CHAPTER 1
RHODES
When I open the door and step inside the Sheriff’s office vestibule, Carla’s head pops up at her desk before giving me a kind smile. She gives off mom vibes, but, then again, it’s hard to avoid that kind of energy with a lot of people in this town after knowing them your whole life and you grow up under their noses.
What that means can vary. Widely.
Were those noses tipped up in judgement? Were their noses all up in your business? Were they nosing around where they didn’t belong?
Probably all three were true.
I was lucky and didn’t get a lot of flak growing up. More than one person has referred to me as a golden boy. Fuck, I was just trying not to stress out my grandma. She didn’t need it, not after taking me in when my parents died in a car accident.
I was young, and I don’t remember them now. Whatever memories I have are fabrications of pictures, stories people have told me time and time again, and what G-Bets, what I have called Betsy Wilder my whole life as far as I know, has told me about them.
To hear others tell it, my parents had the kind of love which hits fast and lasts, as long as you never let go. They grew up here and knew each other young but weren’t really friends. Then one day, it all changed and they never looked back.
The plunk of my filled coffee cup landing on Carla’s desk, the handle turned out, pulls me from my thoughts. It’s too early to be chasing ghosts anyway.
“Let me guess, not much to report?” I tease Carla as I grab my mug and take a drink.
She shoots me a pointed look, and I have to smother a chuckle. What can I say? Annoying her is amusing.
Carla is in her 50s to my 36, which is why she tries to mother me at times. But she never forgets who the Sheriff is. Me.
She doesn’t step over that line, and she never interferes with official business.
Now, if she thought she could get away with interfering in my personal life, I’m sure she’d jump at the chance. Right now, I don’t have much of one to get involved with, which is the issue she has with the whole thing. I don’t know what she expects, but it’s not like anyone new has come into town recently.
My life is filled mostly with work.
For good reason.
We don’t have a lot of crime. Speeders. Some idiots. Some good people making bad decisions. Because life. But there has been a dog fighting ring popping up in Loudon and the surrounding counties.
The area is vast and there are a lot of hidey holes which make finding them difficult. They move quickly and have been a step ahead of us for a while. Usually by the time we show up, they’ve left the dogs who are no longer useful to them and are gone.
It’s heartbreaking.
And I’m pissed about it.
We should know something, and I’m fucking tired of chasing smoke and mirrors. It’s just that there is only so much I can do. My jurisdictiononly goes so far. If other counties aren’t seeing anything and the ring has moved or gone underground, then I’m fighting an uphill battle.
“The reports are on your desk, Sheriff,” she teases me, “like they always are.”
“You’re extra sassy this morning, Carla,” I throw right back at her. “Everything okay? I don’t need to kick Howard’s ass, do I?”
Carla blushes and I can’t help but grin. She always blushes when I bring up Howard. They’re both divorced, both have known each other for years, but were only acquaintances at best. Now they’ve been dating for a while, and I think it could be something great for them.
“Then he wouldn’t pick up your garbage,” she warns me and makes a tsking sound like I’m the one being ridiculous.
I shrug one shoulder, taking another sip of my coffee. Really, I’m delaying going into my office. Paperwork will greet me and not much else. No, thank you.
“I know where the dump is,” I point out.
Howard runs his family’s garbage pickup business; the same one the entire town uses as far as I know. He charges a decent price, is on time, and he treats his employees more than fairly.
Carla makes a humming sound, and I rap my knuckles on her desk. “You let me know if anything changes. I could take him.”
