Juliette
It had been three miserable days since Hollender tried to choke me out in the cell block. That bastard knew he had the upper hand and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. He caught me off guard by choking me like that, but he wouldn’t do that again, not if I had anything to say about it. The rest of my colleagues weren’t as bad, but some of them, like Deputy Gallagher and Nord, were giving me unwanted glances that made me feel like they had X-ray vision and were stripping me of my clothing with their eyes. Nord and Gallagher were Hollender’s groupies, and they were always doing what he asked. Reggie and Maxwell were two of my father’s closest friends, and both treated me like a daughter. It was the younger deputies who were bad, the ones that thought they were untouchable by the law. And in this town, they practically were. It would take a lot to get someone fired in this town. Most people worked their jobs until they were too old for it anymore. Both Reggie and Maxwell were in their late fifties and on the verge of retirement. Once they were gone, Hollender would have free reign over this place unless I was able to get the Sheriff's badge from him.
The problem with that was Hollender never let his colors show in front of others. To everyone else he was the nice guy, the football quarterback that took our sleepy little town to district and beyond back in his day. He was everyone’s favorite son, but I knew what he was and now this biker had just seen a glimpse of the evil inside his soul.
“Mmmmm, that brings up a lot of nice fantasy ideas, Beautiful.”
I groaned even as my stomach fluttered at his name for me. My reaction to this man was driving me crazy and as long as Hollender kept me in here babysitting the detainee I was going to be uncomfortable in more ways than one.
“Can it Buchanan.I told you to stop calling me that. It’s Deputy.”
He shrugged and grinned at me, “Very well, Deputy Beautiful.”
“You’re not going to give that up are you?”
“Nope,” he winked at me and my core melted. “Cause it gets me right where I want to be.”
“Where’s that? On my nerves?”
He chuckled a deep baritone rumble that came from his chest, “Under your skin.”
“You’re awfully cocky for a guy that’s on the hook for first degree murder.”
His smile faded a little and I almost wish I didn’t have to douse his easy banter, but I needed to because the banter between us was dangerous. That was one spark that could definitely burst into flames if I let it.
“I didn’t kill Brooklyn. We were friends, and I would never lay my hands on a woman, unlike Sheriff Asshole in there.” he notched his chin toward the door Hollender had walked out.”Have you reported him for harassment?”
“Let it go, Buchanan.” I sighed. I didn’t need him stirring up shit for me. Obviously he had no clue who Hollender really was, because if he did, he’d realize why saying something would be pointless. We may have both grown up in this town, but I was the one that went to school with the acting sheriff. David Hollender was the definition of a wolf in sheep's clothing. He never let anyone see who he truly was underneath, but I got a glimpse of it once during high school when he was dating one of my friends.
I was just waiting for Hollender to fuck up bad enough that it left me with irrefutable proof so I could put his ass in jail where it belonged. Until he slipped, there was no use in me trying to fight the good ole boys club. I would lose. It didn’t matter if my Dad had been sheriff of this town for thirty fucking years.It would be my word against his always. I could have used another witness, but the only person that could be a witness for who Hollender really was, is a freaking biker in jail for suspected murder. Go figure. No attorney in their right mind would ever put him on the stand or depose him for truth.
He was finally being quiet, but I could feel him staring at me almost like his eyes could caress my skin. It took everything in me to ignore him and not meet his gaze. I have never been the girl to like the bad boy. I’ve never been drawn to that, but it had little to do with my dad being a cop and everything to do with my friend Andrea Matthews. She was the reason I did a lot of things in my life, even the reason I became a cop.
Andrea dated Hollender when we were in our junior year of high school. He was on the varsity team and she and I were both cheerleaders and best friends. The two of them started dating, and the longer they dated, the more reserved and withdrawn she got until she no longer spoke to me or anyone else. At first, if she went anywhere without him, he would show up as if it was by accident or use the excuse that he couldn’t wait to see her. She thought it was sweet, and truthfully, at first, so did I. It wasn’t until he crashed my birthday outing with my bestie that I got upset with him. We went to the next town over to go to the movies to see a new chick flick and have dinner. It wasn’t anything special, but it was what we had done since we were in junior high on our birthdays, even back when one of our parents had to go with us. It was a tradition and he showed up and decided that we were going to see a different movie. Instead of going to the Italian restaurant we were supposed to go to, we ended up grabbing a burger and hitting the road.
That was the beginning of the end of my friendship with Andrea. She started to eat lunch with him, walked the halls with him, if they had the same class she stayed by his side. She no longer called me or answered my calls, and she used me as an excuse with her parents as to why she wasn’t home. Like a fool, I covered for her. It wasn’t until our senior year that I finally had enough of her and quit cheering. I couldn’t watch the crazy insane hold that he had on her any longer. I tried to warn her. I told my parents, and my dad told her parents what was going on. My parents were worried for her, but nobody else could believe anything bad about the town’s golden boy. Andrea told her parents I was just being jealous of her relationship with Hollender, but that wasn’t it. The girl who used to be my best friend was now a complete stranger to me, but that didn’t make it hurt any less when she disappeared.
Andrea had told her parents she was with me that night, that we had made up and were friends again. Later, after she was missing for hours, they found a note in her room that said she couldn’t take it anymore. She didn’t want anyone looking for her, and since she had already turned eighteen, there wasn’t a whole lot anyone could do.
It wasn’t until the summer after my freshman year in college that her car was found at the bottom of Brynlynn Lake, her body was in the front driver’s seat. They ruled her death as a suicide. I cried when the news broke that her body was found. My dad had come home that night afraid to look me in the eye. God, I remembered the haunted look in his eyes and how tightly he hugged me in his protective arms.
“I’m sorry about your dad.” I jerked my head up and looked toward the cell. He was still watching me, and I swiped the single tear that I felt on my cheek away. “Your dad was a good man, and a good sheriff. Our intention in throwing the rally was to make money for a charity, not to get anyone hurt.”
“”Yeah well, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and because of your club, my dad is gone.”
“I know what that feels like, Beautiful. I know the hole that leaves in your heart and in your life.” He got up and crossed the cell, his tattooed forearms poking through the gaps between the bars as he leaned on them to get closer to talk to me. “I lost something at that rally too. It wasn’t my dad, so I can’t really compare, but it was a piece of him, so it felt like I was losing him all over again.” He sighed and looked away from me. It was the first glimpse of vulnerability I’d ever seen in him, and it made me feel something I shouldn’t .
I swallowed hard. “How long did it take you to feel like you could breathe normally again?”
His blue eyes met mine again, “Some days I still don’t. Like your dad, mine was a good man and a great father. He built the Celestial Sons with Zodiac, but where Zodiac stayed behind to raise his son, my dad went to war. He died a hero, like your dad. I felt like I got a piece of my dad back when Zodiac gave me his old bike, and now it’s gone.”
“Did you report it stolen?”
“Yeah, but y’all had bigger things going on that day than my bike. I’m not sure anyone has even looked into it.”
“When I’m not babysitting you, I’ll look into your bike.”
He gave me a cooked grin, one that had my belly warming and twisting with unwanted desire. “Mmm, I love a good role play. But I didn’t peg you as the type that liked to play in the bedroom, Beautiful. But if that’s how you like it. I’m game. You can be my babysitter and I’ll be the naughty kid who’s up to no good.”
