by Jeff Carson
As the men branded the calf, MacLean sat tall with a self-satisfied grin plastered on his face.
Once again, Wolf felt bested by this man, in an arena he was unfamiliar with.
Being appointed sheriff of Sluice County, just like Hal Burton before him, and Wolf’s father before Burton, Wolf had never had to pander to the masses, never had to act a part; he’d simply shown up for work and done the best job he could.
Now that the smaller Sluice County was merging with its neighbor to the south, Byron, things were changing. Big time. Down in Rocky Points, just a block and a half from the station, a three-story monstrosity of a municipal building and new sheriff’s office, complete with state-of-the-art jail cells in the basement, was going up in record time. And with the new structure came something even bigger. An election. And a campaign. Multiple campaigns, because the people of the newly formed Sluice–Byron County were voting not only for a sheriff but for other seats in the new county government too.
It was now spring and the election would be held in mid-summer by special order of the governor of Colorado. With the political atmosphere like a mosh pit at a thrash-metal concert, Sheriff Will MacLean seemed to be at home amid the chaos.
Wolf wondered just how MacLean planned on cutting and pasting all this video footage, what exactly he was going to do with all these photos.
No doubt something awe-inspiring, just like the rest of the man’s campaign for sheriff had been thus far.
Wolf felt no awkwardness when it came to mountain living. But the pixels captured through those lenses said otherwise. That’s all that mattered. The airtime on television that MacLean’s campaign could buy would undoubtedly show the people otherwise.
“And that,” Margaret Hitchens yelled, “is Sheriff Wolf’s attitude towards his job in action. Never give up! Never give up!”
A lone whistle pierced a smattering of applause.
Wolf felt his face go red as he jumped down and handed over the reins.
“Sheriff Wolf!”
Rachette had his cowboy hat off, waving it in the air with one hand and holding a radio in the other.
Deputy Patterson stood next to him with excitement painted on her face, and not because of the recent action. She held her radio, too.
“What’s up?” he asked as he reached the fence line.
Patterson climbed two slats of the fence and leaned toward him.
“We have a dead body,” she said. “Correction: almost a dead body.”
CLICK HERE to download Cold Lake (David Wolf Book 5) and continue the adventure!
David Wolf Novels in Order
Gut Decision (A David Wolf Short Story)– Sign up for the new release newsletter at http://www.jeffcarson.co/p/newsletter.html and receive a complimentary copy.
Foreign Deceit (David Wolf Book 1)
The Silversmith (David Wolf Book 2)
Alive and Killing (David Wolf Book 3)
Deadly Conditions (David Wolf Book 4)
Cold Lake (David Wolf Book 5)
Smoked Out (David Wolf Book 6)
To the Bone (David Wolf Book 7)
Dire (David Wolf Book 8)
Signature (David Wolf Book 9)
Dark Mountain (David Wolf Book 10)
Rain (David Wolf Book 11)