Page 25 of Warrant
“Dammit,” I muttered, pulling off to the shoulder and jumping out. I went to the back and pointed a finger in Warrant’s face as he rolled down the window. My Tahoe wasn’t usually used for transporting suspects. It was formerly Denison’s and he would have never been bothered. I had a request in to get a cage put in and get the locks replaced back there so I could transport when needed, but that kind of thing took time. “Stay here. Don’t touch anything,” I warned him.
His eyebrow kicked up, but he just leaned back against the seat as if he wasn’t going anywhere. He smiled at me when I glared at him with suspicion. “Better get out there before Fred and Harold beat the shit out of each other,” he suggested.
Swearing, and wondering where my life had gone so wrong, I hurried over to where the two grown men were fighting like children. It was obvious by the way the red one-ton pick-up was crunched into the side of the black one-ton pick-up that Fred Holland had run the stop sign and t-boned Harold Pickens. What they were actually fighting about was a mystery to me, though. I didn’t know these people that well. The fact that Irecognized them was only because they were a couple of the people who were often recognized by local law enforcement.
I’d already had to deal with both of them in my short time here. How some people managed to live life in such a chaotic manner never made sense to me. It was easy. Wake up. Eat. Go to work. Go to the gym. Go home. Go to bed. Easy. Nope. Some people had to create drama and excitement for their lives. No thanks.
Grabbing Harold by the back of the shirt, I announced myself, then swore as he took a swing at me. I took a step back, letting his shirt drop out of my hand and glaring at him. My patience was at an end. My boot flew out and landed squarely in his chest, knocking him on his ass. He looked at me with a surprised Pikachu face. “You hit me, Harold, and I’m hauling your ass in for assault on an officer.”
“Sheriff,” he whined, then grunted when Fred took that opportunity to cold clock him.
I grabbed Fred by the wrist, twisted his arm until he was in an arm bar and his face was down on the pavement. It was easy since he’d still been on his knees. He hadn’t had time to shove to his feet yet. Which meant his sucker punch hadn’t had much force behind it.
“Sheriff,” he grunted. “Ease her up a bit.”
“Maybe once you get yourself under control,” I said, keeping the arm bar tight enough that he wasn’t moving. “Harold,” I barked, and the man froze. He was trying to sneak off. “I know where you live. Fleeing the scene of an accident is a terrible idea.”
“I was just makin’ sure my truck was-” He broke off when Warrant put a hand on his shoulder. “Well hey there, Warrant.”
“Harold,” he said. He looked down at me. “Looked like you could use a hand.”
I scowled at him. I’d had it under control. Mostly. But no one from the crowd had stepped in either. They weren’t sure what to do. Denison would have likely screamed at them for helping. Then again, Denison wouldn’t be here. Everyone was still gauging the kind of sheriff I’d be, and that was fine.
A patrol car pulled up and one of my deputies hurried over and took Harold off Warrant’s hands.
I slowly let Fred up. “Back in the Tahoe,” I muttered at Warrant. Then I narrowed my eyes. “Or better yet, you can go anywhere else.”
He placed a hand over his heart. “You’re not giving me a ride back to the station? My bike is there.”
“You can walk,” I said, pulling my keys out of my pocket and hitting the lock button.
His mouth dropped open and he gave me a look of disappointment. “So rude, Sheriff.” He shook his head and wandered off.
It took all my strength to bite back the grin and focus on Fred. Warrant was ridiculous. I should be furious. Yet somehow he seemed to make me smile. A lot.
Sighing,I slid my hands down over my hips as I looked at myself in the mirror. Warrant had said dinner. There was only one fancier steakhouse in Sentinel, so my jeans with high heeled boots and glittery top was casual enough for anywhere else, but also nice enough for that place. Plus, the glittery top was shiny and likely to disorient Warrant. For some reason that pleased me.
Why was I fussing? I didn’t even want to be going on this date.
Liar.
My heart was racing again. Definitely not as hard as when he scared me in my Tahoe earlier today. He’d wandered off when I told him to walk back to the station and left me to do my job, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t thinking about him for the rest of the day. Jerk. He’d probably done that for that exact reason.
As if I wasn’t having enough trouble keeping him out of my head. Every time my mind wandered I started thinking about him. In fact, I was currently avoiding my mom’s phone calls because I just knew the minute I spoke to her she was going to clock that something was different. And I couldn’t keep secrets from my mama. She was my best friend. I told her everything.
Except this. Not yet. Because I didn’t know whatthiswas.
Sighing again, I shook my head at my reflection. “It can’t be anything, Ains,” I told myself. “The man is…” I wasn’t positive he was a criminal. Just because he was in a motorcycle club didn’t mean they did illegal things. It didn’tnotmean they didn’t do illegal things either.Was that a proper sentence? No, probably not. Damn him!I’d been trying to look into Sentry Securities, but Cypher had that place, and all the information about them, locked up like gold in Fort Knox.
A cop and a biker was a bad idea. A bad, bad idea. Especially for the cop.
A knock on my door interrupted my thoughts and I steeled myself as I crossed the room and opened it.
“Holy shit.”
There I went, smiling again.
Warrant’s eyes raked down over my body. The jeans and glittery tank were pretty tight, if I was being honest. I loved my body, just enough curves that it was obvious I was a girl despite the fact that I kept myself in shape and had enough muscle I could do my job effectively.
