Detour (The Getaway Series Book 5)

by Jay Crownover

  Webb’s twin killed our mother, and attempted to kill Ten, just to leave Webb alone and lost in the world, the same way he’d been. Only, he didn’t know Webb fell in love with a total badass, a woman who could hold her own in almost any situation, one who was armed and not afraid to pull the trigger. Ten killed Webb’s twin, and we’d buried him and our mother on our family’s land deep in the swamps of Louisiana. I was still physically healing during all of it, so a lot of the aftermath was a blur, thankfully. I could honestly say I hadn’t grieved for either of them. It was probably a bad attitude to have, but my mother made my life a living hell and did her best to ruin me and my brother. I wasn’t sad to have her permanently out of my life, and my long-lost brother nearly got me killed, so why was I supposed to be sorry that he ultimately got exactly what he dished out? It was a stretch for me to feel anything but indifference toward either of them.

  Cam pushed away from the table, pausing to slap a hand on my shoulder. “You keep saying you’re okay, Wyatt. Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” The teen gave my shoulder a squeeze and moved toward the door. “For whatever it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here. I really look up to you, and I know Webb is stoked he can keep an eye on you. He worries about you more than anyone.” A sad smile pulled at his mouth. “You’re lucky you have someone who cares about you like that.”

  He shot an absent wave in my direction as he disappeared out the door.

  I wanted to tell him that he and Webb had more in common than he thought. I’d done my best to protect my brother, tried to keep him out of trouble and off the streets, but there were times in our past when we had to do some pretty questionable things. Even if Cam’s older brother hadn’t been a selfish little prick, there was no guarantee he would have been able to protect the kid from all the evil in the world.

  Shaking my head to clear away the dark thoughts, I finished my coffee and tucked into another pastry. I was going to have to make my way up to the house so I could thank Brynn and say hello to the rest of the family. As slow as I was moving, however, it would take a while to get there, but I had to show my gratitude. They really were one-of-a-kind. There was no reason for them to take in another wounded stray, but they had done so without question. I was going to have to swallow my pride and pull out my cane. There was no way in hell I was covering that distance without something to lean on without ending up on my face in the dirt. I was also going to have to come clean with Webb about my current condition. He was going to see the cane and know I was the walking wounded.

  I tried to convince him I was invincible, but the truth was, I broken just like everyone else.

  I dragged myself to the shower, slowly and painfully stripping and climbing under the hot water. I waited to feel invigorated. Waited for some kind of spark, some kind of life to wake up inside of me. I’d been waiting since I turned in my badge and gun. I was a man used to having a purpose. I thrived under extreme conditions and was used to thinking on my feet. My mind hadn’t quite adjusted to the limitations of my body, a situation that was entirely frustrating.

  Fortunately, there was one part of my anatomy that still worked the way it always had. Even with the painkillers making my movements sluggish and slower than normal, my cock had no problem perking up under the water and reminding me exactly how long it’d been since it had some company.

  Groaning, I wrapped a hand around the stiff length and let my mind wander. It shouldn’t be a surprise that it immediately went to the surly sheriff of Sheridan. I’d been trapped in the car alone with him for hours yesterday. I could still hear the low rumble of his voice when we argued about everything. The touch of his thumb against my lip was seared into my memory. I could clearly see the way his jade eyes seemed to look right through me, and I had no trouble picturing the way his muscles flexed underneath his uniform. He was hot… so hot. I’d never really gone for the rugged and rough type, mostly because there weren’t a ton of men who fit that bill in DC. It was a lot of suits and expensive styled hair. It was a lot of men looking to claw their way up different political ladders, which was exhausting when I was battling with them and doing the same thing myself.

  So, not for the first time, and far from the last, I rested my forehead against the tiles and jerked myself off thinking about a guy I had no business getting worked up over. My life was enough of a mess as it was. The last thing I needed was to lust after a man who would run for the hills if he knew how often I pictured him naked.

  Rodie

  “Boss, just got a call from the high school. They’re requesting you make an appearance.”

  I looked down at the radio with a frown and asked, “Why do I need to go? There’s a patrol officer responsible for anything that happens at the school.”

  The deputy in charge of dispatch sighed and I could almost see the eye roll that accompanied the sound. “You have to go because the mayor’s kid is involved, and he’s the one requesting your presence on the scene.”

  “Fuck.” The word slipped out before I could censor myself. I heard the deputy chuckle as I reached up to rub my forehead in aggravation. I was not the mayor’s personal police dog. It annoyed me to no end that the man thought he could whistle and I’d come running obediently.

  “What kind of dust-up are we talking about?” I better not be sacrificing my entire afternoon for something the administration at the school could handle in their sleep.

  Another sigh blasted through the radio. “Mayor’s kid got into it with a classmate. The new kid. The one Lane took in, so you know the entire Warner family is going to be up in arms. Mayor’s kid is saying the new kid started it. The new kid is saying the mayor’s boy attacked him unprovoked. Mayor’s kid took the brunt of the fight and has a history of being problematic, according to the principal. I think the mayor wants you there as backup. Everyone in town knows he likes to throw his title around. But he’s scared shitless of the Warners.”

  As he should be.

  When the family banded together, they were basically unstoppable. I’d learned that lesson the hard way when I’d been forced into a corner and had to arrest Sutton, the middle brother, for murder. The rest of the Warners turned the town upside down until his name was cleared, and they’d never looked at me the same. They were a fearsome enemy to have, and the mayor knew it. The last thing I wanted to do was wade into the middle of this brewing storm, but it sounded like I didn’t have much choice.

  “All right. I’m headed that way. I’ll report in once I’m free.” The deputy wished me luck under his breath, and it was my turn to sigh. I smacked the palm of my hand on the steering wheel and whipped the SUV around to head to the high school. I hated the days when my job was more about playing politics than it was about keeping the town safe. I wasn’t the most pragmatic and even-tempered man on my best days. My patience was limited when it came to smiling and shaking hands. I was pretty terrible at playing nice. But, I needed this job. It was the only thing tethering me to a sense of normalcy. It was the only thing that gave me a purpose and a reason to get up in the morning.

  I grumbled dirty words under my breath as I marched into the school, which hadn’t changed much since I’d attended. I went way back with the Warners. I remembered when Cyrus Warner, the eldest of the brothers, wanted out of Wyoming almost as badly as I did. We both swore we’d never come back. We had big dreams outside of Sheridan. Cy’s dreams were cut short when he had to come back and take care of his family and their failing ranch. Mine literally blew up in my face. No matter how big and tough we were, or how much of the world we’d seen, and how we’d changed as we grew, we ended up back where we started when it was time to lick our wounds and regroup.

  I could hear the mayor’s booming voice as soon as I pushed through the main doors of the building. The entitlement and perceived authority in every word he snapped out made me cringe. I could hear the principal trying to placate the man and keep the situation calm.

  “I want this little punk arrested! Look at my son’s face! How can you ca
ll yourself the principal of this school when you let someone attack my child like this in broad daylight? I won’t stand for this.” The man huffed, and I noticed he was bright red as soon as I walked into the room.

  The mayor was a fairly short, stout man. He looked a little bit like Yosemite Sam with his droopy mustache and oversized cowboy hat. Plus, his blustery, boastful attitude was similar to the cartoon character. Several of my deputies and I often laughed about the resemblance. It was hard to take him seriously, and his son took after him in both looks and demeanor. The teenager was sitting with his arms crossed over his barrel chest, glaring out of twin black and blue eyes at the other teen in the room.

  Cameron Bauer stood out without even trying. Last time I saw the kid, he’d been skinny, all big eyes and skittish actions. Now, he’d filled out some, and was obviously taller and in better shape than the mayor’s kid. He had a shock of dyed orange hair that I was certain could be spotted from space, and he had on a pink, v-neck t-shirt, black skinny jeans, and a pair of sneakers that looked like they had paint splattered all over them. I was sure they cost more than my mortgage payment. The look was distinct and flashy, especially in these parts. The kid was definitely not making an effort to blend in. I kind of admired him for it, but I also knew he wasn’t doing himself any favors if he wanted to make it through the school year as easily as possible.

  “Oh good, Sheriff Collins is here. I want you to arrest this miscreant for assault.” The mayor put his hand on his son’s shoulder and squeezed, which made the teenager wince. “Look what he did to Dalton.”

  The mayor’s son looked petulant as he pouted and muttered, “He started it.”

  I looked over in Cam’s direction, noticing he seemed unscathed for the most part. He had an icepack resting on the back of one hand, but he wasn’t sporting the bruises the way the mayor’s son was.

  I sighed and gave the mayor a hard look. “Why are you confronting Cam without his guardian present? Do you think that’s a good idea? You shouldn’t get to gang up on him just because your child is involved in the altercation and you’re a city official.” I lifted an eyebrow in the principal’s direction. “Someone has called the Warners, correct?” I made sure my tone let him know there was only one answer I wanted to hear.

  The principal shifted his weight nervously, and I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he scrambled for an excuse to cover his ass.

  “I called Lane as soon as they hauled me into the office. He should be here any minute.” Cam’s voice was surprisingly calm considering the way the other adults in the room were glaring at him. “I didn’t trust anyone here to have my back. I’m used to covering it myself.”

  The principal openly winced at being called out by the street-smart teenager.

  “Arrest him, Rodie. That’s a direct order.” I looked over at the mayor when he snapped the command in my direction.

  “Doesn’t work that way.” I rubbed my hand across my chin and looked between the boys. “First, I don’t take orders from you. Second, Dalton says Cam started it. Where is the proof? Every teenager on the planet is attached to their cell phone these days. I’d bet good money if I confiscate every phone in this school, I can put together a video of the entire altercation. You good with that, boys?”

  Dalton balked at the suggestion, and Cam threw back his head and laughed. The principal puffed up his chest and held up his hand, “Now now, I don’t think we have to go to such extreme lengths. I have faith that the boys will be honest with us. And we can always ask the other kids who were in the locker room what happened when the altercation took place. We don’t need to disrupt the entire school over this.”

  I snorted. “We don’t? Cam’s new here. Dalton’s been in school with the same kids since preschool. That is not a fair and unbiased pool of witnesses.”

  “Your job is to protect this town, not to stick up for one kid who obviously doesn’t belong.” The mayor’s tone was getting sharper and more hostile. I could see that he was getting more and more worked up each time I intervened on Cam’s behalf. “If you don’t do something about this situation, I will.” The threat absolutely rubbed me the wrong way.

  “No one wants to share a locker room with a fa—” Dalton’s words were cut off when his father slammed his hand over the kid’s mouth, but the damage had already been done.

  I felt my eyebrows shoot up and the hair on the back of my neck lift. I gave Dalton a very pointed look and asked in a voice I could barely keep civil, “You got a reason why Cam shouldn’t be in the locker room?”

  Dalton pulled his father’s hand away from his mouth and climbed to his feet. I automatically moved in front of Cam as the other boy shook a finger in his direction. “We have to strip and shower in the locker room. No one wants to get naked in front of a perv like him. I know he was checking me out. It was disgusting. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him.”

  Cam let out a dry chuckle and muttered, “As if.” I wasn’t sure if he was talking about checking Dalton out, or about Dalton nearly killing him, either way his sarcastic response had me biting back a grin. Cam kept his composure far better than I would have.

  “Why don’t you go ahead and collect those cell phones, Sheriff?” Every head in the room whipped around as the slick, east coast accent suddenly filled the room.

  My eyes widened in surprise as Lane Warner and Wyatt came storming into the front office. Well, Lane stormed, Wyatt sort of shuffled, still moving like every part of his body hurt. But his eyes were ice cold and totally calculating as he assessed the situation.

  “If there is any evidence that Dalton started the fight because Cameron is gay, well, that can be classified as a hate crime and he could be looking at federal charges.” Ice cold as always, Wyatt’s voice cut through the tension in the room like a knife. He wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular, but he made his point.

  The mayor’s face turned nearly purple, and every vein in his neck looked like it was about to pop as he started to sputter in Wyatt’s direction. “Who the hell are you? What do you have to do with any of this? Rodie, is this how you control a sensitive situation? I’m starting to question endorsing you to serve another term.”

  “You cornered Cam for questioning and made him face his accuser without his guardian present. Your son is spouting homophobic slurs and murder threats in front of the school’s principal and law enforcement. There is little I can do to make this situation better for you, Mayor.” I made the statement as blandly as possible, watching as the other man got worked up until he was nearly vibrating in his cheap suit. I hooked a thumb in Wyatt’s direction and gave the flustered mayor a smirk. “And he’s a former federal agent. If he says we can look at this as a hate crime, I believe him.”

  Lane immediately went to Cam, giving the teenager a onceover as he addressed the principal with a dangerous growl, “My kid gets hurt and you didn’t bother to call me? But you called the mayor? You’re a fool if you think I’m going to let that pass without recourse.”

  The principal gulped and nervously fiddled with one of the buttons on his shirt. “I didn’t know it was such a big deal. I thought we could handle it amongst ourselves. It’s just boys being boys.”

  Lane snorted. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the other man until he actually flinched and looked away. “Only, one of the boys is new to the area and just so happens to be gay, and the other is the son of the town’s mayor. If you think I can’t see how you’re trying to railroad Cam, you’re as dumb as you look.”

  The principal let out a shaky breath and ran his hands through his hair. “What if I discipline both boys? They can take equal responsibility for what happened and we can keep the law out of it.”

  “No!” Dalton practically screamed the words out. “He doesn’t belong here. He’s a freak who doesn’t know his place. He’s weird and different. Nobody wants him here. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  I had to physically hold Lane back when he suddenly lunged forward. Lane was
the most easygoing of the Warners, but it was obvious he couldn’t keep his cool when his kid was threatened. While I had my hands full keeping Lane under control, Wyatt shuffled toward an indignant Dalton.

  “Listen, kid, I know you don’t come by that hate and ignorance on your own. That’s something you learn young.” Even though I couldn’t see his expression, I was pretty sure he was looking at the mayor. “In this life, you’re going to encounter a lot of different kinds of people. Some of those differences you might not agree with, but it isn’t your job to police what is and what isn’t normal for someone else. You might be a big fish in a small pond right now, but when you eventually swim out into the ocean, you’re gonna find out just how tiny you, and that ugly mindset of yours, really are. Pick a fight with a shark, and you’re gonna get eaten alive.”

  I had to give it to the kid, though. Cam had already proven he was no one’s target and that he wouldn’t be anyone’s punching bag.

  Lane growled again and bit out, “I want to press charges. I’m not letting that entitled brat get away with attacking Cam for no fucking reason.”

  The mayor started swearing. The principal started sweating bullets. Lane looked like he was ready to rip everyone in the room to shreds, but Wyatt stayed silent and calm as chaos swirled around us. I was supposed to be keeping the peace, but I found myself staring at him, captivated. I could see why he was so good at his previous job. You had to have ice in your veins when you went undercover, and Wyatt was practically frozen as he watched the mayor try to salvage a situation which was quickly deteriorating.

  I put my fingers in my mouth and let out a shrill whistle, making everyone in the room go silent. I used a finger to tilt back the brim of my hat and addressed the entire room.

  “Dalton should be suspended for instigating the fight and violating the school’s zero-tolerance toward bullying policy. If you press charges, at most he’s going to get community service. I’m going to suggest the school implement sensitivity training and awareness for all the students and staff instead. Wyatt is right. Wyoming isn’t the center of the universe, and the kind of attitude Dalton has toward someone different is outdated and dangerous. I’m taking a formal complaint from Cam. If anything else happens to him while he’s on school property, I’m sure the Warners will have no problem taking you to court for negligence and discrimination. It’s your job to keep every student in this building safe while they get an education. Am I making myself crystal clear… to all parties?” I didn’t want a temporary solution for Cam. I wanted to make his world safer for the long run. I hoped Lane would see that.