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I snorted to myself. Go ahead and tell yourself that. Let’s see how well you do.
“Oh, that’s right,” Roxanne said, “’cause Dan here’s the best kept secret in all of Wyoming, ain’t that right, big man? Nobody can do a better job than he can.” They’d just met hours before, and she was already annoyed with him. She rolled her eyes, and I could see the strain on her face with the effort of holding back and not jackhammering him into the ground with her fist like a nail in wood.
“Can it, both of you,” I scolded as we walked up the stairs to Ace’s House, still in a mood from my conversation with Devo yesterday.
That stupid burn in my chest was back full force. She thought I hid my sexuality just to make things easier on me, like it was a cop-out? The whole conversation festered inside me like a splinter under my damn fingernail, if my fingernail was my whole body and the splinter was missile sized.
A buzz of activity filled the community center when we walked in at nine in the morning. Sounds of laughter and people talking danced in the air, and when Theo zipped out of his office and out the back door to hurry after whoever had just slammed it, I got the feeling we’d stepped into a mess.
Theo’s partner, Brady, saw me, though, and made his way leisurely from the gymnasium on my left. “Mornin’. Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, “just checkin’ in. I spoke to Devo. She said R?—”
The man in question, Red Graves, came marching down the hallway, with three teenagers following him, looking pissed as all get-out, with their fists in the air and common teenage indignation on their faces.
A preschool-aged little girl with kinky red hair had attached her body to Red’s left leg, and he dragged her like my daddy used to do with me, but there was no smile on Red’s face. It didn’t seem like he liked the game she wanted to play. In fact, he looked terrified. Good on him though. He had more energy for an old timer than I’d given him credit for.
“That is so rude!” one of the teenagers who’d been following Red was saying.
“Yeah!” Her friend nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. “Where do you get off?”
I kind of felt bad for the guy. He seemed to be getting it from all sides today. “You okay there, Red?” I asked, trying not to laugh at the horrified look on his face.
“No! Deputy, I’m beggin’ you, call the judge! Tell him I did what he asked.” He stopped in the middle of the hallway as another preschooler came running at him. The little guy jumped on Red’s back, latching his arms around Red’s neck in a strangle hold. Red’s eyes found mine, and he pleaded above the chatter of the teenagers and the squealing of the little kids, “Please!”
Roxanne stepped forward, pulling her whistle from the side pocket of her vest, and she blew into it. Everyone froze and covered their ears so the high-pitched noise didn’t rupture their eardrums. But then she bellowed, “Knock it off!”
The boy released the death grip he’d had on Red’s neck and slid down Red’s back to the floor. He landed on his butt on the hard wood, and a tremble began in his chin. His lower lip popped forward, he opened his mouth, and a wail filled the whole three-story building. I would’ve been surprised if Shelley hadn’t heard it next door at the station.
Roxanne winced, flapping her arms out in front of her toward the boy. “No. Don’t do that. No, no, no. Don’t cry!”
The kid cried harder.
Dan snickered beside me, and Roxanne threw her elbow back at him. As tall as she was, it almost hit him in the face, but he saw it coming and tried to move out of the way. Instead, it landed with an audible crack to his throat. He dropped to his knees, clutching at it, gasping for air.
This was the help Carey had promised me? Jeez.
Roxanne winced. “Shit. Sorry.”
“Tell him sorry,” I said, rolling my eyes. I held out my hand for Dan to grab onto so I could pull him up, but he shook his head and lifted himself on wobbly legs. Roxanne rolled her eyes. She didn’t seem too concerned about her new partner.
“She said ‘shit,’” the little girl announced, looking up at Red from where she was still attached to his leg, like a koala on a eucalyptus tree.
Theo returned from wherever he’d gone out back, taking in an eyeful of the shitshow. “Anna, Tucker, you know you’re not supposed to be down here. Did you sneak out of story time again?”
Anna nodded, and Tucker shook his head vigorously.
“Go upstairs, please,” Theo admonished. He pulled his phone from his pants pocket and called someone. “Are you missing two four-year-olds?” he asked the person at the end of the line. “Yes, they’re on their way up now.”
The gang of teens slunk slowly away, looking guilty as they retreated to the gym while trying not to make eye contact with the three deputies watching them. And then they turned and fled.
“Now, please, Anna,” Theo said. “Tucker, this is your yellow warning. If you get one more, you won’t be allowed to go to the park after lunch.”
“Okay,” Tucker conceded. He wiped the tears off his face, leaving a streak of snot above his lip as he scrambled to his knees and stood.
Theo groaned. “Come on. Let’s go get you cleaned up first.” He held out his hands, and Tucker and Anna grabbed hold of them. “Is everything okay, Deputy? Do you need me?”
“No,” I said, looking back to check on Dan. His eyes were watering like crazy, but he was breathing. “I think we’re fine. This is Deputy Fitts and Deputy Draven. I just wanted to introduce ’em and check on y’all. You might see ’em around.”
