“I made it sound much more salacious than I should have, but yes…”
Tears fill her eyes, and I watch as they roll down her cheeks. I could comfort her, but I don’t. Even though I don’t blame her for what she said, I’m still not going to throw myself at her. She’s not my best friend.
“It was still the truth,” I say.
“It was still the truth,” she admits. “I just wanted to come here and apologize.”
It’s in this moment that I decide to let it go. It happened a decade ago, and that part of my life is over and done with. I still can’t be friends with Daisy. It’s been too long, with too muchhurt. And maybe I should feel the same way about Axton, but I love him too much.
Far too much… unfortunately.
PIGGY
The last thing I want to do is go to work. I’d rather sit in the parking lot of the Gilded Room and wait for Millie. Watch her walk to her car and then follow her home. I don’t care that it’s fucking weird and now she’d know it was me doing it. I still want to do just that.
I don’t, though.
It’s time for me to focus on my career and my passion. An all-black car flies by me, going at least twenty miles over the speed limit, and I decide this is my undertaking tonight. Picking up the radio, I call in to dispatch to let them know I’m in pursuit.
Flipping on my lights and sirens, I follow the car, picking up speed as I race through the curves of the mountains. I know these roads like the back of my hand, and I also know that if he’s not as familiar, he’s going to end up flying off a cliff to his death.
It doesn’t take me long to catch up to the car. It’s just making a sharp turn, the driver slamming on the brakes as it does. Thankfully, they don’t slide off the side of the mountain. Unthankfully, they also don’t stop.
They speed up again and take off. They’re getting closer to town, and while it won’t be very busy tonight, I still don’t want to chance anyone’s homes, businesses, or bodies being murdered by this crazy fucking driver.
As I get closer to them, I start to speak into my PA system and advise them to pull over. They don’t immediately. I back off their tail end a bit, but stay close enough that I’m not going to lose them anytime soon.
I’m about to call in to dispatch for backup when they suddenly slow down. Then they pull over to a two-lane dirt road. Flicking my gaze down to the insignia of the car, I smirk.
It’s a Lexus.
With Nevada plates.
There is no way this car can go down this road. I’ve been down here before, and the potholes are big enough that it would get stuck, and then it would be easy as fuck to figure out just what the hell is going on here.
I tell dispatch that I’m out on the call before I push the door open and unfold from the car. With one hand on my gun, I lift my other to my shoulder, clicking on the flashlight as I approach.
“You were driving like an asshole out there,” I announce before I flash the light into the driver’s window.
Dark eyes meet mine. I don’t recognize him, but I don’t need to. He carries himself a certain way. And that way is dangerous. I know that he, without a doubt, is not a good guy. Wasn’t a good guy and likely won’t ever be a good guy.
I should know.
Because I’m the same.
Except for one thing.
I most definitely am not the good guy, but what I am is a different kind of bad guy than the man staring back at me. His lips twitch into a smirk while his eyes search mine. They’re black, soulless. They’re evil.
“Was I?” he asks, his voice smooth and even, almost as if he’s trying not to laugh.
Maybe he thinks it’s funny. I’m sure he does. A small-town cop in a small mountain town. Probably thinks I’m a complete fucking hick.
He has no idea.
None.
It’s kind of cute, though.
