The Deputy and His Enforcer (Kincaid Pack #3) - Kiki Clark Page 0,18
how to explain the sensation he’d felt walking into the shop, and he knew he’d sound… crazy.
Flopping backward, his upper half at least landed on grass. “Maybe I am crazy.”
He heard a huff from the wolf, but he ignored him. If he got mauled for ignoring the thing, it’d still be the second weirdest thing to happen to him that day, and he was suddenly just done.
Nothing in his life made sense anymore, not since he’d answered the call about a dead body on the edge of his hometown. He shouldn’t have even agreed to go and check it out. The night the call had come in and the sheriff had asked him to swing by because he couldn’t get the Meyerville police chief on the phone or radio, Robson had been off duty and already changed out of his uniform. Hell, he’d turned in the keys to his patrol car.
But the sheriff knew Robson lived near where the body reportedly was and that he drove his dad’s old car, which had lights in it from when his dad had volunteered with the fire department. Not regulation but close enough for the sheriff to feel comfortable sending him to check things out.
So he’d taken his gun, radio, and handcuffs and driven out to that abandoned house outside of town and found the “missing” police chief standing there.
Annoyed that he’d wasted his time, Robson had been turning to leave when the chief mentioned that he was waiting for help and that they’d “take care of it.” The words themselves hadn’t been that ominous, but the way the chief had said them, the hairs on the back of Robson’s neck had stood up, and he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the chief and whoever he was waiting for would be sweeping whatever had happened under the rug.
After a decade in infantry, he could smell a bad situation a mile away, so he’d pressed for a few more details, acting like the sheriff would want more information. And then Kincaid and his friends had shown up, and everything had gone to hell.
Spreading his arms out next to him, he ran his palms over the cool grass and took a few deep breaths. That night… things had changed. He hadn’t realized it at first, just how much, but after the way Rivera and Torres attacked him at the shop earlier?
The reminder of what had happened and how it could have been Reesa or Patrick walking into the store had Robson’s heart beginning to accelerate, his fists clenching at the blades of grass.
He heard a faint whimper over the sound of his blood rushing in his ears, and then a solid, warm body was lying next to him, pressed all along his right side, a cold, wet nose pushing into his neck.
A gust of air left his mouth as he shivered and jerked away. “Hey, that’s not nice.”
Chuffing, the wolf just followed his movements and licked at his jaw.
“Gross.” Robson laughed as he brought his arm around the big body and buried his fingers in his surprisingly soft fur. He could feel the wolf’s tail hitting his leg as he wagged at the petting. “Oh, you like that, huh? Well, no more slobbering on me and I’ll keep petting you.”
The wolf sighed and flopped half on top of Robson, causing him to cackle. What a drama queen. Using both hands, he wrapped the wolf in his arms and ran his fingers through his fur and rubbed at his ears, shoulders, and back. He instinctively knew not to try and touch the wolf’s throat or belly.
After a few minutes, he sort of loosely hugged the wolf and stared up at the bright stars. “This is kind of nice. We had a dog growing up, but my dad wouldn’t let us bring him in the house.”
The wolf didn’t make a noise or move, but when Robson glanced down at his chest, he found the greenish-yellow eyes looking at him curiously.
“Yeah, I know. My dad was a real hard-ass.” He looked back up at the sky and sighed. “So why do I miss the ornery son of a bitch?”
Whimpering, the wolf wiggled closer, elbowing Robson in the gut.
“Oof. Easy there, buddy.”
Once they settled down again, he focused back on the stars, looking for answers in their twinkling light like he had when he’d been homesick overseas. But just like then, the large expanse of sky and stars left him feeling nothing but small and meaningless.