Chapter 15
fifteen
MADDOX
“Maddox, what are you doing here?”
“Hey, Reindeer, I’m here on official police business.” Her eyes widen, and immediately I think I know why she thinks I’m here. She thinks I’m here to arrest her over yesterday’s skinny-dipping incident. As much as I want to tease her, seeing the sheer panic on her face is more than I can handle so I don’t, especially when she lifts her wrists up and holds them out to me. “What are you doing?”
“Aren’t you here to arrest me for what happened yesterday?”
“If I arrested you, I’d have to arrest my sister, as well as myself since the three of us were involved. Besides, I’m the sheriff, I’m pardoning us for our naked crimes.”
“Isn’t the president the only person who can pardon anyone?”
“President, sheriff. Same-same.” She chuckles and bites her bottom lip as she lowers her arms down.
“Well, if you aren’t here to arrest me, what are you here for?”
“There have been reports of someone leaving flaming bags of shit on people’s doorsteps in the area, was just checking to see if you’ve had this happen?”
“Ummm, well, I’ve been away all weekend, but no, I haven’t had any deliveries like that.”
“Okay, well, if that changes, please call it in. We want to catch the little turds.”
“Will do, Sheriff.” She laughs and smiles as she says this. She must notice the quizzical look on my face. “It’s weird calling you Sheriff, but at the same time it’s not because you were born for this. And I must say, you look damn good in that uniform.”
“I look even better out of it,” I tell her with a wink. Her cheeks darken and I’m accosted with an image of her naked and her whole body that color after I’ve made her climax with my tongue in her pussy and my finger in her ass. If memory serves me correctly, Miss Prim and Proper loves a little ass play … with the right kind of lubrication. “I love that shade of pink on you, Reindeer … especially after you come from my tongue in your pussy and my finger in your ass.”
“Maddox,” she hisses. “You can’t say things like that, what if Joel was here?”
“It’s Monday morning. At ten and he’ll be at work. Besides, he doesn’t live here.”
“Not yet he doesn’t, but after the wedding he will.”
“I didn’t know that.” I hate the fact she’s engaged to another man, and from what I know of Joel-fucking-Prior, a highlighter is brighter than him. The guys down at the station do not see what she sees in him. Stan thinks Joel has a monster cock and that’s the only reason Reindeer is with him, but I know Reindeer, she wouldn’t be with a guy just for his dick. There must be something special about him, lucky bastard.
“Well, now you do and if there isn’t anything else, I need to get to work. ”
“Nope, nothing else, but if you do?—”
“See anything, I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks. Have a good day, Ms. Olsen.”
“You too, Sheriff Whitworth.”
Nodding at her, I walk down the path and climb back into my cruiser. Sitting here, I make notes on the case. Not that there’s much to go on and the sound of a car’s engine garners my attention. When I look up, I see Reindeer backing out of the driveway. As she passes me, she waves and heads off to work.
It’s funny. When I returned here and looked to the future, I saw myself settling down with her. Us living in a cabin up on the mountain. We’d drive into town together each day. We’d have lunch dates once a week, and we’d spend our Friday nights at The Reindeer Hole. Once we each had a buzz, we’d head home to our cabin and stay up all night ravishing each other.
Thoughts of what will never be are interrupted when the radio crackles to life and I’m asked to get back to the station ASAP due to a situation.
“Get fucked, you redneck weasel,” a feminine voice screeches as I hang up my coat.
“Miss, I’m going to need you to calm down.” My eyes widen when I hear Stan say that because everyone knows you never, never , tell a woman to calm down.
“What the fuck did you just say?” she bellows. “Don’t you know who I am? I can have every single one of you redneck hicks fired an?—”
“I thought we were redneck weasels,” I state as I walk into the station.
“Same-sa—” The lady cuffed in holding stops mid-tirade when she looks to me. “Well, hello there, good-looking.” Her eyes rake over me, and she licks her lips seductively.
Ignoring her, I focus on a panicked-looking Stan. “Want me to take over?”
“Please.” He nods and before I can say anything else, he scurries over to me and away from the irate woman in holding.
“What seems to be the issue?” I ask my deputy.
“The issue,” the woman shouts, “is your incompetent deputy has charged me with a DUI.”
“Have you been drinking?”
“Well, yeah, but like, I only had six mimosas at breakfast and maybe a bottle and a half of chardonnay.”
“It’s ten in the morning?” She just shrugs. I turn to Stan. “Tell me what went down.”
“I was out on patrol and I followed her as she left Lake’s Edge Motor Lodge. She was weaving all over the road so I pulled her over. Did a roadside sobriety test and she failed. Then she blew point one nine-nine and I promptly charged her,” Stan tells me. “Now she’s refusing to cooperate.”
I look to the woman. “Miss?—”
“You can call me, Jess,” she purrs.
“Name’s Jess Hammerson. Forty-five and from Las Vegas.” He steps closer to me and lowers his voice. “System shows this is her third offense.”
Nodding at Stan, I turn to face our guest. “What brings you to Evergreen Lake?” I ask her.
“None of your fucking business,” she hisses, then in the blink of an eye, she purses her lips and looks at me. She’s going for seductive, but it’s anything but. “Maybe over a drink we could get to know one another better.”
“I think you’ve had enough for all of us, Ms. Hammerson, but from what my deputy is telling me, he’s well within his right to have arrested you. As this is your third strike, you’re looking at a Class B felony with jail time.”
“It was only a couple of drinks,” she pleads, her eyes welling with tears.
“A couple of drinks is two, Ms. Hammerson. Last time I checked, six mimosas and a bottle and a half of chardonnay is more than that. You could have seriously injured yourself or someone else. We take the safety of this town seriously, and your actions put that safety at risk.”
“But—”
“Nope,” I interrupt her. “No buts. I’ve seen firsthand the devastation a drunk driver can cause, and I will not have you ruining someone’s Christmas. Here’s what’s going to happen, you’re going to let Stan process you, and then you’ll be taken over to the courthouse because lucky for you, the judge is in today. He will make his ruling and that’ll be that. And just so you know, he lost his wife to a drunk driver.”
Her eyes widen and tears streak down her cheeks, but I can tell from the look in her eyes that she’s not sorry for her actions, she’s just sorry she got caught.
Looking to Stan, I nod at him and he smiles. I watch on as she finally follows Stan’s directive, and before we know it, he’s escorting her over to the courthouse. A call comes in, seems we have another flaming poop incident to investigate.
My first official day on the job is off to a busy start, but I’m loving it. It’s Christmas and I have the best job in the whole damn world.