7. Paxton

CHAPTER 7

Paxton

“Good job, Riggs,” Lieutenant Cruz exclaims, bending over and giving him a hearty rub.

I shake my head in mock dismay. “How is it that whenever we take down a suspect, he’s the one who always gets the praise? I had to sprint a fucking mile to catch the asshole.”

“Turner, you want me to rub your head too?”

I lean my head to the side, grinning. “If that’s the only way to get praise out of you, I’ll take it,” I say. He rolls his eyes and turns away. Riggs barks once, and I look down at him, shrugging. “He likes you better than me.”

“Good job, Turner. Take the rest of the day off,” Cruz yells over his shoulder before disappearing into his office. I laugh out loud. That’s nice of him, considering today is supposed to be my day off. I should’ve been at the ranch already, but a five-in-the-morning phone call saying they had lost the suspect and needed me and Riggs stat, put a wedge in my plans. Usually, we’re out the door by six in the morning, heading to the ranch to get an early start.

The pep in my step isn’t the praise, it’s because we took down one of the top-level sex traffickers in the area. He thought he was untouchable. He was touched today.

By Riggs’s sharp teeth.

Rolling out behind a desk on his chair, my buddy Liam remarks as I pass him, “Damn, Pax, I saw a video of you jumping over a fence.”

The fence was taller than I thought. I’ll be rolling out my hamstrings tonight. Knowing there’s a video, it’s a good thing I cleared it. That’s one meme that would’ve been stuck with me for decades.

“Track high jump king still has it,” I reply, a grin spreading across my face as I pump my fist in the air. Riggs’s gait is light as he trots next to me with his head held high. Buddy, you’re getting a steak tonight. I find an empty communal desk and sink into the chair. Riggs takes his spot right beside me, and as I wait for the file online to load for the dreaded paperwork that comes with a day like today, I reward him with a rub behind his right ear, his favorite spot. His tongue rolls out in contentment.

“Hey, Paxton.” A voice interrupts my post-operation duties. When I glance up, Lucy’s leaning on the half wall of the cubicle. She’s a relentless court clerk with a knack for pursuing officers. Unfortunately, she’s set her sights on me.

A practiced smile masks my true thoughts. “Hey, Lucy.”

“I’m glad you grew out your beard.” I nod, keeping my focus on the computer. I had been hoping she preferred the clean-shaven men, considering that’s when she seemed to notice me. “Where were you last night? I called you.”

This conversation wouldn’t be so awkward had I given her my number. But I didn’t. It’s clear she used the department system to find my information because I know there isn’t a soul here who would have handed it over to her without being blackmailed.

I turn in my chair, dropping the smile. “I was busy with stuff.”

“Too busy to answer your phone?” she presses. What is with this woman?

My brow raises at her persistence. “Look, Lucy, I’m not interested.” I opt for direct. Riggs raises his head, watching her. As a fully trained K-9 for Austin PD, he’s been my partner for three years. Couldn’t have been assigned a better one. And today, he most definitely proved his worth.

Lucy’s gaze shifts down to Riggs, and then her eyes bounce around the surrounding cubicles before returning to mine. Her cheeks redden, and she crosses her arms as if I offended her. “Is that what you think? I’m interested in you? I called to see if you could fill out some paperwork that was missed in the Olsen file.”

At ten at night? Right. She’s a court clerk, and her work ends the second she clocks out. At five. And every officer within earshot knows that as well.

“Well, I’m here now. I’d be happy to fill it out.”

She huffs, frustrated she’d been caught, and I called her out on it. “It was an oversight on my end. I thought you missed something. But I was not calling because I like you.” With that, she spins in place and storms down the hallway.

Detective Cates, who we helped this morning, takes her spot, shaking his head. “Remind me to stay away from that one,” he comments.

I nod in agreement, aware that with Lucy you don’t have to do anything to gain her attention.

“Anything exciting going on this weekend?”

“Just the ranch.” Riggs’s snout jerks in my direction. Yeah, buddy, I know. The ranch is his heaven. He can run with the cows, horses, and every other creature he can find, then cool off in the lake, acting like the wild and crazy dog that is trapped inside his rigid, demanding head.

I have to admit, it’s mine too.

Someday, I’ll retire there.

“Want any company? I could use a weekend of getting out of town.”

I rub my beard. Any other weekend, I’d be game. “After the month we’ve had trying to get this guy, I just want to be alone. Decompress. Enjoy the outdoors. But next time, you’re on.”

Cates is good company, and I know he has his own reasons for wanting to escape the city—he’s going through a nasty divorce—so I feel bad for declining. But for my own mental health, I need my own space this weekend.

“I get it. Enjoy the weekend. You’ve earned it.”

“Same, man.”

Forty minutes later, it’s a definite sense of relief when I drop off the paperwork on Chief’s desk. Riggs and I are off duty. I flick my wrist to see it’s only eight o’clock in the morning. Only two hours late.

Fresh country air swirls around us as we speed down the winding road. Riggs, with his nose in the air, catches whiffs of various scents, and he can’t contain his excitement, swinging from window to window. As we approach the ranch, Riggs’s whines grow louder, telling me to speed up.

“Soon, bud, soon.”

He barks, telling me it’s not soon enough. I agree. Nothing beats days at the ranch.

My dad built the cabin back in the eighties, and I can still recall our summers here. The mornings were filled with boring chores, but Jack and I hurried through them to get to the fun stuff—shooting, fishing, swimming in the lake, and hunting for snakes and rabbits. Even with the seven-year age gap between us, we were best friends. We’d be out until we were called in for dinner. Then s’mores around the campfire, where Mom and Dad would dance around and we’d make disgusting noises at them when they’d kiss, but really, everything was perfect.

Until it wasn’t.

Until …everything changed.

I was eleven.

Soon after, my mom lost her will to do anything. Dad and her divorced, the grief was too difficult on their marriage. And I moved between homes, living with a lifeless mother and a suffering father. It wasn’t a year later, after their divorce was finalized, that he had an aneurysm and died. Apparently, it is a quick and painless way to die. So I was told .

For five years, the ranch stood abandoned, alone with his memories and empty rooms. I vividly remember my eighteenth birthday. The day my life changed its course…again . The vibrating phone in my back pocket, the weight of a gun in my hand, its barrel pointed at my stepfather’s unconscious head. He was out cold, and I was about to destroy both our lives.

He didn’t deserve to live.

But I couldn’t ignore the buzzing. It would stop. And then start again. Frustrated and unable to ignore the persistent call any more, I slipped out of his room and took the call.

That day, my dad intervened from the grave and saved my life. He’d deeded the ranch to me. Unfortunately, it saved my stepfather’s life too. He never knew how close to hell he was. It’s where he belongs. I left my mom the next day and never turned back. We haven’t talked since.

Don’t care to start.

I shake off the unwelcome memories as I put the Jeep into park. Riggs seizes the opportunity, leaping out the back window and dashing toward the lake in hopes the ducks are there.

Crossing the threshold, I drop my bag, and a smirk of satisfaction plays on my lips. There’s a surge of pride every time I walk into the house. I left the bones of the house my dad built, but the overhaul was all me. Five years of neglect turned into a complete renovation. I got a job in town with a construction crew when I was eighteen and learned every skill I needed to rebuild this place. It’s been a slow grind, slowed even more by college, work, and a two-year flop of a relationship, but now I’m damn close to finishing.

I can’t wait to fill the space with a family.

As if on cue, the bones of the house creak and I chuckle. “I’m working on it, Dad. You’d like this one.”

There is a woman. It’s too early to put a finger on how I feel about her when I know next to nothing about her. But there’s an undeniable pull—an attraction—that’s got me intrigued. Now, I need to find a way to get closer. Scratch that, I found a way. I just need to take it a little further.

A single whistle has Riggs charging toward me, dripping water with every shake. I cover my coffee cup to avoid a mix of lake water and dog. “Find you some ducks?” He hangs his head in disappointment.

The porch swing creaks as I sit on it. I lean back and attempt to relax. Other than the annoying mockingbird messing with Riggs, the morning spring air is still. Peaceful. Exactly what I need. I slip my hat over my face and close my eyes.

Really, Riggs ?

“Stop whining,” I say without moving a muscle. He does it again. Sometimes, I wonder who has who trained. “Dude. We’ll go after my nap. Chill. She’ll still be there.”