“No.” He swiped the tears from his cheek. “No. I promise. I was only close by that night because I was following you.”
I heaved out a breath, dragged my fingers through my own hair.
I squatted down in front of him.
“Okay, calm down and tell me, Darby. Tell me everything. And I’m not in the mood for bullshit or beating around the bush, so tell it how it is. Nothing more, nothing less. What happened that night?”
It took a solid ten damn minutes for the kid to get his full story out. It went something like this:
After photographing the shrine at the Voodoo Tree, Darby had taken it upon himself to search the surrounding woods for more signs of witchery. What he got was someone bolting out of the woods and attacking Sunny Harper. He claims he hesitated, not sure what to do, but once the man—we know now to be Griggs—started beating Sunny, Darby took action. An honorable act and one that saved Sunny’s life. Once Griggs engaged Darby in hand-to-hand, Darby pulled his gun and shot. Twice. After realizing he’d blown the kid’s face off—and seeing his first dead body, by his own hand—Darby lost it and bolted while Sunny was dragging herself up from the ground. He said he watched old man Erickson pull up. The man never even saw him.
“Hang on a minute. Your uniform was clean, though, when you responded to dispatch ten minutes later and showed up at the scene.”
He nodded. “I had a spare shirt in my patrol car. I ran back to the car, and by the time I was getting there, Tanyawas radioing me to the scene. I threw up, changed my shirt, and went back. I had blood on my pants and I was sure you’d notice. But you didn’t.”
He’s right. I didn’t notice. I was already spellbound by Sunny.
“Why didn’t you come clean? Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Seriously?” Darby’s voice pitched. “I ambrand newto the job, Jagg, and I shot someone in the face. Thepastor’s son. I recognized Griggs instantly. We’re around the same age. The freakingpastor’sson,” he emphasized, wild-eyed. “I know how this story goes. I’m not stupid. Even though it was justified, I’d be put through the freaking ringer, then pushed to desk duty until the Chief got a reason to fire me. This stuff doesn’t fly in small towns. I’d lose everything I worked for.” Tears swam in his eyes. “This job is the first time I’ve ever feltworthsomething. Like I was doing something that mattered. Like people respected me. First time since I was a stupid, nerdy, little kid.”
“You had multiple times you could have come clean to me.”
“Not true. You’ve had your head so far up Sunny’s butt, I felt like I couldn’t say anything that wouldn’t set you off. And besides, every second that passed, I felt like I was in too far.” He shook his head. “I’d be out the door and bullied out of town. I’d never get another law enforcement job in my life.”
It was true. Every bit of it. … Including my head being up Sunny’s ass.
I couldn’t help but pity the poor kid.
My hands fisted at my sides. It suddenly felt like my world was spinning out of control.
“Get up.”
Darby’s face tilted upward.
“Get off the ground. Get up.”
Darby pulled himself off the ground, his uniform covered in dirt, streaks of dried tears down his cheeks.
“Wipe your face.”
He swiped the back of his hand over his cheeks.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well. What are we going to do now?”
He blinked. “We?”
“Gotta come up with something, right?”
Hope sparked in his swollen eyes. “Anything. Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it, Jagg. Anything. Please.”
“First. Grow up. Man up. If you’re going to be in this job, you need to hold your head up, square your shoulders, and remind yourself every damn day that it’syourtown. Stop taking orders, stop following me around. Carve yourownpath. And start at the gym.”
He blinked again.
“Every single day, I want you to start your morning in the gym. Put on some muscle, kid. That way, the next time someone engages you in hand to hand combat, you won’t have to blow their face off.” I turned, walked back to my Jeep, pulled a plastic container from the back and hurled it at him. “Protein. Tastes like crap, but drink it. Bulk up. Become someone you’re proud of. Someone people don’t want to mess with. You’ll be the rookie for a while and they’ll treat you like one, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept it. Prove them wrong. Be the first in the gym every morning, be the first in the office every day. Work your ass off, above and beyond. Do something to make them respect you. It’s time to man up, Darby.”
He took a deep, shaky breath. “Okay. Okay. Man up. Got it.”
