Page 85 of Protected By Duval
Bradley’s shoulder shook with laughter. “I know I’m going to sleep good tonight after I imagine what it’s like to be frisked and handcuffed by the two of you.”
The two men walked off together, laughing like two hyenas.
Jack got up and Hayden stepped up beside her.
The deputy lifted a hand and balled her fingers into a fist. “What I wouldn’t give for a few minutes alone with the two of them.”
Jack nodded. “I’d pay to handcuff the two of them to my bumper and go for a nice long drive.”
Hayden shook her head, but Jack could tell by the smile on her face that she could imagine just how much fun that could be. “If wishes were horses, but the two of them are right. We can’t do anything about what they did before. We don’t even have any plausible evidence to bring them in for what happened to Aracely.”
“Isn’t that the damn truth.”
Jack’s phone rang and she answered the call, putting it on speaker.
“Jack? This is West.”
“Howdy, boss.”
Jack heard West sigh. He really didn’t like being called ‘boss.’ “We looked up Anthony Coolidge. The last thing we had about him is about ten years in the past.”
Jack looked at Hayden, the muscles in her jaw tensing up.
“The last activity we had on him is from the unemployment office. There’s an address and information that he ran out of benefits.Likely making his way with small jobs.”
“Or some handouts from the Coolidge family,” Hayden added in.
“Probably,” West agreed.
“While they call him a bastard,” Jack noted, “they probably didn’t want him making waves and news about the family. He’s not officially a family member, but there are enough ties to make things difficult for them.”
“It’s amazing what people will do to ‘save face.’”
Jack agreed with West. “My parents are a prime example of that.”
“Why don’t the two of you come back to the office, unless… Hayden?”
Hayden leaned in toward the phone. “Yeah?”
“Do you need to head back to the Sheriff’s office or can you come back with Jack?”
“I… I don’t need to go back to the office, but unless you need me to come over, I’d like to head home. Those two…” She shook her head and shivered. “They make my skin crawl. I need a bath.” She sighed. “A half a dozen baths.”
“I don’t blame you,” West sighed. “Go home. Let Boone spoil you. I’ll send you a message if we need your input.”
Jack saw the smile Hayden turned in her direction.
“Jack’s got this, West. I’m glad you let me come along for the ride even though neither of us got to slap either of them across the face.”
Jack smiled at her words. “Or nailed them in the nuts. I would have gladly paid to do that.”
“I would pay to see that.”
Jack smiled. Duval had finally spoken.
Well he didn’t really speak.
He growled.
