Unburying my phone, I saw my brother-in-law’s name on the screen. I frowned as I accepted the call. “Hey, Reid. Everything okay?”
“Why does something have to be wrong for a guy to call one of his buddies, much less family? Maybe I wanted to know if you want to grab a beer at Ferg’s.”
I snorted and waited. If that were the case, he would have texted. I heard him sigh.
“Okay, fine. It’s more of a business call.”
That piqued my interest. Reid was our sheriff, and I couldn’t imagine how I could be of help. “Letme guess. You want to deputize me, and we’re going to head out to Han’s place and demand he hand over all of his moonshine, which we’ll secretly stash and save for our personal use?”
Reid was quiet for a few seconds, then chuckled. “Like I’d need you to do that. I can do that on my own.”
Hans Zimmerman was a living legend in our hills. He was a homesteader, enjoying the simplicity of living off the land. He came to town periodically, and while some thought he was strange, most loved the old-timer who could spin a story like no one else. He often wore a coonskin hat—most likely because he knew it would piss the hell out of eccentric Matilda Espey, better known to locals as “Crazy Tillie.” Tillie wore crazy combinations of clothing and tried to befriend raccoons and treat them like pets, despite that being illegal in our state. Their dislike of each other was legendary around here.
Hans was probably best known as a suspected moonshiner. But as long as he didn’t sell it, everyone turned a blind eye, mainly because they all secretly enjoyed what was considered the best spirits in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And to date, no one had found his stills, although several had tried.
“Please tell me you already have a secret stash.”
“If I did, I would never admit it.”
I laughed because it wouldn’t surprise me if Reid did indeed have a few Mason jars filled with white lightning stashed somewhere. Hans had been known to try to bribe people with it before, especially during our annual barbecue contest.
Thunder rumbled lightly in the distance, and I grinned to myself as I thought back to my earlier conversation with Em and Iain. I leaned back in my chair and waited for Reid to get to the reason he called. I didn’t wait long.
“Do you know the Dunston family?”
I scratched my chin while I tried to recall the name. “You mean Kate Dunston?”
“That’s the one.”
“Not all that well. I used to see her around town sometimes, but now that you mention it, I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“That’s because she died.”
His blunt words hit hard. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t close to the family. That was never good news to hear about anyone. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Cancer. She had a son, Jordan. He’s around fifteen. Needless to say, he took it pretty hard.”
I grimaced. Reid’s first wife died when their daughter, Lexi, was still a toddler. She didn’t have memories of her mother. But Jordan would.
“I get it. Anything I can do to help them?”
Reid hesitated. “He’s been placed with other family members. But he’s been caught stealing from local stores. The first time, his aunt and uncle paid the bill, and I let him off with a stern warning. Apparently, it didn’t stick. I’ve received complaints from other store owners who caught him on camera stealing from them. Yesterday, he was caught spray painting the school fence. He was never in trouble before his mom died. I think he’s just hurting and lashing out. Add being placed in a new home, I don’t want to actually go through the process of arresting him and have something go on his record.”
I agreed with him, but we still couldn’t have someone disrupt the community like that either.
“I’ve done some research on juvenile diversion programs,” Reid continued. “Basically, it’s an alternative to keep kids out of the legal system and teach them to respecttheir community. It’s often run by local law enforcement. So…”
“And you think this Jordan kid would benefit from something like that.”
“Bingo.”
“I didn’t know you had such a program.”
“Jordan would be the first.”
“It sounds great, Reid. But I don’t understand where I fit in.”
He hesitated, and suddenly, I had an inkling of what he might want.
