Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
MATTHEW
Unbuckling my seatbelt, I slide out of the cruiser, my gaze scanning the street for anything out of the ordinary, only to come up with nothing.
Everything is quiet.
Too quiet, even.
Then again, this is Bluebonnet Creek, for fuck’s sake!
Yeah, tell that to your brother who recently got shot at a fucking town fair, my inner voice taunts.
Soft rustling has me snapping my head in the direction of the noise. My heart kicks up a notch as I place my hand on my gun, ready to disengage the holster retention, just as a black cat jumps from the bushes.
“Shit,” I mutter.
The animal glares at me, its bright-green eyes zeroing in on me as it hisses and runs away.
I inhale a slow breath, trying to calm my erratic heart as my gaze shifts to Nico, who’s watching me with an unreadable expression.
“Fucking cat,” I grumble, then tilt my head toward the door. “That’s the address.”
We were out on patrol, where I’d just finished writing up a ticket to a kid who was driving over the speed limit, when we got a call about a possible home break-in.
I scan my gaze over a small, single-story white house. There is nothing unusual about it. The front doors and windows are closed; no signs of disruption. I spot a little gate on the side that leads to the backyard, potentially giving another point of entry.
“I can go—”
I don’t get to finish because the door bursts open, and an older woman pushing a walker comes out of the house.
“Oh, good, you’re here!” she croaks out, her bony fingers curling around the walker as she moves toward us.
I blink at her, trying to wrap my head around what the hell is going on. The woman has to be close to a hundred. Her silver hair is pulled into a low bun, her skin slightly ashen and wrinkled with age. The flower dress—or maybe pajamas?—she’s wearing is outdated, falling all the way to the ground.
“Something clattered out in the back,” she continues as she comes to a stop. “It was very loud, so I thought somebody must have been trying to break in.”
My mouth falls open, unsure if I heard her correctly, but her face is serious.
What in the ever-loving—
“Mrs. Willow, you shouldn’t have come out like that,” Nico says gently, which is good because I’m pretty sure I’d yell at her stupidity.
She glances from Nico to me and back.
“But then how would you know what to check out?” She shakes her head decisively and clicks her tongue. “C’mon in. It’s this way.”
With her back to us, I run my hand over my face, cursing under my breath. “I should have stayed in the city.”
Nico chuckles softly. “Yeah, right. Where would be fun in that? Let’s just go check it out.”
Together we follow the older woman as she slowly makes her way inside the house and down the hallway.
I make sure to check every room, just to be sure there are no intruders lurking around somewhere ready to attack, but the only intruder I find is a big orange cat that’s lounging on the table, glaring at us.
“You said you heard a noise?” I ask once we get into the kitchen.
Could it be that somebody wanted to pull a prank on this old lady? Or was it an actual intruder? She’s ancient and wears glasses, but I can still see her squinting at me through the thick lenses, so her vision can’t be that good.
“Yes! I was sitting in the kitchen, drinking my tea and eating my cookies, while watching my favorite show. It was just getting interesting too! And something clattered in the kitchen.”
Nico and I look around, peeking through the windows, but we don’t find anything.
“Well, the coast looks clear,” I say once we finally clear the whole house and the backyard. “Maybe it was a cat? I saw one run by when we got here.”
Mrs. Willow narrows her eyes at me. “What color was it?”
“Umm… black?”
“That damn Billy. He probably lost his cat again. It always comes here to accost my Pumpkin.”
Don’t even go there, I coach myself. No way in hell.
“Well, if that’s—”
“Since you’ve already made the effort to come all the way here, why don’t you stay for a glass of sweet tea?” She shoots us a smile. “My recipe won a medal three times at the county fair!”
“That’s very nice of you, Mrs. Willow, but we can’t do that while we’re on duty.”
Mrs. Willow purses her lips. “Always working so hard, Nico.” Her gaze slides to me, and she squints at me over the top of her glasses. “I’m not sure I know you, darlin’.”
I clear my throat. “Matthew Williams, ma’am.”
Her thin gray brows rise. “The one who got away?”
Of course she’d know that tidbit. I guess I should count myself lucky that she didn’t mention my troublemaking days, which is one of the more common comments when people see me these days.
“That’d be me.”
She purses her lips, still eyeing me critically. “You single?”
I’m pretty sure my eyes bug out at her sudden change of topic.
Before I can even gather my wits, she continues, “Cause I have a granddaughter who’s looking for a husband.”
“Granny!”
We turn around at the sound of a high-pitched voice to find a woman standing in the doorway. She takes in our little group before fixing her attention on her grandmother, crossing her arms over her chest. “Please, for the love of God, tell me you didn’t call the cops again.”
“I had a reason this time!” She lifts her chin. “I heard a noise.”
“You know damn well that’s probably Billy’s cat. I told you I saw it running around again.”
Mrs. Willow harrumphs. “Must have forgotten it. Comes with age, something you’ll realize very soon yourself, young lady.”
Mrs. Willow’s granddaughter—who’s probably in her late-forties—shakes her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You’ll be the death of me.” Letting her hand drop, she gives us an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it; we’re always happy to make sure our residents are safe,” Nico tells her, always the charmer.
We excuse ourselves and make our way out of the house while the two of them still discuss Mrs. Willow’s tendency to set her granddaughter up on a date with any man she happens to run into.
Wait, that means…
I turn to Nico just as he bursts into laughter. A full-on, tears in his eyes, belly laugh.
“You fucking set me up,” I hiss, pointing my finger at him. “You fucking knew what would happen, and you set me up.”
“Of course I knew what to expect; this is Bluebonnet Creek. But, damn, your face…” He shakes his head, still laughing his ass off as tears gather in the corners of his eyes.
Fucking asshole.
“Are you still mad at me?” Nico asks as we change in the locker room a little while later. Our shift has just ended, and I had yet to see Jenkins, so at least I count that as a win. “You have to admit it was funny.”
“Do I look amused?” I narrow my eyes at him as I slide my backpack over my shoulder and go for the door, expecting him to let it go, but he closes his locker and falls in step with me.
“Trust me, getting a call from Mrs. Willow is like a rite of passage in this town. We’ve all been through it at one point or another. That woman is relentless, and there is no stopping her.”
“I don’t fucking care; you should have told me.”
I turn the corner, ready to get the hell out of here, only to almost slam into somebody. “I’m so so—”
“In a hurry to leave, Williams?” the bane of my existence asks dryly.
I look up to find Jenkins scowling at me. His bushy brows are pulled together, making the lines between them stand out even more than usual.
“No, Sheriff,” I drawl.
So much for taking at least one win home tonight.
It’s my own damn fault for jinxing myself.
“We just wrapped up the shift, Sheriff,” Nico says as he comes to a stop next to us. “We left our reports on your desk.”
Jenkins glares at me for a second longer before turning around and grumbling something under his breath as he marches into the break room.
Nico nudges me in the back, so I move, ready to get the hell out of here before Jenkins changes his mind and forces me to stay for one reason or another. Like, seriously, one would think he’d be glad to have me out of his hair as soon as he can considering he can’t stand the sight of me.
The moment the doors behind us close, my lungs expand, and it’s like I can finally breathe again.
“C’mon, Rookie. Let’s go.” Nico slaps me on the shoulder and pushes me toward the street. “I’m treating you to a drink. You earned it.”
“Damn right I did. After running into Sheriff,” I mutter mockingly, still annoyed with my boss, “I have this sudden need to get blackout drunk.”
Nico chuckles as we make our way to The Hut on foot. “I seriously don’t understand why he hates you so much. You’re not the first or the last teen who has gotten into some mischief.”
“Maybe you should ask him that.”
I’m no saint by any means, but it always seemed that Jenkins’s grudge was personal. I just never quite figured out why.
“Oh, I’m not getting in the middle of that.”
I snort. “Didn’t think so.”
Nico looks over his shoulder and gives me a once-over. “You’re old enough to enter the bar, right?”
I shoot him a glare. “You know I am.”
“Just checking; can’t be breaking the law when we’re the ones supposed to uphold it.” He pulls open the door and motions me inside. “Besides, the last thing you need is for Jenkins to catch you doing shit you’re not supposed to be doing at places you’re not supposed to be at.”
“Well, then maybe he shouldn’t have annoyed me in the first place.”
Nico shakes his head but doesn’t comment further as he walks into the bar.
Apparently, we aren’t the only ones who thought they needed a drink or two, because even though it’s mid-week, the place is packed. Loud country music blasts from the speakers, doing little to hide the excited chatter of the people.