Page 104 of Begin Again
“Under arrest?” Wilson’s voice booms through the office. “I’m the Sheriff of Puck—”
“Save it for the jury,” the shorter one says.
“Get the hell off me,” Wilson says when they reach for him. “What are the charges? You can’t—”
“You wanna go there, Rhett?” The same one says with a cocked brow.
“Yes! You have no right to come in and—”
The taller one begins rattling off a list of offenses and looks bored as he does so. “Conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, possession and trafficking of drugs, conspiracy to commit murder, obstruction of justice, extortion, bribery, and tampering with evidence.”
Wilson struggles against the two men when they turn him around and push him against the wall. One finally pulls the sheriff’s hands behind his back, and the other reads his rights as they drag him out the door.
“That went better than expected,” Beau says, shaking hands with Warren.
“You knew what was happening?” I turn around so fast that I think I give myself whiplash.
Beau lifts his phone. “We’ve been in contact with a few guys on the outside.”
“I already had two guys on their way out to Bezer this morning,” Sergeant Warren says. “I wanted them to sit down with Joseph and Sloan and find out what they knew. They were right outside of town when Nick said he recognized Rhett, so I put a word out to them to get their asses in gear. They said Sloan was tough to crack, but Joseph provided the names of the men who attacked Nick and confirmed Rhett knows ’em.He confirmed a lot of what Nick just said in his statement. Commissioner gave the green light to take Rhett into custody and the signed warrant came right on time.” He lifts his phone. “We’ve put a BOLO out for the other two.”
“Cooper Hayes and Dakota,” Nick says.
“Dakota Thompson, yes.” Sergeant Warren stands from his seat on the cabinet and cracks his neck. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Davis. I don’t know who you’ve got lookin’ out for you, but you got lucky. We’ve been after those boys for a while, but couldn’t get anything to stick. Now, I think we know why.” He reaches over me to shake Nick’s hand before squeezing my shoulder. “Beau, I’ll be in touch,” Warren says, waving over his shoulder. He lifts his phone to his ear as he leaves.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but that’s enough excitement for the next ten years,” Beau says when Sergeant Warren is gone. He scrubs a hand down his face and lifts his feet onto the corner of his desk.
I squeeze Nick’s thigh. “Are you ready to go home?”
“Please.” Nick sighs, wiping his palms on his thighs before standing.
“I’ll be out in a minute, okay? I need to talk to Beau.”
Nick looks between us before he holds his gaze on Beau. Admittedly, I’m a little scared of whatever he might say. “Thank you…For not giving up and keeping her out of trouble.”
“It wasn’t easy,” Beau says, his feet falling from his desk.
“No, I’d expect not.” After a small laugh, Nick gnaws on his bottom lip and looks back to me. “Had something happened to her—”
“We’re just glad you’re home.”
My husband looks at the sheriff, who offers him a genuine smile. Nick nods once before he kisses me and follows Max out of the office.
When I turn back to Beau, he’s already on the other side of his desk. With his hands on his hips, he stands barely a foot from me but doesn’t come any closer. “Does this mean I get to keep my job?”
“I suppose it does.” I laugh and take a small step forward, happy when he doesn’t move away. “Thank you, Beau. For everything.”
“Happy to be of service.”
A silence falls between us because neither of us knows what to say. There is so much left unsaid, but now that Nick is back…None of it matters, not anymore.
“Nina—”
“I should go,” I say, because I have to. There is no more space for conversation outside of Beau Turner, Sheriff of Spruce County, and Davina Villa, resident of his jurisdiction.
“Right.” Beau nods, taking a step back. “Yeah, you’re right.”
I close the gap between us, pulling him into a tight embrace, and his arms wind around me. He squeezes me and inhales before I feel his lips on my forehead.
