Page 15 of Starting Over

I only half listened, wanting to lock myself in the room and think about everything that had happened over the last few hours. I needed to make a decision whether I should stay or not.

Diamond Creek might not be the place to start over after all.

Chapter Four

Declan

“SON OF A BITCH!”

“You ok, boss?” Jackie Stilton, one of my deputies, popped her head through my door and asked.

As the sheriff, I should have the same respect for all of my deputies, but Jackie was different. She was twenty-eight years old, just a few years older than my daughter, and from what she told me when I hired her four years ago, a cop was all she ever wanted to be.

She was by far the most dedicated and the most regimented when it came to the law. I admired that. I did. But sometimes she got a little stuck between the black and the white. She struggled to see the gray.

“No, I’m not. I gotta run to the clubhouse. If anyone needs me, I’ll be on the radio,” I said, getting up from my desk.

Walking to the printer, I grabbed the handful of sheets it was spitting out. Grabbing a file folder, I stacked them inside and rushed out, not bothering to close my office door.

It wasn’t necessary. I had six deputies that rotated shifts, and I trusted them all. If I didn’t, they wouldn’t be working here. In the five years I had been sheriff, not much had happened to warrant hiring more.

Until recently.

If this bullshit with women coming to town didn’t stop, Mayor Hoffman would have to up my budget to hire more help.

And the latest one was proving to be a thorn in my backside. The repercussions of her being here had the potential to create more chaos than the three previous women, who had upended my quiet little town.

I climbed into my car, slamming the door shut. Pulling out of the station onto the street, I headed east.

King had been an arrogant asshole last night. The information I had with me would knock him back down. Someday, he would learn to trust my instincts. Someday, he would understand everything I did was to keep him safe.

Pulling up to the gate, I sat there while the prospect meandered over. He knew who I was.

“Open the fucking gate, kid.”

“Can’t do that without calling it in.”

“Open the fucking gate before I drive through it. King will take it out of your ass if it needs to be replaced.”

He paled slightly, but nodded. He hurried back over to the gate and pressed a button, letting the gate slide open. His phone was to his ear, which told me someone was sure to know I was coming.

Quickly parking, I grabbed the file before I shoved the front door open and looked around.

“Where the fuck is King?” I asked, seeing Jack at the bar.

“Uh, he hasn’t come down yet.”

“Get him.”

Cash walked around the corner and glared at me.

“You can’t just come in here, ordering us around.”

“Watch me,” I clipped, turning to the prospect. “Get King, now.”

Then, I turned to the room and bellowed, “Officers, in church. Right fucking now!”

Storming past everyone, I vaguely heard Jack whisper, “Can the sheriff call church?”

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