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“Lucky, for y’all I’m retiring this year,” he says and scoots his chair a little further from the desk. A sly grin slides across his face, showing all of his shiny white teeth. “That means, and sorry to curse young lady, but that means I finally don’t have to give a shit about what these rich yahoos think. And that means I can go after whoever I want to go after.”
My dad plops back down in the chair next to me and breathes a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”
Sawyer is stiff as a board in the seat on the other side of me. “You said you didn’t think the charges would stick though?” He sounds as skeptical as I feel.
“Well son, I doubt it, but we can sure make your cousin regret his actions.” Sheriff Taylor leans over his desk and pushes some papers around. “What happened to Ms. Hester here actually happened in a different county, so that will be one hoop I have to jump through. Fortunately, I hunt with Sheriff Rogers up there every year so that shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll get charges filed and he’ll be arrested, but he’ll probably be out before he ever sees the inside of a jail cell.”
He shoots me a stern, but sympathetic look. “Ms. Hester, I suggest you work on getting yourself a restraining order. You can go to the courthouse tomorrow to start on that. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
He turns to give Sawyer a sharp look. “It’s possible your cousin may decide to file charges against you, Mr. Rodriquez. It sounds like you roughed him up plenty.”
Now it’s my turn to lose my cool. “But Sawyer was just trying to help me. He…” I trail off when the Sheriff holds up his hand.
“You and I know that, but that doesn’t mean those fancy-pants lawyer parents of his won’t decide to do it.”
Sawyer snorts. “I doubt it very much, Sheriff Taylor. I’m still family, so they’ll want to sweep it under the rug. They’ll want to get rid of any gossip about the family.”
The sheriff taps his pen on the edge of the table. “I happen to agree. I think most of this will go away, but I’m hopeful that by the time it does, Bradley will have the shit scared out of him.” He grins in a way that makes me shiver. His eyes are suddenly hard. The menacing expression on his face changes him from grandfatherly to mobster-like. “My men and I don’t like to see women roughed up, ever. Some of the boys won’t mind putting the fear of God into him. I certainly won’t. Of course, I’ll also have to post his picture in the paper which will piss some of his parents’ clients off. I’m sure they’ll hate the scandal and so his folks won’t be too happy. I also hope he’s going to face consequences at the school.”
He pins my Dad with a pointed look. Dad nods his head soberly. “Yes, sir, he’s not going to get away with this. I’m absolutely sure of that.”
Sheriff Taylor stands up and we follow his lead. He walks us to the door of his office. He pats my dad on the back. “Y’all go home and get some rest. It’ll take some time to get everything in order. I’ll be serving that warrant on Mr. Lewis as soon as possible, though. I’ll be in touch. “
His eyes are kind as he gives my hand a shake when we leave. It feels good to be believed and for someone to have our backs. “Sawyer, can you hang back a minute? I have a couple more questions I need to ask you.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Being taught right from wrong is the job of your parents. What if they don’t know either? -Sawyer
Sawyer
My stomach drops when Sheriff Taylor stops me at the door. I give Ronnie a reassuring look and squeeze her hand before letting her go. “I’ll catch up.” She nods and walks out with her dad.
Sheriff Taylor walks around the side of his massive desk. He sits down again, leaning just far enough back so that his stomach doesn’t plop on top of the desk.
“Have a seat again, Sawyer. I think we need to talk about a few things.”
I take a deep breath. “That’s fine. Ask me anything.” Okay, so slight lie. Please God, don’t let him ask me anything I have to lie about. I rub my sweaty hands on my pants and try not to let my face show how much my anxiety is kicking in.
He leans back a little and shoots me a suspicious look. “I’ve got to say, I’m pretty surprised to see you helping anyone that has something to say against your cousin or your uncle. From what I understand from my deputies, you’re usually speaking up for them, not the opposite.”
I gulp. “Yes sir, but I felt I had to tell the truth and say what happened. What my cousin did was wrong.”
“Yes, it was. I’m assuming you weren’t telling the truth in the situations before when you took the blame? Like that incident between your cousin and Big Frank at the bar?”
I stare blankly at him. I’m not about to say anything at this point. I’m going to be in enough shit with my uncle as it is.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He taps his fingers on the desk. “You know what you’re doing going up against your uncle, son? You know he’s not going to be happy about this?”
I widen my legs and lean forward in the chair. “Nope, Sheriff Taylor. I don’t have a fuckin’ clue what I’m doing. Just trying to do the right thing for once.”
He sniggers and I watch his belly jiggle a little bit. He reminds me of Santa Claus, if Santa Claus decided to go into law enforcement in a small southern town.
“I like that answer, son.” He slams his hand down on the desk and chuckles louder. “Damn, do I like that answer, son. The truth is, I’ve been trying to go after your uncle for a long time. But you know as good as I do that he has a lot of damn power around here.”
My suspicious nature kicks in, and I finally gather the balls to ask, “I thought my uncle had most of the police force in his pocket. Since when has that changed?”
For a moment, his expression is somber and I swear his eyes start to water. “Can’t say you’re wrong about that. Thirty years ago, when I started in law enforcement, I was full of self-righteousness and out to take down all of the bad guys. Unfortunately, over the years I let myself become full of shit. I let the wrong people control this office. I’m not proud of myself, but it was easier to look the other way.”
