I look back to see the trooper’s head is down, so I hope that means he didn’t notice the swap.
Liam relaxes behind the wheel, and he continues to talk.
“Only seen one so far. But hurry. I’m not sure how long I can stall, and he was on his way out there.”
He hangs up and flashes me a smile just as the trooper gets out and walks this way.
***
“I said I was going to let you go with a warning, and you’re telling me you want a ticket?” the trooper asks, understandably confused.
At least he has no clue that Liam wasn’t driving.
“I think I deserve one. The lone officer here is really strict on his residents. I never want to be disrespectful by ducking out on a deserved ticket,” he says so innocently, knowing writing a ticket will take a lot longer than a warning.
At least I assume it will. Since I’ve never had either one, I’m curious. I just got arrested and had my license suspended for driving a car into a swimming pool.
Long story.
And, yes, I was sober when it happened.
And, no, no one was hurt. I really thought I could make the jump. Dukes of Hazard style.
Their ramps were small and they jumped long distances with very little effort or speed.
Clearly that doesn’t work for people like me. I’m not sure where I went wrong, but at least now I know I can’t jump the lake. It was a failed trial run, but a wonderful learning experience.
“You’re the first person to ever argue their way into a ticket,” the trooper grumbles, writing something down.
I watch as Killian drives by in his Jeep, smirking at us as he passes. I blow out a relieved breath. The Wilders will close the gates to their land, and the trooper can’t trespass. I’m sure they’ll also be roadside, a feasible explanation for the Tannerite ready.
“You’re the first state trooper I’ve seen since I moved to town several weeks ago,” Liam tells him, dangling some bait to catch info.
“We don’t pass through here too often. Real quiet town that I’m surprised isn’t too broke to even exist. Usually once a year when some complaints roll in from tourists claiming a lot of illegal activity is going on is when we cruise through. We never find anything. You seen anything?” he asks, looking at Liam and narrowing his eyes.
“Saw a particularly shady raccoon digging in my trashcan the other morning,” Liam deadpans.
I bite back a laugh and turn my head away to hide my smile.
“The town has been a little eerily quiet other than that,” Liam adds.
The trooper grunts, still scribbling.
“It doesn’t make sense why we get these calls every year, yet never find anything. I came early, hoping to surprise the locals. More are coming, but I’ve already heard something akin to an explosion down the road that I’m going to investigate.”
“Could be an ongoing prank—the calls, I mean.” Liam is sounding helpful to the trooper, but I’m a little concerned about how easily he lies, as though he does it all the time. “And the explosions could have been fireworks.”
“Could be,” the guy agrees. “Every year, the damn wild life wreaks havoc on us. Worst woods in the country, if you ask me. I’m the only repeat trooper coming this year. The rest are new guys.”
Liam quirks a questioning eyebrow at me, but I just look around, avoiding eye contact, and hiding my secretive grin.
It takes a long few minutes, but the trooper finally hands Liam his ticket. Liam accepts it with a smile and some spoken gratitude.
“You drunk?” the trooper asks, eyeing him suspiciously.
“I can take a breathalyzer if you want,” Liam suggests helpfully.
This takes longer, giving Killian and the Wilders more time to act.
I hide my relief with a tight smile as the trooper shakes his head, reading the sober results of the test.
“Weird fucking town,” he mutters under his breath before finally sending us on our way.
I snatch Liam’s phone, and he grins as I start dialing Vick—our one local cop.
“So now a phone is handy?”
I ignore him, and speak when Vick answers.
“Troopers are here. Shut the town down.”
I hang up, and Liam looks at me like he’s confused as he pulls away, driving us forward at a decent, legal speed.
“Shut down the entire town?”
“Every part of the town has something at least semi-illegal or unlawful going on. The local grocer rents floor space out to locals. Locals set up stands inside and sell moonshine made by unlicensed men. Also, the moonshine is past the legal limit. And then others set up, bypassing health codes and federal food regulations—we know how to keep food safe without doing all that other shit. Penny even sells her jam there.”