Pierce Read online

  Pierce understood exactly what he meant. “I hear you,” he said. “I figured we could probably make some rough house renos, if you want to move in tonight, and then we’ll get to work over the next couple weeks to get this place fixed up for you.”

  He watched as Pete’s jawline worked, trying to hold back his emotions.

  Hedi reached over and said, “Hey, Pete, it’s so good to see you.” She opened her arms and gave him a hug.

  Pete clasped his arms around her and just held her tight. “You got a good guy here,” he said. “Make sure you don’t lose him.”

  “He’s not mine to lose,” Hedi said with a laugh. “Why would you think that?”

  “That’s just the way it looks on the outside,” her dad said. “Honestly, I’m delighted you lost the boyfriends you did. They should stay lost too. But I agree. This one’s a keeper.”

  Pierce snorted at that. “I’m glad y’all approve, but we got to get some people back in this house. I’m sure Pete would like to go in and take a look.”

  “He would,” Pete said. “But there’s one other thing I really want to know.”

  Pierce nodded. Pete wondered where Salem was. Only Pierce had no idea where Salem had snuck away to.

  Just then a kerfuffle was heard at the trucks. Jed had somehow managed to get another firearm free and was holding a handgun against a cop’s neck. “You guys are going to let me go,” Jed yelled, anger now replacing the tears from earlier. “No fucking way I’m going to jail for the rest of my life.”

  “Maybe not if you’re dead,” Pierce said.

  Backing up, dragging the cop with him, Jed said, “If you think I won’t kill this guy, you’re wrong.”

  “You might shoot him,” one of the other officers said, “but you’ll get a dozen bullets yourself. You won’t survive.”

  Jed kept backing up toward the barn where his truck was. “Maybe. Or you guys can let me go. I’ll take off out of here, and you’ll never see me again.”

  Pierce didn’t believe that, and he sure as hell wasn’t interested in making a deal with a drunk lunatic. But Pierce caught something out of the corner of his eye and realized another element had joined the fray, looking for a revenge of her own. She hadn’t snuck away. Salem had snuck around. Still caught up in a war not of her making, she’d kept her eye on the enemy, even when the others had relaxed.

  Pierce swore gently under his breath. This wouldn’t be good.

  Pete asked, “What’s the matter?”

  “There’ll be bloodshed,” Pierce said. “I just don’t know how severe it’ll be.”

  “It’s already pretty damn bad,” Hedi said. “So, if you’ve got a way to save that cop, I don’t really give a shit about Jed.”

  Pierce nodded. “The trouble is, somebody has already got her own plan of action. On a target she can’t see past.”

  Pete’s breath sucked in hard. “Salem? Are you talking about Salem?”

  “I think so,” Pierce said. He bolted off to the side.

  Jed roared, “Get your ass back here.”

  Jed fired in Pierce’s direction, but Pierce was already out of range and hiding behind the closest vehicle. Where he was, he could see Salem. It was the hidden element they needed, but it would be damn hard to stop her from killing Jed. She shifted, and Pierce lost sight of her. Frantic, he peered around the edge of the vehicle looking for her. Suddenly a harsh growl came, and the dog shot through the air and attached itself to Jed’s shoulder.

  Jed screamed. The gun went off harmlessly into the air as the dog ripped him backward, flat onto the ground. She released her grip and came in at another angle, looking for his throat. Jed screamed and rolled his arms over his head, trying to protect himself.

  Pierce raced forward and kicked the gun out of Jed’s hand as the cop backed away.

  “Salem,” Pierce cried out. “Stop.”

  Salem growled harder.

  “Good girl,” Pierce said. “We got him, and you’re right. He was going to hurt this man. Good girl.”

  The growling eased slightly, but the dog didn’t let go of Jed. Salem was obviously confused and unsure.

  Pete in his wheelchair, struggling in the rough ground, came up behind Pierce. “Salem?” he asked, his voice almost broken.

  Salem’s ears pointed skyward. Her gaze lifted until she caught sight of Pete.

  Pierce watched as recognition slammed into her. She released Jed from her jaws and bounded forward. And into Pete’s lap, almost knocking him and the wheelchair over. Pete wrapped his arms around her, his tears evident.

  He hugged the dog tight. “Oh, my God. Salem!”

  The cops had Jed under guard now. Pierce looked at them. “Do you think you can keep him this time?”

  The man, grim faced, nodded. “He’s a slippery bugger.”

  They handcuffed Jed, ignoring the screams as his shoulder was wrenched backward into the steel bracelets.

  “He’ll need medical treatment,” one of the cops said, “though I’d just as soon put a bullet in his head than do that.”

  “If he has an accident on the way to the hospital, I won’t complain,” Pierce said. He looked at Jed with a hard glance. “If you ever come back on this property, you can bet there’s a bullet that’ll hit you right here.” He poked Jed between the eyes. “So you’re warned.”

  But Jed was in too much pain to bluster. Instead he blubbered like a child. The alcoholic haze was dimming, and the reality was setting in.

  “On top of that,” Pierce said, “your property now belongs to your wife and the kids. You will not fight it. Do you hear me?”

  Jed glared at him. “Or what?”

  “Or else …” Pierce snapped, “I won’t be leaving Pete alone for a while. I will make sure your wife and kids get what they deserve too. You’ll go to jail for a hell of a long time. Don’t be such an asshole as to take a roof away from over their heads.”

  Jed’s gaze dropped to his feet. “I won’t fight it,” he muttered. “She won’t stick around for me anyway, for when I come out of jail.”

  “Why would she?” Hedi said. “You beat her. You beat the kids. You terrorized them all.”

  Jed appeared to crumble in front of everyone. “I took a wrong step somewhere,” he said. “And I couldn’t find my way back.”

  “Now you have lots of time to think about your return journey,” Hedi snapped. She stepped back, glancing at her father. “Thanks for bringing Pete.”

  “I didn’t,” he said. He pointed at one of the other strangers. “This guy works at the rehab center. At Pete’s behest, he brought him down. We intercepted him on the road, and I brought Pete here myself. I figured that, if I came in, Jed would let me get close enough to drop Pete off. And that might be enough to defuse the situation.”

  “Maybe,” she said. “But it was really Salem who put an end to it.”

  Pierce turned back to Pete. Salem had barely calmed down her excitement at seeing him again. She kept licking his face, trying to climb into his lap. And Pete looked like a new man. Pierce reached down, scratching Salem’s forehead. She leaned into his hand, one of the happiest-looking dogs he’d ever seen. He crouched beside the two of them. “I sure hope you’ll stay here now, Pete, because this girl needs you.”

  Pete nodded. “Like Jed will find out, it was a hard journey back, but I’m here now. And I won’t leave her again.” He looked at Pierce. “Are you serious about helping out?”

  Pierce nodded. “I don’t have a job, don’t really have a home at the moment. I can go back to New Mexico and pick up my life there, but I’m more than willing to give you a hand for a couple weeks to get this house modified so it can be yours in all ways again.”

  Pete nodded. “I’d really appreciate it. I still have to get the accounting sorted through, but I think enough money is there to do some of the modifications.”

  They looked up as Hedi approached.

  Pete frowned at her. “Is it true you got fired?”

  She nodded, shoving her h
ands in her pockets. “And maybe that’s a good thing,” she admitted. “As you know, I can swing a hammer. If Pierce knows what to do here to update your home, then I can be a sidekick and give him an extra pair of working hands.”

  Several men stepped forward, and one was a spokesman for all. “We can help too. Some of us are working but have time on weekends. If we’d known that’s all that was needed, we would have been here a long time ago. We’re sorry, Pete.”

  More tears came to Pete’s eyes. He brushed them away impatiently. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

  “We get it,” Pierce said. “Or maybe they don’t understand it, but I do. Because I’ve been there. And I know how important it is to have people help you make this last transition.” He looked around the yard, seeing the cop vehicles backing out. He walked to where Jessie was. “What about the sheriff?”

  “He’s being relieved of his duties as we speak,” Jessie said. “We’re looking for someone to step in as interim sheriff, and we’ll hold elections as soon as we can. It’s not a job I care to do anymore.” Jessie looked at Pierce, crossing his arms over his chest. “What about you? You could try it—for the interim. Then let the people decide. Why don’t you sign up to be sheriff?”

  Pierce’s jaw dropped. When he recovered, he gave a broken laugh. “Because I’d shoot guys like Jed.”

  “But … because you didn’t, even when he gave you lots of opportunities, means you’re the right man for the job,” Jessie said shrewdly.

  Several of the men in the group stepped up behind him and nodded. “You’d make a great sheriff,” several of them said.

  “I don’t have enough money to pay people in this town to vote me in,” Pierce said in disgust. “And, if that’s what they want, they sure as hell don’t want me because I’m not the kind of guy to turn my eye when there’s cheating, lying, stealing, breaking and entering, arson and murder, not to mention making moonshine. And any person who’ll abuse an animal on my watch just might feel the lash of my belt.”

  Jessie nodded. “Like I said, you’d make a great sheriff. We can’t have you taking your belt to anyone, but just knowing you’re around will kick some ass. It’ll stop most people from crossing that line.”

  As Pierce frowned, Hedi slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. “And, no, I didn’t put them up to it. It was my dad’s idea. I’d already mentioned it to you. I think you’d be a hell of a sheriff.”

  At that, Pierce snorted. “You don’t know me very well.”

  “I know you well enough,” she said. “And I’m hoping to get to know you better. Either way, I still think you’re the right person for the town.”

  He looked down at her and shrugged. “I doubt anybody would elect me. I’m a stranger. The population seems to want your current sheriff, or they want your dad. I’m nobody.”

  “Not true,” said one of the men behind Jessie. “This has already been preapproved by the townsfolk in an emergency Town Hall meeting tonight. You’ll find you get more support than you expect.”

  “Well then, we’ll see,” Pierce said, tilting his head, giving a short nod. “I guess you can put my name on the ballot. Doesn’t mean I’ll get the job though.”

  Hedi and Jessie exchanged a glance that made Pierce suspicious. But their smiles were obvious.

  “You guys really think I’d win?”

  “Hell yeah,” Jessie said. He smacked Pierce hard on the shoulder. “Welcome to town. You’re already hired as the interim sheriff. Election in three months. Of course we have to get that paperwork in order.” He stopped and chuckled. “Maybe I should make that Welcome to the family.” He turned, still laughing uproariously, and walked back to his truck.

  Within a few minutes, all the vehicles disappeared down the road, leaving Pierce, Hedi, Salem and Pete in the yard.

  Pete looked from one to the other. “Is it that serious?”

  Pierce looked at Hedi, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tucking her close. “We haven’t had two seconds to know the answer to that. I know which way I’m leaning, but I hate to rush a lady.”

  She chuckled. “All you’ve done is rush me.” She reached up, kissing him on the cheek. “Let’s just say, Pete, we’re both looking to finding out if my dad’s right.”

  Pete smiled, his arms looped around Salem, who looked like she’d finally found her home again. “So what’s the chance some food is in the house? I’m hungry.”

  Salem barked in agreement.

  And, on that note, everyone laughed. They headed inside to see how much of the groceries Hedi had brought they could eat right now.

  Chapter 14

  Hedi learned more about house renovations than she thought possible. Pierce himself appeared to be always around, always helping, always building, regardless of the work being done. And, sure enough, with Hedi at his side, her father and several other volunteers had gutted the bathroom and were even now installing grab bars for Pete to use.

  Tiling was about to start, and that was the finishing stage. The en suite bathroom was completely open so Pete could get a wheelchair in and out, or he could walk on his prosthetics, with or without crutches. So far the prosthetics offered to Peter were pretty ugly in appearance and fit and definitely in need of an upgrade, but a phone call from Kat, Badger’s partner, had given Pete the best news ever. She was willing to take him on to get him something more advanced and which would serve him well.

  Pete still had both arms, but one had been injured and was weaker. He could use it to pick up a cup and a knife and a fork, but he wasn’t capable of doing much work with it. But Pierce had already devised a set of weights that would help Pete strengthen those muscles. Hedi had helped as much as she could, swinging a hammer, pounding nails, making coffee and even cooking meals, if making sandwiches counted.

  Two days later her dad showed up midafternoon and told Pierce, “You’ve got about four days to finish up here, son. Then your days will be full.”

  Pierce, sitting with a cup of coffee beside Pete, looked at Jessie and said, “I need more than four days to finish this rehab, so what are you talking about?”

  “This.” Jessie handed over a piece of paper. Pierce looked at it, and his jaw dropped.

  Hedi had some inkling of what it was because she’d heard her father and his buddies talking about it.

  She herself had been reinstated to her position but had taken the week off to help out Pete and Pierce. She couldn’t afford more time off now that Stephen and Roy had both been removed from office. Even the dispatcher had been replaced. A lot of court cases would be filed soon, charging the sheriff with various crimes, although she wasn’t exactly sure with what. Ross, the Billy boys, and Jed wouldn’t be seeing daylight for a long time. She wanted to feel sorry for them but couldn’t. They were assholes of the first order. Pierce handed the piece of paper to her, and she could see the stunned look on his face.

  But Pete had been looking at the page over Pierce’s shoulder, and he started to laugh. He reached out and smacked Pierce on the shoulder. “Well, Interim Sheriff, how do you feel?”

  Pierce shook his head. “I told you that I’m probably not any good at this,” he warned.

  “And I told you that we need somebody who can make decisions on the side of right,” her father said quietly. “You’ve got three months to prove you’re the right man for the job.” He grinned. “I’ve asked to be on the committee for the election, and you can bet I’ll be doing a lot of lobbying to get you in there. The town was pretty fed up with the old sheriff.” He looked around at the renovations and said, “I love this. Nice job.”

  “So then what? You’ll take over my spot here?” Pierce asked jokingly.

  “Nope, you’ve got the rest of this week. You’re supposed to show up for work on Monday,” he said. “If we absolutely have to, we can push that back a week, but, considering nobody is in the station, we need you as soon as possible.”

  “Understood,” Pierce said, frowning.

  Hedi could
see the wheels turning in his head. Apparently her father could too. “Think out loud, son. Think out loud,” Jessie said. “We can’t figure out what you’re considering until you speak up.”

  “I’m thinking about how much work there is to be done here,” he said slowly. “I don’t want to leave Pete in the lurch.”

  “I was kind of hoping you’d live here for a bit,” Pete said. “Even as the sheriff, you can stay here.”

  Pierce looked at him in surprise. “Are you okay with that?”

  Pete grinned. “Hell yes. I’d like to see you live here for a long time, but that would entail Hedi moving in too, and I highly doubt she wants that,” Pete teased.

  Hedi could feel the color washing up her cheeks. “That’s not fair,” she said.

  Her father guffawed loudly. “You’re in a shitty-ass little rental now. What you guys should do is fix up someplace nearby, so you’re close to Pete.”

  “That won’t happen anytime soon,” Pierce said calmly. “Pete’s renos are the first priority. We have to make sure he’s got a fully accessible kitchen and bathroom and properly equipped vehicle and that he can get in and out of his house on his own. We can work on the rest afterward.”

  “The rest?” Pete said, dazed. “What else could you possibly do?”

  “Depends if you want access to the upstairs or not,” Pierce said. “We could put in an elevator.”

  Pete looked at him, and his jaw dropped. “That would be a lot of money.”

  “It would be some money,” Pierce said with a nod. “So that’s one of those questions where you have to ask, is it worth it to you?”

  “Wow.” Pete looked at Pierce and said, “But you still haven’t answered me.”

  “I guess it’s a yes then,” Pierce said, “but, about starting the job as sheriff, I want to make sure that bathroom is 100 percent ready and that we’ve opened up those double front doors and I’ve at least gutted this kitchen.”