Page 1 of Rules

Chapter 1

Tobias

The late afternoon sun beamed down on Law and me as we stood outside his new office. After the call we'd just finished, we both needed some air. Michael escaped. The thought lingered like the smell of a rotten dumpster outside a daycare facility on a hundred-degree day. My inner voice wouldn't let me forget that Michael escaped. The man who played me like a fool. Escaped. The man who looked me in the face while he brutalized and terrified women. Escaped. The man who was so fucking confident in my inability to find him that he raised the reward amount. Escaped.

"Think that prick will come back here?" Law asked.

I noticed his gaze matched mine, constantly moving, scanning for any possible sign of Michael. We both knew better than to think he'd be standing out in the open. There was no way for him to get here from Chicago so quickly. But that didn't deter us from keeping our senses on alert. Years of training and experiencehad taught us when to treat a situation as high alert. Michael escaping was as high alert as it gets.

"I can't say," I kicked a pebble. "Part of me thinks he would be crazy to come back here. But the other side of me says he's crazy and now pissed enough to be heading straight back here."

"So, we're on the same page." Law and I locked eyes.

"The question then becomes: how do we know which is true?" I asked.

Law produced his phone, pressed a button, then held it to his ear. "Hey, get the team in on this call. Michael escaped."

Hearing that statement again made my blood boil. No way in hell was that bastard going to terrorize my county anymore. Fuck no. There are times in your life where you have to take a stand and draw a line in the sand. This was my line. I would not allow Michael to take a foothold in my county again. And if I'm honest, if given the chance, his ability to breathe in any county would be taken away.

"Yes, you heard right." Law uncharacteristically snapped. "He escaped. Killed the two FBI agents in the airport. No, Tobias and I just heard." There was a lengthy pause on Law's side of the phone, no doubt for his crew to discuss what they'd just learned.

"Mouse and Keyboard, I want you two to start monitoring everything he owns. Bank accounts, credit cards, houses, properties, all of it. If he touches it, I want to know. Also, see if you can get eyes on Chicago. If he's on his own or has help, I want to know that too. Hack everything, including the airport. I want to know what happened in that bathroom. He's ours. We caught him, we'll find him and do it again. This time it's personal." Law hung up and turned to face me. "The ladies are on it. Michael would have to hide in the depths of the ocean to be hidden from those two."

"True." I held my own phone, dreading the call I now needed to make. "They're a formidable pair to have on your team."

"Our team," Law corrected me. "This time he's not going after defenseless women. This time it's us and him."

I nodded my agreement, not wanting to point out that I had to act within the parameters of the rules I'd sworn to uphold. I glanced around again, my eyes landing back on Law. "Fuck, I hate to make this call."

"You want me to?" He asked, knowing exactly what I was referencing without my having to explain.

Sighing, "You really want to be the one to tell Evelyn Whitaker he escaped the FBI?"

Law jutted out his bottom lip and shook his head no. "Nope, not at all. That seems like news a Sheriff would deliver." He lightly cuffed me on the back. "Good thing I know a qualified individual who can handle that."

"Ass," I muttered, causing Law to chuckle. "You really planning on being here more with the bonds business?" After Michael's escape, having Law permanently in town would be... complicated. Helpful but complicated.

Before Law had a chance to answer, a car door slammed behind us. The scent of tropical flowers hit me before I turned. A bright pink van with its cheery "Blossoms" logo and decaled flowers felt jarringly out of place against my dark thoughts. Then she emerged from the driver's door. Her tattooed leg that I'd dreamt about outlining every inch of with my tongue touched the curb, and I had to force myself to breathe. She peered over her shoulder at me while opening the sliding side door. I swear she purposely leaned further forward than necessary to pick up a massive spring arrangement. Her green polka dot dress stretched and accented all the right places of her succulent body. Fuck, I should give that damn dress a ticket for soliciting a law enforcement officer. Shit. She was both what I needed and what I didn't need right now.

"Hi." She directed the greeting to Law, carefully avoiding my gaze.

"Tobias." Her voice was barely above a whisper when she finally looked at me, a blush staining her cheeks. She quickly dropped her eyes to the sidewalk. The sound of my name coming from those plump lips caused the front of my work slacks to feel tight.

"Hello Ruth." The words came out stiff, formal. Professional. Safe. "Do you need help with that?"

"No, thanks, I've got it. I might be short and stout but I'm strong."

A sharp bark saved me from saying anything about her being the perfect height or how sexy I found her stoutness. Joey's fuzzy face appeared in the van window. He barked again, jumping from the front seats to the back and catapulting himself out the open van door, beelining straight to me.

"Hey there, Joey." I bent to pick him up. The brown, white, and black long-haired Chihuahua wiggled, grunted, and licked my face.

"I'm sorry. I swear he could pick your voice out of a crowd." Ruth's smile was genuine now, but it only highlighted the beauty of her face. Something I didn't need reminding of. She glanced at Law, then back to me.

"Ah, excuse me, Ruth, this is Law Summers," I gave a head nudge in his direction. "He's a long-time friend. He bought the bounty hunter business. Law, this is Ruth Manchester, she owns Blossom, the flower shop."

"It's nice to meet you." Law smiled and for a split second, I wanted to punch him in the face. "And this is Joey?"

Ruth gave him a kind smile, which made me want to punch him even harder. "Yes, he's a very bad boy who knows he's supposed to stay in the van." She leaned closer, running herhand over Joey's head but looking at me as she did. "But he has an attachment to a certain sheriff."

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