Olivier busted into the mayor’s outer office, past the surprised secretary, and blew through the inner office door. Mayor Elliott sat in his plush chair, binoculars in his hands, looking out the window. At the sound of the door smashing open, the mayor fumbled the binoculars and nearly dropped them. He swung around just as Olivier slammed the door behind him.
“What are you doing?” Mayor Elliott shrieked.
“What are you doing with those?” Olivier demanded, gesturing to the binoculars.
Olivier had put a face on today. He couldn’t remember if it was the one he’d been graced with originally, it had been so long since that one had been melted off. The one he wore today was one he never normally used in this town. Dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin. The mayor preferred his cronies to be blonde haired and blue eyed.
Screw that.
The mayor gestured to the sheriff’s office. “Something’s happening over there—”
“Yeah. Your sheriff is dead.”
The mayor blinked. “C-come again?”
“He’s dead. Hit by a truck. Might’ve been burned a little.”
Mayor Elliott’s mouth worked like a fish. “Wh-wha—”
“Thought you’d say that. Hey, Elliott.” Olivier moved closer to the desk, his anger quivering within him. “Who sent that sheriff out there to clean up a body?”
“What? You can’t mean—”
Olivier crashed his fist into the middle of the mayor’s desk. The wood splintered and cracked and the mayor jumped. “Did you tell him to go clean up a body?”
“No, no, I wouldn’t—”
“Liar!” Olivier interrupted. He spun away as he dragged his hands through his hair. “I told you to let them be found!”
“We were going to frame Levi,” the mayor said softly.
Olivier tried to be calm and cool. He tried. But this idiot running this shit town was going to be the death of him. He closed his eyes and counted to ten. Then twenty. When that didn’t work, he gave up. He faced the mayor.
“I got an offer today.”
Mayor Elliott’s eyes lit up. “An offer?”
“Yeah. So the sooner all these losers are gone, the better.”
“With the boys gone, I don’t know how we’ll keep on schedule—”
“Fuck those boys,” Olivier growled. “Your fucking plan to poison those jackasses in those apartments was stupid. Just burn the damn things down.”
“Those boys were family,” the mayor insisted.
Olivier set his jaw. The only mistake Olivier had made in this whole transaction was letting the mayor do anything on his own. That and letting the fuck talk him into taking their time. Allowing those two cousins to manufacture whatever shit those people in the apartments were hooked on was the stupidest idea. But the mayor had gobbled up a lot of land prior to Olivier coming back here. Olivier thought he’d throw him a bone. Biggest mistake ever.
“I have an offer, Elliott. And if you can get more of this town’s shitfest out of here, we’ll sell. You’re down a sheriff. Who’s next in line?”
The mayor’s eyes narrowed. “Probably that detective. But she quit. Two weeks’ notice.”
“Run her out of town.”
“How will we get rid of everyone?” the mayor asked, his fat fingers stroking the crack in his desk.
“Leave it to me,” Olivier insisted. He turned on his heel and out the door. The secretary jumped back when he came out. He glared at her and hissed, which made her fall back into her chair.
Fucking humans.
*****
“Detective! We’re coming in!”
Levi wandered back over to the door while Trish made herself presentable. She had just shrugged into her jacket when Levi snapped his fingers and the door fell open. The two deputies lurched into the room, one falling and the other tripping over the fallen one, which meant both deputies were on the floor flailing. Levi rolled his eyes.
Really, if he, Colton, Henry, and Trish could just get in his truck and get the fuck out of here, that would be great.
“Detective!” one of the deputies called out. He staggered to his feet, losing his balance and jamming his shoulder into the wall. “Are you all right?”
Levi raised a brow at him and glanced over at Trish. “You all right?”
Trish, her hair mildly disheveled, her eyes bright, and her makeup smeared, nodded once. “Yes, I’m fine.”
God, this woman. She was so prim and proper. So black and white with her rules and her laws. None of that had ever appealed to Levi before. But Trish came at him with her rules and her laws and her confidence. He’d never found a woman sexier. She wasn’t afraid of doing the right thing and she sure as hell wasn’t afraid of the things he told her. Well, that wasn’t true. She was terrified. But the confidence she had in herself and in him was inspiring.
Someone having confidence in him was a rare treat.
“Detective, the door slammed shut—”
“We thought this guy was doing something inappropriate—”
“—We couldn’t get in—”
“—He isn’t supposed to be here—”
“Okay, enough,” Trish interjected, raising a hand, palm out. “He had important information about the case.”
All the way on the other side of the board room, Levi still smelled her. Still wanted to pound into her. Maybe later. They’d leave the kid with Henry and fuck each other’s brains out.
One of the deputies sniffed and Levi turned back to him, narrowing his eyes.
But the man pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his nose. “Allergic to dogs,” he explained apologetically.
“Then we’ll go,” Levi told him. “Trish?”
Before she could say anything, Jeannie’s shrill shriek rent the air. Even Levi hurried out into the office and he didn’t give a shit about any of these people. If Colton had put a frog in Jeannie’s desk drawer, he swore he’d read that kid the riot act.
But Colton was kneeling on the floor next to Henry, right where Levi had left him. Jeannie had collapsed in her chair, tears streaming down her face. She made little moaning sounds. The deputies and Trish pushed past him while he went to Colton.
“What happened?”
The kid shrugged his shoulders. “Dunno. The phone rang and—”
By now, Trish had yanked the phone from Jeannie’s trembling hands. She spoke slowly and softly to the person on the other end.
“Yes, yes. We’ll be right there.”
Across the office, Trish met Levi’s eyes and what he saw there made him angry. She was scared. More scared than when he’d told her he was a fallen angel. More scared when she’d found that fucking kidney.
Unconsciously, Levi puffed out his chest and flexed his muscles. Someone wanted to scare his woman? No. Fucking. Way.
Trish reached across Jeannie and hung up the phone. “Jeannie?”
But the woman was inconsolable.
“What happened, Ms. Redding?” one of the deputies asked.
Here Trish glanced at Levi, then at Colton. But Levi wasn’t leaving her. He leaned down and put his hands over Colton’s ears. “That’s all you get,” he growled.
“That was Kelly,” Trish explained softly. “She was in an accident last night.”
“The kid’s mom?” the other deputy asked.
Trish nodded. “She thinks that the guy she was hitching a ride with hit th-the sheriff.”
Levi almost dropped his hands from Colton’s ears. “Are you shitting me?”
Trish looked over, tears in her eyes. “No.”
Levi sprang into motion. Now he did drop his hands from Colton’s ears. “Kid, take Henry and get in the truck.”
“Levi—”
“No arguing, Colton. Do it.”
He didn’t watch to see if Colton listened, but the click of the dog’s nails on the tile confirmed Colton and Henry were on their way out. He moved across the office toward Trish and the detectives.
“Trish, we’ll go check it out. One of you,” he pointed to the deputies. “Take Jeannie home. Then both of you start to clear this town of people. Understand me?”
The deputies stared at him in shock. “What do you mean?” one asked.
“Just what I said. This town needs to be evacuated.”
“Levi, we can’t do that,” Trish began gently. “We’ll need the mayor to go along with the plan—”
“Fuck the mayor,” Levi interrupted, rounding on Trish. “That fucker is up to something and it’s up to us to get these people out of town.”
He stared at Trish, trying to make her understand. He wanted her to know that he had her best interests at heart. This town was whacked, she had to see that. All he wanted was to get the good people out of this town before the bad burned them all down.
“Trish,” he said softly.
He saw the thoughts tumble across her face. God, that face. So sweet and lovely. If he could spare her all of this, he would.
“You’ve got to believe me.”
They had a silent battle of wills across that office. He could see every argument that she wanted to make, but she said nothing. Until finally, she nodded once, almost to herself. Then she leaned over Jeannie, still crying hysterically.
“Jeannie, Pearson is going to take you home, okay?”
“But-but the sheriff…”
“I know. I know. I’m going to go out there and check it out. My friend Levi is going to come with me. You go on now.” She helped Jeannie to her feet and the deputy was right there to take Jeannie’s arm.
“Ms. Redding,” Pearson began.
“Get her home, Deputy,” Trish told him strongly. “Then go door to door and get people evacuated. You start on Jeannie’s side of town and you start on the other,” Trish nodded to the other deputy.
“What should we say?”
Trish thought a moment. “Chemical spill. Tell them to take what they can carry and enough for a few days.”
“You believe this guy?” Pearson asked.
Trish stared stonily at the deputy. “I trust this man with my life. You can’t tell me that something isn’t going on in this town. He and I are going to go face a murderer, you just need to tell people to evacuate for a few days. I’ll gladly trade with you.”
Levi saw the deputy wither in the face of Trish’s irritation and anger. Pearson’s shoulders slumped. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Evacuation goes for the two of you as well,” Trish continued. She pushed them both toward the door, past Levi, and toward the double doors. “Go. Call me if you need me.”
“You won’t need backup?” Pearson asked.
“No,” Trish said swiftly. “I’ll be fine.”
She shoved the three people out the door, Jeannie still softly sobbing, the two deputies arguing. Trish was no nonsense, calm, and confident. When the three Magnolia residents were gone, she shut the door behind them and snicked the lock. She watched as they got in their respective cars and even waved at Colton. Then she turned back to Levi.
Her heels clicked along the floor as she made her way to him. They stood staring at each other for long moments.
Finally, Trish sighed. “I don’t know if I believe you.”
“I know.”
“But I trust you.”
His chest swelled with the thought. “I know. And I won’t let you down.”
She reached out and ran a finger down his bicep and Levi felt a shiver start in his muscle, then work its way down his body.
“Can we pick up a bag from my house?”
“Yeah, we can.”
“And Colton has everything?”
“All our stuff is in the truck.”
“Would you have left me here?”
The question hung between them and Levi was bothered by it. “Do you think I would have?”
She shrugged.
He cupped her face in his hands. “Trish, I’ve never met anyone like you. And I’m not about to leave you behind. Understand?”
She searched his eyes, his face, probably looking for a lie. When she didn’t find it, she nodded and he pulled her close. His kiss was soft and chaste, but heat flickered behind it. When he pulled back, he felt her sway toward him.
“Let’s go check this out. Then we’re gone.”
She nodded again. When she pulled away she was already reaching for her sidearm, checked the clip, then replaced it.
Made Levi the hardest he’d ever been for her.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready.”
*****
Miss Trish and Levi didn’t say much when they got back in the truck. Colton sat in the back seat with Henry, the dog leaning over the seat with sad eyes as he drooled on Levi’s shoulder. Levi pulled out of the sheriff’s parking lot and headed toward Miss Trish’s house. When they passed the turnoff, Colton craned his neck down the street.
“We aren’t going to Miss Trish’s house?” he finally asked.
“Colton,” Trish half turned to face him. “I’m going to need you to do me a favor.”
A little thrill went through him. He always like when Miss Trish asked him to help her. He puffed out his little chest and leaned toward her.
“Miss Trish, I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”
She smiled at him. “It’s going to be really hard…”
“No, I can do it.”
She reached her hand back and he took it. He liked how his skin was darker than hers. It made him feel special. The other people in town didn’t like how dark he was, but Miss Trish always told him that he wouldn’t be Colton if his skin wasn’t dark. So he should love it.
The skin on her thumb was rough when she rubbed along the back of his hand. “Honey, your mom was in an accident.”
Colton felt the fear bubble up inside of him. He always knew his mom would leave him. He knew it. Now he was alone. Sure, Levi said he could move with him to Vegas, but he knew better. CPS would come and take him, they’d done it before. He’d have to go to some horrible house and live with horrible people and go to a horrible school where they thought he was in the normal grade—
“Colton,” Levi interrupted his thoughts. The little boy looked over at Levi, who was watching him in the rear view mirror. “Son, you’ve got to listen to Miss Trish.”
He sucked in a breath and even Henry snuggled down close to him. The big dog put his head in Colton’s lap and just like that, Colton felt better. He took another deep breath and met Miss Trish’s eyes.
“Okay. I’m listening.”
Miss Trish sighed and squeezed his hand. “Honey, your mom was in an accident but she’s okay. She’s not hurt and she’s waiting for us to pick her up. But I need you to stay in the truck when we get there. Your mom might have to go to the hospital.”
“She might not be herself,” Levi added.
Miss Trish gave Levi a dirty look, but she patted Colton’s hand. “Honey, can you stay in the truck for me? No matter what your mom says?”
Colton frowned. “Is something wrong with my mom?”
“Let me and Levi talk to her, okay?” Miss Trish asked.
“She’s my mom, though.”
“I know. It’s just for a couple minutes. Once we say it’s okay, you can come on out of the truck. Until then, you need to stay in here.”
Colton bit his lip. He glanced around and saw them heading out of town. Toward that icky place his mom worked. Finally he met Miss Trish’s eyes. “Yeah, I can do that.”
Miss Trish beamed at him and Colton felt himself flush. His mom always told him to go Miss Trish if he was in trouble. It seemed right that Miss Trish was helping his mom.
Miss Trish patted his hand again and turned to face front. She pulled her phone out and began tapping away. Levi glanced at her, but said nothing. Henry whined, but Colton rubbed his head to quiet him.
The first thing he saw was the big tractor trailer jackknifed on the two lane highway.
“Shit,” Levi breathed.
“Shit,” Colton echoed.
Neither of the adults told him not to swear.
Levi pulled to a complete stop about a hundred yards from the tractor trailer. There were no other cars in sight. Well, except the still smoldering one over near the rock formations.
“Colton,” Levi said sternly.
“Yes, sir?”
“You’re going to stay in the truck, right?”
Just then, a flash of movement caught Colton’s eye. He unhooked his seat belt and leaned forward. Off to the left, sitting on a boulder, was his mom. Crying.
“Colton?” Miss Trish said.
“She’s crying,” he whispered.
“You’re going to stay in the truck, right?” Levi said again.
But the words were buzzing far off in the distance. His mom never cried. The last time was when Grandma died.
He scrambled for the back door, the latch plunging down and his door popping open. He slipped past Henry and even slithered out of Levi’s grasp. His mom was crying. His shoes slipped when he hit the sand and rocks by the side of the road and he ignored Levi and Miss Trish yelling for him to stop.
All he could see was his mom.
She might not be the best mom in the world, but she was his mom. He loved her. She was crying on the side of the road, what looked like blood on the side of her head. He wanted to sink into her arms.
She caught him as he launched himself at her.
“Momma,” he whispered.
“Baby,” she said quietly. She held him close and patted his curly head. “What are you doing here?”
“Miss Trish came to help you.”
His mother’s shoulders became rigid. He leaned back to look at her. She stared over his shoulder to where the crunch of footsteps could be heard.
“Why is he here?”
“Levi wouldn’t let Miss Trish come alone.” Now Colton felt the coldness coming from his mother, the strangeness. “Mom?”
She narrowed her eyes at the two approaching figures, then gave Colton a huge, bright smile. But the smile didn’t reach her eyes. Even when she was high or sick and she smiled at him, she always meant it. Colton tried to scramble backward, but his mother held on.
“I don’t want him here,” she said while gripping his shoulders tightly.
“Mom, you’re hurting me…”
She looked him full in the face, one of her hands now grabbing his chin. “You get him out of here.”
“Mom…”
“Get him out of here,” she said again.
A beetle scrambled out of her hairline and pattered down her face. Colton watched it, horrified. That wasn’t a normal beetle. “Mom.”
“Out!” she gritted between clenched teeth.
The beetle stopped and lifted its torso, its front legs waving. Colton tried to pull away…
The beetle launched itself off his mother’s face and onto Colton’s.
He screamed and screamed.