Page 11 of The Way We Were Always Meant To Be

I don’t respond, moving along with Adeline walking in front of me over to the beer tents, where my patrol car is parked a bit of a ways back. It’s not away from the noise, but there won’t be too many people lurking because all the beer and food are set up over there.

Adeline is quiet the whole way there, but we continue to get stares and looks like I had as soon as I put cuffs on her.

It’s not that deep, but I don’t say all that.

It was a pie.

Lucy is fine.

Adeline just needs to cool off, chill out, and fix whatever just malfunctioned in her head.

Since it’s her first offense, I’ll let her off with a warning.

The second time might be a little harder to pull off. I can’t have everyone in this town thinking they can do what they want, when they want, and that it’s a free-for-all.

I do need to keep law and order.

Or Magnolia Ridge will become the Wild, Wild West with a Southern twang to it.

Getting to my patrol car, I gently turn Adeline around when we get in front of it and hit her with a what-the-fuck-was-that look.

She’s unaffected because she just stares back at me with nothing to say.

“Well?” I prompt after several seconds. “Did we wake up on the wrong side of the bed this mornin’ or did ya finally get possessed like ya said you were gonna when ya claimed there was a ghost livin’ in your house?”

Adeline rolls her blue eyes and shakes her head. “No…Lucy is a thief.”

“A thief.” Adeline just stares at me in confirmation. “With what?”

“With eatin’ half a pie, then another one, sayin’ she’s gonna pay for them, then sneaks away. This is a charity event for the children, Dodger. How cheap can ya get?”

“So, you decided to hunt her down and serve them up on your own?”

She lifts her shoulders. “Pretty much.”

“Great.” I pluck the keys to my handcuffs from my utility belt and spin my finger in the air. “Turn around.”

“For what?”