Seth never flinched. “You’ve got no idea what I’m capable of.” His eyes flickered with cool confidence. “Now arrest me, throw that punch, or move the hell on.” No one tried to arrest Seth then. Instead, they stood there dumbfounded.
“What’s it gonna be, Sheriff?”
He sneered. “Another time, Seth.”
“I’ll look forward to it.” After a few quiet moments, Seth tapped the paperwork on the kitchen counter. “Lindsey, grab what you need for a few days and make sure you collect anything of value.”
Lindsey grabbed the gate keys from a nearby drawer and tossed them on the breakfast table. “These are to the barn and stables.”
As Lindsey gathered items from the mudroom, the sheriff and his boys traipsed around the kitchen impatiently.
Sheriff Ray said, “If anybody else had been standing here listening to all those bogus accusations, they would’ve hauled your ass in.”
“Funny thing about the truth. When it’s clear-cut and set in stone, no one challenges it. You know better than to threaten me, Sheriff. Your boys do, too. My guess is, they don’t want their significant others to know what they do out at Mary Alice’s place. She has a lot of friends in and out of there, you know.”
“You’ll get yours,” the sheriff said. “You have no idea who you’re up against.”
Small towns were all the same. Those toting handcuffs and pistols often thought they were untouchable. Sheriff Ray probably believed as much. Folks like Ray never saw their opponent as such until they were sinking that proverbial ship and drowning.
Seth peered around the mudroom door and shot Lindsey a wink. “You about ready, hon?”
“Give me a minute,” she said, grabbing a few items out of the dryer and throwing her wet garments in a plastic bag.
“You tell your brother if that day comes and I arrest you, he’ll be well advised to stay away.” The dumbass was still pitching threats.
Seth closed the distance between himself and the sheriff. “That day better not come, Sheriff. See, when I don’t trust someone in this town, I spend years collecting the kind of information that will potentially ruin them on the chance that they ever make a mistake and come after me or someone I care about.”
“Paranoid fuck, aren’t ’cha?”
Seth cracked his knuckles and took a deep breath. “No, I’m just not an enemy that crooked bastards like you need. You’ve gone after every reputable farmer in this town and I was always one step behind you, collecting information.
“If you’d been honest or perhaps just shown a smidgen of integrity, then maybe someone like me wouldn’t have been able to gain the one-up on you. Instead, you took pleasure in bringing others pain. You’ve been called the sheriff who spares no one, the one who shows no mercy. Your actions, Sheriff, have been unforgivable, so with that said, understand this—I will show no mercy if you pursue someone I care about without just cause.” He turned to Lindsey. “Get packed, sugar. And don’t you worry your pretty little head. You’ll be back home before that milk in your fridge spoils.”
Chapter Three
While he was waiting for Lindsey, Seth fed the horses and watered the stock. Right as he finished up, Beck called. “Talk to me, little brother.”
“It’s bad.”
“We knew it would be,” Beck said. “What’d ya know?”
“She didn’t have a choice. She had to leave. There’s a provision in the paperwork which states that she has permission to feed and water her animals, but she has to move them within thirty days.”
“We have room at our place,” Beck said.
“No. She’s been boarding show horses. We could take three or four of them, but she’ll have to find a place for the rest.”
“Damn,” Beck said. “Was her barn full?”
“Yep.”
“That’s a hell of an income,” Beck said.
“Apparently she owes a lot more than what she’s dragging in. What do you know about Bob Callaway from down at Farmer’s Lending?”
Beck scoffed. “I know he isn’t there anymore.”
“Lindsey told me. Anything else?”