Page 16 of Warrant
Did the man ever stop smiling? This one was wicked, so I knew he wasn’t being completely innocent with his choice of words. But he was right. I was ready to rip my own skin off if I didn’t move.
We started walking together, and even though more caffeine wasn’t what I needed, I drank my coffee. It was the perfect sweet treat on a cool spring day. Despite the fact that I was always too warm, I loved a hot coffee. “How’s everyone holding up?” I asked.
He blew out a breath. “It’s rough,” he admitted, surprising me. “The funeral is in two days. Most of the town will be there. Everyone loves the Rices.”
“Yeah, I’m picking up on that.” The interviews I’d done with people were glowing. They sounded like such a nice family. My heart absolutely broke for all of them.
“How you doing?”
I slowed as I looked over at him. It took me until then to realize he’d let me set the pace and we were walking pretty damn fast. I laughed in disbelief. “I’m fine. Not that it would matter either way.”
“It matters,” he said with a shrug. “The fact that you’re treating this as seriously as you are means you’re going to win over everyone here quickly.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand whowouldn’ttreat this seriously? A boy lost his life.”
He nodded in understanding. “We feel the same, but some people can get…jaded…working in law enforcement for too long. Lose sight of the real picture.”
“That people matter?” I asked, incredulous.
“Yeah. That there are good people out there. That they are more affected by it than they realize when tragedy hits. Seen it a lot.”
“I guess you would’ve,” I said. I walked over and sat on a little bench in front of a children’s park. There were kids out playing, mothers watching their babies with hawk eyes. “How long were you an MP?”
I already knew, thanks to Denison’s meticulous notes on The Berserker’s Rage guys. But I wanted to see what he’d tell me.
“Eight years.”
“You’re either older than you look or you didn’t stay in very long,” I said, looking over at him.
He chuckled. “I’m thirty. My current boss found me, decided I’d be much more useful in my current position.”
“What position is that?” That was a real question. Denison didn’t have anything in those reports about what Sentry Securities was or what they did. It was strange. He’d dug up a lot of dirt on these guys, but it was like he’d been unable to touch the local security firm.
“You ready for this hearing?” He asked, arching a dark brow. It was a clear evasion, but I didn’t insist he tell me anything. Not yet.
“I am.” I glanced at my watch, shocked when I realized there was only ten minutes left. “I should get back. Thanks for the walk. And the coffee-”
When I looked back up at him warm lips met mine. He tucked a piece of my hair that had escaped my ponytail behind my ear as he kissed me. What the… Wow. That was nice. The man could kiss.
He wasn’t pawing at me. He wasn’t even taking the kiss deeper, he just settled his lips over mine more fully and…rubbed.
I jerked back, looking around, blushing when I realized the mothers were all now staring at us. Great. Just great. I was supposed to be keeping this guy at arm’s length because he was too handsome. Too charming, and everything I didn’t need right now. And now we’d just had our first kiss in front of a good portion of the town.
There was no way this wasn’t going to spread like wildfire in Sentinel. This would make it to the courthouse before I did. Fantastic.
CHAPTER 7
Warrant
Ainsley had done her job perfectly. The shitbag who was responsible for Brandon’s death had been denied bail due to being a flight risk. He’d already performed a hit and run. That, along with Ainsley’s meticulous report writing and her speaking at the bail hearing, had convinced the judge that it was best he remain in custody until the trial. Procedure was important in these matters. A lazy cop, or a stupid cop, could screw up the procedure and then the shitbag gets out on a technicality. Ainsley was neither. Denison was both.
Why there even needed to be a trial was a point of contention for our club. We were used to taking care of this kind of shit on our own. But the town had been hurting for a good sheriff for some time now. They needed to see that justice, official justice, could work. That the law could be on their side.
Cypher wanted to step back and see what Ainsley could do, too. He was watching her closely. For now, she was kicking assand taking names. She’d jumped into not only doing her job, but helping out the community in any way she could. She showed up two days ago, after the court case, at Mary and Jay’s house with flowers and her condolences. It was things like that which were going to endear her to the people here in Sentinel.
I held open the door and raised a brow at Jury. “Jesus, did you get enough flowers?”
He shrugged. “Ordered them from Mary’s shop. Double bonus of them getting all these flowers and her shop making good money while they’re trying to pull the pieces of their lives together.”
