Page 79 of Possession

And Kenneth said it was a nice dick too so congrats babe

Kenneth

Ollie!

14

“N

ext time, Sheriff, how about you do a little investigating before you arrest my client?” Cynthia’s voice was ice-cold as she stood next Tomas, overseeing things while he signed the release forms and was handed his personal effects.

He didn’t bother hiding his smirk as the sheriff haltingly apologized… again. Cynthia always seemed to take men like him off guard. She was young, Black, and beautiful, but her brain was the size of a city block, and her tongue could be incredibly sharp when necessary.

“Yes, ma’am,” Sheriff Winters said. “As I said, I’m sorry for the mix-up.”

She looked down her nose at him, glanced at Tomas, and asked, “Are you ready?”

Damn right he was ready.

He’d been stuck in an interrogation room most of the night until he’d been finally taken into a jail cell when he’d refused to say anything without Cyn there. All day, he’d just been sitting around, waiting for her to work her magic and get him out of there.

Sixteen hours later, they’d let him go and claimed everything had been a misunderstanding. He smelled like he’d been wearing the same clothes for a day and a half—because he had—and vomit, thanks to the drunk they’d stuck him in with.

And he was fucking pissed.

Arresting him at his house? In front of his boys?

He was done playing nice.

As they walked outside, Cyn glanced at him again, her face softening with concern. She looked so much like her brother—D was always giving him that same worried with a touch of exasperation look. “Seriously, are you okay? I can’t believe he pulled a stunt like this. He’ll beluckyif I don’t have his damn badge by the end of the year.”

“I appreciate you getting me out of there,” he said, jaw tight as he strode across the parking lot toward her midsize hybrid.

“Sorry it took so long,” she said. “Took me and my assistant longer than I expected to track down the owner of the business.”

He nodded, walking up to the passenger side of her car and slipping in as soon as she unlocked the doors. “I’m just glad you were able to find some surveillance footage that proved Marv and I didn’t start the fight before they identified him and brought him in.”

She cackled as she started the engine. “Can you imagine the fuss his moms would’ve thrown if he’d been dragged in there on that flimsy-ass evidence?”

He’d met Marv’s moms a couple of times, and he had to agree it probably would’ve been a sight to behold. Sally especially could be the definition of a Mama Bear.

Luckily for him, the store that butted up to the back side of the parking lot behind the courthouse was a hardware store with cameras covering every angle. They hadn’t been open since it was Sunday—of fucking course—so Cyn had been forced to trackdown the owner at home to get the footage, saving him from spending another night in jail.

Because the sheriff wasn’t a complete idiot, as soon as she brought it in, he’d let Tomas go.

He checked the time on her dashboard as she headed out. His phone was in the bag he’d gotten with his personal effects, but it was dead. “Just drop me at my house. I need to get cleaned up and grab my suit.”

“Are you sure about going this month?” She glanced over at him and turned the heat on full blast.

“I’m sure,” he said firmly. “I’m tired of these people jerking us around. First, Jill’s restaurant, and then a couple of guys have gotten pulled over just as they were leaving the clubhouse, and now this. They’re not going to stop.”

“They might.” Though she didn’t sound like she believed it. “If we keep going after them on the legal side, maybe even threaten the sheriff’s department with a harassment suit.”

Tomas knocked his knuckles against the window and shook his head, watching the snowy streets pass by. “No. I’m done, Cyn. People in this community are going to have to make a decision. They’re either with us, or they’re with them.”

He walked into the Chamber meeting fifteen minutes late, but he didn’t actually care. He wasn’t going to stay and listen to people talk about bullshit problems like teenagers loitering or the fact that business was down while it was cold out, like anyone could change the damn weather.

Just before stepping into the meeting room, he turned to Cynthia. “How do I look?”