Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Anthony
Sweetwater Point
Sheriff’s Office
“I understand congratulations are in order.” Anthony marched past the front desk, ignoring the clerk, and into the depths of the sheriff’s office. It was a cramped space with too many desks, each cluttered with papers and inkwells. It was a disorder that would not be tolerated under his purview.
The new sheriff ran a sloppy office.
“Thank you. I arrested both soldiers myself,” Deputy Navarre said, looking up from her desk, spectacles perched on the end of her nose.
She blinked, her eyes focusing on his approaching figure.
Anthony was not prepared for how familiar it felt to see the deputy using reading spectacles or the shock of her black eye.
“Who did that to you?” he demanded. He reached for her, wanting to soothe injured flesh. “If this fiancé hurt you?—”
“Sal? He’d never. I was too slow avoiding an elbow,” she said.
A paltry excuse.
Anthony turned her face to the light, taking in the bruise blossoming on her left eye. “That is exactly what you would say if he hit you.”
Nina jerked away and leaned back in her chair. “Pierre!” she shouted to the ceiling.
“What?” came the reply from the back, where the cells and prisoners were kept.
“Tell Pearson how I got my shiner.”
“Being too damn slow, that’s how,” Pierre shouted. A moment later, the brown -skinned man appeared in a doorway. “Took an elbow to the face.”
“Satisfied?” Nina asked.
He huffed. “Pardon me for being concerned. Your injury looks painful.”
“It hardly troubles me.”
Tomorrow, she would feel differently. He said, “You should not have responded to the situation alone.”
“I had Pierre with me, and he has the broken nose to prove it.” She chuckled, sounding entirely too cheerful about being injured in the line of duty.
Youth .
Anthony would never laugh off an injury, but he had to be a decade older than her. Injuries, even the superficial ones, took longer to heal and ached long after the bruising faded.
“Are you not worried about having a black eye during your wedding?”
“My what?”
“Your engagement? I congratulated you.” He forced a smile. The last thing he wanted to discuss was her impending nuptials, but it was expected in polite conversation and now he had mentioned it twice. This was exhausting.
“Oh.” Her tone grew downcast. “Right. Well, I’m not rushing down the aisle tomorrow. We have time.”
“Such enthusiasm.”
Her eyes narrowed, not amused by his little remark. “Sarcasm does not suit you, Captain Pearson. Or whatever it is you are doing with your face.”
“This is a smile,” he answered dryly.
“Is it?”
Just as well. Such activities did not suit him.
“How is the new sheriff?” he asked, hitting another required conversational point.
“Not Lucas,” she muttered, removing her spectacles and folding them neatly on her desk. In a bright tone, far brighter than when discussing her engagement, she asked, “How can I help you?”
Good. The required small talk was over. Now to the business at hand.
“You have two of my soldiers in custody,” he said, producing paperwork. “Release them.”
Nina stood, walked to the front of her desk, and perched on the edge. The pose was undignified as a deputy and unladylike. She pointed to the clock on the wall. “Not possible. They have an appointment with the judge in the morning.”
“I have the order here.” He held out the paperwork, which she ignored. “They are under the oversight of the Nexus Planetary Forces. This is a military matter.”
“They got into a fist fight at the dance hall. Caused quite the ruckus.” She pointed to her blackened eye.
“And their actions will be dealt with accordingly. You have no jurisdiction.”
She made a humming noise and scrunched her nose. “Not my call to make. I’m just a deputy.”
“I could appeal to the sheriff, or even the judge. When they grumble about wasting their time, I’ll be sure to mention that a simple deputy could not follow orders.” He held out the paperwork again, this time shaking his hand for emphasis.
She tilted her head to the side, astutely ignoring him. “Assaulting an officer of the law is a smidge more serious than disturbing the peace. I think the judge will side with me.”
“I know that you are new to your post?—”
“I’ve been here more than two years. I’m not green,” she interrupted.
“This is how such matters are handled,” he explained.
She huffed. “Yes, handled, and the troublemakers are back next week.”
“That is incorrect. The offending soldiers lose their privileges and are confined to the base. Is that not punishment enough for you? Or would you prefer flogging in the public square?”
Her lips pressed together, like she wanted to sneer at him or curse him. Likely both. The deputy was not a woman of delicate sensibilities.
“I will not be moved on this,” he said.
“Fine,” she said, snatching the orders from his hand. “You want to do this by the book? We do it by the book.”
“Excellent. Fetch them at once and?—”
She pushed aside a pile of paperwork and opened a desk drawer, producing a blank form. “I started processing with the wrong form, so I must start over. Have a seat. I’d offer you coffee but it’s not in the budget. Coffee or catering.”
“This is malicious compliance.” How irritating. Twisting the regulations as vengeance.
“Just following orders, Captain Pearson.” She did not look up as she dipped the pen in ink.
“We have to account for every soul that goes into the cells. They come in with a 1044A but now I have to complete a 1044C for the transfer of custody, one for each person. Not to mention the workplace injury form.”
“In duplicate?”
She looked up, a sharp grin on her face. “Like I said, it’ll be a minute. Have a seat.”
This was a game for her, following regulations and protocols and making it an inconvenience for him. It was almost admirable.
Vexing woman.
* * *
The Muddy Mudfish
“I didn’t think this was your sort of haunt.” Chief Deputy Nina Navarre joined him at the bar. She signaled to the bartender and was served a cold mug of the house’s finest, which was lovingly referred to as muck .
She drank half in one gulp. The summer heat clung to her, radiating off her person.
“I’m surprised you can tolerate that swill,” he replied.
“It’s cold and I’m not that picky.” Nina took another drink. “But you are, so why are you here, Major?”
“I have personal time to spend.” Colonel Ashcroft made it clear that Anthony had no choice but to enjoy a holiday.
“Not going home to visit family?”
“Heavens, no,” he replied instantly. The last thing he wanted to do was visit his family.
“Why not spend a few days in Founding? Take in the theater or visit the colonial history museum and critique the accuracy of the exhibits.” She gestured for another mug. “That seems like something you’d enjoy.”
“Is that how you imagine I enjoy spending my time?” He wasn’t even offended, just astounded. “And how would you spend your holiday?”
This mug she drank at a more civilized pace. He watched the beads of sweat clinging to her throat.
“On the rare occurrence of a day off, I sleep,” she said.
“Let your imagination run rampant and say you have three entire days off.”
“Probably go to Founding and visit my cousins.”
“Sounds horrid.”
She snorted. “Victor isn’t so bad and he has a new baby.”
“That sounds even worse.”
She laughed this time, an undeniable laugh. No one had ever accused Anthony of having a sense of humor. The fact that he amused Nina delighted him.
There was a lot about Nina that delighted him, in fact.
The tavern’s light picked up the strands of silver in her hair.
Not a heavy dusting of silver— unlike his own hair— but a few strands to mark the passage of time.
She was a few years older now than when they first met and the transformation suited her.
Her face was leaner and her eyes sharper.
She was more herself and the confidence she wore with ease was her most attractive feature.
He cleared his throat and looked down at his own mug of the house’s finest muck.
“You haven’t answered my question,” she said. “Why are you here?”
“I already answered.” He took a drink and tried not to flinch. “I’m spending my holiday in town.”
“At The Muddy Mudfish?”
“Alas, my salary cannot afford a week’s stay at a luxury resort.” Then, because she deserved an honest answer, he said, “I thought I’d set a good example for the other soldiers on leave. Stay in their sort of haunts, not get into fights, and not get arrested.”
“Keeping an eye on the troublemakers,” she interpreted correctly.
“Essentially.”
“Well, you never know,” she said, a grin on her face and a captivating twinkle in her eyes. “Maybe my luck will change and I’ll get to arrest you.”