Page 124 of Wild Card
“But you can’t fire him…”
“No, but that doesn’t mean I’m powerless,” he said. “It just means I have to get more creative. Now, then, tell me about these crimes he’s covering up for his son. What evidence do you have?”
I leaned my head back, eyes closing as relief washed through me. Finally, I wasn’t alone in this. Even if I didn’t run for sheriff, Mayor Prince woulddosomething.
And if I did…well, it was nice to know this town had some decent people in it. People who would have my back.
But would Axel really want to date asheriff? We were already an odd fit as deputy and troublemaker. He’d finally stopped pushing me away. What if this was the thing that sent him running again?
I gave Mayor Prince every detail I could remember of the sheriff’s abuse of power. Anything he could use as leverage. But I couldn’t give him my word that I’d run for sheriff.
Not yet.
I wouldn’t do that without Axel’s blessing. I would sacrifice a lot to do the right thing. But not him.
CHAPTER 30
Axel
“I’m so glad you called!”Allison’s voice echoed through the speaker of my phone, which was propped on the dinner table. “Emory told me you would.”
I rolled my eyes. “He did, huh?”
Emory half turned from his spot at the sink, smiling sheepishly. “I figured it couldn’t hurt to get the ball rolling.”
We’d just finished up dinner, and Gray and Bailey lounged on the sofa with Banshee, while Holden had retreated to his room.
“Emory believes in you,” Allison said from the phone, “so that means I do too. I’ve submitted some grant applications for animal rescue funding. But I’d love for us to get together and talk more. It’s important that we pursue a project that’s a good fit for you.”
“I’d get a say in that? I figured the grant would dictate it.”
“To an extent, it does,” she said. “But there’s more than one way to skin a cat, as they say.”
“Let’s not say that,” I said.
She laughed. “Yeah, probably poor etiquette when talking about animal rescue.”
Allison launched into the details of the grant applications, and I did my best to keep up. I didn’t want to manage some big facility. That was out right away. I didn’t want to specialize in any particular breed or size of dog; I loved them all.
Finally, we settled on the one grant that came closest to my experience. It would give me resources to take in and place animals in good foster homes. I’d need to get volunteers on board, but there was funding to cover pet veterinary visits, food, and other supplies.
The shelter had told me they didn’t have the resources to make their foster program a priority. This would fill the need without totally overtaking my life. Plus, I could foster these animals without putting them into cages at the shelter first.
Win-win.
“You’ll just need to come in and sign some paperwork,” Allison said. “I’ll get the app updated with your information. It’ll make our case stronger to have a project manager all lined up.”
Project manager. Me?
Nerves squirmed in my gut, but I couldn’t back out a second time. I didn’t want to, not when this needed to be done. I loved the animals I could help now, but with this program, I could help so many more.
I drew a breath. “Okay, sounds good.”
A text popped up on my screen from Dalton. Allison was wrapping up the call, so I said goodbye and checked my message.
Dalton:
Are you with your brothers or at home? Need to talk to you.
