Cruel Daddy Dragon (Candara Dragon Ops #3)

Chapter 14 - Sarah

My heart is in the pit of my stomach when I show up so late to work—it’s the first time it’s ever happened. But it all goes better than expected, probably because it is the first time it’s ever happened. There is one thing that seems to distract everyone more than my being late:

“I can’t believe the sheriff has shown up with a hickey! ” Ben cackles.

“I know!” Will answers back, “Who do you think it could be?”

“It has to be one of the boys at Miller Mansion,” Ben says, “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Officers!” I call from my desk, “I can hear you! If you’re going to gossip about your boss, you might want to think about keeping it down!”

Both their heads drop down, and they look back to their computers.

“Sorry, Sheriff,” Will says meekly.

“Yeah. Sorry,” Ben adds.

I try to look back to my own monitor, looking at the report I’m typing up. But I know those two aren’t the only ones who noticed the hickey Rufus left on my neck—and yes, they make a good point; the culprit being one of the newer residents at the Miller Mansion is the only thing that makes sense.

I suppose I didn’t think I’d be able to hide this relationship forever—but I didn’t think at all about it. I was trying to deny it to myself the day before yesterday. What do I do now? There’s no way the news of the hickey isn’t going to become town gossip. But… I suppose at least I’m not the first single lady to get together with the strangers (as far as the town is concerned) at the Miller Mansion. Lena was the first, so she probably bore the brunt of the town’s curiosity and gossip. Julie was the next one, and now me. I should definitely ask those two how they dealt with that.

Hell, I should ask them how they dealt with all of this. This sudden love that’s just overwhelmed me, being independent and uninterested one moment, and crazy in love the next. They’re the only ones who will truly understand, I’m sure.

I should text them both. Ask to meet up just so I can begin to understand everything that’s going on—before the town has fully gotten a hold of the gossip about the hickey on my neck and the bridge ladies start shuffling over to me, asking for comment.

I reach over toward my phone, and—a flash. There’s a flash over my vision.

What? What happened?

I blink hard. There’s another flash.

Am I going to pass out?

A third flash happens. But this time, it doesn’t just pass me by. My vision bleaches white, and I get a crawling feeling of dread up and down my body. I suddenly feel like something’s wrong. Something’s very, very wrong.

When my vision clears, I’m looking at Merl. He’s swaying back and forth, standing in front of a stop sign. There’s a man in front of him, I think he works at the butchers, I think? There’s a lot of posturing between the two of them. The man is bracing himself, glaring, his nostrils flaring, his arm flexing, and his fist rising. Merl sways a little more but points a drunken finger at the man. The other man points a finger right back. Merl stumbles forward and shoves the man. The man stumbles back, and he says something, shaking his head. Merl swings a haymaker at him. The man steps back from Merl’s swing and then steps in closer. He punches back and clocks Merl in the face. Merl’s head rocks backward, but the man isn’t done. The man catches him by the shirt and launches a few more punches into Merl’s face. Merl’s nose is bleeding. More blood flies and—

I blink. I’m back at my desk. I’m staring at my monitor. Nothing’s happened.

Wait… what?

There’s nothing but typing around me. I look around. No one seems to have noticed a damn thing.

What just happened?

I get up from my desk. I scan the police station, and everyone’s just working away. Seems even the gossip of my hickey hasn’t distracted them too much. That’s good, but… what was that I just saw then?

I start walking to the window in the office and peer out. It’s the same as it always has been. But when I look down, right toward the end of the street, I see the old junction—with its stop sign.

Oh, crap. No way.

As I watch, I see Merl meander from the far left. He wavers back and forth in his typical drunken manner and comes to rest by the stop sign.

What’s going on? How did I predict Merl standing by that exact stop sign?

I should stop standing here, gawking. If this is some magic shit, then it’s a good guess that the man who’s going to beat Merl up is coming shortly.

“Sorry, Guys,” I call to the other officers, “I have to go outside for a second. Hold down the fort, will you?”

“Sure, Sheriff!” Will calls to me.

They share some kind of knowing glance, but I don’t have any time to correct them that it’s not a personal call. I need to go now.

***

As I walk out the front of the police station, I see Merl, still hovering drunkenly by the stop sign. I keep my eyes peeled as I half-jog up to Merl. At first, everything seems normal. But as I start to get closer, I see a man determinedly striding toward Merl.

“Hey! Merl!” the butcher yells, “Don’t walk away from me, you old drunk!”

Oh, damn.

I break into a faster sprint as Merl bumbles around on the spot to face the man.

“What?” Merl slurs.

“You don’t get to walk into my shop and do that shit!” the butcher snaps, “Do you understand just how much that was worth?!”

“Oh… what?” Merl asks.

The butcher finally reaches him. He is furious .

“That fridge you fell into was thousands of dollars, and it’s completely broken! Do you have any idea how long it’s going to be before I can get another fridge like that?! ” the butcher screams, “And that’s not to mention all the product you spilled everywhere! Do you have any idea how much that was all worth?!”

The butcher braces himself, fists flexing. Merl’s unfocused eyes blink a few times at the man.

“You don’t get to just walk away from me!” he snarls, “I know you’re worth more than you pretend you are, you old drunk, so you’re paying for every cent of what you destroyed!”

Merl points a finger at the angry butcher.

“You… I do not… I didn’t do that!” Merl protests drunkenly.

“I saw you!” h e snarls, “I watched you fall right into that fridge and wreck it all!”

The butcher jabs a finger back at Merl.

“And now, you worthless, drunk asshole, you’re going to write me a check right the hell now for everything you destroyed!” he growls.

“You can’t make me do that!” Merl slurs, “I didn’t do anything—you can’t blame me for that!”

“No,” the butcher says, “We’ve all had enough of you, Merl. Every one of us. You’re not getting away from this.”

Merl is bristling, but I sprint up and put myself in between them.

“ Guys! What’s going on?” I ask.

Merl recognizes me first.

“This asshole keeps saying I destroyed… uh… something!”

“My fridge!” the butcher says, before looking directly at me, “Sheriff, this drunk dumbass fell into my front-facing chilling cabinet and smashed a huge hole in it! Then, pretty much everything I cut that day just starts falling out the hole—all that meat just landing on the floor. I can’t sell any of that now, and the cabinet itself is thousands of dollars—I don’t even know how he got through that glass! I then told this asshole that he needed to pay for all of it, and he turned and ran away!”

I nod, but I’m only half concentrating.

If this was exactly like my vision, the fisticuffs should have started by now… it was all very accurate until I walked in…

I saw the future. Then I changed it!

“I don’t remember doing that!” Merl slobbers.

“You don’t remember anything you did five goddamn minutes ago, you worthless drunk!” t he butcher snarls back.

“Hey, Guys, Guys! ” I say firmly, “We need to calm this all down!”

“Sorry, Ms Sheriff,” Merl drawls.

The butcher grunts.

“Right. Give me a chance to figure this all out,” I tell them both. I look at the butcher, “So, you’d like to press charges, I’m assuming?”

He gives an angry sigh.

“No! I don’t want to have to deal with all the police processes and stuff—I just want him to pay for what he broke and never step foot in my store again!”

“Right,” I say calmly, “Well, we can do that, but shouting at Merl when he’s drunk and belligerent isn’t going to help anything. He’s not in the right frame of mind to understand you. Do you have CCTV in your shop?”

“Yeah,” the butcher replies, “They caught everything, I’m sure.”

“Okay, then,” I say, “Burn me a copy of that CCTV and send it over to me. I’ll take Merl home now, and once he sobers up, I’ll drop by and visit him later. Then, I’ll get him to pay for everything, and if he doesn’t, we’ll look to press charges. Is that acceptable to you?”

The butcher thinks hard and then nods.

“Yeah. I’m also banning him from my store, so if he turns up again, I’m calling the cops,” he grunts, “Tell him that when he sobers up.”

“I will,” I reply, “If you go back to your shop now, I’ll deal with Merl. If I’m not back to talk to you later, then another officer will be.”

The butcher nods at me again. His face has softened a lot.

“Thanks, Sheriff,” he says.

“No problem,” I answer.

He turns and starts walking away. I turn my attention back to Merl. He’s just been staring into space for a while, and I look at him.

“Merl?”

He blinks back to awareness and smiles.

“Hey, Ms Sheriff,” he drawls.

“Come on, Merl,” I say, putting my arm around him, “Let’s get you to the car, and then we’ll get you home, okay?”

He smiles.

“You’re a sweetheart, Sheriff,” he slurs.

I know he doesn’t remember a thing, and there’s a little part of me that almost feels bad that he’s so pleased to see me now—and I’m going to have to drop into his home later and tell him he owes the butcher thousands of dollars or risk being arrested.

But it could have been worse. I know for a fact it could have been.

That’s something else I need to talk to Lena and Julie about—because if I’ve heard right, they’ve started developing some magic of their own. If I’ve started having visions, I feel like I need to know if this is normal or not.

The dragons ought to know as well. Lena and Julie seemed to get them after being with their dragons… I wonder if being with Rufus is what sparked it.

As his name rings through my mind—there’s a white flash.

I see him. Rufus, in his dragon form. He’s in the snow somewhere, struggling, snarling, and writhing under the grip of a blood-red dragon. I don’t recognize this one—but as I watch, I see the beast surge down and bite into Rufus’s throat. It wrenches back, and blood spurts out of Rufus’s neck. Rufus gurgles a little bit, wincing in pain. Then he falls into the snow, the frozen water flooding scarlet under where his poor head lays.

“Rufus!”

“Sheriff?” Merl slurs.

I blink and come back. That’s right; I’m on the street, walking Merl home.

But… I need to go. I need to go now.

I click down on the radio button.

“Will? Are you there?”

It takes a second, but the device buzzes to life:

“What do you need, Sheriff?”

“Merl’s right outside the police station right now. Can you drop him off, please? I have to go.”

“Where are you going? There aren’t any calls in right now,” h e questions.

“I just have to go, Will. Can you take Merl home in a cruiser?”

“Copy that. I’ll be right outside.”

“Thanks,” I say briefly, “I’ll be back soon.”

With that, I look to Merl:

“Okay, Merl, I need to go,” I say, as slowly as my panicked self can manage, “Can you wait here for Will?”

“Will…” He slurs, “He’s a good lad…”

“Yeah, he is. Wait here for him, okay? Wait here!” I insist, starting to run off.

I’m already sprinting before he can respond. I’m just flying across the ground like I’ve got the springs in my legs, hurtling toward my car.

God, I hope I have more time than my last vision!

If not, Rufus could be dying right now! I can’t lose him! Not so soon after falling in love!

Please let me get there before he dies!