Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
He checked and then emptied it. “Did the owner threaten you with bodily harm?”
I had to be honest. “He did, yes. But I didn’t take it as a real threat.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning you shouldn’t either.” I clarified for him.
“Okay,” he said with a nod as two other officers entered and looked around before turning to their boss. “We’re taking in Bruce and his cousins on animal-cruelty charges and—Viola?” he called out.
The woman in question came out from the back, and only then did I notice that beyond a split lip and a bleeding nose and a bruised face, she was cradling her left arm as well.
“Are you pressing charges?”
She nodded quickly.
“You and Harper have some place to stay tonight?”
She shook her head.
“They’re going to stay with me,” Linda apprised the deputy. “For as long as they need to.”
“Oh no, Linda. I can’t put you and Thad and the boys in danger if—”
“Thad?” Linda scoffed. “My Thad? Letting any of us be put in danger?” She chuckled. “Come on, Vi, think about what you’re saying.”
Viola opened her mouth to argue, thought about it a second, and then closed her mouth.
“Listen,” the deputy began, “Bruce and his cousins aren’t getting out tonight, and Bruce, certainly, is going to prison on parole violations, plus what happened with the dogs.”
Viola nodded quickly.
He looked at Linda. “While I know Thad is a scary man, between his training and those dogs of his, the fact remains that—”
“All our dogs are angels,” Linda said defensively.
“And scary as all hell,” he countered. “But still, if you have any trouble, call the station, you understand?”
She pressed her lips together tightly. “So you’re saying if anyone scales the perimeter fence with the razor wire on top, you’d like us to give you a jingle?”
He groaned loudly as Viola dissolved into tears, and Linda moved quickly to take the younger woman into her arms.
“You should have taken me up on my offer the first time this happened, Vi, but now you’re gonna be just fine until you get back on your feet. That family commune you live on isn’t a good place for you or Harper or your dogs.”
“Auntie Linda,” Harper asked, walking up beside her, “your doggies won’t eat Delilah and Peanut, will they?”
Linda chuckled, cupping the little girl’s bruised cheek gently in her hand. “No, darling, they love other dogs, just not people who trespass on their land.”
Harper nodded, smiling.
“And we have six altogether now. I can’t wait for you to meet them.”
“Good Lord,” the deputy groaned.
Linda shot him the fakest smile I’d ever seen.
He grunted. “Viola, you and Harper both need to go to the hospital. When Tan comes back in after they load up all three of those guys, he’ll take you on over to the Medical Center.”
She shook her head. “Deputy, I don’t have insurance, only Harper does.”
“We’ll take care of it. That’s what victim resources are for.”
Quick nod of her head.
Viola looked over at Dr. Coleman then. “I don’t have the money to—”
“I’ll take care of it,” I said, cutting her off. “Not to worry.”
“Oh, but you’ve done so much already and—”
“It’s fine,” I said in a gentle yet firm tone, trying to soothe her while also conveying that I was not taking no for an answer.
She caught her breath. “You’re sure?”
“I am.”
“Then thank you again.”
“You’re very welcome,” I said softly, smiling at her.
More tears then as her daughter rushed over to me. I wasn’t used to having little kids hug me, but I patted her on the back and assured her nothing bad was going to happen again. “Your uncle Thad will keep all of you safe.”
“Okay,” she whimpered.
When I glanced at Linda, she mouthed a thank-you. I had to wonder if perhaps Thad could come off a bit gruff to a young person. Maybe my vouching for him, after I’d saved Harper’s pets, was a good thing.
It took a bit, getting the three men into the cruisers. I watched as the deputy and his two men, Woosley and Tan, put them in the back of their utility vehicle, all crowded in together. All three, the deputy said, were telling the same story about how I’d attacked them. But since there was security footage from the front of the vet clinic that the deputy collected, there was no talking their way out of being charged.
The deputy stayed with us while his officers left with the men, taking them to the detention center in Seaside, where there were others to assist them.
“So are you the sheriff’s first deputy and the other guys are not deputies?” I asked, trying to get my head around the hierarchy.
“No,” he replied, looking up from the tablet he was typing on and meeting my gaze. “We have a chief of police here in Rune, Daniella Ramirez. She was promoted last year when her predecessor, Gil Brasher, took a job as the chief of police in Seaside.”