station for the night.” He hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. “It’s my station, so I should take her in.”
Tyler had to think on his feet. “Come on, George,” he said with what he hoped was a note of familiarity. “Joanna’s my responsibility. At least let me take her to the cell and hand her over to you officially. Whatever she’s done, she’s under my jurisdiction.”
“Well, that’s not strictly true now, is it, Sheriff?” answered George, rubbing his neck. “The undercover operation at the old prison comes under my leadership, not yours.”
“But she’s my deputy,” Tyler said. “I’d like to deliver her to the cell myself. Why don’t you meet us at Godspeed station? Let’s not fight over jurisdiction. Not today.”
Chief Crenshaw thought for a moment, smiled, stepped toward Tyler and patted him on the back. “If you’re sure you’re feeling better, then I guess I can allow you to run her in. Has the hospital cleared you to leave?”
Tyler nodded firmly. “One of the docs gave me a clean bill of health,” he said, taking his cuffs and securing them around Joanna’s wrists. She flinched under his touch, but she didn’t put up a fight. “My cruiser is right outside. I’ll have Deputy Graham at the station in no time.”
Chief Crenshaw opened the door. “I’ll see you there,” he said walking purposely down the corridor with the mayor, seemingly anxious to start the process. “Don’t dawdle now.”
“I won’t,” Tyler said, pretending to adjust Joanna’s cuffs while watching the men enter the elevator. “I’m right behind you.”
He then checked the vicinity for Dr. Sinclair, spotting him intently studying brain scan images in a small adjacent room. Creeping along the hallway, Tyler approached the elevator and pressed the button, desperately hoping that the doctor wouldn’t see him leave.
His outward demeanor was cool and calm, but inwardly, he was battling some pretty intense emotions. His life had been turned upside down. Whether he liked it or not, he was the sheriff of a county he thought he’d left behind long ago. He’d swapped clandestine missions in far-off lands for local law enforcement in Yardley County, nestled in the boot heel of Missouri. He had been raised in Godspeed by his grandmother after his parents died in a traffic accident when he was just eight years old. His old-fashioned grandmother had taught him to be honest and upstanding and to always trust his gut. He wished she were still alive, able to reassure him that he was doing the right thing, that he wasn’t about to make the biggest mistake of his life. But in the absence of both his grandmother and his memory, his gut was the only thing he could trust.
He steered Joanna into the elevator. “Is your memory really back?” she asked. He saw the desperate hope written on her face.
He shook his head. “I lied.”
“Even if you don’t remember me, Tyler, you know me,” she said, facing him with wide eyes, the color of warm dark caramel. “I would never betray you or the sheriff’s department.”
“I think I believe you.”
“But you’re taking me in anyway.”
He leaned in close. “I’m taking you someplace where we can figure this out together.” He reached around and took the cell phone that she still held in one hand behind her back. “And I’m hoping that this will give us some clues about who’s behind the setup.”
Her face broke into a huge, grateful smile. “You really mean it? You’ll help me?”
“We’ll help each other,” he replied. “With my memory shot to pieces, it looks like I need you as much as you need me.”
He silently prayed that Joanna was as trustworthy as he thought, because if she was lying to him, he was in a whole heap of trouble. If he was caught helping her evade arrest, there was more than a good chance that both he and his deputy would be spending Christmas Day behind bars.
Joanna walked toward the exit of Godspeed General Hospital, past the huge twinkling tree in the foyer and out into the frigid evening air. The festive lights of Godspeed lay before them, reminding her that everyone else in town was preparing for happy days ahead.
“We don’t have much time,” Tyler said, removing her cuffs and sitting her in the back of the cruiser. “In about twenty minutes, the chief will start to get suspicious that we haven’t arrived at the station. Can you direct me to my house? I’m hoping that I keep spare weapons there.” He scratched his head. “It’s really hard to keep second-guessing myself. This is kinda crazy.”
“Head for the courthouse,” she said. “Your house isn’t far from there.”
Tyler slid into the driver’s seat, took off his hat and slung it on the seat next to him. He then pulled onto the road, all the while rubbing a hand over his forehead. He looked tense and uneasy, and Joanna’s conscience was pricked.
“Listen, Tyler,” she said, leaning forward. “You don’t have to do this for me. You could lose your job. Or worse. You’re committing a felony by helping me to escape.”
“I’m well aware of the implications of what I’m doing,” Tyler said. “But I don’t think you’d be safe in police custody, especially as we don’t know who set you up. You’re fortunate that the rival gang chose today to launch an attack, because otherwise I don’t think you’d be sitting here now.”
Joanna shivered, remembering staring down the barrel of a gun. “I guess I was blessed today.” She closed her eyes and tried to give silent thanks to God, but the words refused to come, so she gave up.
“I think The Scorpions intended to kill you and then leave a false trail of evidence to implicate you in their criminal activities,” Tyler said. “A corrupt deputy would really undermine the undercover operation. But now that you’re still alive, the gang will be looking for you in police custody.”
The car wound through the streets of Godspeed, and she noticed the look on Tyler’s face change as he passed the familiar sights: the library, the veterans’ memorial, the grocery stores, the high school, all lit by the soft glow of Christmas lights. A heavy sense of history always lay thickly in the air in Godspeed. The town had hardly changed since she was a girl, and she guessed that Tyler was seeing it as if for the first time in years.
“This must be weird for you, huh?” she said.
He didn’t answer for a few moments. He continued to drive, heading for the courthouse, stopping briefly outside the church where she knew the funerals of his parents had taken place over thirty years ago. After Tyler’s grandmother died, he left Godspeed to join the military. When he returned, most of the town folks who knew him were shocked. They had assumed there was nothing left for him to come back to. “I feel like I’m in no-man’s-land,” he said. “I can’t move forward and I can’t go back.” He cruised toward the courthouse. “Everything looks the same, but I don’t fit in. I don’t belong in Godspeed anymore.”
“Yes, you do,” she said strongly. “You gotta trust me on this. Yardley County is a much better place since you became our sheriff.” She pointed to a side street, dark and quiet. “Turn here. Your house is at the end. The one with the motorcycle in the driveway.”
