Chapter 17 #2
What was a bit odd was that whoever was outside—and I was ninety percent certain who it was—didn’t bother to look through the broken window.
Instead, he walked to the front door, inserted a key, and unlocked it.
A moment later, the door swung outward and in stepped the sheriff.
I felt a rush of adrenaline as I stared at the man who’d had the trust of the entire town for decades. He’d played the part of dedicated lawman, rooting out trouble, keeping order, and making the town safer.
No one, it seemed, had ever suspected him of the scam he’d been running with Red Shoemaker, or the murder of Sheriff Cash Penton Sr., or the murders of Doug Maydole and eventually Red himself.
He brought up his flashlight and shined it right in our faces. I squinted but refused to shield my eyes.
“Well, well, well,” he all but sang. “What do we got here?”
“A killer,” I said, pointing at him. “A liar. A thief. A traitor. And an all-around asshole.”
He considered me for a long, silent moment. It would’ve unnerved me if I hadn’t been filled with so much adrenaline.
The vampire she should avoid is usually the one she cannot forget.
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And then, he simply drew his pistol, motioned with it toward the ledger, and said, “I’ll take that.”
I wiggled it. “Oh, you mean this?”
“Don’t get cute, little Miss Jane Doe.”
I grinned and put the ledger inside my coat, zipping it up to keep the ledger snug against me. “Can’t help being cute, Sheriff. Adorable is just something I exude.”
He took aim with the gun, leveling it at my chest. “Get on the ground.”
I raised my hands slowly, then glanced toward the camera. “Or what?” I asked. “You’re gonna shoot me?”
“Yep.”
Beside me, Levi began to tremble. “We’ll get down,” he said, holding up his hands while he began to crouch slowly down. “We’re complying, Sheriff.”
“Fuck that,” I snapped, grabbing Levi by the shoulder and pulling him up.
The sheriff used his thumb to click off the safety on his gun. “When you meet your maker, you’re gonna regret that those were your last words.”
My gaze darted to the open door behind the sheriff. “Think I’ll take my chances.”
“Drop your weapon!” The command was thunderous, echoing off the walls and filling me with even more courage.
For a long moment, nobody moved.
And then, all hell broke loose.
The sheriff whipped sideways and fired off a round, striking his target, who grunted in pain.
Meanwhile, I still had hold of Levi, and I jerked him to the side while I ducked low and launched myself toward the large wooden desk in the corner of the garage.
More shots rang out and mortar flew off the walls, pelting my coat and the side of my face. I didn’t feel a thing.
Levi crashed next to me and covered his head with his hands as more gunfire erupted, filling the garage with booms as loud as thunder.
I looked around for a weapon, belatedly realizing I hadn’t fully thought this plan through quite as much as I should’ve. Wrenching open a drawer from the desk, I twisted around and waited for a break in the gunfire exchange. When it came, I peeked up quickly before ducking back down again.
“What’s happening?” Levi asked, his face so white that he looked like a ghost.
I didn’t bother answering. Instead, I gripped the drawer tightly, then jumped up and hurled it straight at the sheriff’s head. It struck him from behind and he went tumbling to his left, where a volley of gunshots caused him to jerk and spasm. And then his body struck the floor with a dull thud.
I ducked back down again and waited, my lungs heaving and my limbs tingly.
“Maddy?” a deep voice called out. “You and Levi okay?”
I wiped my cheek, which felt wet, and pulled my hand away. It was streaked with blood. “Shit,” I whispered. I’d come to like my face, and I was hoping that being pelted by mortar wouldn’t leave a scar.
“We’re fine!” I called back, which was true enough.
“Stay put for a minute,” he yelled back.
Levi and I waited, hearing sounds coming from the front of the garage that sounded like something metal being kicked across the garage floor.
“The gun,” I whispered to Levi.
“Is he dead?”
“I fucking hope so.”
“You two can come out now. He’s dead.”
Levi grabbed my hand and helped me stand. Then we turned to face the music.
“What the hell were you two thinking?!” Cash shouted at us.
He looked pale too. And his hand was trembling, which was noticeable only because he was struggling to holster his weapon.
I pointed to the security camera. “I had my suspicions, especially when I saw that, and I needed to draw out Norris.” Pulling the ledger from my coat, I offered it to Cash, who took it and began to thumb through the pages.
“Norris and Red were running a scam,” I began.
“My guess is that when he was your dad’s deputy, Norris would sit at the speed trap just outside of town, and he’d wait for a set of out-of-state plates to pass by. Didn’t matter if the driver was going the speed limit or not, he’d still pull them over, knock out their taillight,
or find some other infraction, and then, instead of writing the driver a ticket, he’d let them off with a warning but insist they have Red from the garage drive out to fix the taillight, and charge the driver an obscene amount of money, which, I’m also guessing, he’d split with Norris.”
Cash said nothing. He simply continued to thumb through the pages, his lips pressed so tightly together, they formed a thin line.