“He comes to work about ten and leaves about four. Anytime I’ve had to come to the station, he’s always in his office. Crazy Bitch said that when the deputy put her in his car, he told her that she hadn’t blown the stop sign.”
“Why would he tell her that?” Becoming indignant at Crazy Bitch’s treatment, he warily looked around the room to make sure no one could overhear their conversation.
“I think he did it to set her off. Anyone who has access to her rap sheet would know she has anger issues.”
“What kind of anger issues?”
“Nothing for you to worry about.” Diamond’s mouth closed tightly.
Her discussing Crazy Bitch’s record showed she felt he needed to know this to understand that Diamond believed Crazy Bitch’s traffic stop had been a setup.
“I agree. I may have seen a few of those issues.” Calder thought about the night she had goaded the rednecks into coming up to their hotel room. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“I don’t doubt you can. You have a few issues of your own.”
“That’s what makes us the perfect couple.”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but you two definitely deserve one another.”
“You being sarcastic?” Him liking Diamond took a nosedive at her comment.
“Don’t look at me like that.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “I meant it as a compliment. There is no perfect couple. They each have their differences, like two pieces in a puzzle that fit together. But when you put them together, they fit. You and Crazy Bitch fit, like me and Knox fit.”
He solemnly stared at the door again. “I never felt like this before. I feel whole, as if a part of me has been missing, and now it’s suddenly there. I don’t know where it came from.”
“I understand.” Her eyes grew misty as she patted her barely recognizably pregnant belly. “Must be my hormones making me so sentimental.” She pressed her fingers to the corner of her eye.
“Do you know what you’re having yet?”
“You’re kidding, right? I don’t need an ultrasound to know it’s a boy. It’s Knox’s kid.”
The two of them laughed, breaking the moment of sharing their love for their partners as the door opened and Crazy Bitch was escorted out.
“I’ll be seeing you.” The sheriff gave her a threatening glare.
“Not if I see you first.” She was snapping her head back around when her eyes locked on his. “Hot thang! You didn’t forget me!” She ran toward him, her arms out.
Calder couldn’t help it; he laughed as she jumped into his waiting arms, wrapping her legs around his waist.
“I only saw you about thirty minutes ago.” He stroked her cheek with his.
“You and Killyama need to be more circumspect.”
Crazy Bitch turned her cheek away to glare at Diamond. “Don’t lift that snooty nose at me, girlfriend. Don’t act like you don’t jump Knox’s bones two or three times a day. All bitches are the same under the sheets.”
Calder broke the budding argument. “I see you have a new piece of jewelry.” He tapped her ankle as her legs slipped from around his waist.
She snorted. “As if anyone could keep me in town if I wanted to leave.”
Calder saw the sheriff fiddling with his handcuffs. “Let’s go before you talk yourself into being rearrested.”
“I need to get my purse. My phone is in there. How’d you come up with the money to bail me out?”
“Train.”
“That’s it? Just Train?”
“Yes.” Calder couldn’t understand why Crazy Bitch was beginning to look irritated.
“That lucky bitch!”
“Who?”
“Killyama.”
“I don’t understand,” Calder stated.
Crazy Bitch’s irritation cleared. She reached up to pat him on his cheek. “Never mind, hot thang. I still have her beat. You’re better looking.”
“Thanks… I think.”
“Let’s get your stuff. I need a nap.” Diamond tapped her foot to speed them up to the counter.
“Jeez, I’m coming. Being knocked up has turned you into a real bitch. Wait.” She came to a stop, putting a finger to her forehead. “You already were one.”
“OMG! Can we please leave?”
“Okay, okay. It’s my stuff.” Crazy Bitch leaned cockily against the counter, giving the deputy behind the counter an evil eye as he turned to get her belongings. “I need to get my phone so I can call Train and thank him.”
Diamond glanced down at her wristwatch. “I’d wait and call him later,” she said, looking back at her.
“Why?”
“Killyama promised him a special surprise for bailing you out of jail.”
“Huh?” Crazy Bitch’s face scrunched in a worried frown.
“I said…” Diamond repeated. “Killyama promised—”
“I heard you the first time. Hurry up!” Crazy Bitch slammed her hand down on the counter. “I need that phone.”
“What’s the hurry?” Calder moved closer to her, not wanting her to piss the deputy off.
“I have to save a life!” she yelled hysterically.
“Who?” Calder, Diamond, and the deputy asked as he came back to the counter with a plastic bin with her belongings.