Page 9 of Bound in Ashes

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, Asia,” he said.

I said nothing.

Jack stepped even closer, angling his body slightly in front of mine.

A shield.

Or a warning.

He reached back, his hand possessively splayed on my hip, his message clear, even though he didn’t say a word.

Mine.

Not that it deterred Sheriff Hayes.

He put his hands on his thin hips, and angled his wiry body in a stiff pantomime of ease.

“I don’t think he would ever admit it, but old Levi here was sure you were dead and gone.”

“Most people are,” Jack interjected.

Hayes didn’t even spare him a glance, just waved him off in that dismissive way that simultaneously made me feel like a teenager again and had me tightening my grip on the wrench.

Don’t have to look at Jack to know he had a similar reaction. Sheriff Hayes, who was a particular kind of cunning, but no one’s definition of a genius, either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“You buying that propaganda shit about the end of the world? This is just a little blip,” Hayes said.

If this was a blip, I’d hate to see a real problem. At this point, the archangel Michael could appear and Hayes would probably just chalk it up to God being real.

I clenched my fists, but then forced my hands to relax.

Not my problem.

I smiled, though I knew the expression was brittle.

Hayes, who was a master of silence, just stood there.

He’d had decades to build that skill, letting the silence grow until the accused could do nothing but confess in a desperate attempt to fill the void.

God, he had apprehended so many people who littered, throwing their trash out along the highway, and I remembered when he had gotten old man Larry Cutter to admit to stealing a lawnmower. Real CIA level interrogation techniques in action.

But I learned a thing or two over the years, and also knew the value of an oppressive silence and the value of not being the one to break it.

Finally, after what felt like 11,000 hours, but it was really only a minute, maybe less, Hayes nodded. “Like I said, glad to see you, Asia. Levi, we’ll continue this discussion at a later date. You folks take care, and don’t go thinking that because things are a little unsteady right now, you can act a fool. I won’t stand for that. Not in my town.”

Hayes was looking at Jack, but shifted his gaze to me. “Isn’t that right, Asia? You know how we treat lawbreakers and the disorderly here. Or have you forgotten?”

Jack’s grip tightened, his fingers curling into my pants and bunching the fabric in his fist. I knew this Jack. Coiled. Dangerous. He didn’t speak, but the air around us changed.

If Sheriff Hayes took one step closer, I knew what Jack would do.

“Oh, I remember, Sheriff Hayes,” I said quickly, trying to keep things from getting out of hand.

My voice was quiet, something I hoped could be chalked up to what just happened.

Still, there was a pit in my stomach that had nothing to do with the adrenaline that quickly oozed out of my body.

Without thinking, I glanced over Jack, trying to read his expression.