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That’s what you get for being a dick.
The fact that I’m even waiting for her to text me back sets me on edge. Her existence is becoming too important to me.
You killed her uncle.
She fucked your brother.
I chant my reasons for disliking her to myself.
I push off the fence, walking over toward where Mayor Dixon is talking to the county sheriffs. They’re all buddies, the law enforcement officials and the mayor. The night I was arrested, he had them take me out of the jail cell, and he beat me to a pulp. I was left bleeding in the cell for two hours before my lawyer finally got there.
They claimed the injuries were from a fight with another cellmate. I told my lawyer to let it go. We’d never be able to prove it, and I wanted to focus on not going to prison for murder.
After a year of constantly being targeted in prison by groups of violent criminals, I finally found out from making internal connections that the good mayor was paying them to assault me and attempt to take my life. I would defend myself, inevitably ending up in solitary confinement for sixty days at a time for fighting. It never stopped, not for the three and a half years I was there. My muscles are coiled for an attack, even now.
“Came to support the boys, Dixon? You’re too good for this town.” I’m a few inches taller than him, but I still stretch out to my full height.
He turns to look up at me, his blue eyes sizing me up coolly. The sheriff takes a step toward me, like I might pull out a gun at any point and shoot the mayor.
How would he hold up in a fight?
Dixon holds up a hand to the sheriff. “It’s all right, Jim.” His eyes stay on me. “Well, I’d heard there was overcrowding all over. Good for you. I’m sure your family was happy to have you home.”
The way he clearly just spews lies sends adrenaline shooting through my veins. It doesn’t surprise me that he’s not going to acknowledge that I was pardoned. One thing I do miss about prison was being able to find a time and place to clock a guy who’d pissed me off with generally no consequences.
“You know, it is good to be home with my family. They hired some damn good help while I was gone. I’ve always had a weak spot for a woman who knows her way around the kitchen.” I smile at him, seeing the invisible smoke rising from his ears. “And redheads,” I add.
After a few tense seconds of silence, he chuckles. “My daughter can make anything. She’s been telling me all about how much she loves that ranch. We have lunch every Sunday. I’ve really enjoyed hearing about it.”
I clench my fists at my sides.
What has she told him?
The radio strapped to the sheriff’s shoulder crackles to life. “Altercation at the Sundance Pavilion. We’ve got a man in custody. Need you here ASAP, Sheriff.”
My head whips in the direction of the sheriff. Before he has a chance to answer the radio, I’m reaching for my phone. When I look down, Duke’s name is on the screen with an incoming call. My thumb slides across it to answer as I walk away from the mayor.
“What happened?”
The announcer says Sterling’s name and number, so I turn to watch his ride while Duke talks.
“Some guy from the crowd jumped up onstage and attacked Monroe Blue. Her security was apparently held back, gone, I don’t know, so Cash got up there, pulled him off of her, and beat the shit out of him. I mean, beat the living shit out of him. An ambulance just hauled the guy off on a stretcher, and …”
“And what?” I bite out.
The other end of the line is silent.
Sterling held out for four seconds before violently being thrown off into the dirt. He stands up and walks toward the exit gate, clearly not hurt. I stride over to where he is, dusting the dirt off his jeans. He removes his helmet, and I jerk my head toward the parking lot to let him know we’re leaving. He slides through the opening in the fence, following me.
Finally, Duke speaks. “And I can’t find the girls. They’re gone.”
My blood runs cold. My little brother sounds scared, but he’s not nearly as scared as he’s gonna be when I get there.
“Find them. Now.”
I abruptly stop pacing my bedroom floor, towering over her. I’m still wearing my hat and boots, unable to sit still for long enough to remove them. Adrenaline is pumping through my bloodstream at one hundred miles an hour.
“You and Dolly just ran off to the bar to get a drink, leaving Cash and Duke? Did you realize how fucking dangerous that was?” My voice betrays how deeply pissed off I am, but I can’t manage to even out the tone.
