Page 114 of Sheriff's City Girl

“I’m sure she’s just being a typical pregnant woman,” he said with shrug, picking up his water. “How are things going with all that? We’ve been so caught up with this investigation that I haven’t had a chance to ask you about your home life.”

“It’s going,” I said, shifting. “I’m thinking about proposing. I’m just not sure if it would overwhelm her, you know? I don’t want to force her to marry me or make her feel too much pressure.”

“Well, I don’t think you can force someone to marry you. That’s a little bit of a reach, boss. But yeah, I get what you’re saying.”

I nodded, just as the doorbell chimed of the café. I glanced up, surprised to see Cody Hudson headed right for us. “What the…”

“I’m tired of being your cover up,” he shouted at us, his face reddened with anger.

“What the hell are you talking about, son?” I stood to my feet, gesturing for him to calm down. “Just tell me what’s wrong, and we can talk.”

“He’s batshit crazy is what he is,” Jackson laughed, shaking his head. “You were lucky that you got bailed out,” he turned to Cody. “And you need to just get on out of here. No one gives a shit about what you have to say.”

Whoa… What the hell?

“Yeah, you just don’t want me outing the fact that you started the fire,” Cody growled, his eyes darkening as he glared at Jackson. “You tried to fucking make it out like I had no other way—like your word was better than mine—and guess what? It’s not.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and I turned to Jackson, completely bewildered. “What is he talking about, Jackson? There’s no way in hell that you started that fire…”

“Yes, he did,” Cody cut in as the door chimed again, and in ran Jess and Emma. “Lucas just pulled the footage from his cameras. He has proof that you went in with the gas cans. He’s taking it to the Rangers right now.”

“When did he find the footage?” I demanded, watching Jackson carefully.

“When he found one of the security cameras in the ashes. It had fallen off in the grass and hadn’t been destroyed. It’s one of those that have the chip in the back, and he was able to pull it.”

“Fucker,” Jackson muttered, shaking his head. “You can’t seriously believe him. He’s just some dumb high school kid that’s trying to get out of trouble.”

“I don’t know who to believe,” I said, my eyes bouncing between everyone.

“He did it,” Emma’s voice came from behind Jackson. “I talked to Lucas. Cody is telling the truth. It was Jackson—and he did the cattle rustling, too.”

Jackson shook his head, holding up his hands. “No… No, I didn’t. Why the hell would I do something like that? Come on, you know me.”

I had never felt more torn before, and the fact that Emma was standing there, telling me that Jackson had been behind it, made it known that was the truth. She wouldn’t tell me a lie, and she wouldn’t fall into the theories or rumors.

“Jackson,” I kept my voice even and calm. “You’re going to have to come with me down to the station. Let me have your service weapon.”

He shook his head. “Don’t do this, Mason. Don’t do it.”

“Come on,” I forced the words out, holding out my hand. “You don’t want to fight me. Just let me have your weapon and we’ll go down and sort this out. If you didn’t do it, then you’ll have no problem with this.”

“Mason…” Jackson put his hand on his weapon, and my heart sank. “I don’t wanna do this…”

“Then don’t,” I said, watching him carefully. “You don’t want to do something that will get you into more trouble.”

He shook his head, pulling his gun out and pointing it at me. “Nah, I don’t, but you know, it had to be done. I was the one to do it.”

Jess let out a cry, and Emma pulled her toward the door, not even requiring me to give her the instructions. She knew what I wanted her to do—and that was to be safe. The other patrons hurried out with her, and the door slammed shut.

“Why’re you doing this?” I asked, my hand on my gun but not drawn. I didn’t want to escalate the situation, and Cody hovering a few feet away was already making me nervous enough.

“I ain’t got a choice, Mason,” Jackson grimaced. “I didn’t want to be the bad guy—I really didn’t. But everyone in this fucking town thinks that the Lowes are just some grand bunches of cowboys.” His face contorted with hate, and for the first time, I was seeing an entirely new side of my deputy.

“And what’d they do to you? You related to the Fredericksons?” I threw it out there, knowing it was a long shot, but he burst into laughter.

“Did Lucas finally tell you about how horrible his family is?”

I shook my head. “He didn’t, actually. He doesn’t know anything about a feud.”

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