Kerry Longwood was nearly overwhelmed by an impending sense of doom as he stared at the short, squat brick building that was home to the Callahan County Sheriff's Department. A tarnished CCSD badge sat in his left hand like a lead weight.
“I reckon it’s official. We get two weeks to prove ourselves, huh?” Ian McIntyre leaned against the side of his battered S10 pickup truck and studied his own dull, second-hand sheriff's deputy's badge. He was rubbing at it with the hem of a Breedlove Automotive t-shirt in an attempt to knock some of the rust off.
“Two weeks.” Kerry glanced down at his cell phone to check the time. He wondered why he continued to pay the phone bill. No one had called Kerry in weeks.
“I bet you ain't nervous.” Ian raked his fingers through his strawberry blonde hair and shrugged his slim shoulders. “You're way better qualified for this job than I am. You've got a bunch of degrees, right?”
Kerry looked up at Ian in surprise. He hadn't expected the Sheriff's favorite job candidate to acknowledge his own credentials. “I have a bachelor’s degree in Criminology and a master’s in Criminal Law. I've passed all the state police certifications as well as basic firefighter and EMT courses. If I were anywhere but Callahan County, the certificates might be worth more than the paper they're printed on.”
“What do you mean?” Ian looked baffled.
“I mean that it's total bullshit that the Sheriff has put us both on a two-week trial period. I've busted my butt educating myself to become a law enforcement officer. What qualifications do you have?”
“All I have is the basic law enforcement certificate from Callahan County Community College.” Ian stared at his badge regretfully.
“And yet, Sheriff Chasson considers us equal candidates for this job?” Kerry could hear the bitter resignation in his own voice. “I was halfway through law school when I had to move back to Possum Creek.”
“Yeah. I'd heard that. I'm sorry about your Dad.” Ian kicked at the gravel in the parking lot. His scuffed, battered boots created a sharp contrast to Kerry's own stiff, shiny loafers.
“Don't be,” Kerry said. “He was so drunk he probably never saw the bridge that killed him.”
“Still. He was your Dad. My Dad died when I was 15. I still miss him.” Ian's sympathy appeared to be genuine but Kerry didn't want his competition's sympathy. “You moved back to take care of your Mom, didn't you?”
“Didn't have a choice,” Kerry admitted. “Mom has been bedridden since I was eight. We tried to put her in a nursing home but she screamed until her throat bled every time her sedatives wore off. The psychiatrist says she's developed a phobia about leaving the house.”
“That's too bad.” Ian probably meant it. Kerry's return to Possum Creek meant Ian didn't stand a prayer of hanging on to the badge he was holding.
“It’s life.” Kerry frowned down at the tassels on his loafers and fought the urge to tell Ian to go away. He didn't want to cause unnecessary hard feelings. Ian was the only member of the CCSD who treated him like a human being. He was going to have to work with Ian until the trial period ended and the Sheriff was left with no choice except to hire him. Kerry was, without question, the best qualified candidate for the single open deputy position.
“I really need this job.” Ian rubbed his face with the palms of his hands. “I've been bagging groceries down at the Save 'N Shop since graduation.”
“Bagging groceries?” Kerry clenched his badge more tightly in his hand.
“Yeah. It was Frank's – Sheriff Chasson's idea for me to take the classes to become a deputy.” Ian shrugged. “He didn't know that you would be moving back to town right at the same time as the position finally opened up.”
“I was surprised when I saw it advertised.” Kerry already suspected Sheriff Chasson had promised Ian the job well before the legally required advertisement had been published in the classifieds.
If Sheriff Chasson had been able to get away with chucking Kerry's application in the trash can and hiring Ian, he would have. Kerry had politely informed the Sheriff that he knew state law required the most qualified candidate for a public service job to be hired.
The Sheriff had responded by hiring both Kerry and Ian on with the department for a two-week trial period. Whichever one of them proved to be the better deputy would be hired on full time.
Kerry knew the Sheriff had meant it when he'd told him he'd be watching his every minute on the clock. Not that Kerry was too worried. He hadn't gone to all those classes for nothing. Kerry was confident that Ian's time in uniform was going to make for a very short two weeks. Especially considering that his competition had spent the last two or three years bagging groceries.
“Not that it’s any of my business, but why do you want this job?” Ian startled Kerry with the question.
“I need something to keep me busy while I'm stuck in Callahan County.” Kerry stared at the bumper on his car. Applying for the job with the Callahan County Sheriff’s Department had been Kerry's last ditch effort to keep from sinking fully into the bleak depression that had been overwhelming him since he'd left law school. Not that he thought working day-in and day-out with the same backwoods boys he'd fled Callahan County to get away from was going to be all that enjoyable of an experience. He just felt an overwhelming urge to be doing something with his life.
“Oh,” Ian frowned.
“Besides, too many innocent people around here get cheated when they deserve justice,” Kerry said. “No offense, but this is a small town. If you're not from around here, the law around here doesn't care about you.”
“What do you mean?” Ian appeared genuinely puzzled.
Kerry closed his eyes as the familiar memory of a laughing 13-year-old-girl with dark hair and darker eyes sprung into his mind. He swallowed regretfully and pushed Casey's cheerful face out of his mind so he could focus on Ian. “I'm talking about the kids who get beat up and bullied every day after school. The families who lose everything they care about because they make the wrong person mad. I'm talking about the rapes that don't get prosecuted because the victim is from a bad family and the rapist is from a good one.”
“You think that kind of stuff happens a lot around here?”
Casey's face flashed before Kerry's eyes again. “Do you remember a girl named Casey Black?”
Ian, still leaning against his truck, blanched. “Didn't she go missing a long time ago?”
“Sheriff Chasson decided she ran away.” Kerry couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. “Last time anyone saw her she was going into the woods behind David Breedlove's house.”
“Oh,” Ian frowned at Kerry as he fingered the hem on his t-shirt again. A t-shirt that was advertising David Breedlove's mechanic shop. “David didn't do nothing to Casey. Those were just rumors when people said he'd hurt her. I know him better than that. David wouldn't hurt no one.”
“David Breedlove is a dangerous and cruel son-of-a-bitch.” Kerry held his badge up in the air. “I've spent every waking minute since high school studying the law. Now that I'm back here, I'm going to put what I've learned to good use. I'm here for justice. Getting justice for Casey is the first thing I aim to do.”
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