Page 3 of Ruthless Malice

I’ve seen the biker before around town, but I haven’t thought too much of him. You see one biker in Serenity, you’ve seen them all. All of them have these scary, evil eyes. Like this one they bring in today. He’s pissed when they throw him in the slammer. He’s talking up a storm too.

“Wanna kiss?” He puckers up his lips to Sheriff Hunter, but he’s trying to elbow him off at the same time. “You won’t get away with this shit, but you must wanna kiss me because you’re all over me.”

“Shut the fuck up. You talk too damn much. Now if you’re willing to give me information about the criminal activity at your club, then that’s a different ball game.” Sheriff Hunter pushes him forward through the automated barrier.

“The only crime is your fucking dick breath.” I cringe instantly. That’s not going to work out.Crack!I watch Sheriff Hunter love tap the biker on the back of the skull. He just laughs out loud. He’s got an emblem on the back of his jacket that I recognize, a set of large wings with a skull.Ah, it’s one of the Dark Angels.Of course the Sheriff wants to throw him in. Anger simmers in my veins because I know what this is about. Sheriff Hunter is a hypocrite. He’s a corrupt piece of shit.

But I’m just the dispatcher, so what the fuck do I know?

I tug my blonde hair up into a ponytail and get ready to settle in for a long night on calls. Most of the time it’s domestic violence disputes and petty shit, but occasionally it’s exciting. I figure with the Sheriff having taken three of the boys out, it must have been something special.

I glance up when Sheriff Hunter comes in with his next victim. “Hey, Sheriff,” I mumble over my coffee. He’s dicking me down with his eyes. Standard practice in the office, but I’m damn good at my job and I’m not about to let some oversexed heathen outsmart me.

“Hey Lily. We got ourselves a live one. Unregistered firearm.” He sticks his tongue out and I frown.

“That’s an arrest?” I say with a high pitch. “We don’t have any laws against that concealed carry. Isn’t it a confiscation in Serenity?” I narrow my hazel eyes at him.

You’ve performed an illegal arrest, you asshole.

“Shut up Lily, and do your goddamn job. Stay out of it,” he grits, and I take the minor win. Got to get them where you can. Sheriff Hunter treats me only slightly better than most men. It’s not like I’m not used to it. To be abused and spoken to like I’m trash was an everyday occurrence back when I was younger.

“Lily, how many times have I told you the steak I want, and these potatoes are dry as fuck. You can’t even cook. I hope you don’t expect to find a man like this.”

“Dad, you told me medium rare, so that’s what I cooked. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Are you sassing back to me, girl? The fuck you are! I’m an officer of the law and you’re going to cook this shit again. I’m throwing it in the trash. Start over. That will teach you to talk to me like that. You don’t pay a goddamn bill in this house.”

I doodle aimlessly on the corner of a dispatch report as I time travel back to part of the worst years of my life. Once my father started on his drunken angry rants, it was best I made myself scarce.

I wish I could control when the memories flood in, but I can’t.

An external distraction did the trick as the guy, being arrested with his set of piercing eyes, winks at me in appreciation. I’m just asking and once again I’m being slaughtered for it. Nothing new. It must be a cop thing to abuse those closest to you. I’d grown used to it over the years. My father, Gene, was a beast.

“Yeah Lily, do your job,” Dave issues tapping the desk.

“What are you, a parrot, Dave?” I say back to him. I hate the guy. He is a complete slob, yet he thinks he stands a chance with me. The terrible exchange of when he asked me out in the first week of the job still freaks me out. He’d put his hands on his womanly hips and jutted out his tubby stomach.

“I’m Dave, and I’m one of the patrol officers,” he’d said, leering at me. “Welcome to the Serenity Police Department. I think we should have a beer this Friday as a welcome treat. What do you think?”

I’d smiled politely at his greasy tactics, feeling immediately uneasy. “I think I’m going to skip the drinks. I’ve got to get home anyway. I have dogs to feed.”As far as he was concerned, I had many animals.

Shuddering, I put my headset back on and got back to work.

***

Groundhog day rolls around, and I’m set for another day in cop hell, but a lean, cut older man with a rugged face like the jagged ridges of Serenity’s mountains commanding space in the reception area catches my eye.

I put down my coffee mug slowly at my nearest colleague’s empty table as he approaches the desk. I’ve just organized bail documentation for Jansen. He must be a Dark Angel coming to sign him out. He’s wearing a leather jacket that looks like it’s well-worn. It’s the same cut as the guy that Sheriff Hunter had locked up in the holding cell.

His scent is an explicit mix of Marlboro cigarettes and intense, bone-crunching danger. It’s in the cut of his walk and the heart of his eyes. He’s got a scraggly beard, mustache, and a full head of salt and pepper hair. A streak of lightning jolts through my veins and those eyes cut through me like glass. At least they’re not focused on my tits for once, so there’s that.

“Hi, can I help you?” I ask him politely, wanting to hear his voice. His hard glassy eyes automatically shift in my direction, accompanied by a warm smile. If I didn’t know he was a biker, he could have easily passed for a pirate. There’s experience, sunken eye sockets, and battle scars I can see on his neck. These features don’t put me off, though; they only make him more intriguing. He looks like he has a million stories to tell.

“Yes, I’m coming to pick up my boy, Jackson,” he stated, a heavy gravel to his voice.

“Ah, okay. I have his file. Jackson Jenson, is that right?”

“Yep, exactly right.” His voice is sexy with its roughness, but there’s an edge of warmth to it too. He reminds me a lot of my grandfather, I’ve decided, and it’s uncanny in a lot of ways. Tough on the exterior, but a crumbly cookie on the inside.

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