Page 60 of Outlawed

“No, they fucking won’t,” Jen snaps, hanging up her cell as she storms into the room.

“I’m guessing you took care of everything?”

“Oh, you can bet your cute ass I did. I spoke with the governor himself, and he’s pissed. On a positive note, as of tomorrow, you will officially be exonerated.”

“Really? The governor said that?”

“He did. The paperwork has finally been processed. He’s also going to issue a press release apologizing and begin talks about restoration. He has assured me he will be dealing with the US Marshals Service himself. He implied he’ll be pointing them in the direction of Porter and Derek, thank god.”

“I’m not worried about them.”

“Well, I am. I don’t want either asshole getting a sneak attack in on you or Hannah.”

“Nobody is going to be sneaking in anywhere.”

“I’m just going to pop Hannah upstairs. I’ll be right back,” murmurs Riggs.

I nod but move over to Jen and take her hands in mine. “It’s like Riggs said, things are different now. Derek and Porter burned their bridges when they hurt their own, and I’m not talking about me.

“I’m talking about Sarah and Dawn. Seeing people openly weep as they watched Hannah at the funeral tells me everything I need to know. Those who might once have been their friends and hidden them would sooner turn them in to Shepard than let either of them come within striking distance of Hannah. She might have lost her mom, but she just gained hundreds of aunts and uncles who will not let her get hurt again on their watch.” I flip my eyes to Austin briefly, reminding him with my stare to keep his mouth shut about the real reason Porter won’t be a problem.

He winks at me before I focus back on Jen, who deflates.

“Well, I guess they won’t have time to come back here anyway if they have the US marshals chasing after them,” she concedes.

“Exactly.”

“Um, Opie?”

I turn when Riggs calls my name and find him right behind me, looking a little spooked. “What’s wrong?”

“I actually can’t believe I’m saying this, but where’s the workshop?”

“Huh? What do you mean, where’s the workshop?” Shepard questions, looking between us both.

“I mean, if I hadn’t built the interior of that room, I’d never know it existed. The door is gone. But so is the space that would make it obvious that a room was there to begin with.”

I grin as they both eye me. “Oh, that.” I throw myself down on the sofa beside Austin. Even he’s looking at me oddly. “I’m not the only thing that’s been getting stronger around here. I didn’t want the marshal sniffing around in shit that didn’t concern him, or fucking everything up, so I simply asked the house to hide it.”

“To hide the workshop?” Austin says, just to be sure.

“Yeah.”

“And the house can do that now? Just move things around willy nilly?” Shepard asks.

I smirk at my sexy sheriff using the words willy nilly. “Of Course.”

Shepard looks from me to Riggs, then to Austin. “Yeah, I’m gonna need a whiskey. Anyone else?”

“I’m in.” Riggs nods.

Austin gets to his feet. “Me too.”

“It’s seriously gone?” Austin asks Riggs, making me giggle as they walk away.

I slip my hands into my pocket and pull out what I found, rolling it between my fingers. I look over at Jen and see her holding back a laugh. “You don’t seem spooked.”

“I watched the marshal trip over objects that were most definitely not in his path moments before, stumble over air, and fall into things like he was being shoved by an invisible force. Let’s just say nothing surprises me anymore.” She focuses on my hand and frowns. “Is that a gold tooth?”