Epilogue
Tess
In conclusion:
Aunt Ruby took the now non-magical trophy to city hall, where it will sit proudly until next year’s game. Sapphire wrote an in-depth article about the whole thing, and the circulation of the Gazette is way up.
Ace has already started the trash talk about how Riverton will win the trophy back next year. Few people pay attention to Ace these days, even though neither police department filed charges against him for the bad-luck charm incident. Susan said it was all too hard to prove. We also suspected he did something to jinx us in years past, too, but couldn’t prove that, either.
Celine said Karma would get him. I privately thought that was a little hypocritical, since she’d made the charm, but I let it go.
Jack and I started talking about funding a health clinic for Dead End, since he had the Atlantis money, and I had the gold from the Fae queen. I was so proud I’d helped Jasmine Tess Cardinal Vasquez come into the world, but I didn’t want anybody else in Dead End to be in that situation again.
A few days after the big game, Jack and I were hanging out on the couch watching yet another nature show—I told him Survivor was next—when Susan called.
“Hey, Susan.”
“I thought you’d love to hear this. Is Shepherd there?”
“Hey, sheriff,” Jack said.
I put the phone on speaker. “What’s up?”
“Sheriff Lawless was so furious that he couldn’t arrest anybody and had to let Probie go, he shot up the jail!”
“What? Is Probie okay?”
“He’s fine. Reynolds had released him earlier today. The jail was empty when Lawless went on his rampage.”
“Wow!”
Jack shook his head. “Just as bad as his cousin. What happened?”
“He’s out. Reynolds made him a deal—he wouldn’t arrest Lawless if he resigned and never ran for sheriff in Riverton again.”
“And he took the deal?”
“Turns out he’d been embezzling on the side, and the town audit just caught up to him. So, he was out of town so fast there was smoke coming out of the heels of his boots.”
“They’re not going to arrest him for that?”
“No. Apparently, Brenda happily volunteered her time to track down the missing money, and so Riverton got it all back. Everybody is happy, and Lawless is out. Reynolds is acting sheriff and will probably run for the office and win by a landslide.”
“He’s a good guy,” Jack said.
“For a werewolf,” Susan said, laughter in her voice. “Later, Tiger. Tess.”
“That wraps up the episode of the second Sheriff Lawless, the Truckmans, and the enchanted softball trophy,” Jack said, leaning back on the couch and putting his arm around me.
“Don’t forget the poisoned popcorn!”
“Who could forget that?”
“So. About nature shows,” Jack said, pulling me close.
“What about them?”
“Wanna play tiger and gazelle?”
“What?”
“I’ll give you a head start.”
(I may have let him catch me.)
Respectfully submitted,
Tiger’s Eye Investigations