This is part of a book I should have coming out in the next couple of months. It focuses on the Grafton family, Gunny, Melody and a yet to be announced character. In this scene, which is one of Gunny’s stories in the book, the team has been called in to locate a man who is missing. They find his estranged wife holding him hostage. You can check out the first part here.
“I’ll take over from here,” the Sheriff said, reaching for the baby.
“I don’t think you will, Sheriff,” Melody said, striding across the yard with purpose. “In fact, I think it best if you climb back in your little car and drive away.”Read More
“Listen here, Missy, I don’t know who you think you are, but we are in MY county. We do things MY way. I AM the law here.”
The Sheriff kept his hand resting on the butt of his pistol, menacingly as he glared at Melody. He had close to a foot in height on her, and an easy hundred pounds. He kept staring, a smirk on his lips.
“Sheriff, you don’t want to mess with her. She’ll drop you to the ground and cuff you with your own cuffs before you even think to call for backup,” Gunny said, still smiling at the baby.
The Sheriff snorted… the glare never leaving his face as he stared down the slender woman.
Melody stared right back up at him. There was fire in her dark eyes. Her normally pale skin was red with fury. She was not one that would be intimidated. Gunny, standing off to the side, continued to entertain the baby. Off to Melody’s sides, Ric and Bobby, both in tactical gear again, were standing with their rifles less than casually slung over their shoulders. They would back Melody if it came to that.
“I’m gonna take that woman in and book her for attempted murder. Now, you best get out my way before I come up with half a dozen things to charge you with. I let you play your little game, out of respect for Wallace Boudry’s parents, but that is over now.”
The Sheriff tried to push past Melody, but she grabbed his gun hand and folded his wrist down and then twisted his arm behind his back. In her next smooth move, she bumped the back of his knees, driving him to the ground on his stomach. She swept his cuffs from his belt and cuffed him as he fumed and flailed.
“Let me tell you how this is gonna go, Sheriff,” Melody said, her sneer coming through her voice loud and clear, “you’re NOT going to charge Lisa Clay Boudry with anything.”
The Sheriff struggled and started to talk.
“Shut up and let me finish,” she replied. “In fact, she is going to get on our plane and fly away to God knows where. In the meantime, you can choose to explain what happened to Wallace’s parents. Wallace has been beating that young woman for months. She has been admitted to the hospital at least three times for… accidents… that you were supposed to investigate. And a couple of days ago, Wallace came out here with his hunting rifle, to either kill or seriously injure her.”
“That’s not true,” the Sheriff said, still struggling in his cuffs, ”he was just gonna scare her.”
“So, you knew that a serial abuser was coming out here to illegally use a firearm to commit a crime and you did nothing?”
“I…”
“In a minute, I’m going to let you out of your cuffs. You’re going to answer your phone, then you are going to plop your happy ass in your cruiser and drive away. We are going to collect our medic from the hospital, where I’m told Wallace is in serious but stable condition and expected to recover, and we are going to drive to the airport and fly away.
“If you choose to charge her, an army of blood sucking ghouls, our lawyers, will descend on this town. By the time they leave, you… the former Sheriff… will be able to drive by the Lisa Clay Law Enforcement and Public Safety facility in the town square. Now, Sheriff, do YOU understand how it’s gonna work?” Melody finished.
She looked over to Bobby, he nodded back, tightening his grip on his rifle. Melody unsnapped the cuffs from the Sheriff’s wrists, still pinning him down on the ground. As she held him there, his phone rang.
Melody let go of him and stood up. The Sheriff dusted himself off and reached into his pocket for his phone. He answered it and held it up to his ear. After saying his name, he just looked around as the voice at the other end talked.
The Sheriff straightened his uniform and Melody handed him back his cuffs and his key. He walked back toward his car.
“You haven’t heard the last of me, Melody Grafton,” he said, as ominously as he could manage.
“Yeah… I have. You don’t want to take me on. You aren’t man enough,” Melody shot back.
She turned and walked over to Lisa.
“Lisa, you need to come with us. We’re going to drop you off with a friend. She’ll get you and your daughter on a new path, ok?”
“I can’t pay you…”
“Dropping that blowhard was enough for me,” Melody replied, smiling.
“What if he comes after me?”
“You’ll be in a new place with a new name and a new life before long. He won’t find you unless you go looking for him. Don’t do that,” Melody said, giving her a hug.
Gunny, Melody, Lisa and her baby loaded up in one of the Suburbans, while Bobby and Ric loaded into the other. They headed into town, to the hospital to pick up Patrick, then out to the regional airport to drop off the rentals and fly out.
Three hours later, Lisa and her baby were in a shelter in Atlanta, Melody sitting next to them, Gunny standing nearby. Instead of tactical gear, he wore a simple pair of jeans and a polo shirt.
“Hi, Lisa. Welcome to Maria’s House. My name is Anna Weber. You’re safe here.” She turned to Gunny and Melody, “I’m so glad to see you again,” she said, hugging each of them.
Melody hugged Lisa, then the baby. The baby reached for Gunny, wanting him to hold her again. He took the baby and made a few funny sounds before handing her back to her smiling mother.
“He’s kind of like a Grizzly Teddy Bear,” Melody said to Lisa with a laugh. “I trust Anna and you should too. And if you ask her to call me, day or night, she will. Ok?”
“Melody, I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Have a wonderful life. Raise that baby. If you get yourself in a position to help someone else, do it. “
Melody leaned over and hugged her again. The baby giggled and waved at Gunny as he backed toward the door, laughing and making faces back at the baby. “Come on ya big toddler,” Melody said, laughing at her husband.
