Chapter Twelve #2
I swallow and let him read the sorrow on my face.
“I was sixteen. They tried me as an adult, given the nature of the crime. The only thing that spared me from getting murder one was the state they found me in. I was incoherent. What words I could get out were slurred and made little sense, and I was hurt. It would have been a nightmare for the prosecution to try to convince a jury it was premeditated, not without paying them all off. Not even my father is that much of an idiot.”
He grits his teeth. “You were hurt?”
I nod once, but I don’t elaborate. Instead, I focus back on my paperwork even as the words blur together.
I hear his boots scuff on the floor as he moves closer before he pulls the chair out beside me. “Alright, tell me what you need me to do.”
I give him a small smile and hand him a stack of papers. “Read through those and give me the cliff notes version.”
He takes them from me, returning my smile with a slightly sadder one. “Yes, ma’am.”
My senses tingle, the house letting me know that someone’s approaching. I don’t sense hostility, but as I’m not expecting anyone, I can’t help but be on guard.
“Be right back.” I get to my feet and head to the door.
Tugging it open, I step out onto the porch as the sheriff’s cruiser comes into view.
With a deep sigh, I walk forward and head down the steps toward him.
He pulls in and parks next to Riggs’s truck before climbing out.
He eyes the truck with interest, his hat in his hands, before he places it on his head and turns to me.
“Calliope.”
“Sheriff.”
“Shepard, please.”
“What are you doing here, Shepard?”
“I wanted to check for myself that you were okay.”
“I said I was, didn’t I?” I fold my arms over my chest even though I know the move is a defensive one.
He steps closer. One more step and we’ll be touching, but he holds himself in check as he looks down at me, the picture of concern. But I don’t miss the darkness that flashes behind his eyes. There is more to Sheriff Shepard than a sexy smile and a shiny badge, and I’d do well to remember that.
“Last night was a lot.”
“I hate to break it to you, Sheriff, but it doesn’t even rank up there in the top five worst nights of my life. I’m not scared. My feelings aren’t hurt. I’m just pissed.”
His jaw clenches as he reaches out, his hand hovering near my face, waiting for me to jerk back.
When I don’t, he strokes his fingers across my cheek before they slip down to my jaw and tip my head back.
“Why do I get the feeling that you wouldn’t tell me if you weren’t okay?
That you’d rather suffer in silence than put your faith in a man like me. ”
“A man like you?”
“One with a badge. One who believes in law and order.”
I pull myself free from his grasp and take a step back.
“Let’s just say men with badges have never been kind to me.
Too many of them hide behind that badge you believe in.
They use it as a shield, not to protect, but to hide the dark deeds they commit.
Because they know the badge offers them protection others don’t have.
It also brings with it like-minded brothers and sisters who will protect their fellow comrades rather than admit they did wrong. ”
“You’re talking about Andrews and Hollis.”
“Yes, because they’re the only corrupt cops this world has to offer,” I respond sarcastically.
He rubs his jaw in thought. “Every walk of life has bad seeds. I still believe in the badge, though. Without it, there’d be chaos.”
“I’m not looking for a lawless world full of anarchy, despite what many might believe. I just know nothing is as black and white as you boys in blue tend to believe.”
“Perhaps,” he concedes.
“Do you know how many times I had to stare at Sheriff Andrews, Sr. across my kitchen table with a black eye or a split lip? Even when it was plain to see a ring had torn into my cheek, he would greet me with a smile, chuckle at my clumsiness while he avoided looking in my eyes. I often wondered if the star he carried burned his skin every time he failed me.”
“And now you think his son has turned out the same way?” he asks.
“No. I think his son is worse. His father was a coward, too scared to stand up for me because it made him a target. His son is worse than a coward. He’s a bully. And a narcissistic one at that. Because no matter which way you paint it, Officer Asshole’s actions toward me show his lack of honor.”
He chuckles. “Officer asshole?”
“What else would you call a man full of shit?”
“Touche.”
“My point is, his father either told him the truth of what was happening to me all those years ago, or he told him I was the clumsiest person on the planet. Neither makes me the bad guy.”
He’s quiet for a moment as he lets those words sink in.
“And let’s be honest, there is no way he hasn’t read my file. He knows more than most about what happened to me.”
He flinches, and a conflicted feeling wars in my chest.
“Yes, I can only assume you read it too. I’m sure it wasn’t a happy read, but trust me, it was far harder to experience it.
Knowing all this, the first time I return home after serving my time, I’m treated like dirt.
That’s a lot of hate aimed my way from a man I don’t know from Adam.
Unless he had some kind of hidden relationship with my father, which I find unlikely because Officer Asshole was away for most of my teenage years, I’m stumped as to why he would not only act that way toward me but also mess with a crime scene to implicate me.
If we can even call it a crime scene anymore.
Something tells me if I were the one who had died, he’d have stood over me and smiled with glee. ”
He hisses at my words but doesn’t deny them. Something moves again behind his eyes before he narrows them. Anger, only it’s not aimed at me. Interesting. Maybe the sheriff has realized there are endless shades of gray between those black-and-white bookends of his.
“He’s been suspended pending a full investigation, along with Hollis.
I cannot say for sure how this will turn out, but I can’t have men and women at my back who I can’t trust, and after the stunt they pulled…
” His voice trails off as the door opens behind me.
I keep my eyes on Shepard, who carefully blanks his expression as I feel Riggs move up beside me.
“Calliope, everything okay?”
I look up at him and sigh. Riggs looks like he wants to peel the skin from Shepard’s bones. “I’m good. The sheriff just came to check on me and to let me know he’s put a couple of officers on suspension.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re taking this seriously, Sheriff…”
After a beat, Shepard holds his hand out for Riggs to shake. “Shepard. And you are?”
Riggs shakes his hand, his eye twinkling with amusement as he looks down on me. I have a feeling Shepard is squeezing it far harder than needed.
“Who am I, Sheriff? Oh, that’s easy. I’m hers.”