Page 130 of Shortcake
Sweat edged its way down my temple as I coaxed the raccoon toward me in a calm voice. “Come on, you little trash bandit. Come to Uncle Conrad.”
Warren had put a pile of bird seed and peanut butter in the trap and the little raccoon’s eyes darted nervously between the three humans closing in on him and the pile of food beckoning him.
“Go on,” Terry coaxed, holding the blanket up in an effort to hopefully stop him from darting between her legs.
She took a step forward, guiding him toward the cage and he hissed, baring his sharp little teeth at all of us—and then he darted.
Not toward the cage.
Toward Warren’s feet.
But this wasn’t Warren’s first rodeo either.
As soon as the raccoon leapt up, Warren wrapped the blanket around him.
Oh my God… the screaming. I’d never heard a creature make a noise like that before.
Undeterred, Warren held strong the thrashing blanket and shouted for me to bring the cage to him.
I did as he asked, and he tossed the poor creature inside.
Dazed, the raccoon paced in the cage, giving a final hiss before discovering the peanut butter and bird seed. Only then, did he plop down and start eating.
“Good God,” I groaned as I carried the heavy cage out to the squad car.
“All in a day’s work, boss,” Warren said, grinning.
Terry smiled and slid her sunglasses on. “Good job, Sheriff. Catching your first raccoon isn’t always that easy.”
“Thatwas easy?” I hitched my thumb over my shoulder.
Terry snorted as she exchanged a glance with Warren. “Just you wait,” she muttered. “A few weeks ago, we had to get a deer out from an entangled wire fence.”
“And here I thought all those murders and bar fights in New York were a challenge.”
I had to admit… it was the first time all day that I hadn’t been completely preoccupied with my concern about Harper. I felt my pockets for my phone, realizing that in the rush to get in there, I’d left it on the passenger seat of my squad car.
Reaching back, I clamped a hand around the back of my neck and massaged my aching muscles. “How long until animal control comes to take this little dude away.”
“They’ll probably be here soon. Ten minutes or so, I’d guess.”
I checked my watch. It was almost six… I was technically supposed to be done at five-thirty today.
“If you’ve got somewhere to be, Terry and I can wait here with the little rascal,” Warren said.
“No,” I answered quickly. “You already covered for me Sunday night.” I already felt bad enough about how much Warren had been covering for me, lately. The least I could do was make up that time now. “You take off. I’ll wait with Terry until Ben comes in for his shift.”
“Oh, I already called Ben,” Terry said. “He’s stationed on the corner of Main and Chestnut with the speed gun.”
“He is?” I asked. “But he’s not scheduled to start his shift until six-thirty.”
Warren shrugged. “Seemed like you maybe needed some extra time today to handle things with your daughter. Word around town is your ex showed up this morning … pregnant. So we all took an extra thirty minutes.”
“Though, truly,” Terry added, “Ben would have come in today and covered your shift entirely if you’d have just asked.”
I blinked, shocked at what I was hearing. “How do… how do you know I needed to handle things with my daughter? And my ex…”
“Sheriff,” Warren said, dropping a heavy palm to my shoulder. “One of the best and worst things about living in a small town is how much everyone talks. Neighbors watch with binoculars. Joggers hear shouting and tell their barista on the way to work.”
