Page 5 of Muffin Top
The next ten minutes were surprisingly uneventful. I ran up, pulled the drunk driver from the slowest moving car chase in history, noting the surprisingly large number of beer bottles in the footwell. Hand cuffed, he was so drunk he'd started to pass out, we poured the idiot into the back of our car before heading back to the station.
"So," Caleb said as we finished writing up our report. "You gonna wait for Ms. Jameson to come here or you gonna go pursue her?"
I raised an eyebrow. "You matchmaking deputy?"
He grinned, "unashamedly so."
I laughed, "guess I better go find me some Honey then."
???
The morning shift after Halloween always had an interesting cluster of people in holding. Today was no different. Four frat boys dressed as Hugh Heffner's slept off last night's drinking effort. Two women – one dressed as a rabbit, the other a playboy bunny – were separated. They'd been arrested wrestling in the flower bed of one of the local matrons. Something about a miscommunication with costumes that escalated to physicality. Joining the above were a Joker, Spiderman, three Nuns, and a guy wearing a lot of stuffed cat heads.
Yep. Apparently, he was a "pussy magnet". Nice try, pal.
I checked over the paper work, noting that the drunk driver who'd hit Honey was locked up.
I walked to the front desk. "Jason, has Mr. Morrison contacted someone to come bail his ass out?"
Jason checked the system. "He's called the place he was staying. His wife is in Florida. He's here on some work thing. Said his wife is the reason he drinks."
"Where's he staying?"
"Up at the Adventure place. They said they'll contact the wife then give us an update."
"Adventure place?" I asked, making a note about the guy being from out of State. I glanced at my watch. The court house would open in an hour, he'd be arraigned later today.
"I forget you ain't been here forever. So, Drake Andrews and Dane Butler – you might've went to school with them? Anyways, they left the Marines and moved back here. Turns out they're shacked up with Bluebell McKenney – you remember her, right? She was a nurse at the clinic but now does part time there and works the rest of the time as the onsite medical at their wilderness adventure park. They do diving and hiking and high ropes and corporate wilderness bonding and shit. They're all together too, like in the biblical sense. But the town is cool with it. Not sure how it all works to be honest, but-"
I sighed, wishing I'd never asked. Jason may be a great receptionist, working out front desk and keeping the majority of the nonsense reports from the local geriatric neighborhood watch off my desk, but the kid could talk under water.
"Oh, speaking off. That's them." Jason nodded at the front door.
I turned, watching two large men walking towards us. I remembered them, a little. They were a few years ahead of me in school, and they'd both only moved here in their teens. From memory, they'd been foster kids and moved in with the McKenney's, but that was as much as I knew about them – barring the info dump Jason just loaded on me.
They made it to the desk, giving me a polite nod then turning to Jason. "Heard you got one of our guests here?"
"Surely do, Dane." Jason said brightly. He turned to me. "The Sheriff here picked your boy up last night."
I held out my hands and we all shook, introducing ourselves.
"His wife is visiting family in Florida. She's authorized us to make decisions until she can get here." Drake's mouth twisted. "Though I'm not sure the guy's gonna be eager for her to get here. The woman was mighty angry."
I chuckled."
"How's this play out, Sheriff?" Dane asked.
"Well, unless someone posts bail, he'll be kept here until the arraignment later today." I explained. "He hit a car nearly causing a major accident, caused damaged to a few parked ones, and blew over the legal limit. This looks like his first offence, but the judge may decide he's a flight risk or whatnot. Has his wife arranged a lawyer?"
"She asked us to call her once we got here. She's on the phone trying to track someone down."
I nodded. "Then I'll leave you all to it."
The entry door beeped just as I moved to step away.
"Oh, Sheriff!"
I froze, my body immediately tensing at that voice. I turned, pasting a blank smile on my face.
