Lucas stared down at the so called professionals of his town from the large window in his Wife's office, as they walked around aimlessly engrossed in their unimportant lives. This part of Trinity left a bad taste in his mouth, even more so than Goat Town. There was something about these overprivileged people that made him want to let go and reign hell on this whole area at the height of the working day; however, he was the Sheriff of Trinity and he was required to lead by example.
It was a shame really, there was so much fun to be had with these yuppy hipsters and he had no doubt that their seemingly perfect lives had just as much dirt as the rest of the common folk; however, no one around here had actually given him cause to add them to his list, at least not yet and he was nothing if not a stickler to his own rules.
David stood nervously by the large desk close to the corner of the room, waiting for the Sheriff to acknowledge him. He had never had any dealings with Lucas Buck previously; however, he had heard stories of the man and knew that his sudden appearance was not a good omen.
'Boo!' Luke yelled from his position on the sofa, sensing the man's anxiety and began jumping around amused when he let out a surprised squeal.
Lucas rolled his eyes at the whimpering man behind him, expecting the board of Directors to have more respect for his Wife than to appoint this snivelling fool to watch her. He knew that he should have taken full control of the situation himself, it was his own fault really for trusting the people beneath him to actually follow out his orders to an acceptable standard.
'So, she just left?' Caleb asked in an uninterested tone as he read his book, growing tired of the man's nervousness engulfing the room and urging his Father to hurry up so he could be returned to School.
'Quit' Luke corrected, then heard his Father take in a deep breath and shrank down on the couch in an attempt to go unnoticed.
Lucas waited for a moment, then let out a long sigh. 'Cat got your tongue? My boy asked you a question' he said flatly and continued to stare out of the window, trying to push down his rage. He could not believe that Gail had quit her position, making the announcement to everybody that she past on the way out making it impossible for her to come back here and keep her dignity in tact. This was not how things were done by his people, someone was going to take responsibility for what had transpired and he was finding it hard to keep himself under control.
David shuffled on the spot and stared down at his hands, not sure what he needed to say to make this matter better.
'The truth' Caleb advised, not looking up from his book. His Father was not going to take on the blame for Gail's rash decision and this poor fool could only explain his side honestly, then hope that his Father was in a lenient mood.
'Well, I came in and- she just, well- Hell, I don't know!' David exclaimed, unable to hold in his anxiety any longer. 'All I did was introduce myself like the board told me to, I didn't say anythin' to offend her and I just told her that-'
'-That you were keepin' an eye on her and shadowin' her? A woman who has been independent her whole life and is very publicly vocal about discrimination against women in the workplace, yet you don't have a simple understandin' of how to address her appropriately when you've seemingly been brought in to take half of her position' Lucas interjected, still focusing on the people outside to distract him from his rage. finally turning towards David
'Was he not brought in to share her duties?' Caleb asked as he turned a page, believing that Gail would want him to at least make one attempt to help this pitiful man and tried to remind his Father of what he had done.
Lucas closed his eyes at Caleb's question and finally turned towards David, deciding that this was an opportune moment to teach his boys about how things are done in his Town. 'He was brought in to make your Mother focus her attention on her real passion of reportin', rather than wastin' her time on things that shouldn't concern her...a little competition in her role to help her realise that she had to actually work here to stay on top and not take her role for grated. He was not supposed to openly challenge her by insinuatin' she was required to be watched, that's like claiming I need instruction on managin' my people. You see boys, this is why if you want somethin' done properly you need to do it yourself' he advised, fixing his eyes on David and beginning to approach him slowly.
Caleb sensed the power within his Father rise and knew better than to get in it's way; therefore, he chose to keep quiet and let the man fend for himself.
David suddenly felt a shadow of threat fall over him and regarded the Sheriff cautiously when he spotted something dark cross over his eyes. He had clearly not thought his approach through earlier with the man's Wife and he had already told the board of Directors that he intended to make things right; therefore, he did not understand why the Sheriff was here and regarding him in such a strange way.
Caleb sensed the air shift in the office and glanced up from his book, just in time to see the blinds slowly close by themselves over the windows. The whole floor of Reporters had emptied earlier when Gail quit, meaning that there was no one else around to witness their presence here apart from David; however, an outsider may happen to glimpse something wrong from the building opposite if the blinds remained opened. 'Dad' he warned quietly, conscious of Luke's presence in the office and not wanting his Brother to get scared by something that he was too young to witness.
Lucas sensed the excitement radiating off of Luke when he realised that there was some fun to be had here and he smiled devilishly. 'Hush Son, unless you wanna go align yourself with the girls and leave us boys to play alone' he responded curtly, not appreciating Caleb's attempt to shield his youngest Son.
'Yeah hush' Luke mirrored, his eyes growing dark stalking David as the man began to circle the room cautiously.
The air in the room became thick and David sensed that something was wrong. He felt an overwhelming urge to flee and ran to the door, yanking at the handle frantically when it would not open.
Lucas took a step towards David then stopped, confused when Luke held his hand up in the air to halt him. Luke placed his hands over his eyes and began to count to 10 excitedly, causing Lucas to smile and nod proudly when he realised what he was doing.
Suddenly the door to the office opened and David bolted out into the large room where the Reporters usually worked, screaming for someone to come to his aid. He did not know what was happening but he sensed that he needed to get to a public place and fast; therefore, he continued to run around the room aimlessly in the hopes of finding anybody who could assist him.
'You're seriously lettin' him go?' Caleb asked in disbelief, watching his Father closely as he remained still. It was not their style to make a public spectacle and he did not understand why his Father would allow David the chance of escaping.
'8-9-10!' Luke exclaimed, then jumped off the sofa and ran out of the office excitedly without waiting for his family.
'You gotta give 'em a fair chance Son, your Brother understands more than you do at this present time it would appear' Lucas chided coolly, then followed his youngest Son slowly to give him the chance for the first strike and smiled amused as Luke chanted his favourite nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty while stalking his prey.
Caleb rolled his eyes at the comment and pushed down the urge to lash out at his Brother for causing a surge of jealousy to flare up within him. 'You'll understand when it's my time old man' he whispered beneath his breath, feeling his Grandfathers influence trying to take hold at his Fathers judgement of him; however, he pushed it down quickly before his Father sensed the slight change in him and followed them out of the office obediently.
Matt exited the emergency room quickly and wiped the sweat off of his forehead tiredly. He did not recall ever seeing such a horrific sight and it was taking all of his self control to keep his cool, so not to worry his staff. The man had been brought in by the Sheriff and his boys, much to Matt's suspicion and there had been no time for him to figure out what had happened before he had to act.
Matt could have gone all through life without seeing the disfigured man on his operating table, who just happened to be missing a tongue; however, this was Trinity and he supposed that he only had himself to blame for becoming too complacent in this evil place.
'Evil is a little dramatic don't you think Harvard? Isn't it more logical to blame the accident prone people for creatin' a certain reputation of a Town, rather than the place itself?...Trinity still has the lowest crime rate in the state don't forgot' Lucas advised casually as he leaned against the wall, smiling when Matt jumped slightly at his sudden presence.
'Lowest crime rate, but I'd wager for the highest hospital admissions' Matt retorted, regaining his composure and trying to shrug off the discomfort that he felt.
Lucas gently pushed off the wall and began following Matt down the corridor, much to the mans irritation. 'Oh come now, you can't hold somethin' like that against our sleepy little Town. It ain't her fault that a lot of elderly people come here to live out their days and require special care from our competent medical staff' he said smoothly.
'Elderly people?' Matt laughed in disbelief, then gave himself a mental shake knowing better than to engage the monster before him.
'There we go with those insults again, you're lucky I'm a forgivin' man Doc' Lucas advised calmly, reminding Matt of how well he could read him.
'You forgivin'? And I'm Elvis Presley' Caleb interjected sarcastically when they turned the corner and gave his Father an amused look when he glanced at him irritably.
Matt stopped for a moment at the sight of Caleb, then turned towards Lucas judgementally. 'It's not enough that you ruin this Town, but you have to hinder him too?' he snapped abruptly, still recovering from the sight of the damaged man in the emergency room and having difficulties controlling his temper.
Lucas stared at him dominantly, not appreciating the open disrespect and willing him to continue challenging him publicly.
'He's not wrong, care to explain why our teenager isn't furthering his education in School like he should be?' Gail asked forcing a casual tone, winking at Luke when he shrank behind Caleb thinking that she was still mad at him for earlier.
Lucas could not contain his sigh of exasperation and rolled his eyes at his Wife's sudden presence. Of course she would be here at the hint of a story, she could not help herself.
'Actually, I'm here to take my dear friend to a late lunch. I'm sure your little birds have already enlightened you to my current lack of employment, it allows so much more time to give myself fully to those who need my caring touch' Gail said sweetly, smiling as she sensed his possessiveness begin to rise at the thought of her being here for Matt.
'Is that so? I'm sure his girlfriend can give him all the care he needs-' Lucas started, forcing a calm tone.
'Oh not like I can, you for one should know how thoroughly pleasing I can be when I put my mind to it' Gail interrupted smugly, revelling in his anger at her disobedience.
'Since when do you give up the opportunity of an exclusive scoop? Your precious Daddy wouldn't think much of his little Poppet for allowin' the Emory name to be tarnished' Lucas retorted cruelly, unable to stop himself due to her lack of acknowledgement of his authority.
'Fuck the exclusive and fuck you-' Gail snapped uncontrollably, unable to remain calm when she heard her Fathers pet name for her on his lips. '-We all know the Emory name was tarnished as soon as I accepted you, so why pretend any longer? I have more enjoyable things to put my time towards than pleasing the toxic men in my life'
Lucas laughed at her confidence and shook his head in warning, then stepped close to her and disregarded Matt's attempt to get his attention, clearly trying to protect his friend. 'You know Darlin', I could snap his neck right here and no-one would even bat an eye lid...the trains would still run as they should and you would have no-one to use to bother me' he whispered in her ear, as he pressed up against her body gently.
'Then why don't you Sheriff? Just be done with it and take away the thorn from your side once and for all?' Gail asked quietly, taking a small intake of breath as she felt the familiar stir between her legs at their closeness.
'Because he ain't that important Love, but you are and I respect your need to express yourself from time to time' Lucas responded, cupping her chin in his hand and rubbing his nose on hers affectionately before kissing her passionately.
Gail allowed him to kiss her and applauded his move, sensing the Nurses close by who were watching them closely and coveting her seemingly loving Husband. He had her hands down in this public setting, he had decades to hone his skills around these sheep and she was not naïve enough to believe that she could take him on successfully around his townspeople; however, she had grown used to working in the shadows from a young age and she had no problem just biding her time.
'Bidin' your time for what?' Lucas asked as he pulled out of the embrace, reading her mind as soon as her guard dropped momentarily.
'You only get to read what I let you read Soulmate. Unlike you and your inability to control your urges when an innocent man only does what you've instructed him to do, I can wait until the appropriate time to make my move and not involve our children' Gail responded coldly, pushing down her anger at her Husband allowing their youngest Son to get involved in something so disturbing, just because he could not take responsibility for the matter not playing out how he had expected it to.
'Appropriate time for what Gail?' Lucas asked firmly, growing tired of her evasion tactics and wanting to know once and for all exactly what she was up to.
Gail gave off a devilish smile and stroked his cheek tenderly, then placed a soft kiss on his lips and stared into his eyes adoringly. 'Redemption Lucas, and it's going to be divine' she answered amused, then took Matt by the arm and led him away from her Husband before he had a chance to lash out.
-To be continued-