“But I’m quicker. That’s what happens when you have to do your job with forty-five pounds of gear on your back. That desk you’re riding has made you lazy.”
“I do not ride a desk,” I said through gritted teeth.
Calder inclined his head to a stack of paper on my desk. “What’s that? Looks like a whole lot of paperwork to me.”
“It’s called being the boss. It comes with strings.”
“Sure, but just remember what the nail in your coffin was when you try to take a swing at me.”
I had half a mind to do it simply to prove Calder wrong. “Get out of my office before I throw this coffee at you.”
He chuckled but pushed to his feet. “I have to get to work anyway.”
“Enjoy riding that pole.”
“Always do, desk jockey.”
Just as Calder disappeared, Deputy Young stepped into my office with an amused smile on her face. “Did he just call you a desk jockey?”
“Yes,” I growled. “He’s an ass.”
“He’s a firefighter. They’re all pompous.”
“You’re not wrong there. What can I do for you, Young?”
Her feet shuffled as she gripped the back of the chair Calder had vacated. “I, uh, saw something yesterday I thought you might want to know about.”
“Okay…”
“I was picking up lunch for my mom and me from Spoons, and I saw Everly Kemper.”
Young stopped talking. I waited for a moment, but she didn’t say anything else. “She does live here now. You’ll probably see her in town.”
“I know. It’s just… It looked like her brother was threatening her. I was about to step in and see if she needed help when her uncle called Ian off. I’ve got a bad feeling about those guys, boss.”
The coffee in my gut soured. I did, too. And Everly hadn’t said a single word when I showed up at the cabin yesterday afternoon. “He touch her?”
“He knocked into her when he walked away. She stood her ground, didn’t let him see her scared. But I saw her shaking a bit when she walked to her car.”
I bit back a slew of curses. I didn’t want to feel this pull to make sure Everly was okay. I tried to justify in my mind that it was simply because this was my job—to protect the citizens of this county. But I worried it was more.
11
Everly
I leaned on the fence and pulled. With a groan, it gave way in an almost comical domino effect. Post after post, and board after board went down. That answered whether any part of the fence line was salvageable. It looked like an entire new one was on my list. I stepped on a rail with my boot. The wood itself seemed sturdy. That meant I might be able to reuse the materials, but it also meant I’d have to assess each piece.
The sound of an engine caught on the breeze, and I turned to see an old pickup truck cresting the hill. I stiffened, my hand going to the holster at my back and resting there. If my brother thought he’d catch me unaware, he had another thing coming.
But it wasn’t Ian who climbed out of the truck. It was a face as familiar as his, but one that had matured over the years. The rest of him had, too, broad shoulders and a leanly muscled form. I froze in place, my body warring with itself. Part of me wanting to run to Ben and engulf him in a hug. The other part felt the need to protect myself from whatever might be coming my way.
“Hey, Evie.”
His voice was different, yet the same. And it had tears burning the backs of my eyes. “Hey, Ben.”
“Ian said you were back.”
I did my best not to stiffen at my brother’s name. “I’m sure he had lots to say about that.”