When the Dead Speak, Bailey Bradford [new ebook reader .TXT] 📗

Or whenever he was nagged to go. And Severo couldn’t imagine someone like the sheriff understanding what drove a man like Sev. Yes, Sheriff, I commune with the dead… He’d probably end up locked away in the little jail if the sheriff found out what he did.

Then again, the sheriff would, Sev suspected, check him out. He just seemed like the protective and suspicious sort. The man would want to know who Sev was and why he was in McKinton. Maybe it would be best to get their introduction over with—though not under the prying eyes of that waitress. And, damn it, for some reason, the sheriff stirred up all sorts of lustful feelings in him. It was weird, a little intimidating, and Sev would have sworn he’d felt the man checking him out with more than a hint of interest. Not gay, Brendon had said. Sev didn’t think so, not at all. Turning, Sev walked around the block, avoiding the front of the café, and made his way back to the Sheriff’s Department.

Sev pushed open the door to the Sheriff’s Department and stepped inside. A woman sat at a desk off to the side, talking away on the phone. She nodded at Sev and held up a finger. Sev smiled and nodded back, then wandered over to a row of uncomfortable looking chairs. He sat and crossed his legs at the ankle, one arm flung across the back of the chair beside him. The place wasn’t too bad, he decided, with unfinished wood paneling and bright lighting keeping the windowless room from being dark and oppressive. Well, Sev thought, it might be oppressive regardless if one was here under different circumstances. He was trying to figure out whether the Ficus trees were real or not when the lady at the desk hung up the phone.

“Can I help you?”

Sev looked at her and knew right off the bat she was a shrewd lady. She wasn’t studying him unkindly, but she wasn’t smiling, either. He smiled and stood, smoothing the front of his shirt down as he approached her desk and offered his hand.

“Hi. I’m Severo Adulio Robledo.” His hand was shaken briskly then released. “I wanted to talk to the sheriff when he gets back from lunch, if that’s okay.”

“I’m Doreen.” She raked him with an intimidating gaze while she tapped her fingernails together. “Is there a problem, Mr. Robledo? Something specific you need to speak to Sheriff Stenley about?”

Here’s where it gets tricky. Sev didn’t want to come across as a weirdo. His cheeks heated and he shrugged self-consciously. “I’m new here in McKinton, and thought it might be a good idea to introduce myself.”

Doreen stared at him for a moment or two then blinked, as though processing and filing her thoughts with that single movement. “Really. Is that something you do often?”

“Actually, yes, I do.” Sev held up a hand when Doreen frowned. “Not to, like, check in for parole or anything! Just… Sometimes, I’ve been asked to assist with cases here and there, that’s all.” And he wasn’t going to explain how.

“Hm.” Doreen’s eyebrows scrunched together, her forehead wrinkling as she considered him. “I can’t think of any cases we have open, and I know Sheriff Stenley hasn’t requested any help. So why are you here again?”

Sev tucked his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “No, I’m not here in that capacity.” I don’t think, anyway. “But I know small towns, and I saw the sheriff at the café earlier and had the distinct impression that he was the sort of guy who’d check out anyone new to town. Figured I’d help him along.”

He felt like Doreen was peering into his brain, and it was borderline creepy. Sev willed himself not to blush again, sure the woman would scent out the attraction he felt for the other man.

“Why didn’t you just introduce yourself there?”

Damn. “Ah, he was fixing to eat with his friends—and there was this waitress there who was tossing out some homophobic crap.” Sev stopped himself from shrugging again, barely. “Since she was making suggestions about the sheriff, and since I’m definitely, uh…” Okay, maybe that wasn’t the smartest thing to say. Sev bit his bottom lip and gave up on not blushing. “He was already getting sh— The waitress was already saying stuff about him hanging out with ‘the town queers’, and I figured throwing another one in the mix might just make it worse.” God, his cheeks and the tips of his ears were burning! He dared to glance at Doreen, afraid of what he’d see in her expression. She looked pissed. Oh shit. “Hey, look, I—”

Doreen stood and marched around the desk, the heels of her shoes tapping loudly on the ceramic tiles. Sev turned to meet her, figuring his ass was fixing to get chewed.

“It was that bitchy niece of Virginia’s, wasn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“The waitress. It was Irma, wasn’t it?” Doreen nodded before he could answer. “I am going to give that girl a piece of my mind, messing with the sheriff and my boys.” Doreen turned and headed for the door as Sev stood stunned, rooted in place. “You watch the place while I go beat her with Zeke’s cane,” Doreen ordered as she went out of the door.

Sev wondered what in the world had just happened. “Yeah, I’ll just…do that.” Otherwise, he was pretty sure Doreen would beat him with whatever was handy next time she saw him.

* * * *

“So, what’d you think of Severo?”

Brendon’s tone was light, but Laine wasn’t fooled. Brendon was watching him closely, alert to any nuance that might give him a clue as to what Laine really thought of the small man who’d been talking to Brendon. Laine hadn’t turned to outright stare, but he had been aware of Severo as soon as he and Zeke had entered the café.

“I think he’s trouble.” That, at least, was the truth. Laine couldn’t deny he’d seen the man, though he had tried