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Dakota wasn’t so sheltered that he didn’t know the Gillespies were supposed to report an abandoned minor. He was Ana’s kid, after all, not their own. So why would they want to help him? They had two kids of their own and a massive ranch to keep in order.
“You can trust them. They promised they won’t call anyone,” Tad added pathetically.
“How about it?” said Mr. Gillespie. “Penny has more lasagna in the oven, smells delicious.”
The mention of food that wasn’t peanut butter made Dakota’s stomach rumble so loudly they all heard it in the brief silence between cracks of thunder.
“Please, Dakota?”
Even in the dark, Dakota knew Tad was staring at him, his eyes wide, anxious, practically begging him to agree.
“Okay, I guess. For now.”
He made a promise to himself then and there that he’d take off if things went sideways. He’d keep his go-bag packed and ready to go, keep updating the bus schedules in his notebook.
Dakota Green would never take anything for granted again.
TWO
Dakota
Current year, late November
“It’s goingto be a busy fucking weekend, pardon my fucking French. And this is only the beginning.”
Dakota’s boss, Sheriff JD Morgan, narrowed his eyes and shot everyone in the incident room a serious glare.
“Like it or not, the entire county will be out and about starting Friday, and it will stay that way until after New Year’s. It’s a monthlong marathon of overindulging on alcohol, charging too much on credit cards, and spending too much time with relatives nobody likes. We all have to be on our toes. The holidays are difficult even for people who enjoy them—which is not me, in case you are curious. Everyone will be doing overtime, that’s just the way it is.”
There was nodding and a chorus of “yes, boss” and “we’ve got this” responses.
“The weather is what it is. Green, you’re going to be spending a lot of time on traffic patrol in town. During the tree lightingand craft fair Saturday, I want you on foot. Make sure to smile once in a while too, no scaring the kiddos.” Morgan winked and pointed at him.
Everyone laughed, including Dakota. “Right. Smile. Got it.” He gave one a try, aware his effort looked more like a grimace.
Morgan shook his head and then looked around again, making eye contact with everyone in the room.
“We’ll get through this first weekend, we always do. I’d like there to be no incidents but”—he gave a loud sigh—“we already know who will likely top the naughty list.”
Dakota paid attention while Morgan handed out the rest of the assignments. Collier’s Creek had just about nine thousand residents, but if they included the county, it was more like eighteen or twenty thousand, and the small Sheriff’s Office covered all of it. Five deputies were not enough, but Sheriff Morgan couldn’t squeeze any more money out of the state and local governments.
It was going to be a long fucking month. And Dakota hated the holidays.
The new dispatcher poked her head around the door frame, and everyone in the room turned to look at her. “Sorry to interrupt, Sheriff, but we have someone on the line wanting to report a missing person.”
A missing person. Dakota chewed the inside of his lip, tamping down the automatic anxiety he felt at those words.
“It’ll be a great time!The last fire of the year is always fun,” Tad was saying to him a few days later. Dakota didn’t reply. Tad proceeded to waggle his dark brown eyebrows up and down asif the action would tip the balance and convince Dakota to make the drive out to G-Bar Ranch on Friday night.
Spoiler Alert: It wouldnotbe the eyebrows that persuaded him.
Dakota hadn’t been born yesterday. What the last Gillespie bonfire of the yearreallypromised was a guaranteed hangover. And Dakota could not afford to be hungover. As the newest deputy in Collier’s Creek, he had to prove he wasn’t a pity hire, that he wasn’t the guy the sheriff felt sorry for.
Sure, Sheriff Morgan assured him that the idea of being a pity hire was all in Dakota’s head. After all, he’d gone over and above in his criminal justice classes and during his on-the-job training. But Dakota still felt like the odd man out, like he needed to prove himself to the other deputies. Tad claimed it was his imagination, but Dakota couldn’t help the way he felt. Maybe after a few more months on the job, he’d be more comfortable. But also, maybe not.
The only secrets in Collier’s Creek were dirty ones—and even those were hard to keep—so just about everyone in and out of town knew Dakota had been abandoned by his mother as a teenager. He’d been left to survive on his own and it was only the kindness of the Gillespies and the willingness of the school administration to look the other way that had saved him.
Fast forward to late last winter when a stranger had come into Jake’s Tap and a dumbfounded Dakota had learned he had an older brother—one also abandoned by Ana Hamarsson-Green. Talk about mindfuckery. Dakota was still working to wrap his head around theideaof Niall Hamarsson, his brother, who was also in law enforcement.
