Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
CASH
Ithought this town was nuts on Christmas. Now it’s being paired with the mayor’s wedding, which will be tomorrow, Christmas Eve. There are a million things that need to get done.
“Slow down, Cupcake.” I snag her around the waist before she can pass me in a snow flurry. I pull her close to me, pressing her back against my front so that I can kiss the shell of her ear. We showered together this morning, but I can still smell myself all over her.
"There is no time to slow down." She is turning in my arms. "The wedding is tomorrow, not to mention it's also Christmas Eve.
Where is your tree? Do we have food here to make a Christmas dinner?
We won't have time for these things tomorrow and—" I cut off her rapid-fire questions with my mouth. I’ll be using this tactic more often now that I’m able to.
She melts into me. It makes me feel like a king that I can calm her down. When I finally release her mouth, I watch her eyes slowly flutter open, her cheeks starting to pinken.
"I'll handle Christmas Eve and all that. You focus on the wedding." I get a small nod, but I can see her mind is racing still.
"Well, I need to go to my place and get—"
"I got it."
"I didn't say what I needed to get yet."
"Babe, I know what you need. You want some of your favorite decorations along with the gifts under the tree. I assume you want a variety of clothes and some other shit.”
"Shit?"
"Do you have time for me to list it all, or can the one word suffice?"
"What about—"
"When have I ever let you go without eating?"
"Never. I think you're trying to plump me up."
"You being healthy is all I care about," I tell her. "We're a team. Let me handle things. You don't have to do everything yourself, and I know how you like things done." I’ve been watching her for long enough to know exactly how she does most stuff.
I do want to show her that I'll make a good partner in life.
Kindred takes on a lot, and as our family grows, I don't want things to pull her down trying to handle it all.
Not when I'm more than capable of helping. I won’t be the kind of husband or father my own had been.
Taking care of your family goes way past financial.
I might be New Hope's sheriff, but the reality is this town needs Kindred more than it needs policing, for the most part.
“A team.” Her smile grows. “I love that.” She lifts on her tiptoes to press a kiss to my mouth.
It’s not until we’re almost to town and she’s halfway through the breakfast sandwich I made that it hits her about her place.
“Oh, the break-in.”
“That’s on my list too,” I tell her. I don’t want her anywhere near it. I already called in a few favors to see about getting phone logs and other things pulled. “But will you do me a favor?”
“Can I know what it is first?”
“I’m going to need you to agree to it.” I flick a glance over at her, taking my eyes off the road for half a second.
“All right. Hit me with it.”
“I need you to stay at Town Hall, and if you leave, don’t go alone.”
“Cash, I have a million things to handle.”
“Town Hall includes the mayor's home.” It’s practically in the backyard. I have already given Hollis a heads-up on what has gone down. With the wedding being at his place, that is where she’ll spend most of her time.
“Can I call you if anything comes up and I do need to go outside of said area?”
“You can call me anytime.”
“Then we have a deal.” She leans over and kisses me when I pull up outside of Town Hall. “You handle what you need to and don’t worry. I won’t break this deal.”
“Thank you.” Kindred stays put as I get out and open her door for her. I give her one more kiss before I watch her walk into the building. Fuck, I'm going to love getting used to this being our new normal every day.
I stand there for a few more seconds staring at the door before I force myself to leave. I want to say fuck it all and be her shadow, but I also want to be the one digging into whomever is fucking with her. I won’t rest until I find out.
I do a couple of loops around town, making sure everything looks in order.
The same as I always do before pulling into the station.
I see Beckett's vehicle already parked out front.
I still need to deal with her carelessness with her service weapon.
You don't get to be jumpy and be in our line of duty. That’s how accidents happen.
If you can't handle yourself and control your fear, you can't carry a gun.
Which means you can’t be working on the streets; a desk job would be better suited. I'm not trying to be an asshole, but that's the reality of it. That's how innocent people get killed, and you know what?
Sometimes they are not-so-innocent people, but their punishment for being a stupid drunk or breaking into a house to commit petty theft shouldn't be death. Not even mentioning people with mental breaks. I'm still not sure how Beckett was a beat cop for years and acted the way she did yesterday.
I see that Ethan is parked beside her. I'm glad he's back in town. It's good timing. There is shit I need him to handle too. Plus, it’s an added layer of security for Kindred.
When I step into the station, I see Beckett and him chatting. Ethan is sitting in my chair. Beckett is standing next to him, staring down at his phone.
"Morning," I say, making them both look up.
"New deputy?" Ethan says. I nod because I'm not so sure she'll be sticking around. Things are not panning out great for her. I'll talk to Ethan in private. "I was showing her the pictures I took last night."
"He said they have an alarm, but Kindred had turned it off?"
"Kindred didn't turn it off."
"But I thought you said—"
"It's wrong." How, I'm not sure yet, but I'll be figuring it out.
"She's also getting threatening phone calls and her tire was slashed." I guess he told her everything. "But there is no footage from the cameras outside of it being slashed?"
“No.” I motion for Ethan to vacate my chair.
“I’m going to be blunt with you guys,” Beckett says, making her way back over to her own desk.
“You’re on thin ice,” I remind her.
“So that means I can’t voice my opinion?”
“Voice away.” I shrug.
“It was more of a warning,” Ethan tells her. She lifts a brow at him. “We served together. I was under him. I know how he operates.”
“I only wanted to say that you two are really close to this. To an outsider—”
“Which you most certainly are.” I issue yet another reminder, not bothering to give her my full attention. I’m pulling up the phone logs. I had Hollis pull it. I could have done a workaround, but this was quicker.
“As an outsider,” she keeps going, “it seems to me the most logical person that would do this would be Kin—”
“Hudson,” Ethan says, cutting Beckett off before she can suggest Kindred is responsible for this.
“That wasn’t what I was going to say.” Beckett doesn’t mask her annoyance at being cut off.
“Wait, I mean he’s been in love with her since he met her, and she’s been making him run circles. This could scare her and send her running right into his waiting arms,” Ethan adds to get on my nerves.
“Are you done?”
“That was rude,” Beckett snaps at Ethan. “He would never.”
“You’d be surprised what a person would do to get what they want.” He tosses it right back at her. I glance up from my screen to see Beckett staring daggers at Ethan. She has gone from annoyed to pissed.
“I think that you—”
“Stop,” I order her. “He’s poking at me and fucking with you.”
“I don’t find that funny.” She folds her arms over her chest.
“No one asked if you did,” I say dryly and hear Ethan fight a chuckle.
"Why are you being so rude to me?" Beckett's expression falls. Am I being too big of a dick? Likely. Do I care? No.
"You were about to accuse my woman of crazy shit."
"It's my understanding that Kindred Cane is known for doing odd and crazy things." Beckett lifts her chin as if she’s hit the nail on the head and solved the crime.
Ethan barks a laugh. "I mean, she's not wrong." I lean back in my chair.
"Kindred’s antics have a reason behind them. Her intentions are always pure. Why would she do this? What would be the motivation?" I don't want to play into this, but I do want to shut it down.
"See, right there. You don't see that maybe you're biased."
"Don't really care if I am."
Beckett throws her hands up. “Men.” She rolls her eyes. “She’s playing the damsel in distress so you’ll run to her rescue. Everything she does is about getting your attention.”
“That’s the stupidest fucking thing that I have ever heard,” I tell her.
“I mean, he’s not wrong either.” Ethan always has to add his two cents. More so now that he’s not under me in rank. “Kindred breathes, and it’s got Hudson’s attention.” Isn’t that the truth?
“Kindred would never want to be seen as the damsel in distress. That’s not who she is, and as I said, you’re new here, so you don’t know the residents of New Hope the way I do. It’s not her.”
"Well, if you know everyone here, then you know who it is?"
I don't know who it is. There was a beat when I thought it could be a resident of New Hope, but I squashed that. My thought was the town was playing a game of their own and pushing Kindred and me together, but the word "whore" put that thought dead in its tracks.
"I never said it was anyone from here." Beckett's brows rise like she hadn't thought of that.
"Then who could it be?" Ethan asks. "Kindred's whole life is here. Don't see how she'd make enemies outside of this town, let alone in it."
He's not wrong.
The same can't be said about me. How do you get to me? That's an easy, simple question to answer. Kindred.