Page 55 of Starting Over

“Stay for dinner tonight. I know you don’t have a kitchen,” he said with a knowing smirk. “And you are welcome to come share a meal anytime.”

“Thank you,” I told him, before quickly slipping through the door and rushing to my room to pack.

Halfway up the stairs, I tripped, startled by the sound of King’s voice when he yelled, “THAT GODDAMN LYING MOTHERFUCKER!”

Chapter Fourteen

Declan

As the sheriff in such a small town, a big part of my job was paperwork, which had kept me chained to my desk since I got back after lunch with the mayor.

I shouldn’t complain.

In a town this size, we didn’t have much crime. An occasional bout of graffiti in the summer, when the teenage boys got bored after school let out for three months. A few domestic cases here and there, when couples drank too much at the bar, pushing each other’s buttons.

Rarely did we have any actual emergencies. The biggest one lately was weeks ago, when little Charlie Reynolds was kidnapped, and her kidnapper was killed by Charlie’s uncle.

So, when I heard shouting in my station, I immediately jumped up to see what was going on. My hand on my gun with the strap flipped off, I carefully made my way out of the office.

What I found made my blood boil.

“Jackie, move your hand and your ass before I fucking move it for you.”

My deputy, Jackie Stilton, was standing in the hallway. Her left hand was on my brother’s chest, and her right was hovering over her gun.

“What the fuck is going on out here?”

I snapped the strap back over my gun, knowing my brother wasn’t a threat, and walked to where the two were facing off.

“Sheriff, Mr. O’Rourke walked in, stomped by the desk clerk, yelling and demanding to see you. When I told him he needed to take a seat, he became belligerent.”

“Dec, get this bitch out of my face,” King snapped.

I looked at my brother. He was angry. I could see that. His nostrils flared, and his pupils were blown. If I had to guess, he’d had a few drinks before coming here today. He had been pissed at me since Thanksgiving. Jackie could no doubt hold her own, but hell if I would let him talk to any woman like that.

“Thank you, Jackie. I’ve got this,” I said, my hand on her shoulder, moving her behind me.

Stepping up to my brother, I grabbed the lapels of his cut and yanked him forward.

“You can be pissed at me all you fucking want, but you ever talk to a woman the way you just did, and I will knock the shit out of you. I don’t care who you think you are. Apologize to Jackie before I throw you in a fucking cell and then get your ass in my fucking office.” I shoved him away from me, turning my back on him, and stormed to my office.

Calling over my shoulder, “Now!”

As I walked away, I heard him start his apology.

Punk ass kid.

Dropping into my chair, I waited for King.

A moment later, he walked in and threw a folder on my desk.

“You’re a goddamned hypocrite,” he sneered.

“Close the door and sit your ass down.”

Opening the folder, I stared at the contents. Flipping the pages in the report, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“You had Nav investigate me? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

---