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-Sailor

I watched the flames and black smoke rise into the sky as I held a piece of cloth up to my nose feeling the blood flow beginning to slow down. There was an eerie silence amongst us watching the flames engulf the Bondurant's main source of income, but unfortunately I didn't get the same sense of satisfaction as I did when I shut down their stills when I first arrived.

"Deputy…we still got the kid and the girl" called Jerry.

I nodded slowly checking the tissue, realising the blood had stopped. I threw it on the ground and grabbed my shotgun following the officer to where they were keeping them.

"Send the girl home, her dad's the preacher" I mumbled to one of them.

The last thing I wanted was the preacher on my case, giving me shit about holding his daughter in the cells. He took her arm gently and led her away to the car before driving her back.

"Cricket, cricket, cricket" I sighed lighting a cigarette.

He ran his dirty fingers over his forehead leaving black streaks across them and I could see he was beginning to sweat lightly.

"Cricket…I want to make this easy on you…you got anymore stills?"

"I ain't gonna say nothin' ma'am"

"Why, I can tell you right now when we get Jack Bondurant he won't be as loyal as you are"

"You don't know that…me and Jack well me and all the Bondurant's actually, we real close. They're like my brother's ma'am"

"Cricket, don't make me do this. Just tell me, I won't say anything"

He just shoved his hands in his pockets and sniffed loudly.

"Cricket, c'mon we go for a walk" I said as non-threatening as I could. I rested my hand on his shoulder and offered him a cigarette which he refused.

We walked through the dense trees and I noticed his legs bent in slightly as he walked.

"Cricket what's wrong with your legs?"

"I got the rickets when I was a kid…ain't never healed properly"

"Here, sit here…" I said pointing to a stump sticking out of the ground.

He placed himself down and his bandy knees rattled against each other. I cocked my rifle and took a deep breath.

"Cricket…don't make me do this"

"Deputy, I know you ain't gonna shoot me"

"How do you suppose that?"

"Jack told me bout you and Forrest"

"Excuse me" I snipped, pointing the rifle at his head.

"I know how you feel about him…I can tell…when I see you around him…you act differently"

"When have you seen me with Forrest?" I sneered.

"When you call to his house…I'm usually around workin' on the car ma'am"

"So you think just because you have this vague notion that Forrest and I are together…"

"I never said that ma'am…" he said wrinkling his brow.

My lip twitched.

"Don't interrupt me boy!" I yelled. "Just coz you think you know something about me and Forrest, you think that's gonna save you?"

He shrugged his shoulders and looked at the ground.

"Just tell me if there's another still, if there isn't it would be better for you to speak up now" I pressed.

"You still don't get it do you? You think you've finished them because you shut down that still?" he laughed lowly.

"Don't test me boy" I sneered.

"You might as well shoot me deputy coz I ain't gonna say nothin'"

I sighed insincerely and aimed. "Cricket, you're not giving me a whole lotta options here"

"Just before you do it…can I say one more thing?" he stuttered.

"Go on"

"Forrest…"

But then something clicked in my head and I pulled the trigger shooting him straight in the chest. His lifeless body fell behind the stump. Smoke puffed from the barrel and I cleared my throat.

"Sorry Cricket but Forrest is the last thing I want to talk about" I chirped and headed back to my men. I finally began to feel like my hard ass self again.

"What happened to Cricket?" one of the local officers asked.

"He wasn't gonna talk" I shrugged.

"Deputy…you didn't" he croaked.

"It's progress" I muttered reloading my weapon.

I looked at his shocked expression and saw some tobacco drip from his open mouth.

"Everyone loved that boy…he ain't never hurt a soul"

"Officer, you got somethin' you want to say?" I sneered in his face.

"No deputy" he gulped shaking his head.

"Well then why don't you get off your incompetent arse and go back to the station coz I can guarantee one thing…those Bondurant's got more than this still and we need to be ready for them"

"Yes boss" he nodded.

He turned around and rounded up the men.

"Make sure there's nothing left, not even half a barrel. I don't want anything left for those Bondurant's" I shouted after him.

We'll see how Jack fare's when he finds I've killed his smuggling buddy. I had a slight lapse in concentration there with Forrest but now it was totally out of my system and I could concentrate on my job.

I was feeling slightly more charitable than usual so I decided to give the boys the rest of the day off considering the size of the hit we had just made.

The local boys took the opportunity to run as fast as they could from the scene. Obviously, the death of Cricket had hit them a bit harder than the rest of us. These hicks are ridiculous; I don't think I could stick living in a town where everyone knows everyone else and their business.

We stayed behind a bit to make sure everything was disposed of and there were no remnants. I returned after the long drive and stopping to buy cigarettes and found the boys from Chicago had stayed in the station and bought a bottle of soda on their travels. They poured some into a cup and gave it to me as I walked in, which I must admit was a nice gesture.

"Deputy, we gotta raise a glass to you"

"This doesn't look like a glass boys" I laughed holding up the dingy cup they gave me.

"Well it's the best we could find in this in this one horse town, crystal flutes haven't made their way down here" they laughed raising their cups.

"To the deputy" they all chorused.

"Ah boys I couldn't have done it without you" I smiled raising my cup along with them. "I knew I needed to bring down some actual police officers from the city. These country bumpkins don't know one end of the law from the other"

Laughter erupted from the group and I sipped the drink. I sat down at the Sherriff's desk and put my feet up on the table.

"Suits you, boss" Jerry laughed.

"Yea? You think I could run this town Jerry?" I laughed.

"Without a doubt boss! Place would be run correctly anyway" piped up John.

"So boss what's the plan? We leaving soon, going back up to the city? Gettin' cabin fever in this dusty old town" Jerry laughed, interrupting John like he just interrupted him.

"Ah Jerry, we can't leave yet" I laughed.

"Ah why not boss, these mosquito bites are killing me!" he said slapping the back of his neck.

"Nah these hicks are still unruly, they need to be taught how to be controlled" I mumbled sipping from the cup.

"Ah deputy…"

"What Jerry you miss the shows? The girls? The lifestyle?" I laughed.

"You're damn right I do! I miss civilised company" he sighed.

"Ah don't worry we'll be heading back soon enough"

"But we've got the stills; we've shut down near every one of those stills including the Bondurant's"

"Ah Jerry, you don't think that was their only still do you?"

"Well…"

"No, you gotta think like these hicks…"

But then a light caught my attention and I saw a car pull up outside the station.

"Looks like we got company boss" said Jerry, his hand landing on his rifle.

I leant back in my chair and peered out the window. I saw Forrest climb out of the driver's seat and pull his cardigan over his massive shoulders.

Jerry whipped out his rifle and stood beside me.

"Jerry it's fine, it's just Forrest"

Then Jerry placed his hand on my shoulder and pulled back trigger, constantly watching Forrest outside. I looked up at Jerry. He had never done anything like that before; it was almost like he was trying to protect me. I think the sun was starting to get to these boys. I pushed his hand off which brought his attention back to me.

"Jerry, Forrest isn't gonna come in here all guns blazing, believe me"

He looked out again and I heard Forrest's heavy footfall on the steps outside, before he reluctantly placed his gun back in his holder. He pushed his hat back on his head and remained beside me. Forrest's huge form entered the station and I felt every officer place their hand on their guns.

"Deputy" he mumbled taking off his hat, holding it to his chest like he always does. He looked straight at me and no one else, like there was no one else in the room.

"Forrest" I replied.

Jerry put his hand back on my shoulder and I saw Forrest's eyes flicker to it slightly before returning his gaze back to me.

"Could I speak to you for a minute?" he muttered.

"Whatever you gotta say, you can say it here" snapped Jerry.

What the hell was happening to him? This was so unlike him.

"You mind sending your boys away?" he muttered.

"Forrest what's this about?" I asked.

"I'd prefer to talk in private if it's all the same with you"

I looked straight into Forrest's stare and I got an instant flashback of having Tommy on top of me staring at me with that exact same glare. I signalled to the guys but they didn't mean move.

"Guys, I'll talk to you tomorrow" I said sternly.

They looked around at each other and reluctantly walked out, everyone except Jerry.

"Jerry" I pressed.

"No Florence…I don't trust him" he whispered.

"Jerry…I'll be fine"

"Jerry, if you don't mind" mumbled Forrest.

"Excuse me?" snapped Jerry.

I stood up and put my hand on Jerry's chest, feeling him forcing his body against my hand.

"Jerry…go" I pressed.

Jerry's eyes flashed to Forrest and I saw his lip twitch. I pushed him slightly catching his attention.

"C'mon Jerry, she doesn't want you here" muttered Forrest.

"Don't you fucking talk to me you stupid hick!" yelled Jerry.

He pulled his gun out of his holster and pointed it at Forrest. I grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door pushing him down the steps.

"Jerry, go back to your hotel" I shouted. "Get some sleep and come back tomorrow"

"Deputy…we should go back to the city straight away, we don't belong here" he muttered as he walked away into the growing darkness.

I turned back to Forrest who stood looking at me as if waiting for me to say something.

"Are you just gonna stand there and stare at me?!" I exploded. I was getting sick of him doing that at this stage.

"What you did to Cricket Florence…that's unforgivable"

"Forrest, I'm here to do a job…and he wasn't talking so it had to be done" I shrugged.

I sauntered back over to my desk and Forrest turned on the spot to me.

"He was a good boy, ain't never done nothin' to no one"

"If this is all you have to say, I have no interest in hearing this"

He placed his hat on my desk and looked around. I shook my head trying to shake the images of last night that were popping into my head from every corner of my mind.

"The fact that I lay down with someone as despicable as you…"

Ouch.

"Well you did and by the sounds of things you enjoyed it" I smirked trying to skip over the last hurtful comment he said.

"You know how that hurt everyone…"

"I don't care about that"

"You know how much that hurt Jack…"

"Again, I don't care"

Suddenly he slammed his fist into the table and a growl came from his chest, which made me jump slightly.

"Yes you do Florence" he sneered.

"Why do you care anyway? You weren't so interested in me this morning" I snapped.

His eyes closed over and I took this opportunity to look out the window to make sure Jerry had gone home.

"Forrest, I've come here to do a job"

"Well you've done that so why don't you go home"

"Oh I'm not finished yet" I smirked.

I suddenly felt Forrest grab my shirt and shove me against the wall giving me an instant fright. He held me up off the ground slightly and glared into my eyes, but he didn't say anything.

"You'd like me to just leave wouldn't you?" I said, trying to control my shaky voice. "So you could go back to making that shit with your brother's"

His fingers entwined themselves in my shirt and he pressed his face against mine.

"Deputy…I want you to leave but not for them reasons…" he said, his voice straining.

I saw something ignite in his eyes but just as it flashed, it disappeared.

"I want you to leave…because what I'm feeling for you is killing me…but you're a vile, cold, heartless human being and I hate myself for feeling this way about such a despicable woman"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was shocked to my very core and my whole body went numb. My brow relaxed and I saw Forrest's stiffen. He banged me against the wall, clearly trying to get rid of his frustration.

"I can't feel this way about you, especially with what you just did to that poor kid…it's not even about our stills anymore…"

"Forrest…" I said wanting so bad to tell him I just did it because I was angry with him and myself, for having these feelings for him. We were quite similar in some ways.

"Shut up" he said knocking me against the wall again. "Now I want you out of here…" he said, his hand suddenly reaching out and grabbing my neck.

"I thought you said you would never harm a woman…" I choked.

"I ain't gonna hurt you…but it sure is nice to think about" he growled. "I want you to leave…go back to the big city with your big city cops and leave me and my family alone. That Jerry seems to be sweet on you…" he sneered, his eyes flickering to the side "Leave Franklin and never come back" he growled. "If you don't…well Howard was quite upset by Cricket's death as well, and as you well know he ain't as concerned with hittin' women as I am"

"Forrest…" I gulped. "Why do we have to do this…you can come with me" I said feeling my guard fall slightly.

He shook his head and I saw his eyes water slightly.

"We're too different…I have morals…you don't" he stated simply before letting me drop to the floor. He stomped over to the door but I knew this wasn't going to be the last argument we had.

"Forrest!" I called. "I think…I think I love you" I muttered.

That stopped him dead in his tracks. His head turned slightly glancing at me from over his shoulder.

"Jerry's right, you don't belong here" he mumbled before walking out the door and into the darkness.