by Taylor Lee
When Marcie hesitated, looking as if she might dissemble, Tanya went for the gold. “Look, Marcie, your best friend is dead. Not only was she cruelly beaten, but she was also raped. And for good measure, her killer strangled her to death. Is that who you want to protect? An animal that would do those hideous things to your friend?”
Marcie paled dramatically at Tanya’s harrowing description. She managed to stammer, “I . . . I don’t believe it. None of the guys would do that. Yeah, they liked to have fun and maybe they like to drink . . . and . . . other stuff. But they would never have hurt me or Violeta. They liked us. Besides, I left the party early. My mom has been ragging me, threatening to take away my car if I broke her stupid curfew.” She added with a scowl, “You can ask my mother. She’ll tell you I was home at ten o’clock on Tuesday night.”
Holding the girl’s gaze, Tanya asked, “What about Violeta? Did she go with you when you left? If not, why not?”
Marcie shrugged and looked away. “I . . . told her we needed to go, that I had to get home. But she wouldn’t. She said one of the guys would take her home.”
Having reviewed the coroner’s tox report confirming that not only was Violeta legally intoxicated but she also had remnants of MDMA in her blood stream, Tanya decided not to pull any punches. She held Marcie’s gaze, not letting the challenged girl look away.
“I will definitely be talking with your parents, Marcie, to confirm when you got home. But do know that when Violeta’s body was found, your friend had enough alcohol in her system to confirm that she was unquestionably drunk. In addition, someone spiked her drink with MDMA, the drug you likely know as Ecstasy. And then, Marcie, that person or persons beat, raped, and strangled your beautiful young friend to death.”
Many moments later, Marcie stopped crying long enough to confirm that she and Violeta had met the guys they were partying with on Tuesday after one of the football games. Apparently, those particular football fans also had a hankering for teenage cheerleaders and invited the girls to a party. Within a couple of weeks, the two sophomore girls had become regulars at the nightly parties with the “cool guys.” It took persistent questioning and implied threats to convince Marcie to give up the names of her new friends. Even so, Marcie declared she absolutely knew that none of the men would ever hurt her or Violeta. They couldn’t have. After all, Manny, Pete, Mac, and that new blond guy, Flint, were too nice. Plus, they’d said over and over how much they liked both girls.
Chapter 5
I knew it! Dammit, I just knew it. Who else but those fucking white supremacist assholes would be shagging a couple of teenage girls?”
Tanya could hardly talk straight much less drive the speed limit. Gesticulating wildly with one hand, the other steering her cruiser, she practically shouted at Gunnar. “Dammit, Gunnar, I’m telling you, if I never make another arrest, I’m going to bag the whole damn bunch of those Hitler lovers and see that they rot in prison for the rest of their sorry lives.”
Gunnar was uncharacteristically contained. Shoving at the lock of curly hair that refused to stay in place, he murmured, “Uh, yeah, but don’t forget, Deputy Trouble, there is the small issue of proof. The last thing we wanna do with those guys is jump to conclusions. I know you’ve heard Manny Davis claim that the next time you try to arrest him will be the last day you walk straight.”
Tanya snorted. “Yeah, I’ve heard that. But so help me God, if we can prove that Manny and his bunch of neo-Nazis, Blood and Honor guys were with Violeta when she was brutally murdered, we’ll just see who’s able to walk straight. A night or two—make that a year or thirty in gen pop at Leavenworth—will have those despicable animals wondering how they’re gonna walk period, much less straight.”
As they pulled through the gate to Sledge Perkins’s property, Tanya took a deep breath and conceded her detective had a point. “You can relax, Detective Sorenson. I’m not insane, although right at this moment I’m angry enough to be considered crazy. Trust me. I’m not going to blow my chances to convict these assholes.” She hesitated and then said almost in wonder, “Jesus, Gunnar, what if these guys really did kill Violeta? And we can prove it?”
Gunnar sighed. “That’s my only caution, Deputy Trouble. We don’t want to do anything rash, anything that might keep us from making our case.”
Tanya yanked the wheel hard to the left and jerked the squad to a squealing stop. Facing the grim-faced detective, she spoke carefully. “Look, Detective. I admit I’ve had a hard-on for Manny Davis and the rest of that scurrilous bunch since Manny sat his race-baiting ass in our jail for six months. It killed me that I couldn’t prove he was guilty of more than assault and battery. You know that prick was guilty of so much more. Judge Kennedy let him off way too easy. Of course it didn’t help that Cheryl Remington recanted, claiming that she had fallen down the stairs instead of running into Manny’s fist. But if he and his bunch are involved in Violeta’s death—and the chances are looking damned good—know that I’m not going to do anything to spoil my chances of convicting them. So hang in there, Detective. What you are about to witness is your ever-so-sharp, ever-so-restrained partner putting together a failsafe case against a bunch of assholes who will be living the rest of their benighted lives in the harshest prison I can stick them in.”
Tanya and Gunnar walked across the spacious yard fronting Sledge’s sprawling house. Thinking of the modest house she and her sisters grew up in, Tanya sniffed. “Why do all the assholes have great places to live?” Gazing up at the massive door to the gargantuan house, she shook her head. “Jesus, what did Sledge ever do to warrant a place like this? Not to mention the miles of land he owns.”
Gunnar shrugged. “I dunno that he necessarily deserves it. But you gotta admit, the old geezer has worked his ass off to keep this place going. If I remember hearing right, he’s been acquiring land since the forties. Has to have done something right. I don’t know anyone else in this part of the state who got rich that wasn’t part of the copper mining industry.”
“You’re right about that. But you know as well as I do the poor saps he climbed over to accumulate this land. From what I hear, he’s like a giant anteater foraging in the muck of people’s lives, then digging in with his vicious claws at the first sign of trouble in a family. Then, like the predator he is, he uses his powerful tongue to suck up the poor farmer’s land at dirt-shit prices.” Glancing out across the horizon at what she knew were acres and acres of land, she snorted. “Jesus, Gunnar, it’s not as if he does anything productive with the land. Obviously, he isn’t a farmer or, fuck it, even a rancher. That would require him to get his lazy ass off the porch swing and do something productive. No, he’s a collector. But instead of insects, he collects land, then makes millions by using it as collateral to grow his financial empire.”
Gunnar shrugged. “I dunno, Tanya. Seems like nice work if you can get it.”
Tanya whirled on him. “Then why is he so goddamned mean? He’s got all of this and what’s the only reason he gets his scrawny ass out of bed in the morning? I’ll tell you what. It’s to make sure that not a single wretched soul fleeing a dismal life and seeking a better one walks across one of his precious acres.”
“Phew, Deputy Trouble, if I didn’t know better, I might think you’re becoming more like your rabble-rousing sister. Who I’m sure you know is being called a socialist among other not-so-nice names.”
Tanya frowned. “Maybe I am getting soft, Gunnar. Not about criminals. I’ll put my collar credentials up against any lawman twice my age. But I’ll admit the ‘illegal aliens’ as you call them are starting to get to me. Can you imagine how horrible their lives are that they risk their lives to come into a country that hates them?” Glancing across the side yard to the group of men crowding around the raised hood of a Ram Big Horn, she added, “And the first people they see, besides the criminals they’re paying their life’s savings to get them here, are that pack of predatory animals. Christ, Gunnar. Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?”
Striding toward the men, Tanya lifted her chin, preparing for the assault that was sure to come. She didn’t have to wait long. Mac Lewis saw her first. He stepped back, a grin splitting his ruddy face that sported a trendy James Hardin goatee. Tanya thought with a grimace that Hardin’s beard looked a hell of a lot better than Mac’s. Gazing at the scruffy bush, Tanya remembered how her sisters would shriek with laughter when she reminded them that to see a guy’s beard was to know what his pubic hair looked like.
Breaking into her humorous reverie, Mac called out, “Uh-oh, boys. Put your dicks back in your pants. Seems like we have a visitor. None other than that ball-busting bitch otherwise known as Deputy ‘Tiny Tanya’ Trouble.”
Tanya raised her chin another notch and returned his grin. “Watch out who you’re calling tiny, Mac. That’s kinda like the pot calling the kettle.”
Mac had the decency to laugh. “I gotta say, Tanya, you don’t never give up. Even when you and your boy toy are outnumbered four to two.”
“Hmm. Given that between my six-foot-three, former-linebacker boy toy and myself we are carrying a minimum of six deadly weapons, I’ll take our numbers any day.” She let her grin widen, then added with a thoughtful frown, “A word of advice, Mac. Before you try to emulate James Hardin, you might want to gain a few feet of inches on him.”
At Mac’s flush, Tanya closed the distance between them and the men surrounding the truck. She managed to shutter the unwelcome wave of sensation that flooded her nether region when she saw none other than the blond stranger she now knew ran under the name of Flint Burke. Damn, she couldn’t help thinking talk about boy toys. The shaggy, dirty blond-haired guy was a hunk and then some. She didn’t have time to do more than warn herself to watch her hormones when Manny Davis broke from the group and focused a menacing glare on her.
“What the fuck do you want, Tanya?”
“The name’s Deputy Trouble to you, Manny. But forget the niceties. Detective Sorenson and I are here on official business.”
“And what might that be, Deputy Trouble?”
“To be specific, I understand that you and your race-baiting buddies have discovered a new way to ensure that within a matter of days, you’re likely to be taking up residence in my house. You remember the one, Manny. With the bars, locks, and horseshit food?”
“What the hell are you talking about? I’m warning you, pig cunt, you better have a damn good reason for comin’ on this property . . . ”
Tanya shrugged and turned to her partner. “Oh, I don’t know. What do you say, Detective Sorenson? You think murder qualifies as a good reason?” She narrowed her gaze, glad to see Manny’s shocked startle and added, “Yeah, even with this bunch of dead-enders, I think murder qualifies as a BFD—big fucking deal.”
Pete Weber stepped forward, a deep frown furrowing his brow. “What the hell are you talking about, Tanya? I mean Deputy Trouble. That’s a damn big reach, even for a pig slut like you.”
Mac stepped in and said more cautiously, “If you’re talking about that little girl who was found on the back stretch, you know damn well she was likely a wetback who ran outta water and died in the heat. Best you hunt down her coyote if you’re lookin for some kind of fucked up justice.”
Tanya put her hands on her hips and thrust out her chin. “Not to change the subject, but I hear you boys are branching out. Getting tired of chasing down mamas and daddies who are trying to find a better life for their little brown kiddies? Who make the mistake of running into a gang of white supremacists who are despised almost as much as the wretched souls they’re chasing?”
To her surprise, the blond Adonis stepped forward and said in a comparably civil tone, “How about you tell us why you’re here, Deputy Trouble, and how we can help you.”
With an effort, Tanya managed to shake off the army of fire ants that had invaded her spine at his compelling voice and serious expression. It didn’t help that he’d pinned her in place with a frowning gaze with a pair of eyes that would have put a summer sky to shame. Not to mention the dark brows and lashes framing them or the firm jaw covered with a sexy beard shadow that Chris Hemsworth would have envied. And of course that surprising whiff of expensive, unambiguously masculine cologne didn’t help. Deciding that she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of answering him, she allowed her gaze to take in the whole bunch of them and spoke to the group.
“I understand you boys are football fans. Or to be more specific, you’re fans of the little coochies who cheer the big boys on the gridiron.”
Seeing the startled expression on Manny’s face as well as Pete’s and Mac’s and Greg’s, Tanya pressed on. “Let me be more specific. I hear that you all have a hankering for cheerleaders. Tell me, is it the short skirts and nubile bodies that turn your crank? That cause you to hunger after the pom-pom girls? Make that fifteen-year-old, high school cheerleaders.”
Seeing the glances Manny, Pete, and Mac exchanged, Tanya decided to go after the guy who had caused her knees to buckle the first time she saw him. But then, studying his six-foot-plus, lean, muscular frame, it wasn’t hard to know why he was affecting her the way he did. Of course, that bad-boy crop of dirty blond hair and riveting azure gaze didn’t hurt either. Deciding to take him on, if for no other reason than to prove to herself that she could, Tanya turned a scathing glance on the frowning hottie.
“How about you, Captain America? Or do you prefer to be called Thor?”
The stud narrowed his gaze and allowed his sensuous lips to quirk up in a stealthy grin. “Either works, Deputy Trouble, although if you’re into anti-heroes, I also answer to Wolverine.”
Shocked at the waves of heat flooding her groin, Tanya fought to keep her tone as careless as his and to not let him see the effect he was having on her. “Then let me ask you point-blank, Mr. Burke. Where were you last night when your buddies were chasing jailbait?”
She was shocked when he stepped forward, crowding her space. Letting his eyes do the walking over her body, he drawled, “Sorry, honey. Jailbait ain’t my thing. I’m into women—the more fully developed, the better. Jailbait doesn’t turn me on.” He added with a wink, “Now, mouthy women with curves that don’t quit? Mm-hmm. They definitely turn my crank.”
Knowing that her cheeks had to be flaming, Tanya swallowed past the gargantuan lump in her throat. There was no way that she could respond to the man who’d invaded her space in a way she couldn’t remember anyone doing. Stepping back in an attempt to regain her equilibrium, she glanced from Pete to Manny Davis, surprised that men who used to challenge her seemed like pussy cats compared to the blond, Thor-like figure who’d taken her on.
Drawing herself up to her full height, aware of how pitifully small she felt next to the grinning giant, she turned to a more familiar target. “It just so happens, guys, I don’t give a flying fuck what you do in your off hours. Except that I take notice when your playmates fall in the teenybopper category. I might even let that crime go, knowing how pitiful you are and how unlikely it is that you can get a woman to respond to you.” Beginning to get control of her shattered nerves, Tanya glared at the group of men, studiously avoiding Burke’s gaze. “However, not surprisingly, I draw the line at murder. Especially when the victim is a young girl in her first year in high school.”
Ignoring their shocked gasps, she focused on Manny. “Tell me, Manny, did you happen to run into a beautiful little fifteen-year-old girl last night? One you’ve been seen with a lot these last two weeks?” Gratified that Davis’s face had gone from gray to a threatening purplish tint, Tanya went for the money ball. Nodding sagaciously, she said, “Yeah, Manny, given your penchant for beating up women half your size who can’t fight back, you definitely fit the bill.” Allowing a sneer to tramp across her face, she added, “Only problem is that the young girl was raped before she was strangled to death.” She glanced at his trousers. “Given your little issue . . . ”
Before she could complete her taunt, the enraged man dove for her, a fierce shriek worthy of
a wild beast filling the air. Later, Tanya acknowledged that there was no way that she could have escaped serious injury if Flint Burke hadn’t somehow caught Manny in mid-flight. With a series of impressive MMA moves, the blond avenger brought the enraged man to the ground.
Sitting astride a screaming Manny, securing the wailing man’s arm behind his back and pressing his face in the dirt, Burke glared at her. His voice was all the more dangerous in that it was barely audible. “I suggest you get the hell out of here, Deputy Trouble, and don’t come back on this property unless you have a warrant. Go. Now!”
Seeing his eyes blazing with banked intent, her flippant response caught in her throat. Tanya decided that in this case, discretion definitely was the better part of valor. Tipping up her chin, she turned on her heel and, without looking back, strode across the field.
Chapter 6
I trust you know how angry I am with you, Deputy Trouble.”
Her father didn’t have to formally address her for Tanya to know that he was angry. His grim expression and clipped words confirmed that this was going to be a challenging discussion. She was glad Gunnar Sorenson was on the carpet with her, although she knew that her cohort was likely as upset with her as her father was. Even though there wasn’t much use in defending herself, she decided it was worth a try. After all, shying away from controversy wasn’t her strong suit. And given that brazen described most of her actions, she decided to play to form.
“Look, Dad, I know you’re upset with me. But you need to understand. I’m convinced Manny Davis and those Hitler-loving sons of bitches are responsible for Violeta Acedo’s death. It was imperative that I put down a marker. Let them know that I have them in my cross hairs—where they’re going to stay until I have enough evidence to throw the whole damn bunch of them in jail.”