Page 1

Chapter 1

Tobias

The late afternoon sun beamed down on Law and me as we stood outside his new office. After the call we'd just finished, we both needed some air. Michael escaped. The thought lingered like the smell of a rotten dumpster outside a daycare facility on a hundred-degree day. My inner voice wouldn't let me forget that Michael escaped. The man who played me like a fool. Escaped. The man who looked me in the face while he brutalized and terrified women. Escaped. The man who was so fucking confident in my inability to find him that he raised the reward amount. Escaped.

"Think that prick will come back here?" Law asked.

I noticed his gaze matched mine, constantly moving, scanning for any possible sign of Michael. We both knew better than to think he'd be standing out in the open. There was no way for him to get here from Chicago so quickly. But that didn't deter us from keeping our senses on alert. Years of training and experience had taught us when to treat a situation as high alert. Michael escaping was as high alert as it gets.

"I can't say," I kicked a pebble. "Part of me thinks he would be crazy to come back here. But the other side of me says he's crazy and now pissed enough to be heading straight back here."

"So, we're on the same page." Law and I locked eyes.

"The question then becomes: how do we know which is true?" I asked.

Law produced his phone, pressed a button, then held it to his ear. "Hey, get the team in on this call. Michael escaped."

Hearing that statement again made my blood boil. No way in hell was that bastard going to terrorize my county anymore. Fuck no. There are times in your life where you have to take a stand and draw a line in the sand. This was my line. I would not allow Michael to take a foothold in my county again. And if I'm honest, if given the chance, his ability to breathe in any county would be taken away.

"Yes, you heard right." Law uncharacteristically snapped. "He escaped. Killed the two FBI agents in the airport. No, Tobias and I just heard." There was a lengthy pause on Law's side of the phone, no doubt for his crew to discuss what they'd just learned.

"Mouse and Keyboard, I want you two to start monitoring everything he owns. Bank accounts, credit cards, houses, properties, all of it. If he touches it, I want to know. Also, see if you can get eyes on Chicago. If he's on his own or has help, I want to know that too. Hack everything, including the airport. I want to know what happened in that bathroom. He's ours. We caught him, we'll find him and do it again. This time it's personal." Law hung up and turned to face me. "The ladies are on it. Michael would have to hide in the depths of the ocean to be hidden from those two."

"True." I held my own phone, dreading the call I now needed to make. "They're a formidable pair to have on your team."

"Our team," Law corrected me. "This time he's not going after defenseless women. This time it's us and him."

I nodded my agreement, not wanting to point out that I had to act within the parameters of the rules I'd sworn to uphold. I glanced around again, my eyes landing back on Law. "Fuck, I hate to make this call."

"You want me to?" He asked, knowing exactly what I was referencing without my having to explain.

Sighing, "You really want to be the one to tell Evelyn Whitaker he escaped the FBI?"

Law jutted out his bottom lip and shook his head no. "Nope, not at all. That seems like news a Sheriff would deliver." He lightly cuffed me on the back. "Good thing I know a qualified individual who can handle that."

"Ass," I muttered, causing Law to chuckle. "You really planning on being here more with the bonds business?" After Michael's escape, having Law permanently in town would be... complicated. Helpful but complicated.

Before Law had a chance to answer, a car door slammed behind us. The scent of tropical flowers hit me before I turned. A bright pink van with its cheery "Blossoms" logo and decaled flowers felt jarringly out of place against my dark thoughts. Then she emerged from the driver's door. Her tattooed leg that I'd dreamt about outlining every inch of with my tongue touched the curb, and I had to force myself to breathe. She peered over her shoulder at me while opening the sliding side door. I swear she purposely leaned further forward than necessary to pick up a massive spring arrangement. Her green polka dot dress stretched and accented all the right places of her succulent body. Fuck, I should give that damn dress a ticket for soliciting a law enforcement officer. Shit. She was both what I needed and what I didn't need right now.

"Hi." She directed the greeting to Law, carefully avoiding my gaze.

"Tobias." Her voice was barely above a whisper when she finally looked at me, a blush staining her cheeks. She quickly dropped her eyes to the sidewalk. The sound of my name coming from those plump lips caused the front of my work slacks to feel tight.

"Hello Ruth." The words came out stiff, formal. Professional. Safe. "Do you need help with that?"

"No, thanks, I've got it. I might be short and stout but I'm strong."

A sharp bark saved me from saying anything about her being the perfect height or how sexy I found her stoutness. Joey's fuzzy face appeared in the van window. He barked again, jumping from the front seats to the back and catapulting himself out the open van door, beelining straight to me.

"Hey there, Joey." I bent to pick him up. The brown, white, and black long-haired Chihuahua wiggled, grunted, and licked my face.

"I'm sorry. I swear he could pick your voice out of a crowd." Ruth's smile was genuine now, but it only highlighted the beauty of her face. Something I didn't need reminding of. She glanced at Law, then back to me.

"Ah, excuse me, Ruth, this is Law Summers," I gave a head nudge in his direction. "He's a long-time friend. He bought the bounty hunter business. Law, this is Ruth Manchester, she owns Blossom, the flower shop."

"It's nice to meet you." Law smiled and for a split second, I wanted to punch him in the face. "And this is Joey?"

Ruth gave him a kind smile, which made me want to punch him even harder. "Yes, he's a very bad boy who knows he's supposed to stay in the van." She leaned closer, running her hand over Joey's head but looking at me as she did. "But he has an attachment to a certain sheriff."

"I rescued him," I felt the need to explain to Law.

"What?" Law sparked. "You mean all those rumors about you are wrong? You really do have a heart?"

Ruth giggled, and the sound went straight to my dick. Now, I really wanted to punch Law. Instead, we all stood frozen, awkwardly staring at each other.

"Tobias, would you please put him back while I deliver this bouquet? It was nice to meet you, Law." Ruth spun away, her skirt flaring as she headed to the next building, taking her beauty and the scent of paradise with her.

"Anything you want to share?"

"What?" I was still staring at the door like some lovesick teenager. I cleared my throat and petted Joey. "Share? What's to share?"

"Well, we could start with the sparks flying between you two. Damn, you all could start a bonfire." He crossed his arms.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Law chuckled. "Listen, my friend, from one bachelor to another. If you don't make a move, someone else will."

"Meaning you?" I asked, using a more aggravated tone than I meant to.

"I could ask her out. She's pretty."

I turned to face him. "Do it and I'll shoot you."

"HA!" Law's loud outburst made Joey jump. "I knew it. There is something going on between you two."

"No, there isn't anything at all. Maybe, I'm just looking for an excuse to shoot you." I backed away, needing distance. I stepped to the open van door and deposited the unhappy Joey onto it, then closed the door. Stepping back, I pointed at Law. "No. Just... no."

"Your loss." Law's voice followed me as I retreated to my cruiser. "Let me know when you're ready for my crew's licenses and paperwork. I'll swing by and sign the permits."

"Yeah, yeah," I quickly stepped to my vehicle. "Keep me up to date on what Mouse and Keyboard find."

Pulling away from the curb, I caught a glimpse of Ruth exiting the shop. My hands tightened on the steering wheel as I watched her wave to Law. Fuck, if he knows what's good for him, he'll leave her alone. Sure, she was too young, too beautiful, too much of... everything for me. I mean, I had to consider what the town folks would say. But there was no way in hell I was letting Wallace Summers anywhere near her. No. Way. In. Hell!

The conversation in my head continued all the way back to the station. Who was I kidding? I knew from years of knowing him that Ruth wasn't Law's type. He was just trying to get a reaction out of me. I blew out a breath as I drove by the entrance to the park. The same park where Ruth Manchester entered my life. She'd been in my head since that night. The conversation and the way she'd looked, her laugh, how perfectly she'd fit against me.

"Messages, Sheriff." Holly's voice dragged me back to reality. She dropped a stack of papers on my desk. "The FBI sent over the preliminary report on Michael's escape."

I glanced up at her. "We've talked about messages before."

Holly, who had expertly kept this office and me together ever since I took the position, picked up the stack and put them in the far corner of my desk, then picked up a piece of paper and covered them.

"Better?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you. Now, the FBI report, any more dead?"

"Just the two agents, like we initially heard." Holly's face was grim. "They're certain he had inside help."

"I think so too. But with Michael's level of karate, Law's not so certain." I leaned forward on my desk. "Cameron Whitaker said Michael always had a contingency plan. That being caught off guard was not something Michael allowed." That thought made my skin crawl.

"What a damn weasel," Holly shook her head.

"That's an insult to weasels. Could you find out if Evelyn Whitaker is home? I think I better tell them about this in person."

"I figured, so I called, she's there." Holly's efficiency was one of her best qualities. "You think he'll come back here, don't you?"

I met her eyes. Holly had been with the department long enough to know when something wasn't right. "Michael's not the type to just disappear. He'll want..."

My phone buzzed. Law.

"We have a hit. His accounts were accessed an hour ago. Four large withdrawals from four different banks all heading the other way from Chicago. The ladies are getting the bank video coverage and tracing the transactions now."

"Seems like a cloak and dagger to me." My free hand curled into a fist. "He's crafty."

"I think Cameron was right. Michael had plans for every contingency."

"Keep me updated. I'm heading to the Whitakers." I hung up and grabbed my keys.

"I'll call. Be careful out there." The concern in her voice echoed my own unease.

The drive to Evelyn's gave me too much time to think. About Michael. Conniving, capable, crafty were all words that popped into my mind. One thing was certain: if Michael was prepared for whatever came his way, then I needed to be too. It was time for me to embrace the Scout motto - always be prepared.

"Call Holly office," I spoke to my car.

"What did you forget?" she answered.

"Nothing. Get a hold of the deputies. I want all of us to be in a meeting tomorrow morning at eight a.m. You too."

"A time to circle the wagons meeting?" she asked in her 'time to get serious' tone.

"Exactly."

With the wheels in motion for the meeting, I realized where I was, passing Ruth's shop. I unconsciously slowed, watching the back of her building. Her storefront faced into the strip mall parking lot so I wasn't able to see if she was there. Which was probably a good thing because there was no viable reason on the planet that I needed to be in her presence. And yet that's where I wanted to be.

The reasons a relationship with Ruth wouldn't work were always bubbling right below the surface. The age gap between us being the main one. I winced at the thought of hearing people saying I robbed the cradle. If only it was significant enough to raise eyebrows. I know people like Ruth and speak highly of her, but I'm an elected official. My job is to serve the people, not give them ammunition to gossip about me. Holly's voice spoke in my head: "People will always talk and there will always be drama. It's unavoidable." I know she's right, but I don't want to be the source of the drama. Nor do I want to give people a reason to think I can't do my job. Not that I'm all that fucking great at doing my damn job. After what happened with Michael, I'm shocked I still have a job. Learning how he could infiltrate even the most secure systems, twist and use anyone's secrets against them, and know a person's patterns and habits. Starting something with Ruth now would just paint a giant target on her back. And that's something I can't allow.

The thought of what I would do to him if he hurt her seeped into my mind.

"Focus," I muttered to myself, pressing the accelerator. "He's not even here. Let's handle one crisis at a time."

Evelyn was waiting on her porch when I pulled up. One look at my face and she knew.

"Come in and tell us what happened." Her voice was steady, but her hands trembled as she gripped her coffee mug. "Do I need to get Cameron and Melanie on FaceTime?"

"Yes ma'am. You probably better." I took off my hat as I climbed the steps.

"You want a coffee?" She asked as we stepped inside. "You look like you could use something stronger."

"I could, but I'll settle for a soda if you've got one." I met her eyes.

"Tobias," Charlie entered the room. "How are you?"

"I'm alright," I shook his outstretched hand just as my phone buzzed again. A text from Law:

"Information you need. Now."

"I'll be right back, I need to make a quick call. Why don't you see if you can get the honeymooners on video? I'll only be a minute." I apologized to Evelyn and Charlie then quickly headed back to my cruiser.

"Hey, what did they find?"