AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sally-Ann doesn’t have a license, Ford. She doesn’t know how to drive. She walks everywhere.”
“Oh,” I said. “Wow, then that really was nice of her to move it.”
“Oh yeah, she moved it alright. Right into Alex as he was driving past. Your car and Pelican Bay’s only other police vehicle are currently sitting in the middle of Main Street blocking traffic. So if you still want that crowd to see us making out…” He let the sentence hang as he opened the passenger door for me.
It sucked about my car, and Alex’s, but I was just fine with the rest. The people of Pelican Bay were about to get a real show. But I didn’t tell Cam that.
No harm in letting that be a nice little surprise for him too.
Chapter 27
Cam
I was about ten minutes shy of my work day being officially over when my radio crackled. I pressed the button. “Sheriff Wells here, go ahead.”
Please let it be another fishing hole dispute.
I actually smiled when I considered how many skirmishes I’d had to deal with between men and women alike as they fought for the best ice fishing spots on the frozen-over Pelican Bay inlet.
“Caller is requesting multiple ambulances. Address is…”
My heart plummeted in my chest because I knew what the address would be.
I just knew it.
“…812 Maple Street.”
No.
Please, God, no.
It was all I could do to keep it together when I responded with, “812 Maple Street, confirm. Who’s the caller?”
“A Mrs. Henrietta Willit. She says she lives two doors down and heard screaming.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“I’m en route,” I said as I slammed down the gas pedal and turned on my lights and sirens. As badly as I wanted Ford not to be there, I knew he was. He’d texted me only fifteen minutes earlier to let me know he was stopping by his house to pick up some of his things and that he’d meet me at home.
Our home.
There hadn’t really even been a question of Ford coming to live with me after the events of the morning. I’d gone from the ultimate high of waking up and making love to Ford to the lowest of lows when I’d been called into that town council meeting only to learn that Curtis Tulley knew about Riley and the accusations he’d made against me. I’d wanted to die on the spot because Ford had been the only one who’d known Riley was now staying with me. I’d never even considered that Curtis had gotten the information a different way.
Seeing Ford in that moment as he’d strode into the town council room had cut me so much deeper than when Carter had stared me straight in the eye and announced he couldn’t alibi me. My intent had been to escort Ford outside and tell him to stay away from me, but when he’d kissed me and begged me not to believe that he’d ever hurt me that way, I’d known in my gut that I’d fucked up… that I’d let Carter’s betrayal color my response to the information the town council had shared with me.
After Ford and I had dealt with his car, Ford had offered up another very steamy and very public display of affection that’d caused some people to gasp in shock and others to applaud. I’d even seen a few people filming us with their phones when we’d come up for air. I’d nearly dragged Ford into the police station so we could make use of the cot in the single jail cell in the building, but Sally-Ann had interrupted us by handing me the message from a guy at the lakefront who’d seen two old men hitting each other with fishing poles. As I’d gone to deal with the crotchety fishermen who happened to also be best friends, Ford had told me he was going to run home and grab his stuff. I didn’t know exactly what had happened between him and his family, but he’d reassured me that Jimmy wasn’t home so he wasn’t in any kind of danger.
Why the fuck didn’t I just make him wait for me?
I kept asking myself that same question over and over again as I sped to his house. I beat the ambulance there. Alex was also en route, but he was a good two minutes behind me.
But I didn’t care… no way was I waiting for backup.
I slammed on my brakes and threw the SUV into park. I had my gun out before I even cleared my vehicle. I ran up the front walkway and banged on the front door only long enough to announce my presence, then I kicked it in.
“Ford!” I called when I didn’t hear anything. I yelled his name again as I began clearing the living room area.
“In here,” I heard a voice call.
But not just any voice.
