"That's the one," I agreed. "Hopefully, you can at least keep Violet straight."
John grinned. "I'm going to assume that pun was completely accidental. And yes, I know exactly who she is. But that brings me to the barn gossip Sadie hears, and I'm sure you'll want to know. The police officer who assaulted your boyfriend? Yeah, he's going to jail. They brought in a few more people to interview, and it sounds like it's not the local cops doing the interviews. This is all being done by state troopers..." He let the words trail off as a massive grin took over his face. "Because almost the entire Cats Peak police force was just fired today."
"What?!" I asked.
John nodded. "Yep. Two cops made the cut. The rest were let go for anything from corruption to neglecting their duties. Everyone at the barn was freaking out about how much state troopers like to give tickets, but they also said that the local cops were worthless. There may have been a few jokes about doughnuts."
"Fired," I repeated. "All of them?"
"Mhm," John said. "Now, I don't want to get in your way, but since I was in the area, I wanted to deliver the news personally. The girls were saying that they're pretty sure it all had to do with Southwind, and they said it was about time. So, sounds like you're doing something right, Luke."
"Fired," I said one more time. "Holy shit, John. The cop who shoved Violet's face into the hood of a car is gone?"
"And the ones who pulled guns on your other boyfriend," he agreed. "Yeah. I also told Mom and Dad that I ran into you. Made it clear that you're a great father, my niece is adorable, and that my big brother did just fine on his own. And in a few more weeks, I'll be texting you to find out what I'm supposed to buy that kid for Christmas."
"Unicorns," I told him. "You can't go wrong with unicorns. Stuffed animals, clothes, trinkets - doesn't matter. My daughter is the girly-girl kind, with a little bit of tough under all of that."
"Sounds like you raised her right," John said, and I had never been more proud of anything in my life.
Chapter Seventy-Two
All of the pieces werefinallyfalling into place. Billy, Berto, and even Cessily's work was finally panning out. Every day, Ash got a little better. He still had one hell of a black eye, and he wasn't back to full speed, but after a few days, he decided that he could make it downstairs just fine on his own.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a news station for Cats Peak, but we still got reports. Every day, someone called, texted, or came by to fill us in on the latest drama. On Wednesday, I finally got the chance to interview three of the applicants for the teaching position. Ash and Cy both sat in on those. The black eye got a few curious looks, but it gave Ash the chance to explain about his sexuality, the discrimination he had faced, and that our students would likely have suffered the same sorts of issues for one thing or another. It didn't matter if that was their race, their socioeconomic class, their religion, or their sexuality and gender. Our job at Southwind was to be a safe place, no matter what their background was.
Sure enough, Berto's favorite impressed all of us. That wasn't a shock. The surprising thing, however, was the younger man who was just starting his teaching career. He was both Black and Muslim, and while he didn't have the experience, after talking to him, we agreed that he would make a wonderful second educator. In other words, Southwind was ready to open.
Berto got the state approval finalized on Thursday, so we celebrated over dinner. Faith was already starting to talk about what she wanted for Christmas. Makeup was at the top of the list, but her tastes were starting to shift from toys to clothes. Cy pulled out the good scotch and the adults enjoyed a glass of that instead of champagne. Granted, when Ash was told that he couldn't take it with his medication, the look on his face was priceless. He insisted he wasn't on anything anymore. He'd even finished his antibiotics, so Cy relented, making it clear he'd just been picking on Ash anyway.
Then, that night, Ash headed to my room to fall asleep. He said my mattress was more comfortable. I wasn't sure if that was true, but he wasn't quite ready to do more than cuddle and talk until we fell asleep. Our conversation was about Southwind. Our hopes, our dreams, and the troubled teens who were about to become "our kids."
Ash's breathing had just slowed, proving he was asleep - and I wasn't far behind him - when Sissy began barking her head off down the hall. Ash jerked awake, sitting up. I tried to calm him down, but the puppy would not stop. I heard Faith yell at her to "Be quiet!" and that didn't even work.
Then the door to my room burst open. "Someone's in the barn," Cy said. "Ash, keep Faith inside."
I was up and reaching for my clothes as fast as I could. On the other side of the bed, Ash was doing the same thing. "What's going on?" he asked.
"No idea," Cy admitted. "Sissy started barking, so Luke looked out the window."
"Ash, gun," I told him, pointing at the closet.
"And call the fucking cops," Cy demanded. "They're on our side now."
I left him to do that, only to find Luke in the hallway talking to Faith. "Violet's room," he ordered. "And stay in there."
"With Ash," I added, hoping that would convince her to stay.
Then the three of us were running down the stairs and heading for the back door. We didn't want to use the front because that felt too exposed. The back of the house would still get us there without letting whoever was outside know that we were coming. Cy went first. I tried to follow, but Luke pulled me back and passed me a scrap of lumber from the dog fence. I had no idea where he'd picked it up, but I wouldn't turn down a weapon.
At the side of the house, we paused, hearing something rustling inside the barn. Horses, I realized, but there was a bigger problem. I smelled something. Smoke! I'd barely thought it before an orange glow began to bloom along the side of the barn.
"Shit," Luke breathed. "The horses are in there!"
"So be loud," Cy told him, his voice almost too soft to hear.
But putting action to words, the man ran around the edge of the house yelling at the top of his lungs. Someone cursed, but I was aiming for the barn door, so didn't pause to figure out who. From the corner of my eye, I saw someone rush in, and then Luke was on him! The sound of Luke's fist on the man's face was loud, but the guy wasn't about to give up. Dropping my stick, I managed to wrench the barn door open, then looked back in time to see Tim Booth take a swing at Luke.
Fuck! Clearly that asshole hadn't learned his lesson the first time he tried to fuck with us. Then again, he'd also lost every reason to hold back. Shit. When Simmons said he'd burn Southwind down, this had to be what he was talking about. And now that so many other people had gotten screwed over in the process, they wanted their own revenge.
