Witcher Upper - Amy Boyles Page 0,43
clapping came from behind. Hannah March sat in the booth applauding me. “Well said, Clementine. If no one is going to stand up for us, we have to stand up for ourselves.”
Chief Sluggs looked downright scared. I do not think he was used to women getting in his face. That probably meant he hardly ever came out from behind his desk to do any real work—hence the accidental death declaration for Sadie.
I glared at Buddy. “Let me tell you, there is an army of me’s in the world—an entire battalion of us ready and able to take you and your sorry rear-end down any chance we get. You mess with us and next time, you won’t just get a little knocked out, you’ll end up getting blown into next week. What do you think about them apples?”
Buddy’s face paled. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Just to make sure that he knew I wasn’t a woman he wanted to tangle with, I leaned in and spoke.
“If you mess up again, I will find you. There is an entire network of us. You don’t know who we are, but we’re always watching—just like I did the other night.”
He backed away. “Never mind, Officer,” he said with a thick coat of dread in his voice. “Never mind at all. I got the wrong woman. This one didn’t do a thing—not one dang thing to me. So you can just forget all about it.” He slapped his friend on the arm. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I ain’t about to mess with that lady.”
I watched them go, a self-satisfied smirk plastered on my face. When they were out the door, my gaze flicked back to Sluggs, who scowled at me.
He wagged a finger in my face. “Seems to me a little girl like you couldn’t down those two men. I don’t know what you’re up to, but sooner or later I’m going to find out.”
“Wait a minute, Chief,” Shane said.
“What’s that?” Sluggs replied.
Shane hiked his chin toward the exit. “Seems to me that Clem just did you a favor. If those guys were up to no good, as she said, then you don’t want them in this town and I don’t want them in my bar.”
“They were hitting on a woman way too hard. Buddy there didn’t know when to back off,” I said.
Sluggs scrubbed a hand down his face. “I’m still watching you.”
He cocked one eye really wide as if that was supposed to scare me. Little did Chief Sluggs know, but whenever I wanted a good laugh, I imagined him strolling into work in his bathrobe and cowboy boots—that image alone helped my mood every gosh-darn time.
No lie.
Sluggs squinted at me. He retreated a step. “You be careful, Clementine Cooke.”
Okay, how the heck did we get here?
Shane started to protest, but the chief waved him off. “I’ll be seeing you later, Shane.”
With that, Tuney Sluggs left the bar, and I stood staring at him, dumbfounded. “How did I suddenly become the bad person in all of this?”
Shane shot me a sympathetic look. “Don’t worry about him. I’m sure in a few days he’ll forget all about it.” He smiled, revealing the dimple in his right cheek. It made him look so sexy, and suddenly I couldn’t wait for our date.
I felt heat rise in my cheeks. “Thank you for standing up for me.”
“Hey, how could I not?” he said, striding back to the bar. “We’re all in this together, aren’t we? We’ve got to take care of each other in Peachwood.”
“We sure do.”
From behind, Hannah cleared her throat. Oh wow, I’d gotten so sucked in by Shane’s dimple that I’d almost forgotten all about Sadie’s mother.
As Shane took his place behind the bar, I squeezed back into the booth. “Sorry about that. I want you to know that I don’t usually have the police eyeing me like a criminal.”
Hannah scoffed. “Old Tuney Sluggs was in power when I lived here. That old coot thinks he owns the world. He’s either all together or he’s the exact opposite.” She leaned forward conspiratorially. “And most of the time he can’t figure out if he’s supposed to be ironing his phone or charging his pants.”
I laughed. “Please, don’t make me cry tears right now.”
Hannah took the last sip of her whiskey and set her tumbler down with a thud. “When I buried all the spells, Tuney had an uproar on his hands. The problem was, he didn’t know why