Good. And Granger can try.
Luke thought he’d more than try and told Hunter that.
What are you going to do? If he gives you too much trouble you can always have him arrested. I’m sure that there is enough to have the Feds come back and look into him.
I’m sure there is, but I need a replacement first. The town might be better off without him, but I have no clue. I’m going to have to see about finding someone that wants the job before I go firing him.
Hunter didn’t answer.
I don’t suppose you want the job, do you?
Fuck no.
They both laughed, and after assuring his brother that he was going to be all right and that he’d get back to him later to explain what had happened, they closed the connection. Luke asked Ellis to come with him to his office, and they were both sitting at the conference table when Ellis suddenly looked amused.
“You aren’t pissed?” Ellis got up to pace and then went to the small refrigerator that Luke had brought in the day before. As he pulled out a bottle of water and drained it, he stood there for several seconds before he answered.
“I wanted to shift and have his ass for lunch. I have never…Christ. How on earth did you not take him when he said he was going to shoot you?” The bottle hit the rim of the trash can and tipped it over. “I’m going home to go on a run. It’s that or…I’ll talk to you later.”
Nodding, he watched his brother leave his office. Luke got up to see that he made it to his truck all right, then went back to his desk. All the plans he’d had for the day were shot to shit right now. And Luke didn’t really care at that point. When Allen came to tell him that the chief had canceled their meeting, Luke was actually disappointed.
~~~
Hank Granger was feeling pretty good about the turn of events. Damned if he didn’t want to take out an ad in the local rag about how he’d gotten the better of the fucking mayor. And right there on Main Street too. The guy would learn his place or he’d be run out on a rail. He picked up the phone to call Emmett Osborne.
“Just had a fun-filled morning with your competition. I gotta tell you, there isn’t anyone dumber than he seems to be. He even had the balls to threaten me.” His partner laughed. “You should have seen him. Nearly pissed himself when I ordered him to back off. I think this one might be as fun as the guy before Conklin. And that mother fucker better keep his mouth shut too.”
The story could go any way he wanted it to since nobody would say anything different. It was gospel when he said something, and there wasn’t a fool in this town that didn’t know that. Hank was the man who got things done, and he would kill you if you didn’t agree with him. It was just the way things were done. Conklin, however, was a different story. That guy knew too much and had way too many dirty secrets about everyone.
“I heard all about it from Danny on how he was simply walking by when the Emerson punk jumped him. He said that you tried to arrest that Emerson kid for hitting him. Stupid fuck said he was going to find him in a dark alley one night soon and take his ass out. I’m thinking if he wants that to happen, he’d better lay off the drugs and shit.”
Hank had to agree with that. The Gilbert boy had always had a bit too much fun with the recreational drugs. Not to mention, he was skimming Osborne’s books too. Hank wondered if Osborne knew that, and decided to bring it up next time he saw the man. Instead, Hank changed the subject from the boy to another pressing matter.
“You still having that meeting with him, the mayor-elect? I canceled mine as soon as I got to my office. I’d hate to have to hurt the little shit, and it’d be all over if I had to sit in a room with him for more than five seconds. You know as well as I do that my temper isn’t the best when I’m riled up.” Hank did have a moment of unease when he thought of the way the man had practically vibrated with his animal, and the fact that he’d seen more than just a little fur on the bastard. He’d had long canines too, for a second. But Hank figured his gun trumped the guy’s big teeth any day of the week.
“I just had Margaret call him. I’m not going to sit in his office all day while he tells me what I have and haven’t finished in the way of work. Does he think I got nothing better to do with my time than to run down each and every contract and make sure the work is being done? Fucking little prick. You think he’s scared of me?” Hank doubted that but didn’t comment on Emmett’s wishful thinking. Emmett was an overweight guy who could barely make it from his recliner to the toilet without having to take a rest. “He isn’t going to be taking any bids from me anyway. Not so long as you pick the winners for me. Ain’t that right? Or did he take that away from you too?”
“No. He’s not said a word that I’ve been privy to. Heard a lot of bullshit, but nothing’s been said to me.”
Emmett snorted with disgust. “I’m thinking the guy needs to be made gone. We need someone like Conklin back in office. He was a straight shooter.”
Conklin, like him, was only out for himself. But Hank agreed that Emerson had to be gotten rid of. The sooner the better too. The cut he got from giving the bids to his friend had put in a nice pool, as well as paid for that wonderful vacation he’d taken his family on last year. And this year he was going to be taking his in-laws as well. There was no way that he could have this much fun on just skimming the books like he did. He needed Emmett as much as Emmett did him.
“You just leave the bids to me. You put in one for that new building the rich cunt wants, right? The one that is supposed to be the library for the school kiddies?” Emmett told him he had and the amount. “Nice. Nice. I can really use my cut from that. And she doesn’t really need a library for them kids anyhow. They already have a really nice one at the school. If she wants to put her name on something, she should come to my office and I can let her put her name on my desk when I have her bent over it fucking her. A bitch like her would be tight too.”
They both laughed, knowing that neither of them would get within ten feet of the woman without her husband tearing them a new ass. He was a possessive motherfucker.
They moved on to their plans for the weekend. Fishing and beer. Rarely did their hooks get wet, but they did put away a great deal of beer. And food. Hank had already made arrangements to take up ten of them big subs that Mable put together. Even though she wasn’t a human, the woman could put together a nice sammich when she had to. He could almost taste the roast beef one. He’d ordered an extra so he could enjoy it on the drive up.
After about another hour of bullshit, Hank hung up. He had shit to do. First on his list was looking on the interweb to find that necklace his wife wanted for Christmas. His thinking was another man’s loss was his gain, and he put in a bid for the thing hoping that nobody was stupid enough to outbid him. Laughing to himself, he decided that he wanted some lunch for himself, and left at a little before noon to go and get it. The thought of Mable’s sammich made him want one today, and he headed that way as he took in the lack of activity going on at the construction sites with Osborne’s name on them. The man was a card, he’d give him that.
Mable didn’t like him. Hell, everybody knew it, but here lately she’d been getting a little lippy with him when he came in. Like her wanting him to pay off his outstanding bill. She was the only person he knew that kept tabs on how much he charged each month. Last time he was in, she told him right off that it was his last freebie. He’d either pay up or no food, and that was final.
He went into the diner and was told to wait a minute. Hank could just about taste his lunch now. When Mabel came out of the back room, he smiled at her as she held his bag.
“It’s four hundred and twenty-three dollars.” He looked at her, wondering how the hell she’d come to that. “It includes your past bill as well as today. How do you want to pay? I got me a new charge machine and I can take that if you want.”
“You know damn good and well I don’t carry that much money on me. And I never carry around my credit card while on duty. That kind of shit can get you into trouble. I’ll get you next time.” He reached for the bag and she pulled it back out of his reach. “Now, Mable, I’ve had a bad morning so far, and you keeping me from my lunch is not going to go well for you. Just be a good little woman and hand it over nice and easy like.”
“You pay or you don’t eat. It’s as simple as that.” He reached for it again and she moved back several steps. If the counter hadn’t been between them, he might have gotten it. As it was, he’d have to leap up over it to get her, and his leaping days were well over.
“Give me the fucking food. I’m not in the mood to fuck with you.” She turned, went to the large totes that held dirty dishes, and dropped the bag into the top one. “What the fuck? Give that to me this minute or so help me I’ll chase you down every time you come out on the streets and give you a ticket for breathing. Hand it over right now or so help me….”
She just stood there. Hank moved to breach her side of the counter when he found himself pinned to the wall. The man holding him didn’t look familiar right away. Then he realized it was Pete Skills.
“You’ll take your filthy hands off me or I’ll shoot you where you stand. Your kind don’t touch real people like me.” The gun at his side was suddenly torn from his hip, and Pete snarled at him. “You’re going to jail for this. You just wait and see if you don’t.”
Fear made sweat bead on his forehead. His back was starting to get a little damp too, and he tried to ignore the way Pete’s eyes seemed to darken. Anger spilled out over him, but it wasn’t any competition to the fear he had. Hank finally understood the term “sweating bullets.”
“Pay the damned money.” Hank had a hard time understanding him, so Pete had to repeat it before he got it. His big teeth seemed to be getting in the way of him talking plainly.
“I don’t have to pay shit. She should have to pay me for letting her soil my town.” His head banged hard against the wall and he felt his teeth bite into his tongue. “Let me go, you motherfucker, or else.”
“Let him go, Pete.” The man standing just behind him spoke in a low calming voice, but there was a hardness there that Hank almost envied. “Let the chief go before he pisses his pants.”
Pete let him go, but he hit his head against the wall again before he stepped back. Hank turned to the other man to tell him he had it under control when he saw the rich cunt and her husband standing there. She was laughing and Hank wanted to strangle her. But the man seemed to know what he was thinking and stepped in front of her.
“You should keep better track of your animals there, Emerson. One of them might get his ass run over one day.” Emerson handed him his holster that was empty. “There was a gun in this when I dropped it. Where the fuck is it?”
“Dropped it? No matter. I’m turning it over to the mayor. I’m pretty sure that when you allow a person to take your gun, you should no longer be able to have it.”
Hank tossed the ruined holster on the table and laughed. He hated the way it sounded forced but didn’t care at the moment. He turned to Mable, who hadn’t said a word since her boyfriend had grabbed him up.
“Where’s my lunch?” She glared at him but didn’t move to get him anything. “Are you denying me service, Mable? That’s not very good business sense to not let your patrons have their food. And you know as well as I do you need me coming in here just for security purposes. A lot can happen when the cops aren’t too friendly to you. Might just burn to the ground without us.”
She snorted. “Security like yours I can do without. You are as useless as tits on a bore hog, Chief. I told you the last time you were here, you need to pay up. I can’t be carrying your ass any longer. When you pay, you can eat. But no more credit. And that means your order for the weekend too. I don’t care if you ever set foot in here again. As you can see, I have that under control as well.”
“I see how you are. You think that because there’s a new alpha in town you’re going to show him what you’re made of.” He lunged at her and she moved back. Hank had a good laugh over that. “Lookee at how brave you are now. You might remember how scared you are right now. ‘Cause I got news for you, it ain’t nothing to what’s gonna happen to you later.”
The rich cunt stepped up to him and he glared at her. When she smiled at him, Hank doubled up his fist to teach her a lesson too. She only laughed when he drew back to slam his fist through her head if he had to. He was ready to let it fly when she spoke.
“You’ll be dead before you touch me.” He felt the chill of her words when she smiled again. Hank watched her as she stared at him and had a feeling that she was right. And the man standing next to her wouldn’t have to lift a finger. “You might want to remember how afraid you are right now, Chief, because when I’m finished with you, you’ll not have a pot to piss in.”
“I’m the law here.” She laughed and lunged at him in much the same manner that he had Mable. And just like the older woman, he stepped back as well. She was still laughing as he moved out of the restaurant.
“The whole fucking town is getting a bit too uppity right now. Might have to take them down a peg or two.” As he moved to the deli down the street he noticed that a sign in the window had a list on it, and there on the top was his name, just under the heading that said “Deadbeat People,” along with the amount he owed. Shit. He had to come up with three hundred bucks for them if he wanted their mediocre sammich, it seemed.
Mother fuck. As he moved home to have his housekeeper make him something to eat, he thought of different ways he was going to get back at each and every one of them. Right at the top of the list was having his men pull each and every one of them over for even having their hair messed up. If they drove. He just realized he’d never seen any of them in a car. Hank decided to look into that right fucking now. Or tomorrow. His belly was telling him that he had to fill it or it would rumble at the worst times.