Right outside of town, less than a five minute drive, was a small industrial park. All of the buildings, all four of them, looked completely deserted, yet there were seven or eight trucks parked out in front of the last building in line, which was little more than framework and beams.
“What is this place?” Angie asked.
“Charming Industrial Park,” Marcus answered, pulling up between two of the trucks and slamming it in park.
“Hmm,” Angie murmured. “I’ve never heard of this place.”
“Probably because there’s no businesses in here,” Marcus aid. Then he added, “Yet. If Copeland’s dream comes alive.”
That would make sense, Angie reasoned. She’d missed the R & C on her recon trip, but missing all of these businesses would seriously make herself doubt her abilities as a developer – but they weren’t businesses, and by the looks of them, they never would be.
Why hire your son and a crew to build buildings that will never be occupied?
But Angie didn’t have too much time to ponder those thoughts because Marcus was walking up to the final building. There were a couple of guys walking around, doing all sorts of various construction activities – though in truth, it looked like they were hardly working. She didn’t recognize any of them except for Dean Copeland, who stood off to the side directing a few of the other men.
“Yo, Dean!” one of the men called. When Dean turned, the man pointed at the Sheriff. Almost immediately, all of the other men seemed to close in, though they still tried their best to look like they were working.
“Sheriff Stone,” Dean said, putting down a clipboard he was holding. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Want to come with us, Dean? We have a few things to talk about,” Marcus asked.
“Not really,” Dean answered. “What’s this about?”
“Send your men away, Copeland,” Marcus ordered. His voice took on a slightly dangerous edge.
“Whatever you’re going to say, you can say in front of my friends,” Dean answered. Standing behind Marcus, Angie felt a shudder run through her. Things could turn dangerous fast. All of the men had stopped working and had instead turned their attention directly on her and Marcus.
“You need to come with us.”
“I ain’t comin’ with you unless you’re arresting me!” Dean said. A few of his friends nodded, and even one cheered something along the lines of, You tell him, Dean!
“Okay,” Marcus said, grabbing his cuffs. “If that’s how you’re going to be. You’re under arrest, Dean Copeland.”
“For what?” he exploded.
“For the murder of Erica Pope.”
“Who?”
“And the attempted murder of Angie Campbell.”
“That bitch?” Dean exclaimed, taking a step back as Marcus approached him. “I don’t even know who she is! I didn’t murder no one!”
But Marcus closed in on him faster than Angie would have thought possible. Judging by Dean’s reactions, he had no idea the Sheriff could move that fast either. In just a split second, Marcus had Dean on the ground, on knee on his back, and was grabbing his arms and yanking them behind Dean’s back. He cuffed the man.
One of the workers moved in, but Marcus pulled out his revolver and waved it in his general direction. “Back up, unless you want to be part of this murder investigation.”
“You can’t point your gun at us like that,” the worker protested, though he moved backwards.
“I’ll do whatever I want,” Marcus said, yanking Dean up.
“You can’t do this! Just wait until my father hears about this!” Dean yelled. He was covered in dirt and spit was running down his dusty face.
“I’ll tell him myself,” Marcus told the man. They walked back towards the Bronco, Dean fighting the entire way. Angie rushed to keep up.
It had only taken a few short minutes before Dean was safely restrained in the back of the Bronco, though he still yelled and screamed the entire car ride back to town. Angie could hardly believe his ferocity as his legs kept hitting the back of their seat, pushing them forward.
But Angie didn’t mind.
Dean was like an animal caught in a trap. He knew his time was running short. He was doing all he could to break out, but it was fruitless.
“Why’d you do it, Dean?” she suddenly asked.
“Angie…” Marcus warned.
“No, Marcus, I want to know. I want to know why he killed my friend, and why he wanted to kill me. Why did you do it, Dean?”
“You’re crazy, bitch! I’m not sayin’ nothing to you or that freak in the front seat! Just because you have a badge doesn’t make you one of us!”
“Good,” Marcus said, his yellow eyes blazing – yet not giving in to Dean and looking back at him. “Because you’re nothing, Copeland. Nothing. And you’re going to prison for the rest of your pathetic life. Think about that.”
Angie smiled while Dean Copeland raged in the back seat, helpless.
Things are finally going right.
Chapter 17
Marcus threw Dean Copeland into the cell – much harder than he needed to. The man collapsed painfully against the bars, grimacing, but his anger never faded.
“My father’s gonna have your ass for this.”
“Let him,” Marcus said. He slammed the door shut and locked it in place. “Just let him.”
“And you, bitch!” he roared, but Marcus ushered Angie out of the room and then shut the door to the cells. They could still hear him yelling, but it was mostly undecipherable.
“You really think it’s him?” Angie asked, excited.
“He’s the man I smelled that came into your room that night. I didn’t smell him in Erica’s room – I’ll admit that much. But if the shoe fits…”
“Then he’s our killer,” Angie said, relieved. She sat down across from the desk, in the same place she’d been the first time Marcus had grilled her. That had only been two days ago, but it had seemed like a lifetime ago, now.
“What’s wrong?” Marcus asked. Angie tried her best to hide it, but Marcus could see something was beginning to trouble her. Only moments before, she’d been nothing but excitement, and now… Now Marcus didn’t know what was wrong.
“We’ve just arrested Dean Copeland. What’s his father going to think?”
“Who cares?” Marcus grinned.
“I care, Marcus,” she said, running her hands through her hair. “Don’t get me wrong – I’m glad the killer is behind bars. I’m glad that I’m safe, and Erica’s death won’t be in vain. But…”
“But what?”
“What about my job?”
Marcus felt a low growl rumbling in his throat.
“I know! I know! After all of this, and I’m worried about the job,” Angie remarked, throwing her hands in the air. “It’s stupid, ludicrous. I should just be happy. But I can’t think that everything I’ve been working for, planning these last few months, is going to come crashing down when Mayor Copeland finds out I’ve been a part of his son’s arrest. He’s paying for everything. Once he finds this out…”
Marcus walked to the desk and stood in front of her.
“Listen to me, Angie. No matter what happens – with your job, with Copeland going to jail, just know that you did the right thing. And doing the right thing isn’t always easy. Do you think I want Copeland to come down on hard on me? His son’s probably right – there’s a good chance that once this is all said and done, I’ll be looking for a new place to work. And considering my track record, I don’t know if it’ll be easy to move on.
“But you know what? That’s okay. We stopped the man who killed your friend and who was going to kill you. I would gladly stop him over and over, even if it meant never working again. It’s the right thing to do, and I’m glad we did it.”
She was silent, but eventually nodded. “You’re right, Marcus. It was worth it.”
“Good. Now I need to fill out the paperwork – that’s the part I hate most.”
Marcus had just sat down and started to write his report when the front door to the Sheriff’s department burst open. He’d been expecting Mayor Copeland, and now, here he was. With three people in the little room, it was starting to become a bit crowded, but Marcus didn’t mind.
“What’s going on?” the Mayor roared. “I’ve had reports that you arrested my son for murder! That’s preposterous!”
“That’d be correct, Mayor Copeland,” Marcus said carefully. He sat the pen down on the paper and stood up in his chair. He towered over the older, rounder man, but Copeland’s fury radiated off of him in waves. “He’s the prime suspect in our murder investigation.”
“Do you have any proof?”
“You know I can’t discuss matters like that with you.”
Copeland repeated, “Do you have any proof?” When Marcus didn’t answer, the Mayor moved toward the cells, saying, “You have to let him go if you don’t have any proof!”
“We’ll have the proof soon enough,” Marcus said, moving in front of the man.
“Let me see my son.”
Marcus didn’t want to let him, but he had no choice. He moved to the side just enough for the man to walk by him, open the door, and go into the cells. Marcus followed, leaning on the door frame, watching.
“Leave us,” the Mayor commanded, but Marcus ignored him. Once it was evident that Marcus wasn’t going to listen, the father bent closer to his son and started to whisper.
If Marcus hadn’t been a Shifter, he wouldn’t have been able to hear what they were saying, but he was.
What happened, Dean?
They charged me for murder, and the attempted murder of that other woman. And you know I didn’t do it, Dad.
You say anything to them?
Hell no. I don’t know what’s going on.
Are you sure? Have you said anything to him? If you have…
No.
Dean?
No. Dad, help me.
Shut up. Shut up! Let me think. Okay, you haven’t said anything. And from what I can tell, there’s no way to prove that you were there.
Okay.
Okay. Okay, that’s good. I’ll get you a lawyer. I know a good one from the county over. He’ll be able to sort this mess out. I promise you this’ll be the last time that the Sheriff works again.
What about the woman?
What woman? Angie Campbell?
Yeah, Dad.
What about her?
She was involved, somehow.
She’s not just here under police protection?
No.
Hmmm. Okay, Dean. Hang tight, don’t say anything – to anyone, until we get that lawyer. We’ll get this all sorted out, I promise you.
With that, the Mayor stood up.
He came close to Marcus and whispered, “You’re finished, Sheriff. You and Angie Campbell, both.”
“We’ll see, Copeland,” Marcus said, turning to watch as he made his way out of the building without a glance at Angie. “We’ll see.”
“School gets out in half an hour,” Dean Copeland said from the cell.
“What of it?”
“What am I supposed to do about my kid? You gonna go pick him up for me?”
“You know what, Dean?” Marcus asked. He was getting a little bit warm and antsy, and he wasn’t looking forward to starting the paperwork up again. “I think I will. Where do you want me to take him?”
“Take him to his mom’s. And Sheriff? Do me a favor and don’t tell him what’s going on. You can at least do that much for me.”
Dean’s whole demeanor had changed. Obviously, if he cared for one thing in this world, it was his kid.
“I can do that,” Marcus told the man. “And when I come back, I want a real confession.”
Dean looked nervous but didn’t say anything.
Marcus left the cells, waving Angie towards the front of the building and together they left.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Out to the school,” Marcus answered, leading the way to the Bronco.
“What about Dean?”
“He’ll be fine for a half an hour.”
“Okay,” Angie said and climbed into the vehicle. “And why exactly are we going to the school?”
Marcus shrugged and said, “To pick up Dean’s kid.”
“And why exactly are we doing that?”
“I don’t know much about the Copelands – but I do know that Dean and his kid… Well, let’s just say they don’t get along too well. He doesn’t get along with his grandfather, either – he’s only in high school, but his grandfather has already talked about sending him off to some far away college to get rid of him. Doesn’t fit the family ideals, I guess. We’re going to pick him up and take him to his mother’s house.”
“And who is his mother?”
“Someone that doesn’t fit into the Copeland family values, either. Used to be a pretty big drug addict, alcoholic, too. Lost the custody case a few years back, before I became Sheriff. She’s cleaned up her act now. Gets to see the kid on the weekend. Figured the least we could do was drop him off at his mom’s place.”
“You’re a good man, Marcus Stone,” Angie told him. “That’s more than I would do for a man accused of murder.”
He shrugged again and they drove off towards the school. It wasn’t Charming’s school, not exactly, but a school in the middle of nowhere that housed Charming, Haven, and other surrounding towns. It wasn’t much, but it was where most of the townspeople had grown up and went to school.
They pulled up to it a quarter of an hour later, Angie electing to stay in the truck. Marcus nodded and made his way inside to the office.
The secretary there was warmer to him than anyone he’d met recently. He chalked it up to her not being an upstanding Charming citizen and knowing what his story was.
“Afternoon, Sheriff,” she said, cheerfully. “What can I help you with?” She was an older woman with a warm smile.
“I’m here to pick up a student. Charlie Copeland?”
“Ah, Charlie’s a wonderful kid,” the secretary said, her face falling. “Has Mr. Copeland been hurt?”
“No, nothing like that,” Marcus said. He hesitated, wanting to dance around the issue. He shouldn’t go around telling everyone that Dean Copeland had been arrested – things weren’t set in stone, so to speak. But he whispered, “He’s been arrested.” At her face of surprise, he lied, “Nothing serious! Just in for questioning about some trouble we’ve been having around Charming.”
“That murder,” the secretary said, glancing around to the left and right, as if the killer was in the office with them.
“Yeah, that’s the one. So – discretion is important. But Mr. Copeland wanted me to pick up his son and take him to his mother’s house. He didn’t want him stuck out here, wondering what was going on. It was the least I could do.”
“Absolutely, Sheriff,” she told him, grabbing the intercom. “Charlie Copeland, after school, please report to the office.”
“Thanks,” Marcus said. It was a strange feeling, finding cooperative people. Maybe I’ll move out of Charming. Find a place somewhere else, where the people are nicer. But he knew that was a pipedream. People would be nasty to him wherever he went. His golden eyes and his job didn’t help him make friends.
There were still a few minutes left before the final bell, so Marcus took a look around the office. There was a revolving school picture frame on the far wall, packed with the last 50 years of graduating classes. Marcus found himself walking over, absently thumbing through it, trying to burn time.
He found one of the more recent years, looking through it, not even knowing why – and then he froze. There she was.
The only woman I’ve ever loved.
“Oh, is that Lindsey Gray?” the secretary asked. Marcus had barely noticed her coming up behind him and gave a little jump. Marcus didn’t answer, just stared at her picture. She was much younger in the picture, younger than even when Marcus
had first met her. “She was Valedictorian, you know. Voted most likely to succeed, too. She had a bright future ahead of her, and then…”
“And then what?” Marcus asked, pain cracking his voice.
“She was killed by a drunk driver, they say. I don’t know the whole story – but she was young. Much too young. She would come in here and light up the whole room,” the secretary said fondly. She glanced up at Marcus. He could feel a tear forming in his eye, but he pushed it away. “Did you know her?”
“No,” Marcus growled, steeling himself. “Never heard of her.”
He didn’t think the secretary believed the lie, but just at that moment, Charlie Copeland came into the office.
“What’s going on?” he asked, looking at Marcus.
“Your father’s been arrested,” Marcus growled, abandoning all ideas of going easy on the kid. Seeing Lindsey – his wife – had ripped his heart out. It physically hurt just thinking about her.
“What?” Charlie asked.
“Let’s go, kid. I ain’t got all day,” Marcus answered, grabbing the kid by the backpack and angling him out of the office, leaving the secretary standing there unsure of what had just happened.
Chapter 18
Angie sat in the car while Marcus dropped Dean Copeland’s son off at his mother’s. She hadn’t been sure what had happened in the school, but both Marcus and Charlie were both in icy moods. She decided to keep her questions to herself until Charlie had been dropped off.
“What was that about?” she asked when Marcus climbed back into the Bronco.
“What?” he asked. She could tell he was avoiding the question; he knew exactly what she was asking about.
“Marcus…”
“I told him his father is in jail,” he said. “Even though I said I wouldn’t.”
“Oh.”
She wasn’t stupid. There was more to it than that. Something had happened in the school, something he wasn’t telling her, but now wasn’t the time. She knew if she were to push him, Marcus would shut down completely.
Blood Moon (Bear Sheriff Book 1) Page 11
