The clover romance colle.., p.9
The Clover Romance Collection, page 9
Chapter 3
Devin 2013
I slam my hand down on my steering wheel, mad at myself for diving back into the pool of memories. I stop short of reminiscing about the fight Brent and I had the next day when he brought my boots to school, furious and ready to beat the hell out of me. I don’t travel down the path of the night my bedroom door was kicked down by three police officers who were there to arrest me for Brent’s murder. It makes my head spin and distracts me. It makes me weak. Those are the two things that made me vulnerable the first time I was in Clover.
Rebecca branded me all those years ago. She seared herself like a hot iron onto my soul. I’ve tried to cover up that mark, hide it, ignore it, forget it, but it’s always there. Making love to her in that cabin, surrounded by warm holiday cheer, was like a fresh burn, and it’s making me question everything. I hate that.
I pull up in front of the address Mayor Kilroy has given me. There stands about a dozen people, all bundled up, puffs of warm breath making clouds around them as they speak. Click’s been given the same information and I see him walking the perimeter of the building, an old meetinghouse.
Stepping out of my car, I still have no idea what I plan to do. I had set my heart on destroying the people who put me in prison for nearly a decade. The town of Clover was going to be collateral damage. No love lost for me there.
Simple. Until Rebecca turns up in Clover, complicating everything. She stayed connected to me all the years I was in prison. She knew I didn’t kill Brent, and while she couldn’t get me out of prison, she tried to help me the only way she knew how. She wrote letters gushing about the life she’d built far away from this hellhole. But it was all a lie, just her attempt to bring me some peace. She never expected me to be exonerated, and she never left Clover.
The problem is, my desire for vengeance is still powerful. I was completely railroaded and left to rot in prison. Who wouldn’t want to make people pay for that? But in the back corners of my mind I can’t ignore that nagging feeling that if I do I’ll lose Rebecca again. I had already resigned myself to life without her. Now that we have a chance to be together, I have to decide if I should walk away from this plan I’ve constructed.
Turning Clover into a landfill will make her think I’m just a merciless man with no soul. I’ll crush the town where all her memories reside. If I go through with this, can she love me? If I walk away from this, can I live with myself? I can’t believe I’m actually considering dropping the deal that will take Hoyle’s job, his house, his power. It’s the only thing I wanted, until I started wanting Rebecca again.
“Devin,” Kilroy says as the group around him falls quiet. He gives me a firm handshake and slaps me hard across the shoulder. “This here is the town council. They’re the appointed people who have the authority to vote in your proposal. They’ve been residents of Clover all their lives, and they’re anxious to bring jobs back to our town.” His speech is heartwarming, but my proclamation that I might have changed my mind will certainly knock the wind out of his sails.
“Kilroy, about the deal,” I begin as I keep tabs on Click who is scanning the perimeter of the parking lot now. He’s watching out for anything that might cause a problem for us. Little does he know the problem might be this mob of townsfolk when they hear I’m considering backing out. He’s a good kid and a good Marine; I’m banking that he’ll think on his feet if they turn on me.
“Yes,” a small woman says in a nasal voice as she steps forward. “Let’s talk about this deal. We’re all here, risking our necks to vote this in. I think it’s only fair that we get some assurance from you that you don’t intend to desert us. I’m sure you know damn well none of us want a landfill here, but we do want to get rid of Sherriff Hoyle. I personally feel we’re trading one devil for another. But I’m not sure what other options we have. Hoyle is on a rampage. He and his men are extorting money from every business, some to the point they’ve had to close their doors. They are breaking dozens of laws every day to line their pockets with more money. They take what they want and leave the rest of us hungry and poor. Anyone who tries to stop them ends up ruined in one way or another. This is the first time we have some money behind us, a deal that says in black and white he’d be out of a job. So that makes you and your trash heap the lesser of two evils.”
“Now, Margaret. I told you I’d handle that with Devin,” Kilroy says, speaking over the rest of the group’s clamoring. “Now, son, you know better than almost anyone what Harold is capable of. These folks are looking to hear from you that you’ll hold up your end of the bargain with protection and construction if they pass this deal. We just need you to shake on it.”
He extends his hand out in front of me and I scan the group for a sign this might be a joke. Clearly it isn’t. If I planned on walking up here and telling these people the deal is off, that just got a lot harder. I wasn’t expecting this make-or-break moment. “Kilroy, you have my contract. It’s in black and white.” I’m stalling but no better answer is coming to me.
“That ain’t how it works here, Devin. I don’t care what you write down or how your lawyers draft something up. I want you to look me in the eye, shake my hand, and give me your word that you are committed to this deal, committed to Clover.”
I hesitate, my mouth agape as I search for the words, trying to decide if I’m bailing out or not. A man from the back of the small group speaks up.
“I’ve got two girls in high school. I can’t be with them every second of the day. If I vote it through and you bail on this deal down the road, who’s going to keep them safe when Sherriff Hoyle comes looking to teach some lessons? I want to hear you say you’re in this for Clover, because it’s our necks on the line. We’re willing to swallow the fact that we’re talking about a landfill here, but we aren’t willing to do it without your word. We need Hoyle and his men gone, Mr. Sutton. It’s now or never.” The rest of the crowd agrees with nodding heads.
I lived with these people, before I went to prison. Innocent, helpless, and at the mercy of that bastard Hoyle. Their words are pulling me back to that, reminding me what he did to me, what he’s been doing to them all along. “This is just revenge for me,” I admit. If I actually did walk away right now, get in my car, and drive back to Rebecca, how long would it be before I was swept away again by the undertow of revenge. I can’t give Rebecca all of myself if my mind is constantly drawn back to this place and everything I left undone. I truly believe if I can settle some scores down here, I can move on with my life, and hopefully Rebecca will still be here when I’m finished.
Everyone looks like they’ve written me off as a lost cause. I shock them all as I continue. “But even though that’s the case, you all still stand to benefit from what we’re doing here today.” I reach my hand out and grip Kilroy’s firmly. “You have my word that I’ll hold up my end of the bargain.”
“We vote now,” Kilroy announces as he shuffles everyone toward the door of the building.
“I’ve only got one man here.” I gesture over to Click who looks as uneasy about this idea as I do. “Isn’t there anyone else you can call in for protection? Getting the security team here is a process: red tape and all the terms associated with the deal. You vote then the contracted company comes in; they bring security with them. That’s how it works. You need a plan in place for the lag time. Maybe now isn’t the time to vote. You call in some temporary muscle or something.”
Kilroy is shaking his large round head at me in disagreement. “If we wait Hoyle will have caught wind of this. The whole reason we’re here the day after Christmas is because we know the grapevine will be slower passing information around today. We need to get this vote done, notarized, and sent off to the powers that be so it’s officially on the books. If we hesitate or call anyone in we might not get our chance. It’s better if we get this done and then brace ourselves for any blowback. I’ve got one trick up my sleeve. You’ll see soon.”
As I watch this whole scene in front of me I start to think maybe there is a way for me to make this work. Maybe I can still take down Hoyle, and have Rebecca. I’ll just need to change the terms of the deal. There has to be something other than a landfill that could come to Clover.
“We’ve got a vehicle pulling in, Devin,” Click calls, pointing up at the hill. He pulls his weapon from its holster in one fluid motion and takes a few tentative steps forward.
“Don’t worry, boys, that’s the marshal I called in.” Kilroy announces, gesturing for Click to holster his gun.
“The marshal? You’ve only got one coming?” Click asks, shaking his head, clearly wondering what he’s gotten himself into.
“This was the best I can do. He’s the only one I know we can trust. He grew up here. He lives right outside town. He agreed to come here today and help us out.”
I watch as an old familiar face steps out of a banged up suburban. “Nicky?” I ask, looking skeptically over at Kilroy.
“That’s right. Though I think he goes by Nick now. Nick Topley. You two would have gone to school together, right?”
I don’t answer his questions, reluctant to trust anyone I know from my history in Clover. The group of town council members funnel into the small hall used for their meetings, and I force a smile at the approaching marshal.
“Devin Sutton, it’s been a long time.” He tips his cowboy hat at me and shakes Kilroy’s hand.
“It sure has, Nick. You’re a marshal now, huh? I never pegged you for a lawman. I remember you putting cherry bombs in the girls’ bathroom.”
He chuckles and folds his arms over his chest. “I never thought I’d be a marshal either. Sherriff Hoyle and my daddy had some real bad blood between them. My daddy put himself in an early grave by way of the bottle when the sheriff ruined his practice. He was a doctor in Clover for twenty-one years before that bastard broke up everything he’d worked for. I took my wife and we moved outside the town lines. I’ve got two boys of my own now, and I busted my ass to make sure I worked for a place that had some real law behind it. This town’s been waiting a long time for a way out. Sounds like you’re offering it.”
“Don’t paint me as a martyr just yet.”
“I know, I also heard it was a dump you’re looking to build here. That ain’t gonna go over too well. Clover is desperate, they’ll go for it now, but at some point you know they’ll regret it.”
“I’m thinking that over. I don’t have a solution just yet, but I am going to try to find an alternative to the landfill.”
“That’s good to hear. So tell me, fellas, what’s our plan here?”
Kilroy clears his throat and heads for the door of the building where the vote will take place. “I’m going to go get this vote underway. Y’all just make sure we’re able to get it done without any problems.” He disappears into the building and leaves Nick and me standing in the cold. Click still looks like he’s on high alert as he stares out into the woods.
“This is Click.” The two men exchange a nod of the head as Click goes on surveying the surroundings.
“Click, huh?” Nick makes his fingers into the shape of a gun accompanied by a clicking noise. “That kind of click?” he asks, looking us both over.
I smirk. “Yes, that kind of click. He’s a Marine, just back from Afghanistan. Special Forces.”
“Sharp Shooter?” Nick calls over to him.
“Yes sir.” He nods his head and grins.
Nick’s a big guy with a crooked kind of smile. He reminds me of an old-school cowboy, gritty but easy to spot as one of the good guys. He’s got the hat and boots but more than that, he’s got that air about him. His voice is low and gravely as he continues. “I know we’re all sizing each other up, trying to figure out where loyalties lie and if we can trust what’s being said. You should know, I hate the sheriff and all he stands for. I want him out of a job and out of Clover. All his men, too. He’s a slippery son of a bitch and anything that’s ever been pinned on him he’s gotten out of. I doubt you know this but I lost my little brother, Sam, over in Iraq three years ago. You know what that means, Click?”
“No sir.” Click straightens his back slightly and steps forward to listen intently.
“It means I don’t intend for my mother to have to bury her last living son over this shit. I ain’t looking for a war or to be a hero. Part of me still thinks the best thing you could have done, Devin, was stay the hell out of Clover. But a bigger part of me wants all this to end, and I think you’re our best shot at that. The sheriff’s reach is deep. I don’t even know which guys in my own department answer to him. Some money and a plan like yours is the only way to run him out of here.” Nick squints as he points to a dense acre of trees neighboring the meeting hall. “There’s a small ledge up in those woods. It’s the best vantage point for keeping eyes on anyone coming as well as getting a good line of sight through a scope at us down here. You a good shot, Click?”
“It doesn’t get any better than me.” Click asserts confidently, heading to his car to get a more appropriate weapon for the task.
“Devin and I will stay out here. If we get any company you’ll have eyes on us from up there.”
“Yes sir.”
“And, Click, if the sheriff draws down on me, you shoot the son of a bitch right between the eyes, understand?”
Click nods and heads up into the woods.
“I hated what happened to you, Devin. My daddy fought a long time to try to get you some justice. He took a liking to you, felt like you got a raw deal. I think you were a breaking point for him.”
“He saved my life.” I kick a stone and stare down at my feet. I swore if I came back to Clover I’d never let it drag me into those memories, but here I am dredging it all up.
“He did?” Nick asks, leaning against the side of my car—my very expensive car that isn’t made for asses in cheap jeans to be pressed against.
“Brent and I got in a fight the day he was killed. He was planning to attack Rebecca. I broke his arm and the sheriff came on us and put his gun to my head. I ruined Brent’s chances at playing college ball. I think Hoyle was going to kill me. Your dad pulled up and yanked him off me.”
“He never told me that. So many damn secrets in this town,” Nick mutters, shaking his head mournfully. “Who do you think really killed Brent?”
That question had circled my mind for years like a hungry shark searching for chum. “I really have no idea. I do intend to find out. You’re the marshal; you’re in a better position to know than I am.”
“I tried. When I first became a marshal a few years ago I started digging into the case. Strange shit started happening to my kin and me: cut brake lines, weird phone calls. So, I backed off. I was just starting a new job and getting settled in a new town. I couldn’t afford the ghosts of Clover surfacing and ruining what I was building.”
“I can understand that.” I pace around a bit, wanting to ask him what he was able to find, if anything. But I bite my tongue. Settling this vote first is what matters.
“I did make one call before I backed off. During my training I met a man who taught a criminal justice class over at the university in the city. I told him about your case and asked him what he thought. He was blown away by the details, specifically how you could have been convicted so quickly with so little evidence. He was working with some program—I forget what it was called. He said they’d dig around. They didn’t seem scared of Clover.”
“The Innocence Program?” I ask, stunned that Nick doesn’t seem to realize his phone call may have gotten the ball rolling toward my freedom.
“I think so. I dropped it after that, so I’m not really sure. I heard a while later that you were exonerated and making a name for yourself in New York City.”
“Nick,” I raise my eyebrows and look at him in astonishment, “that call probably made the difference in me getting out of prison.”
Nick puffs out a burst of air and shrugs. “Well then, you can pay me back by not getting us killed out here today.”
My phone starts to vibrate in my pocket and I fish it out. “What is it, Click?”
“Pickup truck pulling over the ridge. It’s the sheriff. Looks like he’s got three men with him and they’re hauling ass.”
“We’ve got company,” I say as I tuck my phone back into my pocket. I jog back to the door of the building to give Kilroy the heads up, but he’s already on his way out.
“The vote passed. Already notarized and faxed over to my contact. It’s on the books. The town council has agreed to sell the land required and agreed to the rest of the terms. Hoyle is no longer the law here.”
“Great timing. The sheriff is pulling in and he seems to be in a hurry to get here.” I watch as the old beat-up red pickup skids to a stop just feet from me. Out steps the smug, pudgy-faced Hoyle and three of his men emerge from the bed of the truck. Nick seems to recognize them all.
“Ain’t this a motley crew? Roy, Mick, Pete, and Harold. Glad you could join us out here. You’ll be saving me the trip.” Nick smirks, resting his hand on his hip, just above his holstered gun.
“Nicky Topley, I thought you were too good for Clover,” Hoyle hisses, stepping in close to him.
“You can address me as Marshal Topley, and I’m not too good for Clover, I’m just too good for you. Now let’s get down to business.”
“Well Nicky, I don’t have no business here with you. Why don’t you run back to that fancy Fed office of yours and leave us loyal residents to talk. I hear they’re trying to get a sneaky vote passed today.”
“Harold, the vote’s been passed. It’s done and on the books already. There ain’t nothing you can do here today to change that. Y’all need to hand over your badges and guns to the marshal and be on your way.” Kilroy wasn’t looking cocky or trying to rub salt in the wound, but it didn’t matter.
