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“Why not?” His lopsided smile left her with butterflies in her stomach. “If you ask me, I should’ve done that a long time ago.” He dragged his thumb across the swell of his lip. “Yeah, we should’ve had that one behind us ages ago.”
“Jerk,” she muttered, jumping off the freezer. He could play that I don’t remember card all he wanted, but they had their first moment ages ago. Unfortunately, she just barely remembered it.
“Linds, wait.” He stepped in front of her. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No. You shouldn’t have. Then again, I shouldn’t have kissed you.” She opened the door and glared at the curious men staring back at her with smirks stamped on their faces. Over her shoulder, she quickly added, “But don’t worry, Seth. I’m not in the mistake-making business. It won’t happen again.”
Scanning her kitchen and the officers’ amused expressions, she felt the pang of reality nipping at her heels. They were there to remove her from her home. Everything her grandfather had worked for was now gone. Everything her father had cared about was seconds from being destroyed.
As her eyes flooded with tears again, she choked back the sorrow and pushed aside the rage. Her family’s history was there right along with her own childhood memories. The very few things that she remembered about her mother seemingly revolved around that big country kitchen. She could almost picture her mom now, waving around a wooden rolling pin and shouting, “No running in the house, kids!”
“Miss Leland, did you discuss options with your neighbor?” The sheriff removed his hat and rubbed his bald head.
Pulled away from the past, she quickly grabbed a set of keys from a hook next to the door. Vaguely aware of those watching her, she made a mental list of what she needed in order to survive the next few days.
“Miss Leland?” Sheriff Ray flashed his crooked smile. “Did Seth help you come up with a solution?”
“Miss Leland will be staying with me. Monday, she’ll speak with her attorney.” Seth’s black eyes shimmered like coal when he closed the distance between himself and the sheriff. “So you know, Sheriff, my brother and I will take turns camping out at the property line. If you or any of your deputies so much as try to trespass, I’ll call in favors all over the state and I will have my proof when I go to the proper authorities.”
Lindsey shuddered at the sound of his voice. Lindsey, like most of the townspeople in their small rural area, didn’t trust law enforcement. They were often on the take when they should’ve been upholding the law. They looked the other way when they should’ve been paying attention. Their rats or informants had often ended up dead. Meth labs scattered the county and everyone knew about them, including Sheriff Ray and his men. If rumors were true, they also took a cut of all marijuana trade, which explained why the rats often ended up dead or missing.
These guys weren’t just crooked. They were dirty cops with bloody hands.
“What exactly are you implying, Seth?” Sheriff Ray’s nostrils pulsed. “As long as Lindsey leaves, there’s no reason for us to come back out here tonight. Save yourself the trouble and get some rest, bud.”
“You and I both know that some of your men have furnished their homes with stolen goods,” Seth said. “Around these parts, cattle rustling doesn’t always make the news, but it’s newsworthy all the same. Her fields and barns are loaded. They’ll stay that way.
“Farmers, even though we aren’t the preferred race around here, stick together. You know how that works. We swap information and look out for each other when it counts. Nothing around here goes un
noticed. Fact is, no one has challenged you because in this part of the country, we all take care of our own anyway. We have to. Don’t we, Sheriff?”
“I’ll see you behind bars before I’ll let you insult me.”
“Be careful when you pick a fight with another bully, Sheriff Ray. I grew up with a silver spoon in my mouth but took my beatings like every other cowboy around here, and when it’s time to get in the hog pen and throw slop all over the damn place, I play as dirty as the next guy. You ought to know as much.”
“What are you trying to say here, Seth?”
He chuckled. Clearly Seth didn’t mind to taunt law enforcement. “Beck and I have been saving years of documented proof to support all sorts of findings. If you come back to Lindsey’s house or show your face in her barns while this thing is being sorted out, you will answer to me.”
“Now that’s a threat,” he said, turning to his deputies. “Boys, you know what to do.”
Feet shuffled as the dutiful soldiers went at Seth with clear intentions. They were planning to arrest him. Lindsey’s throat constricted. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe. “Seth, damn it!”
Why hadn’t he just stayed out of this?
Deputy Bright yanked his handcuffs from his side. “Behind your back, Seth.”
“Sure thing, Bright.” He held his head high and stared down the bridge of his nose, peering at the sheriff like he held the house of cards. “Oh and Sheriff, I’m actually glad we have the opportunity to let one another know which side we’re on now. See, I met someone you know the other day. Pretty woman by the name of Mary Alice? Mary makes the best apple moonshine. You know her?”
Lindsey thinned her lips and tried not to laugh. All things considered, there wasn’t anything at all to laugh about—except Mary Alice and the moonshine bit. She and the sheriff had a little cottage set up on the outskirts of town. Rumors ran like fast moving rapids, but supposedly the sheriff’s wife had yet to hear them.
“Don’t threaten me, boy,” Sheriff Ray said, his face turning blue.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Seth said. “But Beck? There’s your problem. See, when my brother finds out I’m behind bars, we’ll all have a package full of eight-by-ten worries.” He clucked. “Mary Alice—now, she’s a looker. I’ll give you that. Anyway, we have a good shot of her sipping moonshine on her front porch. She was seated on a swing next to a man we both know well.
“Speaking of which, how do you think your wife will react when she sees that picture of the two of you? Best I can recall, your hands were in inappropriate places, too.” He shook his head and clucked. “It would be a real shame for those images to surface, particularly now that your wife and Mary Alice are in the family way.”
The sheriff balled his fist and swung his arm back. “Why you sorry son of a bitch.”
