Cutthroat County by Adam Nicholls

Author:Adam Nicholls
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub

Chapter Eleven

Sheriff Moody could see the lights in the distance—his backup finally arriving. But whatever was above those lights was not from his station. He squinted at the darkness of the night and could just about make out the shape of the helicopter.

“What’s going on, Sheriff?” Deputy Reynolds shouted above the sound of the incoming propeller blades as they whirled around like fans.

“Beats me.”

They watched as the chopper came in to land, spraying dust and dirt out from the ground and into their faces. As soon as it landed, the door opened and three suited men climbed out and marched their way.

“Sheriff Moody?” The man leading the charge was older, well-presented in his suit. Clearly in great shape, too, for a man of his age. His graying sideburns put him at around fifty, and the crow’s-feet around his eyes added another five years or so.

“Who the hell are you?” The sheriff looked around, realizing that only a small number of the arriving cars were from his own department. The rest were black, smart… governmental.

“Special Agent Jonas Bryce from the FBI. Are the gunmen still in the barn?” Bryce flipped out his badge and ID for only a moment, then pointed in the direction of the barn.

“The barn? Yeah, I—”

“Good. Thank you, Sheriff. You’ve done a fine job pinning them down. You can leave now, and we’ll take it from here.” He began to walk away but was stopped by the forceful grip on his arm.

“Just a minute there.” Sheriff Moody glanced at his deputy, who was open-mouthed with surprise. Bryce also seemed to have been caught off guard and was probably used to having people obey his every command. That didn’t stop Moody. “Whatever you think you’re doing is wrong. I had a grenade go off outside my office because of these boys, and I ain’t going to just let you waltz in here like you own the place.”

Bryce crooked an eyebrow and gave a small, sly smile while he took a deep breath. “Sheriff, listen. We’ve been tracking these men for nearly a year. They work for a businessman named ‘Little’ John Hailey, who’s involved with sex trafficking, drug dealing and just about anything else that destroys people’s lives. If you messed this up, you’d be looking at imprisonment for obstruction of justice, and then some.”

Sheriff Moody could feel his heart racing. He couldn’t imagine the shame he’d bring upon himself if he were to be incarcerated. He looked at Deputy Reynolds, who was waiting for one command or another. What else could he do? “Well then, I guess I’d better not mess it up. You do what you want, but we’re staying put.”

Agent Bryce shook his head and stormed off toward the arriving cars without looking back. There was something strong in the way he carried himself, something authoritative.

But it wasn’t enough to make the sheriff back down.

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