Her resolve lasted one hot minute before doubt creeped in, undermining her determination.
“My lawyer won’t let that happen.”
“Diamond is good, but she ain’t that good. What you need is a fucking miracle,” he ridiculed her.
Unable to take it any longer, Allana spun to face him. “Unless you have one handy, please leave me alone,” she pleaded, unableto keep the fear at bay any longer. Why had she allowed herself to get drawn into talking to him? She needed her medication. It put her in a funky headspace where she didn’t want to talk.
His discerning gaze bore directly into hers. “I wouldn’t say handy”—straightening from the bars, he pulled his pants up his skinny frame—“but I been known to make them happen when someone needs one.”
“Is this where you tell me you’ll help me out if I do a little something for you?” Giving him a disgusted glance, she sat back down on the bunk.
“You think I’m wanting something sexual from you?”
She disdainfully gave him a withering look. “Aren’t you?”
The deputy laughed at her. “Sorry, but my sexual favors are spoken for. I’m a married man. I’m lucky to keep the misses satisfied, much less giving it away to anyone else.”
Surprised, she stared at the man who had been a pain in her neck since she had found herself in Treepoint. Men typically didn’t reveal they had trouble keeping their partners satisfied.
“Then, what do you want for thismiracle?”
“There’s no price tag attached.” He shrugged. “I don’t want to be accused of bribery. I have a reputation to maintain in this town. Of course, I don’t even know if I can help you with this miracle,free of charge, unless you start opening that yapper of yours and tell me why that kin of yours has it out for you.”
He wanted her to trust him when she hadn’t even trusted her lawyer with the information?
Alanna couldn’t believe she was even considering talking to him. She needed her medication. If imagining a prisoner who didn’t exist last night hadn’t proven that, considering confiding in a man she frankly couldn’t stand did.
“Why should I?” Rebuffing him with a careless shrug, she plopped back down on the bed to reach for the discarded book.
“Woman, Imma just gonna be plain blunt. The only reason I’m even considering helping you is because I know how it is to want to help a family member out. You’re between a rock and a hard place. It’s no never mind to me what you do. The only reason I’m even thinking about helping you out is from the kindness of my soul.”
Was this the same man who, yesterday, had confiscated the baked potato that had come with her dinner when his had been shorted?
Alanna lifted her eyes from the book. “Deputy Porter, if you want to do something from the kindness of your soul, convince my niece to accept my calls.”
Alanna knew from the gloating look he gave her that he was going to take pleasure in what he was about to tell her.
“I can’t be doing that. Elizabeth doesn’t want to talk to you. The sheriff received the paperwork this morning. Elizabeth is seeking a restraining order, preventing you from trying to contact her or be within a hundred feet of her. Said you’re threatening her.”
Alanna stared at him in shock, fighting back the escalating alarm she had been dealing with since discovering what her niece had become involved in and with whom. Elizabeth had sworn to her that she hadn’t had contact with her mother since she graduated from high school.
Reading her expression, the deputy gave her a smart-aleck snort. “What do you think I’ve been trying to tell you? Your niece is looking out for numero uno. How do you think I know that? Because I’m all about looking out for my own interests. Difference between her and me, though, is I wouldn’t throw my own kin under the bus. You need to wise up before she mows your ass down.”
“You don’t understand. Elizabeth is like my own daughter,” Alanna told him numbly.
“Then you raised her for shit. That’s why my kids mind me, or else,” he huffed out arrogantly.
Alanna felt sorry for any child who had him for a father.
“Your sister know her daughter is a lying bitch?”
Alanna winced at the derogatory way the deputy had referred to her niece.
“Elizabeth is a wonderful person. She’s just …” Alanna pressed her lips together, changing what she had been about to say. “I was trying to help her when that trucker kidnapped me and brought me to Treepoint.”
“Really?” He rolled his eyes at her. “That isn’t the same story she’s been telling everyone else. Of course, her being taped up like a mummy when that trucker found her in the trunk of the car you were sitting in has everyone giving her the benefit of the doubt as to who should be believed. Especially when you’re refusing to explain to your lawyer or the sheriff as to why they should believe you over her.”
“This is just a misunderstanding.” Closing the book, she rose from the bed to walk to where he was standing.