“Sheriff, it’s Mayor Drummond.”
“Mayor.” I relaxed back into my chair. “What can I do for you?”
“Seems there was another…scuffle out at the Williamsons’ old place.”
I blew out a heavy sigh. “How’d you hear about that?”
“It’s spreading like wildfire. Mabel’s Live already has four hundred views.”
I couldn’t hold in my gruff sound of irritation. Those goddamn Lives were going to be the death of me. “I’ve got it under control.”
She hummed. “I’m not so sure you do. This is the second day in a row she’s been there. Plus, don’t you think perhaps you’re sending a conflicting message to criminals when you show up with food and use that as a negotiation strategy?”
I liked the mayor—she’d been a close friend of my mom’s and had been a part of my family my entire life—but there was a reason she was in public relations and not law enforcement.
“I did what I had to do to get her to leave as quickly and quietly as possible. I’m assuming that’s what your call is about.”
“Yes, that’s the key here. Quickly and quietly. We don’t want to cause a fuss for the developers.”
I hummed—that was something we agreed on. “I assume you’ve already talked to Holton Group?”
“I have.”
“And how do they want to proceed?”
“They’re not happy she keeps showing up and halting progress, but they don’t want the headache that pressing charges will bring. They let yesterday’s infraction go with a warning, but she needs to pay a fine this time. And if she continues to show up, they’ll have no choice but to press charges.”
I grunted in agreement, my gaze darting over to Luna to find hers already locked on me. “I’ll talk to her,” I murmured into the phone.
“See that you do. And, Sheriff? Get her to see reason, will you?”
I barely held in my snort. I may not have known much about Luna Lancaster, but I knew, without a doubt, reason didn’t even enter her realm of reality.
After hanging up, I strolled over to my little lawbreaker, using my keys to unlock the holding cell, and tipped my head for her to follow me. “Let’s go, Ms. Lancaster. We have a lot to discuss.”
She swept out of the cell, far too close for my liking, her jasmine and lavender scent sweeping over me. Giving a goddamn Pavlovian response, my cock twitched in my pants, and I had to grit my teeth to keep myself in control. I hated that she had this effect on me. Hated that she tested my limits when I’d never, ever had that problem before.
She strode straight to the interrogation room, having done this far too many times, and I shut the door behind us.
She sat in the chair and folded her hands on top of the table. “I have nothing to say.”
“Good. Because I have a lot to say, and it’ll be a hell of a lot easier if you keep your pretty little mouth shut.”
Her eyebrows rose, but I had no idea why. It wasn’t the first time I’d told her to shut up. If she actually did, though, nowthatwould be a first.
I sat down across from her, leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms over my chest. “Why do you feel the need to keep doing this shit? Did you not get enough attention as a child?”
She rolled her eyes. “When I was a child, my parents encouraged me to follow my passions.”
“How lucky for me that one of your passions seems to be irritating the shit out of me.”
Her lips curved up at the corners, and her eyes sparkled with amusement. “That does seem to be a bonus, yes, but my protests have nothing to do with you, believe it or not. We should all care about the environment, Sheriff. If we don’t put a stop to greedy corporations razing two-hundred-year-old trees just so we can buy lettuce and socks in the same store, there’s not going to be any wildlife left, and then what will we have?”
“You’re being a bit dramatic, don’t you think? This is one tiny pocket of land—”
“One tiny pocket of land that happens to be a special value habitat which houses seventeen species of mammals, twenty-six different birds, and an immeasurable number of plants. Not to mention this pocket removes fifty-two tons of carbon dioxide each year.”
I lifted my brows in surprise. I’d, apparently falsely, assumed she’d been doing this because she was bored. Not because she’d actually researched the possible ramifications and cared about them.
