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“I’m telling you I didn’t do anything to your precious friend,” Gareth growled out.
“And given everything I’ve seen you do, I’m telling you I don’t believe you,” I hissed back.
“What do you want me to do? Show you the fucking pool house? Will you believe me then?” A car honked as it went around us, but he seemed totally uncaring that we were parked right on the damned road. “No, I bet you wouldn’t. I guess we’re at an impasse, you and I.”
“Yeah, I guess we are.” The bandage on my arm itched, but I managed to hold back from scratching at it, not wanting to open up the stitches. “I think I’ll walk home.” I grabbed my bag off the floor and lugged it onto my lap.
The door was locked though, so I had to fumble to get it open, all the while Gareth seethed. He didn’t stop me from getting out, and once I stood on my own two feet, I gave him a double salute with the only pair of fingers that mattered right now, the only ones that could encompass everything I was feeling about the rich, entitled serial killer.
I thought he’d drive away after that—the look on his face told me enough. If looks could kill, I’d be a goner. But he didn’t drive off. He hit one of the buttons on his door, rolling down the passenger window. He growled out, “Get in the fucking car, Bri.” It was the first time he’d called me that when he wasn’t, you know, balls-deep in me.
“No.”
Gareth put the car in park and started to get out, but I held up my left arm. The sleeve of my shirt fell down somewhat, revealing a portion of my bandage. He froze when he saw it, not moving another muscle, half in the car, half out.
It wouldn’t be hard to yank the bandage off and pull out the stitches. If he wanted to play, I’d give him a worthy adversary.
“I said I’m walking home, so why don’t you just go?” I hissed, sounding a whole lot tougher than I felt. Standing up to someone like Gareth wasn’t easy. Knowing Erin was MIA made it even harder.
He was ruthless. I had no reason at all to trust him. He might make certain parts of me weak, but that didn’t mean I trusted him with my life.
I couldn’t trust anyone in this God-forsaken town.
Gareth looked like he wanted to say a few choice words to me, but in the end, he simply got in the car, slammed the door, and drove off, leaving me on the side of the road, alone. I lowered my arm and watched him go while making sure he didn’t whip the car around to come back and drag me home with him.
It was only when I was certain he was gone that I got my phone out and texted Erin again, asking where she was. I started walking alongside the road, not knowing where I was going. I definitely didn’t want to head home; I needed to clear my head and get my thoughts under control.
I needed to come up with a plan.
But how could I do anything when calling nine-one-one resulted in a home visit by a crooked cop? Hmm.
Maybe I needed to try local law enforcement again.
Chapter Four – Rick
Getting out of the cruiser, I wiped my arm along my forehead, catching the sweat. I’d just parked behind the station. It wasn’t often I got called out for important shit; usually the calls we got were nothing more than disputes between neighbors or random car accidents. This time, however, the call involved a horse that got out of its enclosure, and I had to help chase it down and wrangle it with its owner.
Not a very fun game, that.
Of course, there was also that call we’d got about a body in the Montgomery pool house, but I’d managed to write it off as a prank call.
I used my FOB to get through the back door of the station, and I went straight for the break area. No Keurig here, just an old coffee machine that made a big pot and kept it warm all day. I grabbed a cup from the sink, cleaned it out half-assedly, and poured myself a cup. I preferred my coffee black, no sugar and no creamer to water it down.
Hell, if it was possible, I’d inject the caffeine straight into my veins.
Stacey, the receptionist, poked her head into the break room. She was a middle-aged woman, round in the middle, her dark hair cut short, though its length did nothing to tame her wild, natural curls. “There’s a girl here wanting to see you,” she said. “She wouldn’t say what it’s about, just that it’s important. I had her wait in your office.”
“Thank you, Stacey,” I said, taking a leisurely sip of my coffee. I turned to leave the break room, taking my coffee with me. Out into the hall, I turned to head toward my office, which sat in the front of the building.
Eastcreek didn’t have a huge force. There was me, and three other guys, one who worked strictly the night shift. We were all on call, in case something huge ever happened, but this was Eastcreek. The biggest shit that ever happened I had to work to cover up.
Before the Montgomery family came to town, this place used to be simple, quiet. It still was, to the people who were oblivious to Alistair and the way he owned the entire town. Take me, for instance. He didn’t just own me. He owned the board of trustees, who’d appointed me head sheriff a few years back. The youngest head sheriff Eastcreek had ever seen, only here to serve Alistair and that asshole kid.
Yeah, let’s just say I wasn’t thrilled to be on their payroll. Life, it turned out, never gave you the hand you expected.
I pushed into my office, shutting the door behind me out of habit. The girl who wanted to see me sat on one of the chairs facing my desk; there were two of them, old leather that had seen better days. The moment I laid eyes on her, I froze.
Her hair was a mix of colors, strands of pinks and blues cascading down her back. There was only one girl in Eastcreek with that hair. I didn’t need more than one guess to say who it was.
