Page 6 of Montana Justice

“When your family was forced to leave. I was a new deputy then—barely twenty-four, green as grass and trying to prove myself. Sheriff Garcia had me there as backup when he and Mayor Davidson paid your father the visit.”

Heat flooded my cheeks as the memories came rushing back. The sound of heavy boots on our front porch. The way my father’s face had gone white when he’d seen who was at the door. How he’d tried to bluster and deny everything while my mother had quietly started packing our few belongings like she’d been expecting this moment for years.

It hadn’t been legal exactly. But it hadn’t been entirely illegal either, and everyone knew my father had been running cons on half the town for months. He’d taken Mrs. Henderson’s life savings with promises of doubling her money through some investment scheme. He’d convinced the Johnsons to mortgage their farm to fund a business opportunity that never existed.

The authorities could never prove it—my father was too careful for that—but the people who mattered in Garnet Bend had known. And they’d decided they’d had enough.

“I saw your father loading boxes into that old truck,” Lachlan continued, his voice gentle. “Saw your mother helping, moving like she was hurt. And I saw you.”

“Lachlan—”

“You looked back. Right before you got in the truck, you looked back at the town like you were memorizing it.”

I had been. I’d known even then that I might never see Garnet Bend or Lachlan again. That I was leaving behind the only place that had ever felt remotely like home, even if that home had been more like a prison.

“I always wondered what happened to you after that,” Lachlan said softly. “Whether things got better once you grew up and got out on your own.”

The question was so loaded with assumptions I didn’t know where to begin correcting them. Things hadn’t gotten better. I’d never gotten out on my own. Every day since we’d left this town had been an exercise in survival, in keeping my head down and my mouth shut and my bruises hidden.

My father had made it clear what would happen if I tried to leave. What he’d do to my mother in retaliation. The beating I’d taken three days ago had been a gentle reminder compared to what he was capable of when he felt truly threatened.

But I couldn’t tell Lachlan that. Couldn’t explain that Ray Matthews’s grip on his family was absolute, that he’d rather see us all dead than lose control. That even now, at twenty-six, I was still trapped in the same nightmare I’d been born into.

“Yeah, I’ve been all over,” I said instead, carefully avoiding responding to his actual statement. “Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico. Picked up work where I could find it. Waitressing, mostly, some retail. Never stayed anywhere too long.”

“Sounds like quite an adventure.”

If only he knew. If he knew about the truck stops where I’d slept in bathroom stalls. The diners where I’d washed dishes for cash under the table. The men like Buck who’d tried to trade meals for things I wasn’t willing to give, but had had to on occasion.

“Something like that.”

“And you just decided to come back through Garnet Bend?”

“I was in the area.” Another lie, but easier this time. “Figured I’d see how the old place was doing.”

Lachlan studied my face, and I had the uncomfortable feeling he could see right through me. He’d always been perceptive, even as a teenager. It was probably what made him good at his job.

Made him dangerous to people like me.

I forced myself to look around the room again, to remember why I was really here. The drunk man in the corner was getting louder, more careless. His buddies were focused on some story he was telling, not paying attention to their surroundings. If I timed it right, slipped away to the bathroom at just the right moment…

“Well, I’m glad you did,” Lachlan said, pulling my attention back to him. “It’s good to see you, Piper. Really good.”

The sincerity in his voice made my throat tight. When was the last time someone had been genuinely happy to see me? Not because they wanted something from me, not because they were relieved I wasn’t dead, but just…happy I existed?

“So…you’re the sheriff,” I said, desperate to change the subject and stop the dangerous warmth spreading through my chest. “That’s got to be exciting. And scary.”

“A little of both,” he admitted. “Like I said, I’m the youngest sheriff in the town’s history, which means I’ve got something to prove. But I’ve got good people working with me, and Charlie’s staying on as a consultant for the first few months to help with the transition.”

“You’ll be great at it. You always had this way of making people feel safe.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them, too honest and revealing. But Lachlan’s expression softened in a way that made my chest ache.

“Thank you. I try. I really do. Sometimes I?—”

My stomach chose that moment to let out a growl so loud it could probably be heard over the music and conversation. Mortification flooded through me as I pressed a hand to my abdomen, trying to muffle the sound.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I haven’t eaten much today.”

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