Imperfect Justice (14 page)

But his proposal had set off so many other warning bells inside of her. He wanted them to be a family but what if she didn’t know how? She didn’t want to screw this up but she only knew how mother and daughter related to one another. She’d never seen anything else except on television. And she was sure that wasn’t real or anything she might want to emulate.

But Jared knew all about being part of a family. From what she could see, the Monroe family might have its issues but they were close. She’d never fit into their world. She was Misty Foster, daughter of the town harlot and Jared was practically local royalty. It would never in a million years work.

Sleepy after a long day, Misty set the cup on the end table and let her eyelids drift shut. She was too tired to make any decisions today but tomorrow she had some real thinking to do.

“Let’s call this meeting to order.” Tanner Marks, head lawman in Springwood and Chris’s father, pounded on the rickety wooden table, scarred and worn from years of abuse. It was Sunday morning and Jared and his seven sheriff friends were sitting in the roadhouse as they had every month for the last five years or so.

Wait. Make that six friends.

“Where’s Reed?” Jared asked. The amiable lawman wasn’t sitting in his usual chair near the window.

“Illinois with Kaylee,” Logan Wright replied, popping open a soda and sliding more cans down the table. “She’s got business she needs to deal with and he didn’t even burn half of his accrued vacation time when he was there this fall. The mayor was happy to give him a week off.”

“Actually I’m surprised to see you here,” Evan Davis observed. “Have the twins been letting you and Ava get any sleep at all?”

Logan’s wife Ava had given birth to a boy and a girl the last week of December. Now two months old, they were only sleeping four hours at a stretch last Jared had heard about them.

“Brianna and Colt are doing fine, and yes, they are letting us get a little sleep. Luckily Ava’s mom has been lending a hand too.”

“They grow up fast,” Seth Reilly warned with a chuckle. “Little Ben is starting to talk back to me. His favorite word? No. He likes to throw things too if we don’t listen the first time.”

“Then I’d make sure I’d listen,” Griffin Sawyer laughed before munching on a pretzel with what appeared to be more enthusiasm than normal. His fiancé Jazz had both of them on a clean diet or something like that from what Jared had heard. He made a mental note to look that up now that he had a pregnant woman to look after.

A part of him wanted to shout the news from the top of the building. These were his best friends in all the world and they would be happy for him. But he held back, cautious as always. He hadn’t even told his family yet or talked to Misty about how to make the announcement.

“New business?” Tanner smoothly cut in, getting them back on the job.

Jared raised his hand and told them all about Boyd Hicks and the bogus callouts they’d been receiving.

“I heard about the SUV catching on fire of course from Chris. Have you had any luck talking to Hicks or his brother?” Tanner queried from the head of the table.

“They seem to be out every time we show up, which is quite convenient. For them. I’m getting damn impatient.”

“I think I can help you.” Dare Turner had been sitting quietly back in the corner with the usual scowl across his face. The man never seemed happy, although no one could figure out what he was mad about. Maybe just life in general. He had issues at home, that much Jared knew, including a sickly father and a little sister under eighteen.

“You’d have my gratitude if you can,” declared Jared. “I need to keep this situation from getting worse.”

Dare leaned forward, his fingers laced together. “Dale Hicks is dating a girl in my town. In fact, he’s there most days and evenings. If you’re wondering how I know, he’s already had a run in with law enforcement. He likes to race his car up and down the streets at twice the legal limit and then pick fights in the local watering hole.”

“Sounds charming,” Griffin said grimly. “A family of career criminals. Nice.”

“What they need is a cell for two from the sound of it. I think our towns would be safer with the Hicks family off the streets.” Tanner tossed his empty can in the trash behind the counter.

“You’re okay with me questioning Dale?” Jared asked, cracking open another soda.

“I’m fine with it but I’d like to be there.” Dare had his cell out and was tapping away. “If you have time we can go right after this meeting. I’ll have one of my deputies drive by and make sure Dale’s truck is there before we go.”

Jared was finally going to get to talk to Dale and hopefully make some progress on this case. He was sick and tired of spinning his wheels and getting nowhere.

The rest of the meeting was uneventful. Evan seemed a little out of sorts but everyone knew he was still getting used to being a small town law officer after working for the Marshal Service. In the meantime they’d all be there to help him make the transition.

“Ready?” Dare asked him as they stood in the parking lot after the meeting broke up. “You can follow me if you like.”

“Sounds good. How do you want to play this? I don’t think Hicks is going to be all that happy to see me.”

Dare almost smiled. Almost. “He ain’t going to be giddy as a schoolgirl to see me either. I’ve already busted his ass for public intoxication this week. I’m guessing he’ll spit on our shoes and tell us to go fuck ourselves.”

Jared loved a challenge. “No one has said that to me since last night, so that’s all good. Here’s hoping I can be charming and persuasive.”

Dare swung into the cab of his truck. “You do whatever you want. I think bad cop comes more naturally to me though.”

Jared couldn’t argue with the man.

Chapter Eleven

D
ale didn’t bother to stop and tell Jared and Dare to fuck themselves. When they’d knocked on the front door of the tired rundown house, a woman with stringy brown hair and dark circles under her eyes had answered the door.

Before they could even get a word in she was already speaking. “Dale ain’t here. I don’t know where he is.”

Jared knew it wasn’t the truth from the way her gaze darted all around and her defensive posture. He walked to the end of the porch and peered around to the back of the house. This wasn’t his first day on the job but people always seemed to think cops were stupid. Today was no exception. Dale Hicks had exited the house through a back entrance and was now running across a snowy field on foot.

Well, shit. Why did they always run? And on slippery snow too.

“He’s running, Dare.”

He didn’t look back to see if the lawman was following him. Jared leaped over the railing and down to the snow covered ground below before taking off after Dale. It was times like this he was glad he kept in shape, otherwise he’d be coughing up a lung. The icy cold air made it painful to even draw breath. To complicate matters he had to lift his knees high to be able to navigate the deep snow drifts without falling on his ass.

Clearly Dale wasn’t as vigilant about his fitness as Jared was able to close the distance between them. When he was about two feet away he leaped into the air and came down on the fleeing man’s back, both of them landing in the cold, wet snow. Dare must have been on Jared’s heels because he was right there kneeling on the cold ground, helping subdue Dale.

“Why’d you run?” Dare asked, turning the red faced Dale over and pulling him to his feet.

“Because I saw the fucking cops,” he spat out. “Don’t need no other reason.”

Dare marched Hicks through the snow back toward the house with Jared on the other side. When they arrived the woman rushed outside and fussed over Dale while giving Jared and Dare the evil eye. All four of them went into the living room and settled into chairs. Jared was glad to be out of the cold, his clothes damp and chilly against his skin.

“This is Sheriff Jared Monroe of Fielding.” Dare jerked his thumb in Jared’s direction. “He’d like to talk to you and ask a few questions.”

Dale’s expression turned contemptuous. “We’ve met. And I ain’t got shit to say to him or you. Angie, get me a beer.”

It was true they had met previously and Dale hadn’t been any different then he was today. Jared hadn’t expected it either. He knew dealing with Boyd’s brother was going to be a pain in the rear.

“Relax, I’m not here about you. Not this time anyway. I’m here about Boyd. Where is he hanging out these days?”

Dale’s thin lips turned up into a half-smile. “Why do you think I know?”

Angie picked up a cigarette from a pack on the table. “You don’t have to tell him anything, Dale. Tell him to go to hell.”

Charming wife. Or girlfriend. She was a real gangster’s moll wanna-be.

“Shut up,” Dale growled, barely casting a glance in her direction. “Boyd’s around. That’s all I know. He doesn’t tell me everything. Why don’t you ask Lindsey?”

This was interesting. Why did Dale think Lindsey had seen Boyd?

“We did ask her. She says she hasn’t seen him since he was sentenced. Is that the truth? Has he seen Lindsey since he got out?” Jared asked, closely watching Dale’s body language for any tells.

The man shrugged carelessly. “I dunno. He’s got a new girlfriend now but that don’t mean he hasn’t seen Lindsey. They were married.”

“So you’re saying Lindsey’s not telling the truth?”

“If you’re asking if she’s a damn liar the answer is yes,” Angie spat, her thin features contemptuous. “Always acting like she’s better than everyone else.”

“Shut up and get me a goddamn beer,” Dale shouted at the brunette who slunk toward the kitchen.

“Is Lindsey lying?” Jared asked again.

“If she says she hasn’t seen him then she hasn’t, I suppose. You’re the suspicious type. Boyd’s around—he just don’t like cops.”

When it came to keeping peace in his town, Jared was more than suspicious.

“So you have seen him? When?”

“Shit, I don’t know.” Dale moved restlessly on the couch. “Is he in trouble or something?”

“Or something,” Jared replied, careful to keep his expression neutral. “We just need to talk to him.”

Dale pulled the half-smoked cigarette from Angie’s mouth when she sat back down on the couch, two beers in hand, and took a long drag. The woman scrambled for another from the pack. “Then call his probation officer. Isn’t that how you cops are supposed to communicate with us former convicts?”

“I did. He’s lost track of Boyd as well. Seems like your brother is flying under the radar. It could get him right back in the slammer if he’s not careful.”

Dale threw back his head and laughed, dropping the cigarette into an overflowing ashtray. “Boyd’s never been known for being careful or smart, Sheriff. Doubt he’d start now.”

Jesus, was Dale the brains in the family?

“So how can I find this girlfriend of Boyd’s?”

“She’s a waitress at some pancake house outside of Springwood. Her name’s Beatrice or Bethany…hell, it’s something with a B anyway. That’s all I know. Now are we done here because I’m done talkin’.”

“That depends,” Dare growled from the corner of the room where he’d been silently observing. “If I call your probation officer what will he say? Have you been checking in? If he asks me to search these premises will I find anything illegal?”

“Go right ahead,” Dale invited. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”

Dare didn’t take Dale up on the offer so Jared and the other sheriff took their leave and headed back out to their trucks. They paused by Jared’s driver’s door and Dare glanced at the house behind him.

“So what do you think?”

“I think that something’s up. Normally Dale would rather shoot me than tell me anything about Boyd. So why did he give up the girlfriend so easily?”

“Maybe it’s a wild goose chase,” Dare suggested. “Something to keep you busy elsewhere while he and Boyd go off and do something illegal and out of sight.”

“It’s possible,” Jared conceded. “Although I wouldn’t say Dale has ever been a quick thinker. Whatever he said here today is something he’s been thinking about for a long time. He didn’t make her up off the cuff.”

“So you’re going to try and find this Beatrice-Bethany?”