playing the field. Neither he nor Dakota were inclined to put out the extra effort needed to form a relationship, or even to hold onto someone for longer than a few bouts of fucking.
“Have you heard old man Sanders finally hired someone to work for him again?” Clayton took a swig of beer, his look turning rueful as he set it down and added, “I wonder how long this one will last?”
The ornery sheep rancher whose property abutted theirs tended to run off the much-needed hands within weeks of hiring them, his crotchety attitude making him too difficult to work for or to spend much time around.
“I’m sure the betting has already started.” Shawn’s phone beeped as he finished his sandwich, and he answered pushing to his feet, tossing cash down for the tab. “Hey, Kevin, what’s up?”
“I could use some backup at the Campbell residence. I’m headed there now,” the other deputy sheriff said.
“Shit, not again. I’m leaving the Watering Hole now. Neighbors call it in?”
“Like always. Sounds bad, just so you’re aware.”
Kevin clicked off and Shawn swore again. One of these days, Chester Campbell would end up killing his wife, Louise, if she didn’t stick to at least one of the complaints she tended to file then rescind before the ink dried on her signature.
“I’ll ride over with you,” Clayton offered as they both dashed out to the cruiser.
“Thanks,” Shawn said over the roof of the vehicle, reaching for his door handle. “I may need you to hold me back from laying into that fucker.”
“Or,” Clayton said, jumping in, slamming the door, and gripping the hand strap above his head as Shawn peeled out with the siren blaring, “I could lend you a hand.”
One look at Louise as he stormed into their house, and Shawn hoped the ambulance was en route. He barely recognized her face, and the odd angle of her shoulder explained why she was cradling her arm against her waist where she huddled over on the sofa. Chester, a big brute of a man, struggled in Kevin’s hold, his face a drunken, mottled red, his voice laced with vitriol as he ranted against his worthless wife and cursed their interference. The same crap he spewed every time he got drunk and lost his temper.
“I’ll see to her.” Clayton didn’t wait for his nod before squatting in front of Louise to assess her injuries.
Shawn stormed across the worn carpet just as Chester broke free from Kevin. You bet, fucker. Take a swing at me. He braced for the older man’s attack, shifting his torso as Chester swung so his fist smacked nothing but the air. Grabbing his wrist, Shawn jerked him around by the arm and shoved him against the wall hard enough to fell two photos. He put all of his weight against Chester’s flabby body, smashing the side of his face against the peeling paint with another upward wrench of his arm behind him.
“This time” – Shawn yanked Chester’s arm up another notch – “you’ve really done it. You’re getting locked up, and staying locked up if I have to lose the key to keep you there.”
“This is between me and my old lady. Fuckin’ cops got no business buttin’ in a man’s affairs with his wife, I’m gonna….aaagh!” Chester wailed as Shawn’s next twist upward on his arm popped the shoulder joint. “I’ll…s…sue!” he gasped.
Shawn looked at Kevin, who stood next to them and said, “I didn’t see anything.”
“Me either,” Clayton called out as he went to the door to wave the paramedics inside, his expression a mask of stone.
Shawn released his bruising hold and clamped restraints on Chester’s wrists, suspecting Clayton hadn’t gotten a lot of cooperation from Louise. After learning the drunk driver who had killed his parents in a hit-and-run car accident not only possessed a long record of arrests for DUIs but had once again been let go on a technicality, he’d made it his life’s work to put criminals away and to keep them there.
Signaling the third paramedic to enter the house, Shawn jerked a thumb at Chester. “Check his shoulder before we transport him, will you, Michael?” he asked, recognizing the young man whose brother worked for them on the ranch.
“Sure thing, Deputy Sheriff. It looks like you’ve taken a nasty fall, Mr. Campbell.”
Leaving Kevin in charge, Shawn followed the gurney holding Louise out to the ambulance with Clayton, feeling better. “No luck?”
“Some but not enough. That’s why I plan to get my car and make a