“I wasn’t talking to you, old-timer,” Griggs says coldly. “You’ll know if I am.
You can trust me on that.”
I am angry. “You got a problem, Sheriff? Ever since Cal came to town, you’ve
had a bug up your ass about him. What the fuck do you want?”
“Benji!” my mother snaps.
Griggs smiles but it never reaches his eyes. “What do I want?” he asks. “What I
want is to know why your little boyfriend here is lying about who he is. I want to
know how he came to be in Roseland out of the blue. My problem, Benji, is I want to
know who the fuck he is.”
“I don’t see how that concerns you,” Michael says, cocking his head. He seems
curious about the sheriff.
“That’s because it doesn’t,” I say, unsure if I should be agreeing with him. “Cal
hasn’t done a damn thing wrong. As a matter of fact, he’s probably done more right
for this town than you ever have.”
“Might be a good idea for you to shut your mouth, kid,” the sheriff growls. I take a step toward him. “And why is that, Griggs?” I say, keeping my voice
hushed so the others on the porch can’t hear me. “Am I going to have an accident?
End up in the river? Get a bullet in the back of my head?” He’s good. He doesn’t
even flinch. “I know what you’ve done. And one way or another, I swear on all that I
have that I will make you suffer.”
His eyes glitter as he twitches his lips. “Boy, you have no idea the unholy mess
you are walking into.”
“I think I know plenty,” I tell him. “You will pay and everyone will know what
you’ve done.”
He laughs loudly, raising his voice. “Threatening an officer of the law? Benji, I
expected you to be smarter than that. But then, the apple never did fall far from the
tree, now did it?” Cal grabs my arm before I can launch myself at the bastard who
dared to insult my father. I want to tear him to pieces and split his bones while he
screams for me to stop.
“That’s… enough,” my mother says, her voice quaking. She comes down the
steps, surprising us all with the ferocity in her voice. She pushes past me, almost