“Like hell she well.” My jaw tightened, and my head started to pound, but my anger was too strong for me to back down. “Either go get her or give us the keys and we’ll do it ourselves. We’re not leaving without her.”
“It would be—such a tragedy.” Sheriff Tate moved his hand over to the revolver on his hip. “If I had to defend myself from a bunch of crazy Andersons that thought they were above the law in this town.”
“Why did you sell your soul to Mayor Stevenson?” Dad leaned forward and put his fists on the desk that separated us from Sheriff Tate. “We used to be friends.”
“You know why, come on.” Sheriff Tate narrowed his eyes at our father. “You remember how it was before the mill closed. This town is dying.”
“So instead of standing up for the town like the people trusted you to do, you just decided to watch it die?” Our father scoffed. “We could have taken Mayor Stevenson down nearly five years ago, and you laughed in my face.”
“I should have thrown you in jail.” Sheriff Tate leaned forward. “Or just shot you on the spot. Mayor Stevenson warned you not to keep making trouble, and here you are—doing the same shit again.”
“He has nothing to do with my decision to run for mayor.” I fought against the agony pounding in my head as I spoke.
“Nor mine.” Preston shook his head back and forth. “And rest assured, Sheriff Tate, the first thing I’m going to do once I’m mayor is make sure that you no longer have a job in Andalusia.”
“I wouldn’t make any plans if I were you.” A voice echoed from the hallway behind Sheriff Tate, and Mayor Stevenson walked out into the main part of the sheriff’s station with a cigar between his teeth.
“You passed an ordinance just so you could interfere with my campaign?” Preston took a step forward. “You know Eliza has nothing to do with this.”
“I didn’t.” He chuckled. “But now I do.”
“What’s that supposed to mean.” My fists balled up until my nails were digging into my palms.
“I see now that this is just an issue between us.” He shrugged. “Silly me, I thought it was about something else. Why don’t we settle this right now.”
“You’re going to resign?” Preston’s lip curled into a snarl and I heard a growl echo in his throat. “That’s the only way we settle this.”
“No.” Mayor Stevenson shook his head and chuckled. “You’re going to withdraw from this campaign and leave Andalusia.”
“Like hell I am.” Preston took another step forward and Sheriff Tate’s hand returned to his revolver.
“You have two choices here.” Mayor Stevenson grinned and puffed on his cigar. “The first choice is pretty easy. You withdraw from the campaign and leave town—taking her with you, of course. The other choice—well, that involves her spending ten days in Sheriff Tate’s custody and those will be some long, lonely days for Sheriff Tate. Who knows what could happen…”
“She is pretty.” Sheriff Tate nodded.
“I’ll take option three.” Preston turned towards Sheriff Tate—and he lunged.
Chaos erupted. I don’t know how my brother managed to jump over the front desk that separated him from Sheriff Tate on his surgically repaired knee, but he cleared it so fast that Sheriff Tate never had a chance to pull his revolver. Preston looked like a linebacker instead of a quarterback as he drove his weight into Sheriff Tate’s chest with a tackle that would have made our high school coach stand up an applaud. Mayor Stevenson made a move towards Preston, but Dad was on him in a flash, pinning the fat, older man to the wall his arm twisted behind his back. Preston came up swinging and knocked Sheriff Tate out cold with a right hook. He grabbed the keys from his belt but stumbled when his knee gave out. I stepped forward to take the keys and started walking down the hallway towards the jail cell. My head was killing me, but there was no way I was going to stop until Eliza was safe.
I don’t know what the fuck we’re going to do when we get Eliza out of here, but I’m pretty sure all of us are going to end up in prison…
“Hudson!” Eliza ran to the bars as I approached. “What are you doing out of bed?”
“Saving your ass.” I grinned and shoved the key into the lock.
“What happened? I heard shouting—and then a crash.” Eliza pushed the door open and wrapped her arms around me.
“Careful, I’m barely standing on my feet as it is.” I grimaced, but still hugged her.
When we walked back into the main part of the station, Sheriff Tate and Mayor Stevenson were both handcuffed. Preston hugged Eliza and Dad helped me walk when I stumbled a bit, but Eliza immediately ran back to my side. We had saved her, but I wasn’t sure what the cost was going to be. Preston wouldn’t be able to run for mayor after what we just pulled off. We had literally broken Eliza out of jail. There was no way Mayor Stevenson was going to let my father just live the rest of his life in peace after putting his hands on him. Leaving Andalusia was probably his only option—the only option for any of us. We could live life on the run like outlaws, which is exactly what we became when the woman we loved was threatened. I would have done anything for her though, so I didn’t really give a fuck if I had to go to prison. I was going to need a hospital bed first, because I could feel my strength fading fast.
“You’re all going to jail! You’re all going to pay for what you’ve done here!” Mayor Stevenson struggled against his handcuffs.
“Do you trust me?” Eliza leaned forward so that I only I could hear what she said.
“With my life.” I nodded quickly.
“Get out your phone and record me. Don’t ask any questions—I love you.” She let go of my hand and took a step back.