An unsettled feeling sinks into the pit of my stomach. It is as if something big is about to happen. Maybe it’s because it’s been so long since we’ve had a major problem in town. Or because I haven’t been able to get Vanessa out of my head. For nearly three years I’ve check-in on her without her being aware of it. I thought it was just being her protector, but three months ago everything changed when I stepped into Mack and Wrench’s home right after Mack had gotten off the phone with her friend.
“Hey, Law, so do you remember that girl I mentioned last week the one you didn’t remember at least not by name from the incident with me back in the day?”
“Yeah. She’s finally got a date.” The color drains from my face. I’d been checking up on her and never once had she shown any interest in dating. All her social media, her medical records, even her newly secret publishing career gave any hints to a damn boyfriend.
“Really? That’s interesting.”
“It’s good. She needs to move on after that trauma of that day. This is huge and I’m so happy for her.” I’m about to kill this little prick who thinks he could just take her out. Who does he think he is? Does he think he deserves such a beautiful, gentle, and talented woman like Vanessa?
I excused myself and made a plan to follow her for the next week. As the date goes south, I’m there and ready to crush the fucker who I’ll deal with later.
That was months ago and hadn’t approached her again. What was I going to say? That I’ve been secretly keeping up with your life for nearly three years and I’m obsessed. I swear I wasn’t a sick pervert at first and that I only started beating off to thoughts of her naked body under me when she became legal.
“Sheriff Lawrence, we have a disturbance on Main and Third,” my dispatcher says, shaking me out of my thoughts and answering my disquiet for me.
“Got it. I’m on my way.” The town has been pretty quiet over the past year with some cartels moving out of our area and no more damn crazies gunning for the women that belong to the Riders. I flip on my sirens and lights, speeding through the main road leading to the scene of the incident.
Still, that doesn’t mean we’ve slacked on security measures. In fact, given everything that has transpired, we’ve only enhanced the safety measures, including hiring more officers like Ghost, who is my undersheriff.
I’m only five minutes from that location. With now over ten thousand residents living in and around Steeleville town limits, it’s surprising that we haven’t seen a major uptick in crimes. Occasionally we get a couple of drunken fights at a cookout or at the bar, but daily, the offenses have been minor.
Most days, our staff sit around the station with nothing to do, causing me to send them on patrols. Today it’s my turn to take this quarter of town while my other deputies on duty patrol the others and the station. It’s midmorning and not the usual time for shit to start, sending my adrenaline pumping.
When I arrive at the corner of Main and Third, I have a small crowd gathered outside the bookstore, of all places. Did people fight over the last copy of a book? Shit, I hope to hell nothing happened to Sophia.
Immediately I spot Mick, Morgan, and Jackson standing around, not stopping whatever the fuck is happening, which surprises me, given their skills. It also must mean Sophia is safe or Doc is destroying someone.
My wailing siren and screeching tires cause the crowd to part like the Red Sea, revealing the action in front of me. There is definitely a disturbance at the scene; it’s in my chest, beating out of control, and it’s nothing I could have imagined.
Standing on the corner is a woman in a light cotton sweater that hangs over one shoulder, revealing her pink bra strap, and in a pair of black leggings fitted perfectly to her flexed form as she presses one foot on the man’s balls and another on his throat, riding the guy like a fucking surfboard.
I pull up and jump out of my vehicle, walking over to them. “Ma’am, you need to get off the man before you kill him,” I inform her.
She looks up at me with a glare, and I’ve never seen a more beautiful woman. Fiery blue eyes darkened with rage, and plump pale pink lips parted when she saw the cops have arrived.
What the hell is she doing here? I stare at her wondering why she’s in the middle of Steeleville, body surfing some piece of shit.
“Man, you’re taking away the fun,” Morgan huffs.