Ridin' Solo (Sisters From Hell Book 1)

by Marika Ray

  I ignored the countryside to study her profile. Her light blonde hair was back in another bun that made me worried for her future hair loss. Her nose sloped perfectly over full lips that didn’t need paint to attract a man’s attention. The drab black uniform wasn’t exactly a suitable color to bring out her light blue eyes, but it matched her mood just fine. In her fight with the bull yesterday, some of that hair had worked its way free of the bun and hung around her face, softening her features and making me wonder what a relaxed Oakley would look like.

  “I don’t flirt.” Maybe that would have been true in my past life, but not now.

  Oakley let out a delicate snort that had me grinning. “Do too.”

  Hearing that juvenile response in that smoky voice of hers did something weird to my gut. “Just because I’m friendly and ask people about their day doesn’t mean I’m flirting. You should try it sometime.”

  “Flirting?” Her face scrunched up, and I had to swallow a laugh.

  “Yeah, maybe that too. But no, I meant being friendly.”

  She put her turn signal on and made a complete stop at the four-way stop sign, complete with the tires rolling back and spiders having enough time to spin a web from the wheel well to the pavement. I’d only been twenty-four hours in her presence, but I was coming to see that Oakley did everything by the book. No fudging. No skirting around the edges of propriety.

  “I’m friendly,” she insisted.

  I rolled my lips inward and held my breath. Laughing at her would only provoke her, and while that would normally appeal to me very much, I knew getting off on a good foot with my new boss was important enough to tamp down the teasing.

  “All I’m saying is that we need to be a coordinated team when we respond to calls. Play good cop and let me lead. If I need your help, I’ll ask for it and vice versa. Okay?” she said into the silence.

  I nodded, still not trusting myself to speak. She huffed, but went quiet, assuming I agreed. The tall trees flickered past as we drove on, the roads all starting to look the same no matter how hard I tried to orient myself to the new county. I was used to city streets gridded out in a way that made sense. Out here, the roads meandered like the construction workers had had too much to drink before getting down to work. Didn’t help that each of the roads changed names the minute they hit one of the small towns in our jurisdiction. Seems like they could have coordinated things a little better, but that was small towns for you. Fiercely independent. Which was exactly what drew me to working for the county sheriff’s and not the city police force. Well, that and that other thing I tried not to think about.

  The dispatcher’s voice crackled to life in the quiet confines of the cruiser. “We’ve got a three fourteen in progress out by ol’ Tucker’s farm.”

  I glanced over at Oakley. At her head nod, I grabbed the radio and let them know we’d be responding. She flipped on the lights and pressed on the gas pedal a bit, though we were still within a reasonable speed. I smirked, thinking of how she’d react if I’d been the one driving. I wasn’t known for holding back.

  “Some of your codes differ from where I came from. Is a three fourteen indecent exposure?” I asked, wanting to be prepared for the call. I may not have all my orifices clenched as tightly as Oakley’s, but I still wanted to be damn good at my job.

  “Yes. And considering it’s the Tucker farm, it’s probably Janine, their next-door neighbor, who’s a little questionable when it comes to her clothing practices.”

  My eyebrow went up. “How old is Janine?”

  Oakley flashed me a stern frown. “Old enough to be your mama, so don’t get your hopes up.”

  I put my hands up instead. “Whoa, I didn’t say anything about that. Get your head out of the gutter, Captain. I just wanted to prepare emotionally if I have to arrest a nude grandma, that’s all.”

  Oakley made that noise out of the side of her mouth that she made a lot around me. “Janine is a die-hard hippie who protests every spring about farmer Tucker leaving his cows out to pasture without providing a shade structure. She figures sunburning her naked body will draw attention to the fact that global warming is happening and the poor cows need help.”

  I grinned, already happy I’d moved to wacky Auburn Hill. This was just the change I needed to thrive.

  When we pulled up, Janine held an obnoxiously large sign above her head, showing off a distinct lack of concern about body hair. I’d seen wild scrub bushes on the side of the road trimmed back further than good ol’ Janine here. Oakley put the cruiser in park and sent me a smug smile before climbing out.

  “Miss Janine. How are you today?” Oakley put her hands on her belt, tipping her head my way when I got to her side. “This is Lieutenant Smith. A newbie.”

  Janine smiled, unperturbed with her state of complete undress. “Nice to meet you, young man. How do you feel about the treatment of farm animals?”

  Remembering Oakley’s stern instructions to be the good cop, I answered. “I’ve always been a fan of Charlotte’s Web if that gives you any indication of how I feel about the treatment of animals. Or should I say pets?”

  Janine beamed at me, dropped the sign right there in the dirt at her feet, and lunged for me. She caught me in a hug and I was thankful my arms got pinned to my sides so I didn’t have to figure out where to put my hands. Come to find out, along with razors, Janine didn’t believe in deodorant either.

  Oakley’s throat clearing cut into the sweet moment. “I hate to bring this up, but it’s against the law to be nude in view of the public, Janine. I believe we went over this last year. And the year before.”

  Janine let me go and turned a frown on Oakley. I would have frowned too, but the new angle allowed my gaze to land on a faded tattoo on Janine’s flank. The black and white heifer was on his hind legs, dancing with a hippie girl who resembled what Janine might have looked like thirty or forty years ago. When Janine marched over to Oakley, the loose skin rippled and it looked like the cow was actually in motion. Sometimes you see things you can’t un-see on this job and this was one of them.

  “You listen here, Oakley Waldo. You don’t have to live next door to that cow murderer, listening to those poor animals mooing constantly all summer. In pain and on the cusp of dehydration. All because ol’ Tucker is too cheap to build a simple shade structure.”

  Oakley tilted her head patiently. “Some might say mooing is what those cows are supposed to do. Not a sign of distress.”

  Janine put her hands on her hips and sucked in a deep breath for her rebuttal. I figured I could help diffuse the situation, such was my role as good cop.

  “I bet writing a letter to your congressional representative would go a long way to getting laws passed about shade structures for farm animals, Janine. Have you considered doing that?”

  She twirled so fast she kicked up a cloud of dust. “Well, now, that’s a fine idea. It’d certainly save me money buying aloe in bulk. For the sunburns, you know.”

  I smiled at her and waved for her to follow me back to her driveway, one step closer to going home and avoiding an indecent exposure ticket. “I bet mailing in a letter a day would get some attention, don’t you?”

  Janine gifted me with a smile so bright I warmed up to the good cop role. She reached up and patted my shoulder. “You’re a fine addition to the department, Smithy.” She leaned in close and dropped her voice. “My niece’s bridal shower is coming up next week, so I have to ask. You don’t happen to do stripteases on the side, do you?”

  I nearly swallowed my tongue, flattered, a little disturbed, and highly entertained. This was so much better than working in a city with violent criminals.

  “Can’t say I do. Sorry to disappoint.” I gave her back a gentle push toward her house. “If you go inside now, I bet I can sweet-talk Captain Waldo out of writing you a ticket.”

  Janine winked at me. “Oh, I bet you can.” She tittered, but thankfully made her way into her house where she’d hopefully find some clothing.

  Oakle
y was waiting for me, leaning against her cruiser with her arms folded over her chest. “See?”

  I frowned. “What?”

  She smiled and shoved off the car. “You make the perfect good cop.” She patted my arm, like being the good guy was an insult, and went around to get in the driver’s seat.

  Funny how she instinctively knew I got along with most people, and yet I couldn’t seem to get along with her. Everything I did was either plain wrong or up for mocking. I shook my head and got in the cruiser, deciding to keep my mouth shut for now. Day two on the job. I still had time to get in her good graces. Once I turned on the charm, no woman stood a chance. Of that I was certain.

  Oakley radioed in that we’d settled the public indecency call. Which got a guy to thinking. What would Oakley look like naked as the day she was born? Would she have surprising tattoos of the animal variety? If I ripped that hair tie out, would her hair stream down her back or stop right at the tops of her shoulders? Would she be a wild cracker in bed, fighting for dominance? Or would she want me to play bad cop for once?

  “You going to answer that?” Her throaty voice broke me out of my daydream, but not with the words I hoped to hear.

  “Huh?”

  Her eyebrows drew together. “The dispatcher just called in a ten-thirty-three at a warehouse. Let’s go.”

  I roped my brain back into the job and radioed that we were on our way. There was no time for daydreaming, not when you had a job that required your entire focus. One slight mistake and someone could literally die. Besides, Oakley was my boss. No way in hell was I going to mess up a good thing. Not when I’d come so far.

  Quitting time found Oakley staying behind at the station to chat with Betty while she pretended I didn’t exist. Damn, that woman was ice cold. I’d had enough dead time between calls today to daydream about thawing her out, but I had no intention of actually working on that. Old me would have seen her as a challenge. New me just wanted to work and live in a quiet little town with no drama.

  I decided a good day’s work needed some proper food, so I headed into Auburn Hill for a grocery run I should have done the day I moved in. Cooking wasn’t my forte, but I was learning every day. I’d mastered most Mexican dishes, as those were my favorite, but lately I’d been trying some Italian. Tonight would be manicotti if I could find all the ingredients. My cart was near to overflowing by the time I checked out and headed home.

  I cranked the playlist on my phone and moved about the kitchen efficiently, getting everything together. While it baked for an hour in the oven, I could get things moved around in the guest room and lift some weights. The new house I’d bought was an old three bedroom and two bathrooms. I figured I only needed one guest room. The other could be made into a weight room. I preferred a gym, but the long hours of law enforcement made a home gym more feasible. The last thing I wanted after dealing with the public all day was to go to the gym and deal with people stealing my squat rack.

  My phone kept buzzing throughout my set of bench presses. I ignored it, knowing it was just social media notifications. It had been two years, and yet I couldn’t quite let go of my previous life entirely. Keeping track of the people I used to call friends was a habit, if only to provide a counterpoint to the life I led now. I’d chosen to go a different direction and seeing how they lived, played out in selfies and late night video postings, usually reaffirmed that I’d made the right choice.

  The only posts that got to me were the ones where they were on some tropical vacation or a yacht off the coast of Capri. I still missed those carefree days where everything was a party. What I didn’t miss was the bone-deep sense of dissatisfaction with myself. Money couldn’t buy self-respect, but I was finding hard, honest work could. And that was enough to spur me on to drop the phone and get back to a set of bicep curls before the oven timer went off.

  My new life was quieter, simpler, and more traditional. I couldn’t hide out in Auburn Hill forever, but it was working for me so far. One day I’d have to let my two lives converge and figure out how to reconcile both sides of me, but for now, I’d never been more satisfied with my life.

  Even with Captain Oakley Waldo giving me grief every step of the way.

  4

  Oakley

  * * *

  Frustrating didn’t even begin to describe how I felt at the end of a workday now that I wasn’t riding solo. The transition to having a partner could always be a bit difficult, but a partner who had the face of James Dean, the body of Thor, and the smooth flirting skills of Matthew McConaughey was even more rocky. And the bastard kept calling me Oakley instead of Captain or Lee like everybody else in the department. He was like a thorn in my side that just kept scratching away at me all day until I collapsed at home in a heap of frustration and annoyance.

  The only thing getting me through this week was knowing I had tomorrow off. The four walls of my house could be my sanctuary, blocking me from the existence of Wyatt Smith for a perfect twenty-four hours. In fact, just the idea of a Wyatt break was making me feel downright giddy. Like the night needed to be celebrated.

  The freezer held another home-cooked meal from Mom, and the cabinet above the fridge had the treasure of a brand-new bottle of wine I’d bought awhile back and had never gotten to. I sat and ate in perfect solitude, enjoying a first glass of wine and then pouring a second. Unfortunately, my thoughts weren’t cooperating, and they kept straying back to the tall, dark, and handsome officer I now had to spend my days with.

  I didn’t want to think about him.

  He vexed me. He turned me inside out with a simple smirk on his ruggedly handsome face. He left me with an itch below the skin I couldn’t seem to reach.

  The doorbell rang, and I nearly fell off my chair. Eyeing the wineglass, I pushed it further away from me on the table and stood up to get the door.

  “Gonna be a good night, sugar.” Poppy, the town mail carrier, stood on the other side of my door, shoving a nondescript brown box in my hands with a wink. I frowned, not understanding why she would hand deliver a package tonight when she normally left packages in a bush where I wouldn’t find them for a solid week.

  I closed the door while she whistled a happy little tune back to her mail truck. The label on the box said it was from the Hardware Store. Closing my eyes on a full-body shiver of embarrassment, I knew exactly why Poppy had showed up on my doorstep, the little gossip monger. The Hardware Store was the online sex toy subscription box company that had come to town a couple years ago.

  “I didn’t order anything,” I sighed to the empty house.

  Great, now Poppy was spreading the word that Captain Waldo was getting busy solo in her little house in the woods.

  “Please, dear God, don’t let that get back to Mom or Dad.”

  I dropped the box on the table, narrowly missing my wineglass, and eyeing it like it was a live animal. One full circle around my table and I resigned myself to the fact that I’d have to open it. The box came addressed to me, after all.

  And truth be told, I was just the tiniest bit excited to find out what was in the box. Lenora Sutter, the owner of the company, had a reputation for having high-quality staples and some of the most amazing products you couldn’t find elsewhere.

  Ripping the box open, I found a note above the tissue paper.

  Amelia shouldn’t be the only one getting some. Xoxo, Vee

  Of course. Who else would send me a sex toy but my youngest sister, Vee? Okay, well, Amelia would too, but she was otherwise occupied with a husband and a new pregnancy. I shook my head at Vee, though she obviously couldn’t see me. Putting the card aside, I opened the tissue paper and took out an object that had me perplexed. The thing was Barney purple and had several arms, legs, and buttons, all encased in a silicone shell so smooth my skin wept tears of jealousy.

  I held the device outstretched between my thumb and finger like it might bite. And knowing so little about sex toys, maybe it could bite. Wasn’t that a fetish? Reaching with my other hand, I found my wi
neglass and took a not-so-healthy large swig, finding that I needed the liquid courage to continue. I set the thing—vibrator, dildo?—down on the table and rummaged around the box until I found some directions. Yes, I needed step-by-step directions to know how to work my new toy.

  Once I’d given the little booklet a thorough read-through, I had a better idea of how to use it, though I wasn’t sure I wanted vibration in all the places it promised. My wineglass was empty again, so I refilled it, finishing the bottle, and headed to the living room.

  “We’re going to do this,” I announced to the room. And to myself.

  I put the toy on the coffee table and hustled about my house, finding candles, a lighter, and my personal laptop. The candles would set the mood, the wine would provide the courage, and the laptop would play a fun porno to set the scene. I’d always said: if you were going to do something, do it right.

  Once I logged in to a site Amelia had told me about a few years ago but never visited, my eyes nearly fell out of my head. My God. There were so many categories of porn. Did I want knotting play? What the fuck was that? Did I prefer threesomes? I tilted my head, considering. Nah. I should probably just start out with something more vanilla. Something to ease my way into this pool of porn. Sitting down on the couch, I found a title that looked like it might work. I hit play and settled in.

  Apparently actual acting wasn’t required as the sex started nearly thirty seconds into the scene.

  “Oh yeah. That’s it, baby. Mmm. Right there.”

  The female’s voice was so breathy, she’d give Britney Spears a run for her money. I didn’t particularly care for her high-pitched squeal while she was getting rammed from behind by Fabio’s little brother, but there was something so elicit about watching two people have sex that the porno made me just the tiniest bit excited despite my best intentions. The thrusting picked up speed and soon the woman was screaming at the top of her lungs like he was murdering her. Interesting. I didn’t think I’d ever reacted with quite that much enthusiasm.