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replied, already thinking about what Hicks might be planning. The safety of his men and town were uppermost in his mind. “He swore vengeance on us the day they sentenced him and dragged him out of the courtroom. Revenge is sort of a hobby for him.”
    “If he’s a career criminal why was this time any different?” Chris asked. “It couldn’t have been too serious of a charge if he got parole in five years.”
    “This time was different because during his sentence his wife OD’d and lost custody of their baby daughter. It was different because Hicks swore up and down he didn’t rob that liquor store. Said he’d been set up.”
    “Who would bother to set up a petty criminal?” Chris queried.
    “His brother Dale,” Knox answered with a grim smile. “That family is something else.”
    “Like the Manson family,” Jared muttered. “But we found no evidence of him being framed. Everything pointed to Boyd.”
    “So Boyd thinks he did time for his brother, lost his wife and daughter,” Chris surmised. “And he blames…Fielding’s finest?”
    “Correct,” answered Jared. “Welcome to the club.”
    “I wish it was a little more exclusive,” Chris joked. “Maybe he’s not pissed at me. I’m new.”
    “Boyd Hicks is pissed at the world. He once stabbed his uncle in the arm because the man smoked Boyd’s last cigarette. I wouldn’t say he was a think first, shoot later kind of guy.”
    “So what do you want us to do?” Knox swung his legs down from where they were propped up on the desk. “I could go talk to his wife. See if she’s heard from him.”
    “Ex-wife,” Jared corrected. “She divorced him a couple of years ago. I heard she got clean and is married to a guy who works on a nearby ranch. But that’s a good idea. We need to talk to her, Dale, and any of Boyd’s former associates, assuming we can find them. Also, make sure all the deputies have a picture of Boyd and are keeping an eye out for him. Everyone should consider him armed and dangerous. No one should try and bring him in alone. Call for backup. Hell, call me at home if you have to. This guy would love to put a couple of slugs in a cop. Let’s not give him a chance.”
    “Amen to that,” Knox declared, already printing out photos of Boyd Hicks for the staff. Jared spoke with Chris for a moment and then headed to his office. He still had a few minutes to try and get some of that paperwork done and off his desk.
    Twenty minutes later Jared gave up and stacked the file folders in a neat pile for tomorrow morning. They’d have to wait one more day which wasn’t out of the ordinary. There was always plenty of administrative work to keep a lawman busy at his desk instead of out on patrol where he’d rather be.
    Shrugging on his coat, he grabbed his keys from his pocket and made his way to the front door. “Call me if you need me.”
    “It’s all good. See you tomorrow,” Knox called out. The senior deputy wouldn’t call Jared unless the shit really hit the fan, which was more than he could say about the last guy that had the job. He’d woken Jared up almost every damn night with one thing or another. A good night’s sleep sounded like heaven right about now.
    But first he had some groveling to do.

    Misty was sitting next to Jared as stiff as the statue of the local war hero in the park. He’d picked her up in front of the grocery store where she’d refused to let him help with her two heavy bags. Now she was sitting next to him in his truck chewing on those pillowy soft lips and staring straight ahead.
    Time to man up and apologize.
    “Listen, I wanted to say that I’m sorry about how I acted the other night. Obviously I’d had a few too many. I hope we can put it all behind us and still be friends.”
    For a moment he thought she wasn’t going to say anything, but then she nodded stiffly but still didn’t meet his gaze. “I think it’s best if we never speak of it again.”
    Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, had the kiss