Page 49 of Silos and Sabotage

“Very funny.” Gage shook his head at the sheriff.

He was one of those tall, dark, and heavily tanned outdoorsy types. When he bent his head a little to peek inside the vehicle, Ella caught sight of the scars covering the other half of his face — bad scars, like he’d been in a fire or something.

He met Ella’s gaze. “Hi. I’m Sheriff Luke Hawling.”

“I’m Ella Lawton.” She was pretty sure he already knew that.

Gage pushed a button to unlock the doors.

The sheriff opened her door and held out a hand to her. They shook hands.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” he said gently.

“The mystery gal from out of town who could barely remember how to tie her shoes until a few days ago, huh?”

His smile was understanding. “I was actually gonna say the daughter of one of our town’s biggest heroes. Not that we don’t have a few cool dudes locally.” He playfully flexed his muscles, making it clear he was talking about himself. Both Gage and Johnny groaned in derision.

The sheriff sobered. “Your dad really put our town on the map. What he did down in South America to rescue those hostages…” The look in his eyes was pure, adulterated admiration. “If they ever make his story into a movie, I’m buying front row seats.”

“Thank you, sir.” The kindness behind his words was comforting. So was the knowledge that the brave cowboys living in her father’s hometown truly had her back. For the first time in a long time, she was no longer afraid of what came next.

“Just call me Luke.” He tapped his fist against the side of her door. “This town is way too small for nauseating titles.”

“Like Show Off?” Gage inquired politely from the front seat.

Chuckling, Luke moved back to Gage’s window. “Did you roll your window down like I suggested?”

Gage smirked. “So I could hear you crow all the louder over today’s success?”

“Or overhear what that high-speed moron was bragging about when we first pulled him out of his truck.” Luke lowered his voice and stepped closer to the Lonestar SUV.

“Oh, sure,” Johnny bragged, leaning over the console, “we heard every word, but we’d rather hear you tell it your way.”

Ella watched their exchange in confusion, since she was very sure they’d been parked too far back to hear much of what had taken place in front of them. All they’d done was watch.

The sheriff dropped his voice. “He swore that Raleigh Bolander would have his bail posted in two snaps.”

Gage’s eyebrows came together. “That is not what I expected you to say.”

Luke stepped back, pretending to be offended. “I thought you boys said you heard every word of what was said out there.” He dusted his hands down his shirtsleeves. “Because you know I can’t discuss an ongoing investigation with y’all.” His twinkling gaze told Ella that he’d deliberately slipped that bit of information to them.

He gave them a two-fingered salute and got back inside his cruiser, keeping his door ajar and one boot on the ground. A tow truck rumbled up to the blockade to impound the second Billy Bob lookalike truck.

While they watched, an incoming text on Gage’s phone made his jaw tighten.

“Time to roll.” He waited until Ella shut her door. Then he slowly backed up and made a U-turn to retrace their path to the intersection with the stop sign. He hung a left and headed back toward town.

“What are you doing?” Johnny looked puzzled. “I thought the idea was to get Ella off the beaten track and out of harm’s way.”

“That’s still the plan, but we’re taking a detour.” The lake came into view. Instead of staying on the highway and skirting it like he normally did, Gage pulled into a shaded alcove at the far end of the lake. Whether manmade or a natural phenomenon, a line of trees had grown through a shallow bridge of land just beneath the surface of the lake. The result was a sectioned off half-acre or so mini-lake that was separated from the main body of water. A small dock led out to a gazebo. Its outer walls were lined with kayaks and paddleboards.

Ella glanced down at her sweatpants and tennis shoes. “What are we doing here?” They weren’t exactly in swimsuits.

“You’ll see.” Gage’s voice was infused with excitement. The gazebo looked empty, which meant they had the place all to themselves.

“Shoot! I’m game.” Johnny lifted a leg as high as the dashboard. “I can roll up my jeans.”

“Hold your horses. We have a couple of calls to make first.” Gage kept the motor idling while he pushed one of the numbers he had on speed dial. “By we, I mean me. I’ll do the talking.” He shot Johnny a warning look as it started to ring.

---