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“That’s out of your jurisdiction, ain’t it?”
“We’ve been picking up some of the Bastards’ slack just lately. Pueblo is close enough to become our problem if a meth situation gets out of control.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, I’m just looking to have some fun today, anyone around here remember how to do that?” I ask.
The door opens and soon as Sheriff Roswell comes through it, I can tell from the look on his face that there’s something wrong. My thoughts immediately go to Grimm.
“What’s up?” Jessie must sense the old guy's unease too, because he’s suddenly on his guard and quickly clicks over to the girl serving behind the bar to fix the old man a drink.
“Here, take a seat.” Maddy rushes to pull out a chair for him.
“I’ll get you some water.” She scurries toward the bar, but the redheaded girl who lives up at the cabins is already coming over with something much stronger.
He nods his gratitude at her and before she can step away, he grabs her wrist.
“It’s actually you I’ve come to see.” His words come out a little shaky, I can tell from his tone that he’s about to give the girl bad news.
“You might wanna pour one of those for yourself, sweetheart.”
“I’m on it.” Troj gets up and heads to the bar, grabbing a tumbler and half-filling it with the first bottle his hand lands on, while we all wait on the Sheriff to speak again.
“I got a call earlier this morning, there was a body discovered in the parking lot behind Dillon’s bar in town.”
Jessie immediately has his hackles up, and I don’t miss the look that passes between him and Troj.
“Is this a club problem, Roswell?”
“No, son, it isn’t a club problem.” He takes his eyes off the girl for a few moments to assure him.
“Abby,” he turns back to her. “The body they found… it was Danny.” Tears are welling up in his eyes as he delivers his blow, and the confused look on her face instantly drops into devastation, her hand slipping out of his.
“It can’t be.” She shakes her head in disbelief. “He’s coming back for me, he promised.”
“Abby.” Maddy kneels beside the girl to comfort her.
“It’s not true. Danny wouldn’t die. He made me a promise. He loved me. I’ve been clean all this time, ready for when he comes back.”
I think I might actually feel a tiny prickle in my empty chest for the girl.
“It can’t be him, it’s someone else. There’s no way Danny would be in town and not have come for me. We’ll clear this up right now. I can come identify the body. It won’t be his.”
“Darlin’, I identified the body myself. It’s Danny,” Roswell tells her, his voice cracking as he closes his eyes.
Abby takes some time to let his words sink in. Reality hitting her like a fucking car crash in slow motion.
“I’m gonna get the person that did this,” Roswell assures her.
“Wait, someone did this to him?” Her eyes widen, and her shaking hand lifts to cover her mouth.
“Come on, we should get you back to your cabin. I’ll call Ella.” Maddy rubs Abby’s back.
“No.” She pushes her away, and Jessie subtly shakes his head at Maddy, warning her to back down.
“Listen, darlin’, you're in shock,” Jessie takes over.
“You’ve come a long way these past few weeks, and I ain’t gonna have you ruin your recovery by being in the wrong place right now. Let Maddy take you home, her and Ella will take care of you. I’ll have Storm go pick up Gracie too if you want. We’re all here for you.”
“I want Danny.” She stands up, suddenly marching to the bar and snatches up her purse.
