Page 99 of First Surrender

“Yes, you do. The majority of your family is deceased, Vanessa. Most of them related to the crimes they were involved with. You’ve had to notice that your numbers are dwindling.”

“Are you making a mockery of the people killed in my family, Sheriff? How uncouth.” She upturns her nose at me and looks away. Even I know that a woman like that makes insults when she doesn’t have a real argument.

“How’s your father?” I ask, watching her closely as her head snaps to mine.

“He’s fine. What does he have to do with this?”

“All of his family members are dying, too. He’s not concerned? What about your sons?”

“They are good boys. Leave them out of this.”

“Why do they have your last name? Their father was a Donahue, not a Porter.”

“My family name was much more important than Donnie’s. Mine means something around here and his doesn’t.”

“Right. How much does it mean, exactly?”

“Enough that I don’t need to sit here and listen to this. Leave my family alone. Deal with your problems in this county without my help, Sheriff. Or you’ll be out of a job.” She stands, huffing and puffing out the door.

“Dammit. That still gets me nowhere,” I grumble. Fulton only laughs.

“I figured she would have left even sooner. Do you think she’s involved in illegal activity? She’s a retired southern bell, not a criminal.” He stands and fixes his suit.

“I know but she knows something. She wanted me to back her son for his campaign and after a few attempts to press her on her criminal family, she’s made me enemy number one. If there was nothing to my suspicions, she would have laughed me off a while ago.”

“Well, good luck. Don’t drag me into the pits of hell, though.” He waves as I make my way toward the elevators.The pits of hell.Hmm.

Time to visit the patriarch of the Porter Family.

Chapter Forty-Four

Jackson

“Jackson… Who are these people?” Nat asks me in a hushed tone, looking past me. Today is custody day.

I glance over my shoulder to confirm who she means. “They’re my friends. They came to support us.”

“They don’t even know me. Or, Dec.”

“They will. As soon as I filled them in on what’s been happening, they didn’t hesitate. They’re good people, trust me.”

“I do, but what if they don’t like me?” She sounds so worried that I’d make fun of her for it any other day, but not today. She has enough stress on her shoulders.

“You’re a part of my life now, they know how important you are to me. They’ll love you like I do.” I look at her sincerely because I need her to believe it and even though I haven’t said the words outright, she knows they’re true.

She only rests her cheek in my palm briefly as confirmation, looking at me with those big dark eyes that own me completely.

Nathan and Callie slide into the row behind me, Jesse and Thea following suit. I haven’t seen any of them since Jesse and Thea’s wedding a few months ago and so much has changed since then.

Nathan claps a hand on my shoulder when I turn toward them. “Malec,” he says in greeting.

“Thanks for being here.”

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world, brother.” Jesse shakes my hand while Thea leans against his side.

“I’m Callie, it’s nice to meet you,” she speaks past me, waving to Natalie behind the bar, where she’s standing next to Dec. “This is my husband, Nathan. His sister, Thea, and her husband, Jesse.” She points down the line to each respective person, her warm smile never faulting, silently welcoming Nat to the group.

“Thank you, for coming,” Natalie responds quietly. It’s out of character for her, but I suspect this type of support is strange. “This is Dec.” She squeezes his shoulder but he’s too busy playing a game on his Gameboy to turn around.

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