Page 122 of Wild Card
His other hand?—
“Back the fuck up, Hale,” I barked.
The sheriff jerked toward me. The second he gave her space, Chloe ducked away and put the desk between them.
His face darkened. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“That was going to be my question.”
“Deputy Parks and I were just having a chat.” He looked at her. “We all need to be on the same page here. Isn’t that right?”
She hesitated. Her voice came out barely audible. “We understand each other.”
“Well, I refuse to understand,” I said bluntly. “Hale, you can’t back someone against the wall and intimidate them.” I glanced between him and Chloe. “You certainly can’t be putting your hands on them like?—”
“That’s enough, Deputy,” Sheriff Hale cut in. “You’re seeing things.”
“Yeah, I’m seeing clearly. Enough is enough. You can’t be the sheriff here anymore.”
“You really think you can stop me?”
Ava spoke up from the doorway. “If he can’t, someone else will,” she said. “What’s been going on around here isn’t right.”
Zach hovered behind her, looking anxious. “We support Dalton.”
“Then you can be suspended just like him,” Sheriff Hale snarled.
“You can’t suspend everyone,” Ava said. “Who will patrol the streets? You?”
“He doesn’t need to suspend anyone. I’m going to the mayor. I’m reporting you, Hale. For inappropriate conduct with deputies, for intimidation, for bribery?—”
“The fuck you are!”
“—and for hiding your son’s criminal activities.”
“You do that and you’re done here, Harvey. If I go down, I’ll take you with me.”
I pulled out my badge and tossed it on his desk. “Let me save you the trouble. I quit.”
There was an audible gasp behind me. I turned to see Chloe watching me with a pale face. “Harvey, you don’t have to do this.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“You goddamned idiot!” Sheriff Hale ranted behind me. “The mayor can’t do anything. I’m an elected official. The election isn’t for months, and by then, I’ll make sure no one believes a word out of your mouth.”
I headed toward the door, and Chloe followed. Ava slammed it shut behind us, hand pressed to her chest as we walked across the bull pen. “Oh, goodness. This old ticker can’t take all this excitement. What now?”
I shook my head. “I’ll talk to the mayor. I don’t know if he can do anything, but he should know what’s happening over here. Maybe we can get some additional oversight, at least.”
“But what about your job?” Zach said. “Everyone looks up to you here. With you gone…”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry. I just can’t work for a man like that anymore.” I turned to Chloe. “But what about you? Are you okay?”
She gave a shuddering sigh. “It looked worse than it was.”
“Hard to believe that,” I muttered. “The man had you cornered and?—”
She held up a hand. “I don’t need a replay. I was there.”
