Buck took his time walking over, taking arrogant, deliberate steps, as though he were taking some special joy in forcing Aiden to take time out of his day for him. Eventually he reached Aiden’s car and leant down to look in through the open window.
‘Morning, Mr Connelly,’ he drawled the words out almost as slowly as he moved.
‘Good morning, Sheriff, is everything all right?’
‘You’ve got a tail light out.’ Buck glanced to the back of the car.
Of course he had. Aiden inwardly groaned at not having noticed it sooner and thus preventing this awkward encounter.
‘I have? I must not have noticed. I’ll get that sorted out later today.’ Aiden answered politely.
‘There’s a good garage up near the turn pike,’ Buck offered, shifting his weight so that he was leaning against the car, clearly in no hurry to conclude their conversation.
‘Okay, thanks, I’ll check them out.’
‘Offer good prices too. Not that you lawyer types need worry about money.’ There it was. Aiden knew the old man would struggle to last five minutes without insulting him somehow.
Buck leant away briefly to spit on the ground and his breath suggested he’d been chewing tobacco.
Aiden wanted to leave, to drive off and get away from Buck Fern and his bitterness but he felt that the old man wasn’t done with him yet. That the out tail light was merely a front for something else he wanted to discuss.
‘I hear you’re working on my brother’s case,’ Buck said lightly, as though it were common knowledge around town.
Aiden had to give the sheriff credit; he’d certainly wasted little time getting to the point.
‘How do you know about that?’ He’d only just started work on the case so he was surprised word could have got round so quickly.
‘Nothing goes on in this town that I don’t know about,’ Buck replied arrogantly.
Aiden wanted to point out that, actually, an awful lot occurred in Avalon that Buck didn’t know about. Like horrific domestic abuse or priests who were driven to murder but then tried to let someone else go down for their crime. But he managed to bite his tongue and say nothing. Let the old man have his delusions of power and knowledge.
‘Besides,’ Buck added, ‘he’s my brother. We do talk, you know.’
‘So are you two close?’
The question bristled Buck, who physically stood more alert, as though alarmed at the suggestion that he and his brother were close.
‘We’re blood,’ he explained vaguely after a brief pause. It didn’t really answer Aiden’s question but he decided it was best not to pursue it further.
‘You need to take care of him,’ Buck told Aiden, his voice firm. ‘That woman has never been no good for him. He was blinded by her beauty. Some men are fallible like that,’ he gave Aiden a long look as though he were implying something more.
He knew what the old sheriff meant. He was referring, of course, to Brandy but Aiden refused to let it get to him, knew it was best to rise above the pettiness even though Buck was doing his best to illicit a response from him.
‘Even a man of God can be weakened by a beautiful woman,’ Buck continued. ‘And my brother is no exception. She’s ruined him.’
‘Ruined him how?’ Aiden asked, sure that Samuel Fern would have had nothing but gratitude for the Playmate who agreed to share his bed.
‘He spent so much money on her.’ Buck shook his head in disapproval. ‘She’s just a whore.’
Normally Aiden might be surprised by such a venomous description of someone’s sister-in-law, but from Buck Fern such hostility was to be expected.
‘How come you’re handling the case and not Copes?’
Clearly Buck’s brother had left out the part about how he had specifically asked for Aiden to work on the case.
‘He’s too busy to take on such a big case right now,’ Aiden lied, assuming it was best not to let Buck know about Samuel’s preference of lawyer.
‘I’d be happier if it were Copes working on it,’ Buck said bluntly, not caring at all for Aiden’s feelings.
‘I’m sure you would be,’ Aiden agreed, feeling the exact same way.
‘I trust him.’
‘And you don’t trust me. Great, I get it,’ Aiden was running out of patience. ‘If we are all done here, Sheriff, I really need to get on my way.’
‘Fine, fine.’ Buck backed away from the car. ‘Make sure you get that tail light fixed.’ Even though it wasn’t, it sounded like a threat.
‘Yes, I will do.’
Aiden watched Buck return to his squad car. His movements were still slow, as though he had nothing but time on his hands. It shocked Aiden how someone could have a role as important as sheriff and have no urgency to them. Perhaps it could be attributed to the small town mentality or maybe it was unique to Buck Fern.
When the squad car had left, no doubt to harass another unsuspecting citizen, Aiden started his own vehicle up again and continued on his way to work.
But something bothered him as he drove. It just didn’t make sense for Buck to have heard straight from his brother about the case, especially as Edmond had made a point about their poor relationship.
Aiden was certain that Buck had heard the news from another source, though who exactly he wasn’t sure. A cold feeling ran down his back, making his body icy despite the pleasant morning sun. It was hard to know who to trust in Avalon and, just when Aiden hoped he’d found his footing there, he still felt like an outsider.
Father to Son
Aiden knew that he needed to visit and speak directly with Samuel Fern sooner rather than later but his encounter with Buck that morning had left him a little unsure of the whole situation.
‘Buck Fern stopped me this morning,’ Aiden told Edmond before the older man could settle himself down in his office chair.
‘That must have been pleasant,’ Edmond scoffed, rolling his eyes. ‘What did our wonderful sheriff want with you?’
‘He was asking about his brother’s case.’
‘He was?’ Edmond’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
‘He claimed his brother had told him about it.’
‘Really?’ Edmond seemed genuinely shocked by this. ‘I didn’t think they spoke much, if at all.’
Aiden watched his colleague’s reaction closely, satisfied that he was telling the truth and thus could not have been Buck Fern’s informant.
‘It makes me a bit uneasy,’ Aiden admitted. ‘I don’t want Buck’s involvement in this.’
‘No, no, I completely agree.’
‘He just seems to always be all over everything.’
‘Buck Fern is Avalon’s rash. You can scratch away at him but he never goes away, if anything, he just spreads himself further!’ Edmond vented, shaking his head in annoyance. ‘Your best bet is to go straight to the source. Go see Sam Fern on his ranch, assess the situation and what he expects from the case.’
‘Yes, of course.’ Aiden agreed. ‘Is he quite easy to gain access to?’
Past experience had taught Aiden that a richer a man was, the more elusive he could be.
‘I’m