Sheriff Bradley was a man with sly eyes. You could find men like him all over America. Corrupt excuses for men, who were not interested in the truth or upholding the law. They were only interested in being the lapdogs of the richest families in their counties, going to extremes to help them maintain their wealth. In return they get to play a little power trip game called “I’m The Sheriff” for as long as possible.

The Sheriff squinted his eyes at the bloody arrow I had placed on his table. “So no one actually threatened you?” he said. There was something challenging about his voice.

It made my blood boil, but I controlled it. Nothing was going to bring Chepi back, but I needed to send a warning to my enemies. They had fucked with the wrong guy. “No.”

“So it could be kids messing about with arrows.”

“It could, but it’s not. It happened at 3.00 a.m.”

“Could be hunters then.”

“Wolves are protected by law. No one is allowed to hunt them down … Sheriff.”

His glance flicked at me, then away. “I’ll investigate of course, but it’ll be hard to find someone based on an arrow. A lot of people have crossbows these days.”

I took a step closer and watched his body make an involuntary start in fear. “It belongs to a very expensive weapon. At a guess, I’d say it was a PSE Tac Elite, but since you’ve got the arrow you don’t need me to tell you that. You can track it down easily. And once you find out that it is a $3,000 weapon, I’d start with the grand families of this fine town.”

He sucked his teeth. “Like I said, I’ll investigate, but I don’t hold out much hope. As you’re probably aware, crossbow owners are not required to have licenses.”

“There are tire and boot marks outside my property.”

“I’ll get my deputy to go on by and check the evidence.” The way he said evidence set my teeth on edge, but there was not a thing I could do about it.

I took a step back. “You be sure to warn all your mighty friends that I don’t have very good eyesight, and if I catch anybody prowling around on my land at night, I could mistake him for a bear, shoot first, then ask questions later.”

The Sheriff bristled impotently. “Are you threatening to shoot one of the town folk?”

“No, I’m threatening to shoot any bear that comes onto my property.”

“Good, because if you cause any trouble in my town I’ll haul your ass behind those bars so fast, it’ll make your head spin,” he said, jerking his head towards a door where his lockup probably was.

The idea of the bloated worthless man hauling my ass off to his jailhouse was laughable. I smiled nastily. “If you don’t like your townspeople shot, I suggest you find my shooter before I find bears on my land.”

Then I turned around and got out of his office.

As I walked across the road to the pickup, I could see Lara’s white face through the windshield. She looked so lost and vulnerable that something inside me broke even more. I’d been lying to her. Soon I’d have to tell her the truth. I just hoped she’d take it better than I expected her to. I took the last few steps, opened the door, and climbed in.

“What did he say?” she asked cautiously. She obviously already knew exactly what the good Sheriff would say.

“He said he’d send his deputy around to look at the tracks, but he made sure I understood that nothing would come of his investigations. In his opinion too many people in this town own crossbows.”

She frowned, then fell strangely quiet.

“What’s the matter?”

“Will you drop me off at the library, Kit. I need to talk to Elaine.”

“I’ll hang around for you.”

“No, I have some chores to do as well. I’ll get Elaine to drop me off at your place later.”

“Nah, the roads are bad. I’ll drive back into town this afternoon for you.”

She nodded, but I could tell her mind was elsewhere. We drove to the library in silence. When I stopped the car, she turned towards me.

Her hand reached out and grabbed mine. She held it tightly. “Take care, darling. Drive safely.”

I got out and helped her get down. A woman in a black coat was watching us. She was frowning. I didn’t give a shit. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her deeply.

When I raised my face, Lara smiled at me. There was something sad about her smile. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Kit.”

“I hope you’ll always think that.”

She frowned slightly. “Is someone staring daggers at us?”

“Uh huh.”

“It’s a woman in her forties in a black coat and knitted hat, isn’t it?”

I glanced back at the biddy. If looks could kill … “Bang on target.”

“That’s Marybeth Luther, one of the town’s busybodies. I swear she’ll make me so angry one of these days, I’m gonna tell her to stop judging me because the way to God’s heart is the same as a man’s. On your knees.”

I smiled. I loved this woman. I think I’ve loved her from the time I saw her get out of that blue Toyota. It’s easy for people who have many distractions to scoff at the concept of love at first sight. That must be what happened to me. I took one look at this fresh, young, exciting, innocent, sweet girl and fell like a ton of bricks. Until she came I’d fooled myself into believing I needed no one.

“Tell her anyway,” I said softly.

“Okay, you better go. I’ll see you later.”

“No, I’ll wait here until you go into the library.”

She shook her head. “I need to do some grocery shopping first. Go on. Let me wave to you.”

“I’ll see you at my house about three o’clock,” she said.

“See you later,” I said softly.

I left her by the side of the truck and went back in. I watched her wave until I could no longer see her in my rear view mirror.