“You know Thia it hurts that you didn’t come to me, but it hurts even more that you turned to a complete stranger. Spend some time in there to sit and think, might do you some good.” With a tip of his hat, and the same sideways smile he used to flash me right before he sent a dodgeball sailing into my ribs, Buck was gone.
“This is bullshit!” I shouted at the closed door. “We’re not in kindergarten anymore, Buck. You can’t just put me in time out,” I said, pounding my hands against the bars. My hands vibrated, stinging from the impact of sensitive flesh and bone against hard metal. I bent over and rubbed them together to ease the sting. When I stood up to shake them out, it sank in that Buck really wasn’t coming back.
“Shit!” I said, and without thinking I hit the bar again, my right hand turning into one gigantic funny bone.
The entire situation was far from fucking funny.
What really wasn’t funny was the biker who was probably tearing the town apart looking for me and what he would do to Buck if he stood in his way. “Buck!” I called again, this time not because he needed to release me but because I needed to warn him.
But it was too late.
There was a commotion on the other side of the door, followed by a bang. “Where is she, asshole?” barked a familiar deep voice.
Oh shit.
The door opened and a frightened looking Buck appeared in the doorway. His eyes wide and his palms up in surrender. Behind him, with a gun firmly pressed between his shoulder blades, was Bear. “You okay, Ti?” Bear asked through his teeth with his nose scrunched up in a snarl.
“I’m fine. Bear, This is Buck. The deputy sheriff. He’s the friend I told you about. Well, I thought he was a friend until he tossed me in here,” I said, wrapping my hands around the cold metal bars.
“How many times do I have to keep reminding you that you SHOT someone?” Buck yelled back. Bear nudged him with his gun and he tripped forward, grabbing onto the cell bars to keep from falling. Buck turned to look at Bear. “You got a concealed weapons permit for that thing?”
“Does it look like I’m concealing anything, motherfucker?” Bear seethed. Gesturing with his chin to the double holster he wore around his arms that he hadn’t had on earlier. He must have had his holster in the truck but I hadn’t seen him put it in there.
Buck raised his hands and slid to the ground on his butt, his back against the bars. “Listen, I’m just doing my job.”
“No you’re not, Buck. Yes, I shot him. But he was on my land and didn’t leave when I asked him to. The law is the law. You got no right to keep me here because you think I need a time out! I get that you’re hurt but you got to let me go.”
“If she didn’t break any laws I suggest you let her out of that cage right the fuck now before I break one that you won’t live long enough to arrest me for,” Bear warned.
Buck’s hands shook as he took the key from his pocket and unlocked the cell door. Bear reached forward and grabbed me by the elbow, dragging me out of the cell and then from the room. Leaving Buck on the floor inside the room he slammed the door and locked it from the outside.
Bear’s steps were long and it took me three of mine just to keep up with him. His grip tightened around my arm as he dragged me toward the truck. I was about to ask him what’s wrong but something told me I didn’t want to know the answer. He opened the passenger door and didn’t wait for me to climb in. Grabbing onto my waist he tossed me into the cab and slammed the door.
“You were screaming,” Bear said through his teeth, getting in on the driver’s side and starting up the truck.
“Yeah, because Buck was being a dick,” I said. “He’s just hurt and trying to prove a point.”
“I should go back and kill that motherfucker right now for laying his hands on you,” Bear said, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand while the other was white knuckling the steering wheel. He spun us out onto the road and within seconds we were clear of town.
“He wasn’t going to hurt me,” I assured him. I was growing worried over the fact that he wouldn’t look at me. I grew more worried when he turned completely silent, the rattling of rocks bouncing off the undercarriage sounded like bullets in the quiet.
“You got history with that guy? He your boyfriend or something?” Bear asked.