“As if.” Hank chuckled as he leaned against the white wood railing and Ruth handed him a cold drink. “Thanks, darling.”
“How’s the crops?” Dan asked.
“Good. We should have a nice yield this summer.”
“You still think you’ll move it to market?”
“Always do.”
Dan nodded.
Hank continued. “Strange seeing you out of uniform. Day off, or are the Rikers doing your job now?” Okay it was a jab, a thought he’d tossed around after hearing how he’d been saved by the Rikers.
“I’m not sheriff anymore.”
“Is that so? And let me guess, they handed the torch to Colby.”
“No. Steve Johnson.”
Hank laughed.
“I stepped down.”
“You stepped down? Please. After all the years you spent elbowing your way to the front of the line. Are you serious?”
Dan drew a breath and nodded. “I lost the trust of the people.”
“Because you backed the wrong horse?”
“That and I wasn’t forthright about my association with you all.” He took a sip of his iced tea. “Reputation is all a man has around these parts. Even more so when you are law enforcement. You are held to a higher standard. There are no days off. You are always on the clock. People are watching. Studying. Observing every move you make. Every word you say. Some are just waiting to pounce when you make a mistake. I could have continued but I would have been fighting a losing battle. It was easier to step down and let someone like Johnson take over. He’s a good cop. He knows the job better than anyone. The people don’t have any preconceived ideas about him.”
“Yet,” Hank said as he reached for a tin of small cigars. He offered one to Dan, and he accepted. A moment later both of them were puffing away. “Everyone has their day. I’m sure he will have his.”
“He has a good crew around him. Five council members, and Colby Riker.”
“Colby Riker…?” Hank laughed. “I’m surprised they haven’t made him mayor. So tell me, what’s his role?”
“He hasn’t taken one. He opted to stay on the sidelines. Be there to help if and when needed but for the most part he keeps to himself.”
“Smart man. Better to run with no one than to side with the devil.”
“Is that what you think Johnson is… trouble?”
“Around here, trouble always raises its head. If it’s not the militia, someone else will step up to the plate. It’s the nature of disorder in this county. Everyone wants to be the chief, no one wants to be the Indian.”
Dan smiled. “Actually that’s why I’m here. There was an attack on ward one last night. Explosives were used.”
Hank ran a hand over his smile. “And let me guess, you think we had something to do with it?”
“No. Actually I don’t.”
“Well I appreciate you not pointing the finger. Anyway, what’s ward one?”
“Oh, it was an idea Johnson and I were kicking around before Evans took over.”
“I heard you let him take over.”
“Then you heard wrong,” Dan replied. “Look, I will be the first to admit. I made some bad decisions but what can you expect under the circumstances?”
“I expected you to stand with your own blood.”
“I do. I am. But at some point, Hank, we have to move beyond the us versus them mentality.”
“Why? It’s worked so far.”
“Has it? Ryland is dead. Three of your sons are dead. I don’t think that’s working for you or the Rikers, who’ve suffered their own loss. What Colby was trying to do was bridge the gap. Now I fully understand you not showing that day. I don’t hold it against you.”
“Well that’s big of you.”
“Hank, I’m not your enemy. I’m a friend. I’m a relative.”
“You don’t act like one.”
“What, because I didn’t allow you to lynch Alby?”
He set his drink down and flicked ash from his cigar. “He killed my boys. Three of them. Three, Dan.”
“And so if he’d killed one, you would have been satisfied with me keeping him in jail? C’mon, you can’t expect me to be so naïve. You would have wanted a piece of him.”
“They were my blood.”
“If I had handed him over, you know what would have happened. It would have been war between you and the Rikers, and I would have lost the trust of the entire department and the town.”
“Looks like you already have.”
“Yes. You are right. That was my mistake. I should have been honest from day one but the reputation of being associated with the Stricklands would have made people doubt my character. I wanted a clean slate. I wanted them to see me. Not the name. Not the shady past. I wanted something for myself.”
“Well you got it, Dan. Did it measure up to your expectations? Was it everything and more?” He laughed and took another hit on his cigar. Ruth came out and offered them some baked goods, scones with jam in them. Dan took one but Hank declined.
“Thank you, Ruth,” Dan said.
Ruth eyed Hank. She gave him that look he knew well. The one that made it clear that he better not overstep the line and that she was listening. As much as he hated it, inwardly he appreciated having her keep him in check. He couldn’t imagine the relationships he would have destroyed, the bridges he would have burned and people that would be dead if it wasn’t for her.
Dan took a bite of his food. “Lily is out of the hospital.”
“I didn’t know she was in.”
He nodded. “She downed a bottle of pills. I nearly lost her.”
There was a pause. Despite his grievances, and butting heads with Dan, he wasn’t cold-hearted. He knew the value of a good woman in the family. They were for the most part the strength. The backbone. Without them, without Ruth, he would have buckled.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Anything we can do to help?”
“No but thank you. The community has really chipped
