Sunshine Valley

Investigation

     Dillon and Evie were settin’ on the front steps watching Teka play. Dillon had been as distant as the stars lately. He barely spoke. Ate very little. He always looked like he wanted to cry. Evie wouldn’t push him for details. She knew there were things he couldn’t tell her. The dark circles under his eyes were from lack of sleep. “Are you able to talk about anything?” She asked quietly. 

     He glared at her with anger in his eyes. Jumped up, pointed an aggressive finger at her, “I’m not one of your damn clients.” Before she could respond, he was gone. She went back inside and hopped on a call with a client. 

     About the time the thought of dinner crossed her mind, Bradley was knocking at the door. He wasn’t able to contain his excitement. “Have you seen the sheriff? He will not answer my calls. Gotta get ahold of him.”

     “I might know where he is.”

     They found Dillon workin’ on the break in the fence. “Sheriff!” Bradley shouted before he got out of the truck. “I’ve called you at least 25 times.” 

     Evie stood in front of her dad’s truck. 

     Dillon leaned on the post-hole diggers, “here to arrest me.” The words rolled off his tongue with little emotion.

     “Arrest!” Evie shouted.

     Bradley bounced gettin’ closer to the truck with each word. “You gotta come in. You gotta hear this. I ran from the office to get you. You gotta come now. This can’t wait. You gotta hear this with your own ears.”

     Bradley jumped in the middle, like he knew that was his place and they drove straight to town. 

     Evie sat out front in the waiting area while Dillon and Bradley disappeared. In about 15 minutes Dillon reappeared. He was a shade of red Evie had never seen on a person before. Bradley was maybe 10 steps behind him. Everyone stood watching the men disappeared into the sheriff’s office. 

     Angry voices could be heard. Dillon walked out of his office, “It’s been suggested that I take some time off and let y’all take care of this. You know I am confident in your abilities and know you will uphold the letter of the law. This will be no different than me takin’ a vacation.” The room erupted in laughter. Dillon blushed. “Thank you.” Different deputies patted Dillon on the back as he walked toward Evie, “Will you take me home?”

     “Of course.”

     “I’m sorry my love. For a lot of things.” He suggested they stop and get a milkshake before going home. They parked at the farthest bench from the shop. Shakes in hand, they sat on the table part of the bench. “There are a lot of things that are gonna happen that I can’t tell you about.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry that I snapped at you and closed you out. I promise to do better.”

     “Thank you. I will help you if you will let me.”

     “Promise to try.” He gave a weak smile. Lookin’ up, he made sure they were still the only 2 people around. Before scootin’ closer to her. In a whisper he started talkin’, “this job is stressful and consuming.” He smirked. “I’ve let it be. Not only do I have to worry about gettin’ shot.” He stopped. She didn’t say anything to fill in the dead space. “I’ve been investigated more times than I could shake a stick at. Misappropriation of funds, missing evidence, mishandling a prisoner, you name it I’ve been investigated fur it. This is different Evie. This is a career killer. Even if rumors of rumors get out, this could be devastating.” He jumped up and threw his shake into the trees as far as he could. She got up standing beside him. “I’ve been, being,” he corrected; “first; for interfering with a cabinet investigation. Second; I’m,” he choked, “i’m accused of being a pedophile.” Evie’s eyes got as big as quarters. She placed her hand on his arm. “If word gets out that the big dogs from Frankfort are here, I’m finished. There’s not a word of truth to it. People don’t care about the truth.”

     “Do you have any ideas?”

     “Before today, no. The call went straight to Frankfort.”

     “How were you able to work?”

     “I’ve been here so long and have a good enough record; that if I stay away from the investigation, they let me work.”

     “So, after today?”

     He fell onto the seat of the bench. “Dear God, after today.” He hissed, placing his hand over his mouth.

     “What can I do?”

     “Help me. Help me not take matters into my own hands. I have good deputies. They need to do their jobs. Help me not go crazy while they figure this out. They have the answer to the problem. Now they need to connect the dots.”