Page 66 of Bullets and Dandelions

“Or the Sheriff let him loose,” Hector spat.

I shook my head in disbelief. “Instead of heading for the border, that idiot is coming here, isn’t he?”

“Yep.” Alex cracked his knuckles. “And get the beat down he so richly deserves.”

Rodriquez stood up. “I’ll get my gear and do a perimeter check.”

“I’ll go with him,” Johnson said.

The kitchen phone rang again. Alex picked up the receiver. “Stone. Uh huh. Okay. How long? Thanks.” He hung up. “Watch over Hector and Momma Rosa, Tess.”

“Okay. Is Doss close?”

“Yes, he is.” He motioned at Tex. “Get your gear.”

“Yes, sir.”

Alex strapped on his weapons and went out the back door.

I frowned. Doss wore his sidearm gunslinger style. “Can Deputy Doss shoot?”

“Hell no,” Hector replied. “As far as I know, he has never qualified at the range.”

My eyebrows rose in surprise. “How is he still a deputy sheriff?”

“His mother has a lot of money,” Momma Rosa said. “Which she uses to cover-up all of Doss’s mistakes.”

A patrol car with its overhead lights flashing skidded to a stop in the front yard.

I looked out. “Dammit, that jerk ran over your flowers Momma Rosa.”

The sound of a shotgun being racked had me spinning around.

The expression on Momma Rosa’s face didn’t bode well for Doss. She threw open the front door and stormed out.

“Shit!” I ran after her.

Hector was right on my heels. “He ran over her roses?”

“Yep.”

“Dios Mios!”

Boom!

Screaming blue bloody murder, Doss rolled around on the ground, clutching his butt.

“You evil man! You ran over my prized rose bushes,” Momma Rosa hollered.

Hector peered under the patrol car and shook his head sadly. “They will have to be replaced.”

“My babies are dead?”

Hector nodded.

“You shot me over a bunch of stupid roses? I’m going to put you in jail for the next hundred years,” Doss screeched and tried to get up.

Momma Rosa shot him again.

---