Page 81 of Gideon

“What property?” Beck said.

“He claims to care about the people of this town, and yet he cut down artwork in the town square. Artwork that the town adored and found a great sense of comfort in these difficult times with the drought. It caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damage. Then there was the assault.”

“Assault?” Beck said.

“Unprovoked. You may have noticed the bruising on the mayor’s face.”

“That was Mr. Stone?” Beck looked at Fairfax.

“I’m afraid my desire to show compassion gave me a blind spot,” Fairfax said. “The sheriff insisted that I press charges, but having grown up under the heavy hand of a difficult father myself, I thought it my duty to give him another chance.”

Beck address Gideon. “Is this true? Did you attack the mayor?”

Gideon sat up straighter. “Yes.”

“This is very serious. You’ve admitted to assaulting the man you are now accusing of a grievous crime. It sounds to me like you have a grudge against him.”

“I do. He’s breaking the law.”

“Look,” Fairfax said, sitting forward in his chair. “As the mayor, it is my responsibility to keep the peace. I have obviously done a poor job of that in this instance. I made a mistake in letting Gideon off lightly, but as far as his accusations are concerned, I have nothing to hide.Agent Beck, if you would like to search my residence and the surrounding farm, I don’t require any kind of warrant. You are free to have a look for yourself.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Beck said, depositing his paperwork back in his briefcase.

“What?” Gideon protested. “You can’t be serious. You have to go and look.”

“I’m being very serious. It seems to me you don’t recognize the trouble you’re in.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Peters chuckled. “After what you’ve admitted?”

“Not at the level of what Fairfax has done and what you’re all doing now.”

“If you’ll excuse me, gentleman. I believe the next steps are outside of my purview. Mr. Stone, I’ll leave it to the sheriff to decide what’s to come of you. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve wasted my time. You better think long and hard about trying a stunt like this in the future. And next time you get a second chance—if there is a next time—I suggest you take it. If you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do.”

Peters got up to let Beck out, then he slid back into the seat. Fairfax shifted to keep Gideon from getting up himself.

“Didn’t I tell you to get out of town?” Peters said, folding his hands on the table. “I don’t know how I could have been clearer.”

“Is Agent Beck an old friend of yours?” Gideon said. “Is that why he checked me for a wire? He wanted to make sure I couldn’t record this conversation to use against the three of you?”

“You’re really full of it, kid. You know that?” Fairfax said somehow making his voice both quieter and louder at the same time. “I know you stole Isabel from me.”

“She’s a human being, not an object you own.”

“You’re wrong about that, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve gotten past it. She turned into more trouble than she was worth, and look how far it got you.”

“What do you want to do with him?” Peters asked. “You want me to lock him up again?”

“Won’t do any good. He’s not worth the resources. The best thing for this town is if he disappears. I don’t really care how that happens. I just don’t want to look at his face again.”

“You hear that, Gideon?” Peters said.

“What if I refuse to go?” Gideon said. “What if I want to go to court? You might not have enough friends there to keep you out of trouble.”

“Nothing is going to court. This is it for you.” Peters leaned closer. “I don’t want your blood on my hands, but sometimes the sheriff’s job is a tough one. You either get out of town tonight, or they won’t find your body. Do you understand?”

Gideon looked at his phone, still turned off on the table. He should have assumed Beck was on their side, but it was too late now.

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