Page 22 of Wild Card
“That was easier than I expected.”
“Well, I grew up in Granville,” she said. “I know better than to underestimate a sweet-looking old lady.”
I laughed. “No shit? I grew up there too. Class of 2010.”
“Oh, so you’re practically a retiree,” she said with a grin. “Class of 2020.”
“Oh, you really are a baby,” I said, trying to quell my unease. Chloe wasn’t Shane. Her fate didn’t have to be his. “Is this your first time on the job?”
“I did a short stint with the police department in Hayworth,” she said. “Got tired of dealing with drunk college kids.”
“Factory workers and farmers are more your speed?”
“They are if they’re not hitting on me while I try to do my job.”
“That might be asking a lot,” I said, thinking of Axel. My badge had never stopped him.
I didn’t think Chloe was his type, but who knew? All his flirting might be genuine—or it might be a big game. Just a manipulation to gain an advantage when he was on the wrong side of the law.
That I didn’t know for sure bothered me more than it should have. Nothing could happen there, so he could play all the games he wanted. It was up to me not to give in.
I pointed toward the passenger window, eager for a distraction. “We’re passing Jerkers Soda Shoppe on your right. The diner serves great burgers, and deputies get free MoonShakes, so we take breaks there pretty often.”
“MoonShakes?”
“Vanilla shake with Oreo crumbles, but you can add other ingredients too. It was created around the time of the moon landing, so they named it MoonShake as a gimmick. The name stuck.”
“Cool.”
“Fieldhouse is our only sports bar,” I said. “We’ve got two others. Ball Breakers Pool Hall, which we’ll pass on the way to Granville, and a gay nightclub named Glitter Balls. It’s further north, so we won’t be passing by.”
“I’ve been there for a drag show with friends,” she said. “What about Riverton Community College?”
“They have campus police, so we leave them to it unless they call in for backup.”
We drove past City Hall, Gold Community Bank, and my favorite coffee shop, Mug Shots, before reaching the highway that would take us out of town. I flipped on the blinker and turned left.
“Heading for Granville, I take it?”
“Yep. We try to have one deputy patrolling in the area every day, though state police are nearby and can respond to emergencies too.”
“Granville have many of those?” she asked.
“That require law enforcement? Not too many. The occasional shoplifter or domestic call. Honestly, I spend more time taking trespassing reports and listening to farmers bitch about bored teens partying in their fields.”
“Sounds about right,” she said with a chuckle. “We used to go out to Sam Murphy’s place, and he’d get sopissedat—” She stopped short. “Why are you grinning like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like…” She swore under her breath. “We’re going to Sam Murphy’s place, aren’t we?”
“Yup. Got to follow up on his report of a stolen steer. I fixed his fence for him last time I was out here?—”
“You did what?” she asked, sounding surprised.
“Oh, did you think working for the sheriff’s office was all traffic stops or emergency calls? Hell, we get up to all sorts of chores in these rural areas. I’ve done everything from fence repair to roadkill cleanup.”
Chloe looked a little green around the edges, so I decided not to give her the details of that story. Instead, I pointed as we passed by Ball Breakers Pool Hall, Anarchy Ink, and a sex shop named Blush. “We get a few calls out here. Mostly bar fights. Though we get a few calls out to Fieldhouse as well, to be fair.”
