Page 43 of Renard's Deliverance

“This is the sheriff.”

“Yep, and you still don’t need to be getting close to him.”

“Dear Lord, what is wrong with you? Have you taken a hit to the head or something?”

“That’s something we’ve all wondered about from time to time,” Jake told her.

She moved closer to Renard, her voice growing quieter. “Don’t you know better than to rile up a cop? You don’t want to end up in the slammer on trumped-up charges that will see you doing five to ten.”

Now both men were giving her an incredulous look.

What was wrong? Did she have something on her face?

“If I have something on my face, you could have told me,” she said to Renard.

“There’s nothing on your face. And why would you think you have to do whatever he wants?” Renard pointed at Jake.

“Because he’s the sheriff.” And he had the power to make her life difficult. Especially in this town.

Alec might be acting as her guardian, but Jake had the power to get her kicked out of town.

“Have you met a bad cop before?” Renard asked.

She snorted. “Honey, where I grew up they were all bad cops. And in case you didn’t know, I’ve got a bit of a mouth on me. But I learned real quick not to mouth off to a cop.”

Too bad she hadn’t learned not to do it to anyone else.

“That’s not how it works in this town,” Jake told her.

Uh-huh. That’s what someone who drinks the Kool-Aid regularly would say.

“Look, I’ve probably just watched too many bad-cop movies, okay?”

Damn it.

She could tell from the look on their faces that they didn’t believe her.

Idiot, Opal.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Opal,” Jake said slowly. “My job is to look after every citizen of Haven. Especially the women and children.”

Uh-huh. Sure.

Until it served his purposes to not follow the rules.

Or the power got to him and he started to think he was a God.

Invincible.

Yep. That’s what would happen and she didn’t want to be on the wrong side of him when it happened.

She didn’t want Renard to be, either.

“Listen, sorry that you got called out here and wasted your time,” Opal told Jake with a fake smile.

Jake spent a moment studying her. “Not a waste of my time and I’m not here to punish you, Opal. In fact, the complaint was about you, Renard.”

About Renard?

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