A Deep and Dark December(80)

Jessica licked Graham’s palm, drawing his attention away from his father. “Stop that!”

Jessica grinned at him from behind his hand and ground her pelvis into Graham’s.

“Graham Doran! You stop that cavorting right now!”

“I’m not cavorting. She is.” Graham grabbed Jessica’s wandering hands and pulled them behind her back. “I said stop it!” he told her. She was like a goddamned octopus. Every time he thought he had her under control, she seemed to grow another arm to go after him again.

“But Graham, baby, I want you so bad.” She rubbed her breasts against his chest. “You want me too. I know it.”

“No, actually, I don’t. What I want is for you to sit back down at your desk and do your job.”

Jessica tried to rub up on him again, but this time he managed to move out of the way. “That’s it.” He spun her around, pushed her down on the desk, and clamped handcuffs on her wrists. He held her down by the back of the neck. “There.”

“Oohhh, dirty,” Jessica cooed. “I like it.” She widened her legs, wiggling her ass. “Frisk me, sheriff. All over. Go deep.”

“Goddammit, Jessica. Knock it off!”

“Watch your language,” Ham scolded, vibrating so hard he wobbled. “It’s bad enough I have to witness your depravity, but I will not have you use the Lord’s name in vain.” Ham caught himself on the edge of a desk. “Do you hear me?” Graham made a move to go to his father, but Ham put a hand up. “Just take care of your problem.”

Graham eyed his father, trying to gauge how much discomfort his old man was in. He knew Ham tried to hide the effects of his illness. For any of it to show, as it did now, meant that his dad was using every available scrap of energy just to stay upright.

“Sorry, Pop.” Graham hauled Jessica up to stand. “I’ll be right back.” He propelled her forward toward the cells at the back of the station.

Jessica tried to break free when she caught on to where they were headed. “Come on, Graham, honey. I was just joking. You know me. I’m always kidding around.” She went lax in his grip and would’ve fallen if he hadn’t had such a firm hold on her. “Please, Graham. Don’t do this,” she whined, fighting harder against him. “I love you. Please.”

“You’re only going to hurt yourself if you keep struggling.”

He managed to get her into the only available cage, uncuffed her, and escaped before she could scramble out after him.

She grabbed the bars and shook them. “Graham. Come on, baby. Let me out. Fun’s over. I promise to be good.” Her expression changed from pleading to seductive. “I’ll be real good. I’ll be so good you’ll scream when you come. Promise.”

He turned his back on her, curling his lip in disgust. She was young, too young, to be talking like that. What in the hell had come over her? She’d always had a schoolgirl crush on him, he knew, and he made sure he did nothing to encourage her. But something, no, someone had turned the heat up to boiling.

“Graham! Graham!”

He closed the door on Jessica and took a slow, deep breath that brought with it thoughts of Erin. The look of horror on Erin’s face as Jessica had lunged for her… She’d come in so pale and fragile-looking and then Jessica had lost her shit and gone after her. If Jessica had been a man, he’d have punched her in the face. He needed to see Erin to make sure she was okay. But first he had to deal with his dad.

He found Ham slumped in one of the lobby chairs, his face pasty and damp.

“Pop!” He rushed to his father’s side. “Are you all right?” He felt his father’s pulse, weak and thready. “I’m calling an ambulance.”

Ham gripped Graham’s wrist harder than he thought was possible in the condition his father was in. “No,” Ham rasped. “Just a moment…to rest.”

“Not this time.” He started to rise, but Ham held fast.

“No.”

“Pop, you’ve got to stop stressing yourself like this. It’s not good for you.”

“You shaved.” Ham reached up with his other hand and gave Graham’s face a weak pat. “’Bout time.”

Damn, but his pop was a stubborn old man. Graham couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I didn’t do it for you.”

“Don’t care.”

“No more talking.” Graham took the chair next to Ham. “Can I get you some water?”

Ham rolled his head back and forth against the wall. Color was starting to creep into his cheeks and he wasn’t struggling for every breath as he had been. Still, Graham worried. Seeing his father weak shook something low inside him. His parents had always been his rock and now his mother’s sifting memory and his father’s frailness had cracked the foundation of his life.

“Let me take you home,” Graham said.

“In a minute.” Ham took a handkerchief out and dabbed his forehead. His gaze roamed the station. “Wasn’t much older than you…when I took over for my father. This place…this town…it’s who we are.”

“Don’t talk. Catch your breath.”

“No.” Ham turned his sharp stare on his son. “I’m going to say this…and hope you hear me this time. You have a legacy…not many people can say that. Six generations of Dorans have protected this town. Do you understand what that means?” Ham didn’t wait for a response. “This town is our blood, sweat, and tears. It’s our children…and our children’s children. It’s more than a century of shielding San Rey…from the evil that lurks inside and out.