook his head. What the fuck ? Okay, so he couldn’t be too much of a hypocrite because technically he was cheating on these women from the start. But it was different because they knew the deal when they auditioned.

“Can you tell how old the, uh, deposits, are?” he asked while Diane choked on her potato salad.

“Jesus, Al,” she said between coughs. “Deposits?”

He rolled his eyes.

“Not really.” Hunter pounded his sister on the back. “Or at least, not well enough to determine if they were done by someone who was sent home weeks ago. I’m guessing that’s what you’re getting at?”

Al nodded. “Yeah. Diane, what do you think? You’ve been filming the women when I’m not around. That’s probably when all this fucking is happening. Have you seen any of the women hooking up with someone else?”

Diane shook her head, looking a light shade of green. “Nope. Nothing at all.”

“Damn, well, do me a favor and keep an eye out, okay? I won’t say anything to embarrass them on camera. I can always come up with an excuse to send them home. I just need to be sure I’m not picking someone who is into someone else. They might not want to do the wedding show in that case.”

“The wedding show? Are you seriously considering that?” Hunter’s mouth dropped.

“Yeah? I mean, no. I don’t know.” His eyes searched the room, looking for Jeannie.

“Okay, well, good luck with that.” Hunter shook his head. “While I’m here, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. Work related.”

“And that’s my cue.” Diane stood up and grabbed the empty plates from the table. “Hunter, when you’re ready, we’ll film in the kitchen next. ”

Al shuddered, thankful the food they’d eaten had been catered. “What’s up?”

“I looked into that case you asked me about, and I think you have reason to be concerned.”

“Seriously? What did you find?”

“I don’t want to say too much now, but how about you tell me what you know? I saw your name mentioned a few times in connection with Ben’s priors, so I’m guessing you have first-hand knowledge about how a loitering complaint turned into a conviction for drug trafficking and attempted murder.”

Al snorted. “I wish I could. I’ve been trying to figure that out for years. It all started with laundry detergent and a MILF.” He sighed and told Hunter about the last day he’d spent with Ben outside of prison.

“Shit, do you hear that?”

Al looked up from the massive trunk of the Buick, full of Tide detergent bottles. “Sirens?”

“Yeah,” Ben answered. “That damn Trixie.”

Al shook his head and laughed. “You shouldn’t have hooked up with her mom.”

“Aw, come on. You’ve seen Mrs. Anderson. She’s so hot. How could I not hit that? ”

Al slammed the trunk closed and tossed Ben the keys. “Come on, let’s get out of here. We’ll send out a new drop date and get these sold later.”

“Can you believe what our life has come to? Black market laundry detergent dealers?” Ben sat in the driver’s seat and laughed.

Al shrugged as he buckled his seat belt. “It could be worse. We could be slinging burgers forty hours a week. What was it our teachers always said? ‘Work smarter, not harder.’”

Ben turned the key to crank the car, but nothing happened. “Ah shit.” He tried again, but the car would not start.

“Don’t do this to me, Ben,” Al warned. “We gotta go. The sirens are getting louder.”

“Come on, come on,” Ben whispered to his car. “You can do it, Bertha.” After a few more tries, he slammed his hand on the dashboard. “Fuck!”

“There’s still time. We can make a run for it.” Al opened the door and stepped out.

“I know you’ve been working out, but even you can’t run carrying fifty bottles of liquid Tide.”

“Screw the Tide. We’ll come back for it later. We need to get out of here.”

“If Trixie told them I was here, I’m sure she told them why. They’ll have a warrant to search the car, which is in my name. I’m screwed either way. But you’re not. You get out of here, and I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.”

“Ben, I’m not leaving you to take the fall.”

“Al,” Ben laughed. “It’s fucking Tide. Not gold bars from Fort Knox. How do they know I’m not starting a new laundry business? Worst case, I’ll have to go downtown for a few hours. See if you can scrounge up a couple hundred dollars for bail, just in case.”

“Fine.” Al rolled his eyes. “Be smart, okay. They don’t call that deputy Beast for no reason. As long as you don’t provoke him, he won’t kick your ass.”

“Yeah, yeah, just get going.”

“According to the case notes, the anonymous tip said he was dealing drugs, not selling Tide. Based on that, and what they found in the car, maybe Ben had a side gig he hadn’t told you about.”

“There’s no way. Trixie might have said the drug thing to get back at him, but it wasn’t true. Ben would have never done anything that would have put Jeannie at risk.”

“Where do you think the drugs came from?”

“My best guess is they came from one of their mom’s boyfriends. She always had a steady string of them, and I wouldn’t put it past her to let them store shit at her house, especially if they offered her money. Did Ingall interview any of them? ”

Hunter shook his head. “Doesn’t look like it. Once Ingall found the gun in Ben’s room that matched the casings from a drive by, he didn’t need to look anymore.”

Al nodded. “Ben had never seen that gun before they pulled it from under his bed. If Ingall was such a shit deputy, how did he find something Ben didn’t even know he had?”

Hunter rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s a good question. I’ll keep digging, and I think it’s time to bring Christian in on this.”

“Thanks, Hunter. I appreciate it. If what you’re thinking is true, this could be a bad look for the office.”

“Screw that. If there’s an innocent guy in jail, he should get out ASAP, no matter what. And I know Christian would feel the same way.”

“Jeannie and I have been hustling ever since to raise money for a new attorney who could bring in a private forensic analyst. I checked the file out my first year but wasn’t sure what I was looking at.”

“And you didn’t think to ask me?” Hunter asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Dude, come on. In the beginning, I was just the pretty face for the reality show. No one took me seriously. I figured I’d be better off making sure I kept my job and waiting to hire the lawyer. Which we have, finally, thanks to this show. ”

Hunter nodded. “Well, we’re here now. Have the attorney give me a call.

We’ll compare notes, and maybe you won’t need that private forensic analyst and you can stop doing dumb shit for money.

” Hunter gave him a pointed stare, then stood up and put on his goggles.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’ve got to shine the light on some secret liaisons. ”