“I am not going to put up with this indignity,” she snapped. “Now get the hell away from my car.”
He held on to his patience with both hands. “Mrs. Bearing, I need you to give me your license and your registration, and we’ll go from there. All right?”
“No.” She started to roll her window up.
He put a hand on top of the car. “If you don’t give me those documents, I’m going to have to arrest you. Now, it’s a cold night and I don’t want to ask you to get out of the car quite yet, so how about you hand those over?”
“No.” She opened her door suddenly, slamming the metal into his legs. He stepped back, anger whipping through him. Yet he kept his hands loose. She jumped out of the car, slid on the ice, and grabbed her door. “Now you listen to me. My husband runs this town. I’m not going to take this bullshit from you.”
Dressed in a flashy white sweater and tight leather pants, her red-bottomed boots were causing her problems on the ice.
A light flashed to his right, and he noted Rachel approaching with the camera in her phone lit up. He gave her a look. “Get back in your vehicle. I’m not going to tell you again. I’ll arrest you as well.”
The reporter backed away.
Police lights swirled through the darkness as a county patrol officer rolled onto the scene. His hand on his weapon, the man stepped out of his vehicle. “We have a problem here?”
Huck nodded. “Yes. The driver was maneuvering erratically, and she refuses to hand over a license or her registration.”
Mrs. Bearing punched him in the shoulder. “You’re not even a real cop. You’re Fish and Wildlife.”
“Actually, ma’am, we are fully commissioned police officers,” he said.
She glared at the other officer. “Then why’d you call for backup?”
“So somebody could take you in,” Huck retorted. He didn’t want her in the back of his truck with the dog, so it had been necessary.
The county cop hitched up his belt. “Ma’am, can we please have your license and registration?”
“Who are you?” she hissed.
“I am Deputy John McDonald from Tempest County,” the guy said smoothly.
Huck nodded. “Huck Rivers.”
“Pleasure,” the deputy returned. “Ma’am, have you been drinking tonight? I smell alcohol.”
Teri Bearing glared at him. “I’m the wife of the mayor here in Genesis Valley. I have not been drinking, which I just told this Fish and Wildlife officer. This is harassment, and I will not stand for it.” She lifted a hand.
“Ma’am, if you hit me again, I’m going to arrest you for battery,” Huck said, wanting nothing more than to get home.
She dropped her hand. “This is unreal. This will not be tolerated.”
“All right, ma’am,” the deputy said. “Hand over your license and registration.”
“Fine.” She leaned back into the car, grabbed the documents, and slapped them at the deputy. “I’ll deal with you, not the Fish and Wildlife moron.”
Huck looked at the sheriff’s deputy, who shrugged. “Fine. I’ll handle the rest of this if you want to be going.”
“I really do,” Huck said. “Are you sure you’ve got this?”
“Yes. We’re going to run through a field sobriety test. And then, ma’am, I’m going to ask you to take a breathalyzer.”
She stomped her foot. “I will not.”
Huck paused. “I’ll just stand over there by my rig.” He seemed to agitate the woman for some reason, but he wasn’t leaving the other officer without backup.
“Good plan,” McDonald said.
