Elsie couldn’t have remembered the drive to the police station had her life depended on it. It was all just a blur of pavement and a constant sick feeling in her gut, tightening with every mile that drew her closer.
By the time she was pulling into the parking lot in front of the worn brick building, her hands were shaking so bad that she could barely take the keys out of the ignition. It took her three tries just to turn the truck off.
She sat there for a moment, her hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel and her mind racing with nonsensical thoughts that she couldn’t stop, no matter how hard she tried. What if Sheriff Donohue arrested her for interference, even though he treated her like a third daughter in his little family?
Or that Mad Dog would just stroll in to the station while she was sitting there, frozen in fear. Maybe the sheriff would somehow realize who he really was and arrest him on the spot. Then none of them would have to worry about getting hurt by the insane leader of the Roadburners crew.
But she knew that wasn’t going to happen. More likely, Mad Dog would waltz in and hurt Hatchet while she sat there like a helpless little frightened thing, unable to move, unable to help the man she loved.
The thought sparked something inside her, thawing a bit of her fear, enough for her to at least peel her fingers one by one from the steering wheel and clamp them together in her lap. They were still shaking, but not as badly as before.
“You can do this, Elsie,” she whispered to herself, trying to settle down enough to do what she needed to do.
During the drive, one plan and one plan only had popped into her head, and it was the only thing she could think of doing. She would convince Sheriff Donohue that her daddy had decided to drop the charges and demand that Hatchet be released immediately.
It was the only chance she’d have, and she prayed the sheriff would believe her. He had no reason not to. She’d never lied to him before. And, besides, this was almost too big a lie, too ridiculous, not to be believed.
“You have to do this, Elsie. You have to save Hatchet and get him out of there. It’s his only chance,” she told herself and forced her legs to move, forced her hands to grasp the handle of the driver’s side door and push it open.
Finally, she was sliding from the cabin of the truck, her whole body trembling like a leaf in the autumn breeze as she slammed the door shut behind her. It took another moment before she could get her feet moving, one in front of the other.
During the whole walk across the black top parking lot towards the front door, her legs felt like jelly, like they would collapse out from under her at any moment.
But she could hear Jackrabbit’s gruff voice in her head, telling her how much danger Hatchet was in. How Mad Dog was on the war path and would stop at nothing to get back at him, and her. It was his life on the line!
If there had ever been a time that she needed to be brave, it was right then, right that second. She had spent her whole life being scared. Scared of confrontation. Scared of voicing her own opinions. Scared of disappointing the people she cared about.
But not anymore.
The old, scared Elsie was gone for good and in her place was a new Elsie. A brave Elsie. An Elsie who would waltz into that police station as if she owned the place and proceed to lie her ass off!
Forcing down the sick feeling of nerves in her stomach, she threw her shoulders back and tipped up her chin. She would be brave for the man that she loved. She would save him. She had to.
With that thought echoing over and over in her head like a mantra, she stomped up to the front door with as much confidence as she could muster and pulled it open with a heave.
Elsie didn’t stop as she entered the station. She couldn’t. She was too afraid that, if she did, she wouldn’t be able to start moving again. She would just be rooted to the same bit of scuffed linoleum tile forever.
With her blue eyes focused straight ahead, Elsie didn’t waver as she made her way to the far end of the brightly lit police station, straight towards Sheriff Donohue’s office. It was little more than a closet with a scratched wood desk and some beige filing cabinets crammed inside it. But behind the desk sat the very person that she needed to talk to.
“Ahem!” Elsie cleared her throat softly to get his attention, but all she could see was the top of his wide brimmed cowboy hat as he bent over some paperwork. He didn’t budge at all.
“Um, ah, Sheriff?” she tried again, her voice still timid but forcing herself to stand up tall, remembering her pep talk from earlier. “Sheriff Donohue!”
He jolted from his seat, startled at her sudden raised voice.
“Jesus, Elsie, you don’t have to go shouting in here.” He gave her a perturbed look, but it was softened by the familiar affection. “Now, what are you doing here? Rachael isn’t here. She’s at home with Hannah, thank God.”
Elsie nearly winced. The sheriff might be happy about that fact, but she was pretty sure Rachael wasn’t. She and her twin sister Hannah were about as opposite as two people could be, and more often than not they were like oil and water when left alone together for too long. But she wasn’t there for Rachael. She had bigger things to worry about.
“No, actually, I came to talk to you, Sheriff,” Elsie finally forced out, swallowing hard on the sudden tightness in her throat.
He gave her a quizzical look before shuffling the paperwork on his desk and setting it aside.
“What’s going on, Elsie?” he asked. The concern in his eyes was sincere and she felt a single twinge of guilt before reminding herself once more of the reason she was there in the first place.
“Listen, Sheriff, my daddy would have come down here himself but there was some… trouble at the ranch,” Hopefully he’ll never find out that Jackrabbit was actually behind that ‘trouble.’ “He sent me along to let you know.”
“Let me know what? If there’s a problem at the ranch, I can come down there and take a look if he wants…”
“No! No, it’s not about that. It’s about the other thing. The… ah… the bikers that were brought in. With me,” Elsie finally added softly.
“Well, what about them? I don’t have all day, Elsie. I’ve got a lot of work to do,” Sheriff Donohue said with a huff of impatience and Elsie forced herself to take a step forward, praying that her expression looked open and honest. She didn’t have a lot of practice at lying, especially not to cops. Especially not to cops that had known her since she was ten years old.
“My daddy’s dropping all charges on Ha… on the bikers. I explained to him that it was a big misunderstanding and, when he finally came around to seeing the right way of things, he sent me down here straight away to get them released.” Elsie forced the words out in a rush and then held her breath, praying as hard as she’d ever prayed that Sheriff Donohue would buy her lies.
“Well, now. That’s… unexpected.” The sheriff sighed. “Are you sure, Elsie? He seemed pretty adamant when he was here.”
“I’m sure, Sheriff Donohue. He was just upset. You know how protective he can be of me. His only daughter and all that.”
“I can understand that. Got two daughters of my own to look after. Any man would be a little off his head after everything that’s happened.”
“Exactly! All this was really just a misunderstanding. Daddy overreacted because he was worried about me. But once I talked him through everything, he realized that he’d made a big mistake. Like I said, he’d be here himself. But with everything going on at the ranch… He didn’t want to hold that innocent man any longer than he already had been.”
Sheriff Donohue gave her a suspicious look from under the brim of his hat and Elsie worried for a moment that she’d taken it too far. But after a moment he sighed once more, in resignation this time. He rose to his feet, grabbing a ring of keys from the desk before turning to her.
“I can’t say I like this. Those Roadburners guys are all criminals just waiting to be caught if you ask me. But if your daddy is dropping the charges, then I have no reason to keep him here.”
The sheriff turned and walked out of the door. Elsie followed, not saying anything else, not knowing what to say and too afraid that she would give herself away. So, she trailed after him in silence as he walked over to a lockbox, pulled out some items, and shoved them in a brown paper bag before handing it to Elsie.
“Now, you stay right here and hold on to these. Just hold tight. I can’t allow you to go near the cells.”
Sheriff Donohue didn’t give her a chance to reply and she was grateful for it. So, she stood there, holding the bag of Hatchet’s personal items in front of her. Her pulse was racing and her palms grew sweaty, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do now but wait.
***
Hatchet was busy throwing tiny pieces of chipped cinderblock at the bars of his cell, wondering how much more of this he could take before the claustrophobia made itself known again, when the sound of the hallway door swinging open reached him.
He glanced up just in time to see Sheriff Donohue shuffling in, an annoyed look burning in his eyes as he swept over him and the cell with equal disdain.
“It looks like it’s your lucky day, son,” the sheriff said
Hatchet snorted. “How’s that?” He flicked another bit of crumbling concrete. “And I’m not your son.”
“Thank the good Lord above for that,” Sheriff Donohue muttered under his breath.
A soft chuckle escaped Hatchet’s lips before he could catch it. Donohue sounded like he meant every single word.
“Come on, now. On your feet,” the sheriff said as he pulled the massive key ring from his belt and unlocked the cell door. “Your charges have been dropped. You’re free to go.”
“Is this some sort of trick?” Hatchet asked suspiciously. Shock and surprise burned through him at the sheriff’s words, followed closely by confusion. Mark McLaurel didn’t seem like the type of man to let go of a grudge. But he also wasn’t dumb enough to question good luck when it punched him in the face.
“Nope, no trick. Now get the hell out of my cell,” Donohue nodded, gesturing for him to get moving. He sniffed dramatically as Hatchet passed him. “You should probably take a shower too.”
“Well, I wasn’t exactly staying at the Four Seasons now, was I?” Hatchet shot back with a derisive look at the sparse cell. But he didn’t say anything else, fighting past his shock as he followed the sheriff down the short hallway.
He was hit with a wave of surprise all over again when Sheriff Donohue pushed open the door to reveal Elsie waiting on the other side. She was the last person Hatchet had expected to see, and it sent a torrent of unexpected and unfamiliar emotions rushing through him. The memory of his daydream hit him hard as the fantasy of turning around and seeing her waiting there for him came to life. Hatchet had to swallow down the lump of emotion that threatened to choke him, and a quick, barely noticeable shake of her head from Elsie kept him from speaking.
So, instead, he stood there in silence, his chest tight and glowing with a warmth pulsing deep inside him every time their eyes met. The sheriff quickly took a crumpled brown paper bag from Elsie and handed it to him.
“Here are your personal items,” he said gruffly, completely unaware of the undercurrent between Hatchet and Elsie. “I just need you to sign these forms here and then you’re good to go.”
In a daze, Hatchet did as the sheriff asked. He felt like he was dreaming as he signed the multiple forms authorizing his release, still not talking, afraid that, if he did, it would somehow burst whatever spell was happening and he’d open his eyes to find himself back in that tiny, claustrophobic cell.
He still didn’t totally understand what was going on, though he was quick enough to realize that Elsie had something to do with it. But still he waited to speak, staying quiet as the sheriff double checked everything, gave him one last glare and then gestured pointedly towards the exit.
He was practically vibrating with confusion, surprise, and gratitude as they made their way outside, still not speaking a word. He breathed in deep of the crisp air. The heat hit him first and Hatchet just stood there, breathing deeply like some idiot. He felt like he hadn’t taken a good long breath in years.
They had gone a few steps from the door when he stumbled to a halt. Elsie turned back to look at him, casting one glance back towards the station, but they were well hidden by the overgrown shrubs that dotted the landscape.
“Hatchet, what is it…?” she started to ask, but Hatchet hushed her with a finger against her lips. There were so many questions burning inside him, so many things he knew he should be asking her. But there was only one thing that he needed. In that moment, there was only one thing that he could possibly do. So he leaned forward and captured her lips with his own.
The kiss was full of passion but tempered with the tenderness that stilled some of the rage inside him. It took his breath away and he nearly grinned when he finally pulled away and Elsie melted against him, boneless and gasping. He gently tucked one stray lock of hair behind her ear.
“I have some questions for you,” Hatchet whispered, his voice gruff.
She nodded, huffing out a panting breath. “Just, give me a minute, alright?” She looked up at him, her blue eyes shimmering with tears. “Then I’ll tell you everything.” He was more than happy to give her all the minutes in the world if he could just stay there like that, holding her.