“Have you lived here all your life?” Lauren asked, because knowledge was power.
“All mymarriedlife; which means I’ve been here well over thirty years.”
“Ohhh,” Lauren smiled slightly, putting her phone in her back pocket. “So, you’ll know all the tea. What’s up with the drunk lady who crashed her car? Why does she get treated withkid gloves while I get thrown in jail for saying a drunk’s a drunk?”
“Oh no, you didn’t!” Ms. Audrey said, eyes widening before she laughed and slapped her hand over her mouth as if that would hide her reaction.
“Oh yes, I did.” Lauren nodded.
“Child, that woman is Mrs. Veronica Archer. She’s been a drunk since I moved here, but she was a pretty, rich one, so different rules. Nowadays she’s not as rich but she still hasn’t had any real consequences because she’s the mayor’s mother.”
“I knew it! I knew your boss was a fu…a freaking corrupt, cowardly son of a bitch. I promise you, if I’m not out of here soon, he’ll regret he ever laid a finger on me.”
“Well, with your very…delicatepersonality, I’m sure he already does.”
Lauren’s brow rose.
No one had ever considered Lauren delicate and based on thebless your heartvibe she got from that statement, neither did Ms. Audrey.
“The sheriff isn’t a bad man, he’s just inherited an overwhelming mess. But mark my words, one way or another he’ll make sure Veronica Archer accounts for the destruction she caused up on Old Lotty Road.”
Yeah, right.
“If we weren’t talking through the bars of a jail cell I might give him the benefit of the doubt, but now I just wish my knee succeeded in connecting with his balls. At least then he’d have a reason to?—”
“Wait. Tell me you didn’t try to kick Santiago Stillwater in his privates?”
“I tried to send those motherfuckers so high inside him, he’d choke.” Ms. Audrey’s eyes became wide and unblinking. Lauren wondered if she was having a stroke. “Please, forgive mylanguage, but not my behavior. That man doesn’t deserve the grace he was given.”
Ms. Audrey backed away from Lauren and began tidying her immaculately organized desk. Stopping abruptly, she faced Lauren again.
“You may want to rethink staying in Shrouded Lake longer than you have to. Being on the bad side of the Archersandthe sheriff…” Audrey shook her head.
Lauren smiled and knew she looked feral, because that’s how she felt. Shewantedto fight. And being on those people’s bad side sounded like the exact place she needed to be.
“Well,” she said, softening her demeanor. “They’ll have to deal with me at least through the night. Then maybe I’ll leave. And maybe I won’t.”
“Forgive me for being nosy, but what is it that you do that you can drive around the country with no care to where you end up?”
“I do money, and I do it well. All I need is my knowledge, my computer, and good Wi-Fi service.”
What she didn’t need was people knowing she was running.
Flashing back to the conversation she had with her mother and sister, her face flushed with anger and embarrassment…because whodoesthat? They all claimed to love her, all of them. Yet notoneof them gave her the respect of letting her know what was happening before she, say…sold her house, took a six-month sabbatical from work, and planned to marry a fucking cheat. They were selfish and cowardly and if loving her didn’t mean anything, at a bare minimum, she deserved their loyalty and respect.
The front door of the building opened, and Lauren was ready tofucking filletthe sheriff of Shrouded Lake, but it was the young deputies who stepped through the entry.
Fighting back tears, Lauren closed her eyes and softly patted her hand over her heart. It was going to be okay; her heart would heal from this pain, one day it would heal.
Deputy Derry was in the process of unlocking the cell door when she opened her eyes. Sympathy was etched over his face as he waved her out of the cell and directed her to sit in the visitor’s chair at his desk. He was inviting her to join them and for some reason that made her want to cry more. Ms. Audrey picked up her desk phone and called Carolina’s Bed and Breakfast reserving a room for Lauren for the night.
“…and Lina, she says she’s good with money. Maybe she can help withthat issuebefore she leaves.”
After hanging up the phone Ms. Audrey smiled at Lauren mysteriously as Jessie passed around utensils. These people were beingtoonice and helpful. She cautioned herself to stay on alert.
“Like I said,” Ms. Audrey stated, addressing Lauren. “A lot of businesses in Shrouded Lake are suffering and our city controller, who’s supposed to be figuring out ways to get this town back in good standing, is an inept lazy so-and-so.”
“That’s my uncle, Ms. Audrey!” Derry protested as he handed Lauren her food.
