Page 12 of First Surrender

“Yep.” He pops the ‘p’ on his word. Then smirks at himself for doing so.

I glance at Natalie and she’s looking at me strangely, without the usual disdain. The sudden change makes me nervous as if she’s trying to get my guard down. My hand hovers toward the holster on my hip, ensuring my gun’s secure because I wouldn’t put it past her to shoot me with my own weapon.

“What’s the prognosis then? Are you okay?” I ask her to break the staring contest we’re suddenly having.

“I’m fine.” Except she starts coughing, painfully hard and loud enough that one of the paramedics jogs over to check on her.

“We’re going to transport you to the hospital,” the young paramedic says. She looks like she’s still in high school and a little intimidated by Natalie’s strong personality.

“What?” She and the little boy say at the same time.

“I’m sorry, it’s protocol. Smoke inhalation is super dangerous. Your lungs could suffer if you don’t get the right medical care,” she explains meekly, pulling her stethoscope onto her ears.

Natalie lowers the blanket off her shoulders to allow the girl to check her lungs but all I can think about is her coat slipping open the other day and that red lace staring back at me. The piercing is still haunting me, too.

Today she’s wearing a thick, frumpy sweater. It’s not appealing in the slightest but it doesn’t help to keep my eyes from wandering over her. It looks too big and distinctly masculine. She’s wearing a man’s sweater and I am annoyed that I noticed. Or, that I care.

No, I don’t care.

“What about me?” The boy asks on trembling lips, looking at his sister with round fearful eyes.

I look to her because it is her brother after all, but I see fear in those eyes too. It’s the same as when she was yelling at me in the courtroom, the common denominator for her fear is clearly her brother.

“What is your name, buddy?” I ask, still squatting to his level.

“Declan, but my friends call me Dec.”

“Can I call you, Dec?”

“I don’t know. I just met you, how do I know you’re my friend?”

“Ah, smart kid. Well, I’m a police officer. The Sheriff, actually, it’s my job to keep you safe. Could that be a start?”

“Where’s your badge? All cops have badges.”

I unzip my coat then ultimately decide to shrug it all the way off my shoulders so he can see my uniform. I unclip the badge from my shirt and hand it to him. “You can hold onto it, okay? That way if you ever need anything, you can tell anyone that I am your friend and they’ll get a hold of me.”

I don’t know why I told him that. Maybe because I know who his father is. Or maybe because I’ve already been hearing quips from the fire chief in my ear, advising on the radio that it might be arson. Either way, I want this kid to be protected by someone.

“Here, I don’t want you to get cold.” I drape my Sheriff’s jacket around him and roll the sleeves up to his wrists before he does a little spin to admire himself.

“Look, sissy.” He’s smiling big and I can’t help but reflect it until I look at Natalie and notice the deadpan stare being leveled at me.

“Very cool, bud. Hey, will you go let our neighbor know that I’m okay? I can see her worrying from over here.” Natalie motions to the older woman standing just behind the yellow tape.

“Sure.” He takes off, proudly showing the woman his shiny new badge as he reaches her then spinning to show her the SHERIFF logo on his back.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” The familiar hateful tone is back and in full force.

“Done, what?”

“Don’t get his hopes up that you’re going to be his friend or that you are going to be around. He doesn’t need another man to disappoint him in his life.” Her words are like venom, but I know they aren’t truly directed toward me. Declan Randolph has donea number on this family. The kid definitely doesn’t deserve the hand he was dealt.

Natalie on the other hand, I don’t know. She aggravates me enough that I don’t quite feel sorry for her like I do the kid.

“Who said that I wouldn’t be around? You live in Rollins County. I am the Rollins County Sheriff. Are you planning on going somewhere?” I throw back at her.

“Don’t start with me, Small Dick. You know what I mean. If he thinks you are his friend and then you only show up during emergencies, he’s going to associate his friends with bad things that happen to him. Leave us alone.”

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