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“Oh, but I really hoped that he’d get with that new deputy of his,” another friend added. “I was walking the dog late last night because he had an upset tummy, and I saw Deputy Dempsey go into his house. She stayed the whole night.”

Anger ignited.

The reporter, I wouldn’t believe Black having anything to do with for obvious reasons.

But Dempsey?

I could see her drawing his attention.

She was freakin’ beautiful.

Long, curly brown hair. Baby blue eyes. Perfect, athletic body that you could tell she took care of. She had a great smile, she had her stuff together, and she didn’t have a record.

What wasn’t to love?

“He kissed her on the cheek today as she left,” the friend continued. “She gave him a really tight hug, then they separated with a soft smile on their faces. I can see them getting together.”

“Or already being together,” Vera added her two cents.

I hated her.

Not just Vera.

I couldn’t stand her.

But Dempsey.

Every time she looked at me, I could see the freakin’ judgment.

She didn’t like me.

Didn’t want me anywhere near Black.

And, I had a feeling, would go out of her way to make sure that she kept it that way.

I laid a twenty-dollar bill on the table and left, my glass full, my plate practically untouched, and headed out the door.

I passed a deputy on the way out the door as he was picking up spike strips.

“Hey, kid,” he greeted me.

“Hey,” I said. “Y’all catch him?”

“Sure didn’t,” he said. “Black got him cornered in the Walmart parking lot. But he ran through the crowd of onlookers, and we lost him.”

“Who was it?” I wondered.

He tossed the spike strips into the back of his cruiser before answering. “Chris Gates.”

Well, at least no one would question Chris’s integrity now.

It was more than apparent he was off his rocker.

It was later that night, as I was going through a new game, this one action-packed, that I got the message.

Shell-B Shine:

Who is this?