Page 83 of The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley 1)
“Where’s Jess going?” Roe asked.
“He’s just checking out a couple of things, baby girl. We’re going to hang out here. Okay?”
“Can I go with him? Please,” she begged.
“No, sweetie. How about you tell me what kind of costumes you saw when you were walking around with Jess?”
My ploy worked and she yammered on and on about the different costumes she had seen tonight while I sat in the front, clutching my phone, barely listening to her. With every minute that ticked by, I got more and more anxious.
I was squirming in my seat ten minutes later, about to call Jess, when flashing lights came up behind us. Two cruisers flew by, speeding to the farmhouse.
Eff.
When the lights disappeared from my view, I slid over into the driver’s seat, ready to turn on the car and get the hell out of there. I was reaching for the keys when my phone vibrated in my hand. I jumped about six inches out of the seat and fumbled it in my lap before seeing it was Jess.
“Hello?”
“Come on down. Prepare Roe. The fuckers were here when I came down. Caught the three of them. They’re sitting cuffed on your front lawn. Smashed all the pumpkins but that’s it.”
“Oh my god,” I whispered. “Are you okay?”
“Just fucking pissed,” he said.
“Okay. Be there in a sec.”
I twisted to the back, not at all sure how I was going to explain the concept of vandalism to a four-year-old girl and warn her about seeing handcuffed criminals on our front lawn.
Rowen was inside watching a movie on the couch as I stepped outside, taking in the scene on my lawn.
Jess was talking to his two deputies, Milo and a younger man I’d never met. The three vandals, dressed entirely in black, were sitting with their butts on the grass and hands cuffed behind their backs.
Jess had met us at the car and immediately taken Roe from her seat and carried her inside, shielding her eyes from the trio of juvenile assholes and the broken remains of eleven pumpkins scattered on the grass. He had instructed me to get her settled and then come back out to make my official statement.
The mood in Jess’s huddle was tense. Too tense, so I tried to lighten the air. Was I annoyed that these kids had made a mess? Sure. But it was just smashed pumpkins. We weren’t dealing with murderers here.
“Well, good thing we had so many pumpkins, honey. It must have taken them quite a while to destroy them all. Saved me from having to clean up spray paint off my front door.”
Jess’s jaw clenched tight. Milo and the other deputy coughed to cover their laughs, making him even angrier.
Mental note. No joking when Jess was pissed.
“Georgia, need you to give Milo a quick recap on the record,” Jess said.
My summary was brief, having missed most of the action while I was sitting in the car. Milo asked a few questions and took a couple notes on his small spiral notepad. Then he and the other deputy said good night and started loading the vandals into cruisers.
Two of the kids never once acknowledged me as they were escorted to the back of the police cars. Their gazes were firmly fixed on their shoes, their heads hanging down and their shoulders shamefully slumped.
But as he was walking to the back of the police car, the third turned to me with a glare as cold as ice. One side of his mouth turned up in an evil snarl, causing my spine to shudder.
This kid was absolutely the ringleader. I’d have bet my life on it. He looked at me like I was the one in the wrong. Like he was entitled and had every right to vandalize my property. Like I was to blame for his arrest and it was my fault that he’d gotten caught breaking the law.
As he trudged toward the police car, he held my gaze. Right before he could be pushed inside,
he bent and spat on my lawn.
“You’ll be sorry. Watch your back, bitch, because I’m going to make you pay for this. Shouldn’t have made a statement.”
That pushed Jess over the edge. He stormed from my side and got right into the kid’s space, leaning down so far that the kid had to bend backward at his waist.
