Skin Privilege

'You're one to give me a lecture, considering your star detective is being represented by one of the biggest drug lawyers in the tri-county area.' He shook his head, disgusted. 'Looks like I called it right the first time we met, don't it?' He took a few steps forward, closing the gap between him and Jeffrey. 'In case you're wondering, I'm questioning your integrity, hoss. You wanna go ahead and beat me to the ground now or do you wanna wait until I turn my back?'

Jeffrey ignored the challenge. 'It's time to stop playing around, Jake. You need to call in the GBI.'

'I did,' he volunteered. 'We'll call it my last official duty as sheriff.'

'Wait a minute,' Jeffrey said. 'You resigned?'

Valentine nodded. 'Next-to-last official duty, I guess. Last one was letting your detective go, and I suggest you get her out of town as soon as possible and forget you ever knew this place.' He looked over Jeffrey's shoulder. 'Speak of the devil.'

Lena stood in the open doorway, Cook scowling behind her. Dark bruises patterned her face. Her eyes were bloodshot, but her fury was evident when she saw Jeffrey and Sara. 'What are they doing here?'

Jeffrey ignored her. He told Valentine, 'Let's step outside a minute and finish this conversation.'

'My pleasure.' The sheriff pushed open the door with a flourish.

Sara watched them through the glass door. The mist had turned into a spitting rain, but neither man seemed to care. Jeffrey stood on the curb while Valentine walked into the lot for yet another look at Sara's car. She felt shame mixing with anger that he was so focused on the damn thing. If the sheriff thought Jeffrey was on the take, he was more than welcome to look at their tax returns.

Behind her, the steel door slammed closed. Don Cook had made his exit. Lena and Sara were alone. Immediately, the walls felt as if they were closing in.

Lena 's tone was clipped, cutting. 'You need to get Jeffrey out of here right now.'

'That's not going to be a problem,' Sara returned, watching her stubborn husband standing out in the rain. 'Jeffrey's going to see Ethan.'

'You can't let him do that.'

Sara laughed, incredulous. 'I don't know if you remember your little tirade in the hospital a few days ago, Lena, but the best way to get Jeffrey to do something is to tell him not to do it. It helps if you make threats.'

Lena muttered something under her breath.

Sara heard plenty, but still, she demanded, 'What was that?'

'Nothing.'

'If you're going to try to mumble, you shouldn't do it so clearly.'

Lena walked toward her, stopping a few feet away. 'I said he's so pussy whipped he can't see straight,' she repeated. 'You need to get him the fuck out of here. Now.'

'How do you propose I do that?'

'Just tell him that he has to leave.'

Sara shook her head. 'God, you're so stupid about people.'

'You think insulting me is gonna fix this?'

'Fix what?' Sara demanded. 'Fix the woman who was burned alive? Fix the man who was stabbed in the back? Fix the fact that your uncle is at death's door?'

Lena pressed her lips together, stared all her hate into Sara.

'Save the theatrics. I get that same look at the clinic every time I give a toddler a shot.' Sara put her hands on her hips. 'Tell me, Lena, was Charlotte Gibson your friend?'

Lena kept glaring, but Sara could see the other woman's resolve was breaking.

'Was she?'

'Yes,' she finally answered.

'If she was your friend, then I fear for your enemies.'

Lena finally looked away, her tone softening. 'I'm trying to protect both of you. I need a day -just a day. Take me at my word and get out of town.'

'You've dragged us down here and gotten us mixed up in this… this… shit – for lack of a better word – and you think that a simple, "because I said so," is going to end it?' Sara looked back at the parking lot, saw that Valentine and Jeffrey were walking toward the door. 'Is Ethan mixed up in any of this?'

Lena stared at Sara as if trying to divine the best response to get her way.

'Quickly,' Sara snapped. Valentine was a few feet from the glass door, Jeffrey behind him. 'Is Ethan involved in this?'

'I don't know.' Lena shook her head and shrugged at the same time. 'Probably not. I don't know.'

'What will happen if Jeffrey goes to see him? What will change? Will it make anything better or worse?'

'I don't-'

Valentine opened the door. Jeffrey followed him inside.

Lena didn't waste her time. She told Jeffrey, 'Stay away from Ethan.'

He looked at Sara first, as if trying to decide which team she was on. Sara copied Lena 's earlier gesture, shaking her head and shrugging. Maybe Lena wasn't so stupid about people after all. Of course, Sara had basically drawn her a map: the best way to make Jeffrey do something was to tell him not to do it. If Lena wanted him out of town so badly, the trip to Coastal State Prison would eat up the entire day.

Lena told him, 'Ethan has nothing to do with any of this.'

He gave her that cocky smile that Sara despised. 'That so?'

'I'm taking care of things,' Lena told him. 'Just leave, Jeffrey. This is none of your business.'

He was still smiling, but his tone was a warning. 'Are you my boss now, Lena? Is that how it works when you've got a big-gun drug lawyer pulling your strings?'

Lena looked at the floor. Sara tried to change Jeffrey's focus, asking the sheriff, 'Is Lena's car still at the impound lot?'

Valentine nodded.

'Do you mind driving us there to pick it up?'

Valentine was obviously surprised by the request. 'I was… uh…'

Lena interrupted, 'I left Hank's car at his house this morning. We can take that. It's closer.'

Sara didn't wait for Valentine to come up with an excuse. She told Jeffrey, ' Lena and I will take Hank's car to the hospital. You can pick me up there when you're finished.'

Jeffrey's jaw worked. He nodded toward the door and Sara followed him outside. The mist was back, lending a solemn mood. Silently, he walked to the car. Her cell phone was in the glove box. He powered it on, staring at the screen as he told her, 'It'll take me a few hours to get there, probably another hour to fill out all the paperwork.' He handed her the phone. 'I'll call you when I'm on my way back, all right?'

Jeffrey wasn't one for public displays, but he kissed her cheek, then her mouth. She grabbed him by his collar, pressed her face in his neck.

He said, 'I don't know what's going on between you and Lena, but promise me that y'all are going straight to the hospital.' She nodded, but that wasn't enough. He tilted her face up to his. 'You're going to be the mother of my child, Sara. Promise me that you're going to keep yourself safe.'

'I promise,' she told him. 'We'll go straight to the hospital. I'll be there until you come to get me.'

He kissed her again before letting go. 'It's going to be fine, okay?' He walked around to the driver's side of the car. 'I'll see you in a few hours. We'll be home tonight.'

Sara watched him get into the car, remembering that morning six months ago when he'd left her standing in her parents' driveway. Lena had called minutes earlier and he was off to arrest Ethan Green on a gun violation. Now, standing outside the jail, Sara felt the same dread welling inside of her – the same uncontrollable fear that hovered like a dark shadow over her heart every time she found herself thinking about the misery of her life without Jeffrey.

As he reversed into the street, Sara prayed to God that this time would have the same ending. That tonight – just like that night – she would curl up in bed beside him and listen to the steady cadence of his breath as he fell asleep.