Page 17 of Winter Wrangler

“I do.” Davey pulls out his cuffs. “Assault.”

“Hey, I enjoyed that spanking!” I blurt out before I can think better of it. Davey gives me the dirtiest expression.

“Not you. Your Aunt Mary.”

My mouth falls open as I recall all the things she was shouting in the center of town. I can’t believe she would go this far, but of course she did. What the hell is wrong with her?

“Davey, you’re an idiot. This is why you’re still a deputy. Deputy Dumbass!” I know I’m not helping the situation, but I’m so angry.

Devin hired me to make his life easier, and now I'm only making things worse. If he wasn't already fed up with the shenanigans in my life, he certainly will be now.

Chapter Twelve

DEVIN

“I want to call my lawyer,” I say to Officer Davis Wagner as he puts me in a room and tells me to take a seat.

“Calm down.” He sits down across from me and opens a folder. “I just need to ask you a couple of questions. If you’re not guilty, you don’t have a need for a lawyer, right?”

I grit my teeth so hard my jaw pops.

“We’ve got a report from Mary Singer that earlier this evening you assaulted her after a confrontation. Is that correct?”

“No.” I clench my fist under the table and count to ten silently in my head.

“Are you sure about that because we’ve got witnesses that have corroborated her story. They said they saw you grab her.”

“To stop her from hitting Joy.”

“So you did put your hands on her?” Before I can defend myself, he opens a folder in front of him. “Do you want to try to lie to me again?”

He places a photo on the table between us, and it looks like it’s a screenshot from a security camera. The camera was behind me so it looks like I’m towering over Mary as I grip her wrist. It doesn’t show her before I caught it when she was raising it to hit Joy and I got between them. It doesn’t show me extending my arm so that she was forced to take a step back away from Joy. This is a bullshit picture that’s taken out of context.

“Oh, and I almost forgot.” He puts another picture beside it. “I’ve got this one too.” The second photo shows dark purple and blue bruising around Mary’s wrist. “Well, what do you have to say about that?” Davis grins at me like it’s his big gotcha moment.

“I know you,” I say as I lean back in my seat. “You’re the one that tried to have my land use permit revoked. Right?”

Davis’ smile falls almost comically as his face goes white. “Those documents are sealed by the state department.”

“True, but maybe you didn’t know my cousin is the head of the state department, specifically under land management. When she saw my name come across her desk, she gave me a call.”

Davis hasn’t moved an inch, and I wait a beat to let the worst-case scenario play out in his head.

“Thankfully I take care of my land, so all of my permits were in order. The complaint was dismissed, and I got to chat with my cousin about our plans for the holidays.” I lean forward and stare Davis directly in the eyes. “But before we got off the phone, I asked who it was that filed the complaint.”

“I was following up with rumors that were circulating around town. They were?—”

“Unfounded,” I say, cutting him off. “So you’ll have to forgive me when I don’t take kindly to threats.” I put my finger on the grainy photo of me holding Mary’s wrist. “This was taken from the security cameras at Joe’s Hardware Store. Given the time of the argument and that Joe is about a hundred and fifty years old, I’m surprised he wasn’t in bed. Which makes me wonder if Joe actually gave it to you or if you hacked in and stole it.”

“Hey, you wait just a minute,” Davis tries to cut in, but I’m not having it.

“If I were you, I’d be more concerned about the reaction from Joe’s son when he finds out the town deputy was poking his nose in his daddy’s business. Oh, and if you didn’t know, he’s a retired bull rider and mean as a rattlesnake.”

“I had probable cause?—”

“But what really gets me is this one.” I tap the second photo, cutting off Davis once again. “Was it your idea or Mary’s to use makeup on her wrist?”

“What?” Davis blinks at me before he squints in confusion. His head snaps to the photo, and he pulls it closer to him for a better look.

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