Six

Rance parked in front of Everglades, the only place in the small community that passed for a bar. However, looking at the dilapidated building, he still possessed his doubts about that. The building looked more like a piecemeal shack thrown together after a hurricane than an actual structure built on purpose. With his luck, Rance would walk inside and the whole place would give up the ghost and come crashing down around him. I really hope this place at least has decent whiskey. After the scene at the sheriff’s department, Rance desperately needed a drink.

Opening his door, he slid out of his car, shoving the keys into his pocket, and took a deep breath of the stifling evening air. As he turned toward the entrance, his mind shifted back to the interrogation of the Serpent gang member. Rance had no idea what the kid meant by loose ends. With Roger dead, what else was there to worry about except the video, which was already in evidence lockup? Unless they stormed the sheriff’s department, there was no way they would get their hands on Roger’s cell phone or the laptop, so what loose ends did he mean? None of it made sense, and Rance chalked it up to being the punk’s last-ditch effort to sound menacing.

The interior of Everglades was just as rundown as the exterior with scratched up wooden chairs and tables, appearing as if the whole place was thrown together in much the same way as the building itself. Weak mirrors and flashing beer logos covered the walls while country music blared from a banged-up jukebox. It was nothing like a nightclub in the city. Instead, it held the feel of a homier, comfier environment, more good ol’ boy than hipster. Perfect for Bull Creek, but definitely a far cry from anything in Pensacola.

Being barely past five o’clock, only a few patrons occupied the barstools around the sturdiest structure in the place, the actual bar. Behind the wooden barrier stood a thick, burly man with shaggy, dark hair and gray eyes, his attention focused on a curvaceous blond leaning across the bar, her ass swaying as she gave the man a salacious grin. Definitely, some employee fraternization going on there.

Nodding at the burly man when he glanced his way, Rance slid onto a barstool and ordered a bourbon on the rocks. As he waited for his drink, he spun on the stool and soaked in the atmosphere of the place. In a dark corner toward the back, a couple leaned over the table and whispered to each other, probably sultry words of what they would do to each other if they weren’t sitting in the dilapidated bar. Rance chuckled to himself as he allowed his gaze to wander around the establishment. Two men sat together in the back, sipping beers, and laughing about not working, while two others sat at the bar, drinking slowly from glasses and cutting up with the bartender.

Rance heard the glass hit the wooden bar behind him and turned, reaching for his whiskey. The bartender stood there, staring at him. “Haven’t seen you around before. Visiting someone or just passing through?” the thick-chested man asked.

Rance arched an eyebrow at the man. “Does anyone just passing through even see this place?”

The man laughed, nodding. “True. Everglades is a little off the beaten path. So, that means visiting. My name’s Wes, by the way.”

“Rance,” Rance said as he reached for his glass, and then he shook his head. “And actually, I’m working.” He leaned on the bar, both hands wrapped around his glass. “I’m a detective for the D.A.’s office in Pensacola. One of our witnesses ran down here to avoid his civic duty.”

Wes nodded. “A lot of people come here to hide. That’s the whole purpose of Bull Creek, to escape the outside world and all of its hatred.” Rance noticed the man looked down the bar at the server he was talking to when Rance entered the place, a somber expression clouding his face. With a deep breath, he turned back to Rance. “Sheriff Einstein has a good group around him. You should be able to work with them pretty well.”

Rance laughed in a short burst. “I’ve met one of his deputies, a Lainie Everest.” He shook his head, lifting his glass back to his lips. “She doesn’t play well with others.” And yet my wolf wants to play hard with her. Rance wasn’t sure how he would rectify what his animal wanted, the burning desire of the mating call, and the fact that Lainie thought he was a nuisance. “I think she feels like I interfered with her case, even though it started out as my case back in Pensacola.”

Wes chuckled softly as he braced himself with his hands on the bar, leaning on it. “Yeah, Lainie is pretty protective of her friends and her job. Her brother is the alpha of Bull Creek, so she feels a certain responsibility to the place.” Then he shrugged. “Everyone who lives here pretty much feels protective of each other. We’ve had some pretty rough spots lately. It makes trusting strangers hard.”

Rance took a sip of his drink. “I noticed.”

Wes told Rance to let him know if he needed anything else and then wandered off to play grab ass with his waitress, not that Rance could blame the man. The blond Wes flirted with had curves in perfect places and, it seemed, eyes only for the thick-chested man. Rance only wished he could get Lainie to look at him that way.

He sipped his whiskey, turning the situation over in his mind. While he needed to put an end to the case he was on, he also needed to somehow get Lainie to think he was something more than a moron. Not that he had done a great job of turning her opinion in the other direction, of course. That’s me, always a bull in a China shop. His mind also pondered the gang member’s last words. What loose ends needed to be settled? Why hadn’t he just killed the man and then left? Of course, the kid denied killing Roger, but then again, who would readily admit murder? Still…

Rance downed his whiskey, starting to leave his stool, as an idea struck him. Or rather, more of a worry. As he turned, he almost ran into Lainie, her hand pressing against his chest, keeping him from knocking her to the ground. His wolf growled within him, the hunger quickly filling him as he struggled to regain his footing.

“In a hurry?” Lainie asked. “Not rushing off on my account, are you?”

Her smile brought a twitch in his pants as he settled back on the barstool. “Sorry, no, I was actually on my way to see you.”

“And eagerly, it seems,” she teased, sliding onto the barstool beside him. “Why the rush?” She waved at Wes, who only nodded at her as he reached into a bin of ice under the bar and pulled out a beer.

Rance waited until the man slid the beer in front of Lainie and then turned back to his own lady friend before speaking. “If that kid means what he says about not being the one who killed Roger, then that means there’s someone else in town. Perhaps even more than just one. Serpents tend to travel in groups. That makes me think of the loose ends that kid talked about back there. The only one I can think of is that video.”

Lainie finished taking a sip of her beer, then nodded as she set the bottle on the bar. “Which is locked up safely in evidence. They’d have to go through a shitload of sheriffs just to reach it. Not the best scenario.”

Rance ordered another whiskey, mulling over what she said. Lainie was right about them not getting the evidence by busting through the front door of the sheriff’s department. Something else had to be up then, but what could it be?

Lainie licked her lips after setting her beer bottle back on the table, and the glide of her tongue snapped his attention back around, his wolf growling his hunger. Rance felt his cock twitch again and shifted in his seat searching for some relief. If Lainie sensed his discomfort, at least, she kept quiet about it. “So, do you usually use your wolf to capture criminals in Pensacola?”

Rance shook his head, his glass held in his hand in the air over the bar. “Nah, too much steel and concrete to run freely like that. I actually have to travel toward Alabama to allow my wolf to run free and stretch. To be honest, it felt good to get the drop on that punk like that earlier.”

“I don’t know how you do it. I love allowing my panther the freedom to run at times. I need these woods. I wouldn’t have left Draven Falls if I wasn’t moving to another town just like it, with less cold, of course.”

“Draven Falls? That’s where you’re from?”

She nodded, her dark hair falling into her eyes. He fought not to reach out and swish her hair back out of the way, wanting to see her golden eyes. “It is,” she answered. “My parents had plans for me that I didn’t quite agree with, and so I followed my brother here. Dimitri is the alpha of Bull Creek, keeping an eye on the community’s residents. A group back home helped him set up the township, making it a refuge of sorts for those who don’t seem to fit in anywhere else.” She shrugged. “It seemed natural for me to come here.”

He smiled, her pride of the community infectious. Then an idea struck him, and he found himself grinning. “So, how about a little shifter investigating?”

She cocked her head to the side as she stared at him. “What did you have in mind?”

“Someone from the Serpents is still here somewhere.” He shrugged, twirling his glass back and forth. “Why not go back to the main scene and allow our animals to sniff around some? If that kid’s telling the truth, we should be able to pick up a trail still.”

She gave a slow nod as if thinking the idea over. Finally, she said, “Actually, that sounds like a pretty damn good idea.” She then turned, one eyebrow raised, and one corner of her mouth upturned in a grin. “Of course, if this is just some asinine ploy to get me out of my clothes…”

“What? What are..?” He laughed as he shook his head. The fact that they would have to strip was not something he had thought about when he made the suggestion, shifting being a natural part of their lives. Still, he had to admit it was definitely a plus in his book. “If you’d rather I went alone, I don’t mind. Or you can follow me as I sniff around.”

She snorted in laughter. “Now you just want me to see you naked while you steal my case. Nope. We’ll do it together. Just don’t get any crazy ideas. I have no problem arresting another detective, especially one who doesn’t live around here.”

Rance grinned at her as he motioned for Wes to settle his tab, motioning for the man to include Lainie’s beer as well. “Now you just want to get me in handcuffs,” he said, grinning. “I can’t say I’m surprised. I knew you liked me.”

Lainie rolled her eyes. “I’ll meet you outside. We can take my car. I prefer being in control.”

Rance handed Wes his credit card, but kept his gaze on Lainie, his wolf dancing inside. “I assumed as much when you wanted to put me in handcuffs. My safe word is pineapple, by the way, you know, just in case it comes up.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath.” He watched as she slid off the barstool, turned and walked toward the exit, his eyes glued to the way her pants snugged against her ass. This case definitely has its perks.