Page 42 of Claimed by the Lawman

“I’ll be in touch,” Kace told Bane who was still smiling.

Tyler didn’t look at Bane or his men. She kept her face forward as she started toward home.

“Tyler, I—”

She turned on him, her eyes blazing, her shoulders lifted and tight. “What’s the use in wearing a badge if you don’t plan on using it?”

He realized she was angry, but so was he. “Wearing this badge doesn’t give me the right to do as I please. There’s a process. I don’t plan on running this county like Mansfield did.”

“There’s a process alright. Men like Mansfield and Bane get by with bullying others. So now you are stepping aside and letting them get by with their old mischiefs. I wouldn’t put it past Bane to have killed Susy and also played a role in the fire and intruder at the theater.”

“Go right ahead, Sassy. Get it out of your system but you can’t run off and confront people on a whim.”

“Did Bane get under your skin?”

“For someone who is so open minded, you sure can be closed off to the facts, Tyler. He isn’t the first one who has brought it to my attention about the rumors flying. I’m taking heat over reopening your sister’s case. I also have a dozen other cases that need my attention. I don’t have time to babysit you. This isn’t your show, darlin’. Save the drama for your theater,” he huffed.

Her mouth fell open and she blinked in shock. “Babysit me? Is that how you see it? And asking you to do the right thing is drama?”

Now he wished he could take back the words. “You, throwing all caution to the wind and confronting Bane, is unacceptable. I could have handled it, and I would have after I got all the information. Acting impulsively in your teens is one thing, but acting this way when your older, and know better, is another.”

“Acting impulsively? What does that mean exactly?”

“It means you got up one day and decided to run off to New York to follow some hairbrained idea to become a star.” Once he’d said the words he wanted to apologize, but she’d made him angry. Hell, he’d been walking on eggshells since she’d come back to Bohannan.

“I’m glad you got all this off your chest, Sheriff. You’re still angry and hurt about the past. Well, Kace Cade, I can’t change the past and I certainly don’t want to keep taking that same time machine back to when we were kids. Get over it!” she snapped.

“Get over it? I’ve been over it. And I’m certainly over it now.” He rode off, leaving her staring at his back.

“Don’t worry, Kace! I won’t ask you to babysit me ever again! You can bank on that fact!” she yelled, not sure that he heard her.

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