Page 14 of Warrant
“Yeah, it is,” I told her. “You need to talk about it.” I barked out a laugh when she scrunched her nose. “You’re law enforcement alright.” Talking about feelings was the equivalent of taking an acid bath.
Her lips lifted just the slightest bit. Then the smile disappeared. “Bringing this asshole to justice doesn’t seem like enough.”
I snorted at that. “It’s not.”
“But it has to be,” she said, voice soft. “It’s all I have to offer.”
“It’s more than Denison would have bothered with,” I told her.
“You really didn’t like him,” she said with a sardonic smile.
“Not much to like. He was lazy, arrogant, and didn’t give a shit about anything but his pension.”
I met her sorrow-filled eyes. “You’re already doing a better job. The townspeople will see that. Trust me.” I knocked on the desk, then stood up. “I’ll be back tomorrow to install those locks.”
Stalking out of her office, I took a left down the hall.
“No. War. No.” Owen was standing there in front of the jail cells. He shook his head. “I’m so fucking sorry for Pyre, brother, but you can’t be back here.”
The fucker who’d taken the life of a young kid was sitting on a bench in the cell, suit rumpled and crinkled, looking like hell. But there was an arrogant look on his face that made me want to force him to stop breathing.
“I’m serious, Warrant,” Owen cautioned.
“I’m going,” I told him. We locked eyes. “Make sure this goes down the way it should.”
“We will,” he assured me.
“If not, give me a call.” With that, I left the station before I killed that fucker and took his place in the cell.
CHAPTER 6
Ainsley
Iglared at the man sitting across from my desk as he rattled off impressive legal jargon that I didn’t give one shit about. “Your client goes in front of the judge in…” I paused as I looked down at the watch on my wrist, “an hour. Save it for court.”
His lips lifted in a sneer, but he shoved out of the chair and left my office. He was probably going to go sit with Mike Linstrom until it was time to leave.
That was fine by me. I hated lawyers. I knew they just had a job to do. And most days I could appreciate the part they played in our legal system, but not today. Not one day after his piece of shit client killed a kid walking his siblings to school. A kid who, by all accounts, had a bright future ahead of him and was a joy to the community.
Shoving out of my chair, I grabbed the keys to my Tahoe and walked out. I couldn’t just sit here. I’d already done everythingI could on the reports and paperwork. I’d checked it all three times. It was fucking air tight. This weasel of a lawyer wasn’t going to be getting his client out on bail based off anything I, or my deputies, did wrong.
But I couldn’t just sit here. I glanced over at the main area of the station. “Be back after court,” I told Owen. “Hold down the fort till then?”
He nodded, silently watching as I stalked out into the filtered sunlight outside. The weather couldn’t decide if it was ready to let spring settle fully yet or not. Gray clouds kept the sun from warming the cool air, but I didn’t bother with a jacket. I ran hot and rarely needed more than a light sweatshirt.
It only took me five minutes before I was parked in front of the municipal court and another five before I was knocking on a door.
“Come in.”
I opened the door and waited until the woman sitting behind the desk looked up. I examined her as she studied the folder on the desk in front of her. She looked like she belonged on the cover of one of those old romance novels. You know, the one where a dark-haired pirate was clutching a woman close while her wild mahogany waves blew in the wind. Seriously, her hair was gorgeous even though she had it smoothed back into a low ponytail at the nape of her neck.
Brown eyes lifted and her brows shot up in surprise. “Sheriff Zimmerman.”
“Judge Hurliman,” I replied. “Nice to meet you.”
“Melody, please,” she said with a wry smile and motioned for me to sit.
“Ainsley,” I replied as I took the chair across from her.
