Page 20 of Wild Card (Foster Bro Code #2)

Dalton

I rolled up to Jerkers Soda Shoppe and cut the engine, my mouth already watering for one of their famous MoonShakes. I liked mine with peanut butter and hot fudge stirred in, and Brenda never disappointed.

It had been a boring morning. I’d gotten back to patrolling on my own—which was what I wanted, of course—but I kept turning to the passenger seat as if Chloe would be there, waiting for me to impart some wisdom.

Wisdom.

As if I had any of that. I was a walking disaster.

The memory of Axel’s expression when I left him in that bathroom at Glitter Balls haunted me. I’d just been so damn mad at myself for letting him use sex as armor, for weakening my resistance to the point I’d take such risks with him.

It hadn’t been fair to blame it on him, though. I was the fucking problem. I was the sheriff’s deputy who couldn’t stop playing with fire. It wasn’t fire’s fault when it burned you; that was its nature.

I pulled out my phone to check my messages, even though I knew what I’d see. A big fat nothing on the text stream with Axel—the one where he’d initially invited me to meet with Allison Prince and where later I’d tried to apologize for storming off.

He’d left me on read.

My gut twisted into a knot. I secured my phone in a compartment on my utility belt and climbed out of the car. Might as well drown my sorrows with grease and sugar.

I let myself in, the door chiming with my arrival. Brenda looked over from the counter where she was working the register. Marty and his new girlfriend, Sasha, were paying their bill.

I tipped my hat to them and started toward the soda fountain–style counter that lined the front of the restaurant.

“Dalton!”

I turned to see Deputy Zach Larson waving enthusiastically for me to join his table. Ava, from the front desk, and Deputy Eric Sing were with him.

I wasn’t much in the mood for company, but it would be rude not to join them. I pivoted on my heel, striding in their direction.

One of the town bankers, Warren Gold, was looking cozy with his lady friend, Stella, who worked at the pharmacy. They were both in their seventies, but they were cute as heck as they shared a milkshake.

Hailey Peterson, who’d sold me my cabin, brightened as I passed by her table. She reached out and caught my arm. “Oh, Dalton! I’ve been meaning to ask if you’re ready to move out of that shack in the woods yet.”

Her trilling laugh grated on my nerves.

“You sold me that shack in the woods,” I said mildly. “Remember?”

“Of course! And I’m sure you’ve given it all the TLC it deserves.”

That was a generous statement. I’d made a few improvements, but I hadn’t had enough downtime lately to keep up with my laundry, much less caulk the leaky windows and re-tile the kitchen.

“But if you ever want to move into town…” Hailey suggested hopefully.

“I’ll keep you in mind.”

I moved on, nodding to Frank and Nora Young, dodging Mimi Howard, who would no doubt want to talk my ear off about her latest complaint about her neighbor, and gave a wide berth to the table where Mayor Prince and his staff were sitting—minus Dallas, who’d been fired shortly after the news got out about him harassing Emory.

At least he’d paid in some small way. But it wasn’t nearly enough.

Maybe I’d visit Dallas later. See if I could catch a peek at his car and suss out if it was involved in that hit-and-run.

I’d already put out a call to the area’s auto shops—minus Forrester, because Dallas was persona non grata there—but I hadn’t gotten any hits on repair jobs that might indicate the perp trying to hide his handiwork.

“Hey, sweetie,” Ava said. “Take a load off.”

“Thanks.” I slid into the booth beside Eric, our oldest deputy on the squad. He’d been through three sheriffs. “How’s everyone doing today?”

“Same old shit,” Zach said with a frown.

Zach was always smiling, so that got my attention. “What is it?”

Eric sighed. “Sheriff told him to drop the charges against a kid who was drag racing last week.”

Zach picked up the story. “Sheriff Hale said it wasn’t worth the red tape. At first, I didn’t think much of it. A lot of teens do this shit. It’s a misdemeanor, at best.”

I nodded. “It’s dangerous if left unchecked, though. They could kill someone.”

“Yeah, and apparently the kid’s uncle is Joe Halgren,” Eric said dryly.

“Hale’s golf buddy?”

Zach pointed at me. “Got it in one.”

That pun would be funnier if it didn’t point to more abuse of Sheriff Hale’s authority.

“And guess who showed up with shiny new golf clubs for our boss today?” Ava added.

“Damn it,” I muttered.

Zach leaned in over his burger basket, his uniform already sporting a faded ketchup stain. “We have to do something, don’t we?”

Eric’s mouth tightened. “Won’t do any good. Trust me. I’ve seen this shit before. He’s an elected official. It takes a recall election or state impeachment to get him out of office. Neither is easy to pull off.”

“He’s already up for election in May,” Ava pointed out. “If he lost, that would be the easy solution.”

All eyes shifted to me.

“Et tu, brute?” I said.

Ava patted my arm. “Sweetie, you know Eric is retiring in the next year. Zach and Chloe are too young.”

“So, maybe we can recruit someone from another department to run against Hale. Maybe over in Omaha or Lincoln?”

Ava looked at me steadily, her glasses only making her eyes seem larger and tougher to avoid. “Maybe,” she said. “If that’s our best option. But people here know you. They trust you.”

They wouldn’t if they knew how I’d failed Shane.

Brenda appeared beside the table, a big glass of frothy shake in her hand. “Here you go, Dalton. Sorry for the wait. You want your usual?”

“Actually, this is all I need. Thanks.”

“Sure thing, sugar. You have a good day.”

I took a halfhearted sip of the shake. Somewhere between strolling in and listening to the deputies’ concerns, I’d lost my appetite.

The conversation turned to run-of-the-mill shop talk, and soon enough, Zach was smiling again.

“I can’t believe you fell for Celia Cook’s noise complaint again,” Ava said, chuckling. “She’s been luring handsome young deputies out to her place for darn near twenty years.”

Zach shrugged, cheeks rosy from his blush. “She’s lonely, is all. I kept thinking of my grandmother back in Chicago.”

“Uh-huh, and does your grandma wear a see-through robe over a negligee?” Eric asked with a smirk.

“Don’t remind me!”

Zach shuddered, and we all burst out laughing.

“Remember when Dalton first started?” Eric said to Ava.

I clapped a hand over his mouth. “Stop right there.”

Ava snickered, eyes sparkling. “What did she call in? A cat in a tree?”

“Don’t do it, Ava,” I warned.

“Well, if you were going to be my boss one day, I might listen to you. But since you’re so determined not to be…”

“Ava,” I growled.

“Tell me,” Zach begged. “I don’t want to be the only idiot.”

Eric tugged down my hand. “She waited for him to get up on that ladder and then copped a feel of his?—”

“Bzzt!” I made a loud buzzer noise. “That’s all the time I have for today.” I scooted back my chair and stood. “Tell that story upon pain of death.”

“A sheriff’s deputy making death threats?” Ava tsked. “How far you’ve fallen, Dalton.”

Zach chuckled. “I think I get the picture, anyway.”

“Just remember, she only fooled me once.”

Ava and Eric laughed as Zach ducked his head. The silly fool had let Celia trick him into a false report at least three times.

We made our way to the register, where folks settled their tabs, but Brenda just waved us away. “You know your money is no good here.”

“Brenda, darlin’, it’s just such a shame you’re already taken,” Zach said, cranking up the charm. “If it weren’t for Ernie, you’d own my heart.”

She giggled and patted her hair. “Oh, you charmer! Get out of here.”

He laughed and went out the door, Eric trailing behind him.

Ava clucked. “Honey, you can’t keep giving them a free lunch. These lugs will eat you out of house and home.”

Brenda shrugged. “I want to thank them for their service. Seems like the least I can do.”

“Well, allow me to leave a tip, at least,” I said, tucking a twenty-dollar bill into the tip jar.

“Oh, that’s cheating now, Deputy Harvey.”

I spread my hands. “Guess you caught me.”

Ava pulled out a ten and followed my move. “Take care, hon. Don’t work too hard.”

“I always do!” Brenda called.

Ava gave a raspy laugh. “I know!”

We stepped out onto the sidewalk. Ava nudged me. “Don’t look now, but the mayor is headed this way.”

I swore under my breath. “Hurry, pretend you’ve sprained your ankle. I’ll rush you to the ER.”

“As much as I’d enjoy letting you scoop me off my feet like some action hero, I’ve got work to do.” She patted my arm. “Maybe you should listen to the man this time, hm?”

She turned away and called out, “Eric! Can I get a ride with you?”

Eric paused by his car, giving her time to make it across the lot. By the time she did, Mayor Prince was only a few feet away.

“Hey, Deputy, I’m glad I caught you.”

I turned with a polite smile. “What can I do for you, Mayor? I really should get back on the road. I’m headed out to Granville.”

“Let me walk you to your car,” he said. “I’ll make it quick and painless.”

The mayor wasn’t actually the concise type, so I doubted that. Still, I nodded agreement because what else could I do?

He smiled wryly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were avoiding me, Deputy Harvey.”

“Why would I do that?”

Prince stepped off the sidewalk, falling into step with me as I crossed the parking lot. “I think we both know why. I’ve been pushing you about running for sheriff. Pushing too hard, I think.”

“Maybe.”

“You’ve got reasons you don’t want to be sheriff. I respect that. But I think you’re the kind of man who cares about this town. And I think you know Elkhorn County isn’t best served by Hale.”

I paused next to my car with a sigh. “Say I do agree with that. It doesn’t mean I would be the perfect choice either.”

“Perfect? Maybe not. But better…” The mayor’s smile turned wry. “I think we both know that wouldn’t take much.”

I chuckled. “So setting the bar low is your new strategy?”

“It wouldn’t be low . I don’t think that. I’m not sure even you think that. I don’t know what your reasons are for hesitating, but please, give it some hard thought. It won’t be long until we hit campaign filing deadlines.”

I couldn’t brush him off as easily after the conversation inside. It was bad enough when Hale was making exceptions for his son. But if he was actually taking bribes and twisting the law into his personal payday, then something had to be done.

“I’ll think about it.”

Mayor Prince clapped my arm. “Good man.”

He started to turn away when a thought occurred to me. “Hey, Mayor, can I ask a favor?”

He turned back. “Anything. What is it?”

“Well, I took a tour of the animal shelter the other day. It’s underfunded and strained.”

The mayor nodded. “The budget cuts have been tough. A lot of departments are suffering.”

“Right. Well, the thing is, some folks are dumping their pets out on County Road 15 by the junkyard. Axel Wilder has been taking them in. But he’s just one guy, and it shouldn’t be his responsibility to save our abandoned pets, you know?

I was thinking if we could get some sort of program formalized… ”

“That’s a good point, but he can take those pets to the shelter.”

“Well, he could, but they don’t have the space or the funds to accommodate more animals.”

The mayor sighed. “It’s a catch-22, isn’t it?”

“Your daughter looked into grants for me, but it seems most of those would apply to private efforts. It’s more than Axel wants to take on, so I’m just looking for other solutions.”

“Well, I could talk to the City Council. It’s already against the law to abandon animals, but clearly, we need to step up enforcement. We can introduce stricter fines to deter folks and step up patrols out there. We need to nip this in the bud.”

That wasn’t what I’d had in mind when I brought it up, but if folks realized they couldn’t get away with dumping their pets, they might think twice about it.

“Thanks, Mayor, and if there’s any way at all the shelter could get more funding…”

“I’ll keep it in mind, Deputy.”

I climbed into my car and started the engine. I had a list of Granville complaints that needed to be checked out when I got there, but I should have time to stop in and catch Bodie at practice before heading back to the station.

I should focus on that instead of Axel, but I pulled out my phone anyway. I stared at the text thread with Axel, my screen taken up with messages from me.

Dalton:

I was a dick.

Dalton:

I freaked out and blamed you. I shouldn’t have done that.

Dalton:

Can we grab a drink? You can yell at me.

With a sigh of defeat, I added one more message to the list.

Dalton:

I have an update about the animal shelter issue. Call me, okay?

I waited a couple of minutes, hoping he might respond this time. My phone might as well have been a paperweight for all the good it did.

With a quiet curse, I tossed it onto the passenger seat and buckled my seat belt. I had a job to do, and for right now at least, it didn’t include worrying about Axel fucking Wilder.