Dax (The Theriot Family 4)

Beau pounded on the door a few moments later. The heaviness of his knock was enough to tell me he was already riled up. At least he’d be on my side when it came to Travis’s involvement.

He walked in looking ready to lay into all of us, but Ambrose held up a hand. “I’m going to tell you my plan, and no one’s going to talk until I’m finished.”

I often wondered what it had been like to serve under Ambrose. It must’ve been hell for anyone who didn’t like to quietly listen and follow his commands. My brother might basically be a hermit now, but when he was around people, he was bossy as hell.

“We need to play on Sheriff Winston’s good nature in order to lure him somewhere private.”

Beau interrupted. “What if we just say we—”

Ambrose glared at Beau and received an eye roll. “Just because he’s idealistic and doesn’t understand all the aspects of our culture here doesn’t mean he’s stupid. He smart as hell based on what he accomplished up north. He’s not going to come meet some random informant in the middle of the bayou. He doesn’t know the terrain, and he’s aware of that. Whenever he has to go deep into the bayous, he takes one of his deputies that grew up there.”

“What do his deputies think about all the ways he wants to change things?” I asked.

Miraculously, Ambrose didn’t yell at me for asking a question. “One of them seems to idolize him. He’s the type who has always wanted to get out of town and see something new, one of those guys who thinks anything that comes from somewhere else must be superior. Another one is a good Christian boy who respects authority, even when he doesn’t agree with it.”

“So stirring up dissent from inside the department is not going to work?”

Ambrose glared at Beau. “We want to work with this man, not fuck up his job. That’s the parish’s problem. They can deal with him however they want, but there is another deputy who’d very much like to run Winston out of town. In his mind, the man stole his rightful place, but I don’t think that’s the right angle.”

I nodded. “I agree. Keep talking.”

“Yes, let’s get to the point of this plan,” Beau said.

Ambrose glared at him again, and he held up his hands. “I’ve got to get back to my shop. I left a car in pieces, and it needs to be back together before closing time.”

“I think we should use the sheriff’s protective nature against him. He’s sure to respond to a distress call outside town from a young boy whose truck is trashed after he runs off the road.”

I looked at Travis, then back at Ambrose. “Oh, hell no.”

“We’ll be there the whole time,” Ambrose said. “And this guy’s not a danger to Travis.”

“You’re sure of that after one day of research?”

The look Ambrose gave me sent chills down my spine.

“Fine. You’re damn good at what you do. I know that.”

“Fuck right you do. Winston will come to help Travis, then we insist he talk to us.”

“How do we know he’ll be the one to come out?” I asked.

“We’ll make sure anyone else on duty is busy.”

That would be simple enough. Creating a distraction was second nature to all of us.

“What will you do if he doesn’t agree to talk?” Travis asked.

“He will,” Ambrose said.

“We’re not killing this guy, are we?” Travis looked like he might be sick.

“No. He might be an asshole, but he’s done nothing to harm any of us.”

“But if he tries to arrest you—”

Ambrose shook his head. “Didn’t I already say he’s not stupid?”

“You also said he didn’t understand how things work here.”

“If he’s worked in a big city, he’s plenty used to people cutting deals. He might not be used to ignoring moonshine stills, or not asking questions when things resurface from the bayou, or ignoring what goes on past the edge of town on a Saturday night, but he knows how to make deals with informants. That’s all this is.”

“Wouldn’t an informant just be giving information?” Travis asked. “Not demanding his cooperation or a role in the takedown of a dealer?”

Ambrose waved off his concern. “We’re offering him a service. We’re going to take care of a major problem in his town. If he can’t handle that, he’s going to have to go away for a little while.”

Travis frowned. “Go away where?”

I loved that he could still seem so innocent after the hell he’d been through. It also made me even more furious that Rob had manipulated him. Travis’s inner nature was good. How could he think he was to blame for the evil Rob wanted to involve him in?

“This all sounds fine.” Travis’s eyes widened as he watched me. “But we need to find someone other than Travis to play the person in distress.”