Page 71 of Anchor Point

“You’re coming tonight, right?” Thoren slung his bag into the back of his truck, parked next to mine in the empty back lot of the station. It was the end of shift, and everyone was heading out. Though the morning promised a beautiful day, the night before had been a long one, and I was more than ready to get home.

“I don’t know…” For a while, we’d made it a regular thing to have cookouts. But since Olivia and Rosie had come into the picture, I’d avoided them. Too much to explain, too many questions I knew they’d ask.

“Capt, are you pissed at us?” Nate draped an arm on the bed of my truck. Thoren slammed his door and faced me. Between the two of them, I was boxed in.

“Got nothing to be pissed about.”

“So, you’ll be there?” Nate asked.

“Yeah, Nate’s got a problem he needs manly help with,” Thoren said. Nate’s eyes flashed to Thoren, confusion written all over his face before it morphed, and he looked back to me.

“Yeah, what Thoren said. I need some help. I… have a thing.”

I called bullshit. But then again, Nate’d been a dumbass once before with his girlfriend, and a not-so-gentle reminder from me had helped him, so maybe there was some underlying truth.

“Also, I’ve got this fence that I’m needing help repairing, and I need all the help I can get, so if you can, come earlier.”

I didn’t want to go to a freaking cookout. But I also didn’t want to let Thoren down if he needed the help.

“Yeah, I can come help with the fence. But I’m not sure about the cookout.”

“Sweet.” He elbowed Nate in the chest. “You’re still available, right? Don’t be ditching me now.”

Nate winced, rubbing his pecs. “I gotta make a stop, do some arranging of my schedule, but yeah, I’ll be there soon.”

I eyeballed the two again, sure they were up to something, but climbed in my truck, promising I’d be at Thoren’s after a stop to grab my work clothes.

By the time I got to Thoren’s, work was well under way. I pulled into his long gravel drive, taking in the picturesque view of the rolling pasture and the old farmhouse that sat on top of the hill. I parked next to Nate and scanned the field beyond the house. Thoren, Nate, and Mike, from the looks of it, worked at the tree line in the distance. So this wasn’t some bullshit, made-up thing, and we really were going to be working. Thank God. I needed a good, solid day of physical activity.

“Hey, Capt,” Mike called as I reached them.

“Told you before, it’s Mac when we aren’t at the station. What’s the plan, where do you need me?”

Thoren walked me through the project, and the four of us set to work, replacing fencing wire along the border of his property.

“What’s happening with the arson case?” I asked Mike.

“Eh, not much. PD is still doing their investigation, and the officer who lost Watkins the first time finally got reprimanded. Other than that, we’ve just been chasing leads here and there. It’d be awesome if we could release a photo, but since T-Bird here is his identical twin, I hesitate to put it out there. After I released that news statement offering a reward for information and listed him as a suspect, I don’t want to provoke him to escalate further. It was bad enough that he targeted the chief when that article went out. In my defense, I thought the reporter was going to be more discreet. But then again, the mayor had been in on that press conference, and he’d made sure to make it sound like Chief Hawkins was wasting time and resources on a dead end.”

I stiffened at the mention of Olivia’s name.

“The mayor is a jackass,” Thoren grumbled. “So full of himself and his own political agenda. He’s been salty ever since they fired his buddy and claps back at the council every chance he gets.”

“He’s salty because he’s lost his kickbacks, and everyone knows it, but he just keeps getting reelected.” Nate hammered the wire around the fence post with a little too much enthusiasm. “And he’s taking too much joy in setting up Chief Hawkins.”

What the fuck was he talking about? Olivia hadn’t mentioned anything happening between her and the mayor.

Mo ambled up with a cooler mid-conversation, passing out fist bumps and taking a place opposite Mike.

“Speaking of Chief Hawkins,” Thoren continued, unspooling the wire and handing a section to Mike, forcing me to step between the four of them to stay out of their way, “seems like you and the chief are making friends… Mac.”

These fuckers. Got me all comfortable and then ambushed me into discussing my relationship with Olivia. I should’ve known when I saw their girlfriends at the ice cream shop.

“Leah said she’s lovely,” Mike offered. “And that’s not Leah just being Leah. She really liked her.”

“Jordan was bragging on her too,” Nate added.

Thoren gave me a look. “You know Kylie gave me the deets, Cap—Mac. Said she saw you and the three of you looked cozy. Are you and the chief hanging out now?”

---