Hearts of Iron (5 page)

Josh pulled out his cell. “I’m on it!”

“Later!” Lance yelled before riding into a dust cloud.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Hello,” Katie said as she walked through the door to the Sheriff’s office. “Sorry you arrived without a welcoming committee. We’ve been trying to keep the news of your arrival on the down-low so as not to stir up trouble from the bikers I told the panel about at the meeting.” Katie felt wrong painting Lance and his men out to be thugs, even though she had not seen any reason to believe they were anything else. It just felt so hypocritical after what she had been up to with their leader. But she had to be honest, and they were the reason why she hadn’t spread the good news to the citizens of Miller as soon as she returned from the meeting only hours before. “Anyway, I came as quickly as I could.” She extended her hand to shake theirs in greeting.

The short, round Sheriff stood to shake her hand. “Ma’am.”

“Call me Katie, please.”

“I will! Katie, this here is Martin, Pete, and Stew.”

She shook each hand individually, wondering why they all had something going on behind their eyes.

The sheriff grabbed her hand again and said, “And you can call me… anytime.” Then he laughed, a sleazy wink in place. His deputies all found his comment amusing, but Katie did not. Still, she put it down to a tired, old, chauvinistic sense of humor and left it that.

Lips tight, she looked at her watch and tried not to think too much about Lance, still feeling his presence linger over her. “Err, shall we get going? It’s not a big town, but I figure you’ll want to see folks in their place of business before they finish up for the day. Wouldn’t be right to go to their homes unannounced. Besides, church would be the best place to meet everyone outside of work. You could get your arrival properly announced this Sunday, after Mass?”

The Sheriff and his deputies rolled their eyes, “He’ll make sure everyone knows we’ve arrived, don’t you worry about that,” said Pete with a grin, referring to the sheriff.

“Guess you could use the bar across the road, if that best fits your needs.” Katie figured that would be more their scene.

“Yeah, we saw the bar. It’s so perfectly appointed opposite our offices, right boys?”

They all jeered. “Sure is!”

“Most trouble any town gets is usually caused by alcohol consumption, so you’re right there. Means you have only to walk across the road to deal with it,” said Katie, doubting that’s what they meant.

Sheriff put his hat on and grabbed his keys. “Okay, enough chit-chat. Where to first?” He looked at Katie.

Panicking inside, knowing she had to somehow leave out two prominent businesses from their tour, she froze for a second. “Umm…” How could she introduce the bikers to their new sheriff? What if Lance was at the burger bar or the auto-repair shop? “The bar.”

Oh, for the love of… What have I gotten myself into?

The sheriff looked out of the window over her shoulder. “We’ll go there later. But first, take us to the biggest businesses around here. We’ll work our way back here.”

Katie wasn’t sure why they needed to meet everyone. She thought turning up at church or throwing a council meeting might have been a better way to introduce themselves than interrupting them on their work day, but still. What did she know? “Okay. I’m afraid Miller isn’t known for ‘big business,’ but there are some great little shops and a couple of very productive farms. Yes, here in Miller you can stock up your shelves with wholesome food, get your hair cut just dandy, get your old shoes heeled and polished, and flesh out your wardrobe, no problem.” She added a sunny attitude to her words, trying to beef up Miller’s limited commercial viability. Like one parent might inflate their child’s talents to another parent.

“What about something a little less…” The sheriff wasn’t impressed. “Or maybe a little more like a car dealership or auto-repair shop, or insurance offices?”

She didn’t want to mention the auto-repair shop, and his attitude became annoying, “You want to buy a car, Sheriff Clancy?” Do you need insurance?”

He huffed. “Not exactly, but…”

“Then I’m unsure why the lack of those options on your doorstop would cause you concern.” Deflection mean she didn’t deny the existence of an auto-repair shop, but didn’t reveal one either.

“Are there any big families around here then, or… a lawyer’s office? A drug store? That sort of thing?”

What’s his game?
“The drug store is located in Grace Hospital. Everything one needs of a medical nature can be found there. We’re very proud that Miller has the only hospital for miles in all directions. It’s nothing fancy, but my family built it many years ago and it now has one of the highest-achieving graduates in the country working there.” She was of course referring to herself, whether they realized it or not. “So, no, Miller doesn’t offer insurance or have law firm established, but people who need them find those services out of town or online.” She couldn’t help herself. “Are you familiar with the internet, Sheriff? Miller
is
connected.”

The three deputies looked silently at the sheriff, who grew red in the face. Her first meeting with her lawmen was officially a disaster.

“I’m sorry about my little joke, Sheriff. It’s been a very stressful day and I’m sure we’re all tired after our journey.” She doubted they’d even care that she travelled the same distance as they had, hours before them. “Shall we go?”

If for no other reason than to save face in front of his brainless deputies, the sheriff laughed lazily. “Of course Sweetheart, time to go.”

Katie, Sheriff Clancy, and his three deputies, all fortunately plain-clothed, moved from one house to another, visiting all of the wealthiest families and businesses in and around town. There was only a handful—not including Katie, who was the wealthiest of all of them. But she had no reason to mention that, and they hadn’t asked.

Besides, they had already met.

They also visited those farmers who still earned a good living from their produce, but left those who just got by. The sheriff clearly only cared about Miller’s income and those who were responsible for it. She steered them away from the auto-repair shop, which fortunately did not have bold shop front position in the town. Indeed, you needed to know where it was to find it. Katie had also avoided town, and the burger bar—so far, so good. But as she took them back to their station, things would change drastically.

***

The sun seemed to die quickly that evening, leaving the bluish hues of a clear nighttime sky to replace the day’s sunshine, and several families were out for a meal, or singles were out to play, replacing the hustle-bustle of a busy work day.

“So, you drink beer, Doc?” asked the sheriff as they approached his office.

“I’m a little tired…” Katie yawned.

Pete shot her a look. “Hey, it’s our first night here in Miller.”

“Yeah. Join us for our first beer in our new hometown,” added Martin.

The sheriff made a big sweeping gesture and rested his sweaty hand on her shoulder. “Think the boys want you to join us.”

Katie hadn’t much taken to the sheriff, and his deputies were his windup toys, but she had played holy-hell to get them there, she had to offer them a welcome. “Just one. I start work early tomorrow.”

One of the deputies, introduced as Stew but referred to as Junior, said, “Saw a mean looking burger joint up the street. You can hear the music from here.”

“Err, no! They don’t sell beer, I mean.” Katie’s stomach churned, but she offered a sad face.

“I need a beer, boy,” sniped the sheriff. “Get in line.”

Katie silently thanked god for quick thinking and thought it a little odd the way Sheriff Clancy spoke down to his deputies. Like a bad father to unruly children.

And just like that child, Junior got in line. “Yes sir, Sheriff.” Strange, because Junior was twice the height of the sheriff and Junior’s feet were bigger than the sheriff’s head.

They crossed the street to the only bar in Miller. A big, sprawling hall, on one side it had a large, fully stocked walnut wood carved bar with twenty bar stools, mirrored backsplash with gold swirls, and optics lining the wall. On the other side of the hall were several tables and chairs, a few large leather sofas, a small dance floor, and a juke box. Toward the back were two pool tables and three intimate booths.

Katie had had some great times in that bar, but when outsiders passed through Miller, that was where trouble usually started. Especially when people heard there was no law in Miller to prevent it. Although, just thinking about it, Katie couldn’t recall the last time she’d heard of anything more than a beer-fuelled domestic in there for over a year.

Katie said “hi” to Dan, the barman, as she escorted the law into the bar.

“Hi, Doc! Go take a seat. I’ll bring them over while it’s quiet.”

“Thanks Dan.”

Only two bartenders (none in the day, because the bar’s closed until six) were ready to serve the entire town at any given time at night. It ensured people got served eventually, but if the place was busy, no one got served quick enough to get too drunk. If there was trouble, Dan told the committee he had a list of volunteers who could be relied upon to get there quick and help out.

The former owner, Jack Harvey, died some time back and left the place to Miller because he had no kids. The community committee, led by Katie since her father died, now looks out for it. But Dan and his trusted staff deal with the hands-on running of the business.

Sheriff Clancy wasn’t pleased to hear this. Katie couldn’t see what business it was of his either way.

She led them to a booth and Dan soon came over to take their order. “Fiver beers, please, Dan,” said Katie. “Oh guys, meet Dan, who I told you about. Dan, meet Sheriff Clancy and his deputies. They got here today to look out for Miller.”

Dan frowned, keeping his attentions on wiping the table.

“Dan?” Kati hoped for a better reaction than that. “Everything okay?”

Dan looked up at Katie, clearly uncomfortable. “Everything’s great, Doc. Err… let me just get those beers before the rush starts.” Dan left, looking shifty and pressing buttons on his phone.

“Seems to me like he has a problem with the law,” sniggered the sheriff.

“I assure you, Sheriff, that Dan is a good man.” She remembered Lance and wondered if Dan was worried about the trouble that might come when the bikers found out about the lawmen arriving. And just like that, Katie wanted to leave. “Maybe he’s just not feeling well.”

“You’ve gone pale.” The sheriff observed, and then he scoffed. “Don’t worry yourself, we can deal with worse than a dodgy barman.”

She didn’t like the way he said that. Dan wasn’t
dodgy
!

“So, tell us about your circumstances. You’ve managed to avoid the subject all day.”

Nosey!
“As you know, I’m the doctor.”

“Yes, but as well as that, you are chief of the town’s community committee and you run the hospital.”

“I inherited the lead status of the committee, yes. But we all have our say. It’s not just me.”

“Yeah, but you’re also the wealthy daughter of the former Mayor of Miller, and the wealthiest citizen in Miller and surrounding areas, by all accounts.”

How dare he!
“By whose account, Sheriff? And where is this leading?”

“Oh, don’t worry. We ran a few checks before we took the job. Needed to determine the troublemakers. Any possible… opportunities. You understand?”

She didn’t understand what her wealth had to do with him.

“We’d like to think we—that is, you and us—could be mutually beneficial in some way.”

Katie’s instincts finally went off like fireworks. “Okay…” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “How exactly could that happen, gentlemen?”