Have You Seen Sarah Baker? by T.A. Cruz

Author:T.A. Cruz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9781958686942
Publisher: Tule Publishing Group, LLC
Published: 2023-01-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

One month missing

“Watkins. W-A-T—”

“I know how to spell, Jeffrey,” she snapped with a dismissive wave. “He has been absent for some time. There’s transfer paperwork, but it doesn’t appear to be finalized yet.”

Mills grazed his thumb across his dry bottom lip. “Transfer to where?”

“East. To live with his mother, I’d guess.”

“Well, shit.”

“Keep the foul language off campus.”

“Interesting comin’ from you, Janice. I seem to recall you screaming obscenities under the bleachers after homecoming.”

She blushed enough for Mills to notice, a victory he gladly accepted. He tipped his hat. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Walsh.”

“Mrs. Peterson.” She wasn’t amused with his tone nor his trip down memory lane.

“Believe me. I know.” He smiled his way to the door and pushed through.

Mountains outlined the horizon, perched just beneath midday sun and pillowed white clouds. His Bronco, parked along the red painted curb out front, awaited his return.

“Anything?” Holloway asked from the passenger seat.

“Kid’s gone. Hasn’t been to school in weeks. Might’ve gone to live with his mother.”

“What about the dad?”

“Will you let me sheriff a bit before you cart me off to a retirement home? Until you wear this hat”—Mills paused and swiped the brim—“I call the shots, kid.”

“Yes, sir.” Her response was simple. Seemingly cut short from all the words she wished to exchange. She would, whether asked or not, follow him through the pits of hell and back without a single complaint. This didn’t have anything to do with her succession if Mills had his way. No. This was nothing out of the ordinary for the young, talented Holloway. She always looked to him for advice, and while he found it difficult to offer when she was decades more mature than himself, he never stopped putting in his own two cents. Despite their sheriff and deputy relationship, she was and always would be the closest thing to a daughter he could ever imagine.

He evened his weight to the driver’s side and ground the gears shifting to first. “His dad works at the clinic near Main Street. Think we oughta see what’s going on?”

“If you say so, Sheriff.” She didn’t admit it outright, but she was excited—her smirk gave that away.

Mills drove around town as he always had; long cut stuffed in his lower lip and sour mash well within reach in the glovebox. After her many gripes, he chose to wait on the sauce until Holloway wasn’t looking or until she annoyed him enough, whichever came first. She wanted him healthy, alert, and while it went against the direction his moral compass normally led, he couldn’t hate her for it. She’d saved him after all. The only one to do more for Sheriff Jeffrey Thomas Mills than the bottle ever could. If not for Jenn, Kent’s Salvage would’ve been his resting place, surrounded by oil-soaked dirt, rusty beaters, and tangled weeds.

He’d never pictured that sort of death for himself. Mills imagined a brilliant shootout to cause his demise. A warrior’s death. Now, he’d give a kidney to meet the reaper in a warm, comfy bed, a smoke in his left hand and a whiskey glass in the right.

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