Brokenhearted Beauty(Divine Creek Ranch 19)(46)

Her stomach rolled as she stumbled to her car to grab her box of tissues to mop her eyes, but she was suddenly grabbed from behind.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Dicky Bob hollered. His face was red, his eyes were watering and his nose was running. “You’re under arrest for…for…evading arrest, and a bunch of other stuff.”

I have died and gone to Hell.

“I wasn’t evading arrest, you idiot! I was evading a skunk!”

“We’ll just see about that,” he said as he roughly pushed her against her car. Georgina screamed again and then vomited all over her mustard yellow tank top.

“I think that means you won’t be getting your blow job from Georgina after all, Dicky Bob.” Leah turned after he finished putting handcuffs on her and she smiled at him.

The nausea finally won and she lost her lunch on his shirtfront.





Chapter Nine




Hank Stinson pulled up next to James’s parked patrol car and rolled down his window. There was something in the set of Hank’s jaw that signaled trouble.

“Hey, Hank. What’s up?”

Hank said, “Got a call a little while ago from Miss Evelyn over at Stigall’s. Leah’s run into a bit of trouble.”

“What? Is she okay?”

“More or less, yeah. I have to head up to Tuspita and I think you and Vincent need to come with me. Her dad’s on a fishing trip and she told Evelyn not to bother the two of you, but because of the circumstances that have since developed, I thought you’d want to know. Chief knows and he said it’d be fine. He’s called Vincent in so he should be there waiting for us. I’ll follow you to the station and then you can ride with me up there.”

“Tuspita? What happened?”

Hank looked like he was grinding his teeth together. “I don’t have the whole story yet but I’ll fill you in on the way there. I think she needs you and Vince the most but I want to make sure this is all handled according to the rule books.”

Vincent was waiting on the curb in front of the police station when they pulled up, still dressed in his uniform. James checked in with the chief who was out front in the foyer and then he joined Vincent and Hank in Hank’s black SUV.

On the way to Tuspita, Hank filled them in with what he’d been told by Evelyn, after Leah had called her the second time from the sheriff’s department offices.

Hank said, “She stopped in Tuspita to get gas. Of all the places I wouldn’t want her to stop on that route, that one tops the list. There was an accident in the convenience store parking lot. The stories differ as to who was at fault. After the deputy arrived, there was an altercation of some kind and Leah was taken into custody. They’re searching for the other driver, who ran off.”

“Ran off?”

“Yes, the sheriff, who is related to the arresting officer, said that he had the department looking for her and they didn’t think it’d take long to find her. He made an obscure comment about having them follow their noses.”

“Leah was arrested?” Vincent asked and he looked at James in the back seat in shock before turning back to Hank. “That sounds really fishy to me.”

Hank shook his head and let out a long aggravated breath. “I don’t like to jump to conclusions but something is off about the whole situation. The sheriff wasn’t happy to find out that I’m on my way up there. He’ll be even less happy when he sees two other uniformed officers with me but I don’t give a crap. I know Leah, and my bullshit meter is pegged on his story.”

“What are the charges against her?”

Hank snorted. “Obstructing justice, disturbing the peace, evading arrest, and injury to an officer.”

“What? She’s five feet tall! What’d she do? Stomp on his foot?” James shook his head in astonishment. The situation would be funny if he didn’t know that she was sitting in a cell at the moment. That was painful to imagine.

“We need to get her out of there,” Vincent said. “She’s probably scared to death.”

They pulled slowly through the town of Tuspita and the first thing Hank did was circle the block where the altercation had supposedly happened. “I’ve heard how the sheriff’s department plays in this area before, guys. We’re making a quick stop before we visit the sheriff’s department. Here we are.”

He pulled into the parking lot of a flower shop located cattycorner from the convenience store and the three of them climbed out.

“Good Lord, someone spooked a skunk,” Vincent said as the obnoxious odor hit them. “That is strong.”

They followed Hank into the florist’s shop and the lady working behind the counter paused in the entry from the work room, her eyes wide as she glanced at their uniforms. “Can I help you, officers?”