Dark Temptation (Dark Saints MC Book 2)
Jayne Blue
1
Jen
I walked towards the desk on the second floor of the Port Azrael Library. It housed the tiny section devoted to local history. Everything about Port Azrael was small after Austin. But here I was: this assignment gave me a reason to be in Port Az.
“Jenny Guffy. I’m here to see, uh, Inez Duran?”
“You came to the right desk.” Inez Duran was as round as she was tall. She had iron streaks in her jet-black hair. She peered gruffly over the top of her reading glasses at me.
There were fine crinkles at the corners of her eyes and she probably once had dimples, but they’d deepened to become just a few more lines on her face.
She scowled at me impatiently. I stiffened my spine. If I couldn’t handle the town historian, how was I going to do the rest of this?
“Inez. I’m from the Department of Public Safety, Records Division. They should have emailed ahead about me?”
“Yes. I think I remember something. You’ve got a grant or something or other?”
“Yes, the Texas Department of Public Safety secured a grant for historical preservation.”
“Just what is your work again? And how’s it going to interfere with my work?” She lifted one corner of her mouth and then settled her expression into one of pursed disapproval.
“All I need you to do is direct me to your local history section. My job grant covers one month of work and it isn’t disruptive at all. I promise.”
“The records we have here on local history are a real mishmash. Just so you know.”
“That’s to be expected. I just need to be where you keep original documents. I’m going to digitize it all. Well, as much as I can. That’s what the grant is for.”
“I don’t have much room. How much equipment is this going to be?”
“Ah, I need one desk, a power supply, and well, an occasional chair would be nice.”
Inez stood up and directed a Hrmph! at me.
She led me through a few rows of stacks and then past a half a dozen cabinets.
“You can take this corner here.”
“Ah, window even, very nice.” I didn’t want Inez to be put out or inconvenienced, but in the end, I didn’t really care. I had a job to do. I was there to copy old documents into the digital record. No one had to know why I’d pushed to be the one to do one of the most boring jobs possible for someone with a criminal justice degree.
“Yeah, it’s quite fancy.”
“Now that I know where to set up, I’m just going to go down to my car and get my equipment.”
“When you get back I’ll show you all we have about the storied history of Port Azrael.” Inez gestured like Vanna White. Sarcasm was her game. I liked that about her.
“Great.” I checked for the power outlet. Everything looked to be in order; I could make this work.
Port Azrael, I was finally here. I’d heard about it many times from my Grandmother.
She hated the place. She hated what it stood for, and she hated who lived in the town.
The Dark Saints.
The Dark Saints had taken away her son, my father, with a bullet during a bank robbery.
The trajectory of that bullet, ten years ago, had shaped my life. And here I was in the town where my father had died. I knew I had deep roots here and doing this project would help me uncover them. Well, I hoped.
My entire life, since the moment my Dad died, I had wanted to be what he was. I wanted to be a Texas Ranger. And I wanted to put Dark Saints behind bars any way I could.
Grandma taught me to hate them. And I’d learned the lesson well.
“Your Daddy paid the ultimate price and they’re still in charge of that town.” Grandma had raised me after Daddy died. Mother was on every anti-depressant known to man. Getting through each day was a victory for her. My Grandma though… the idea that the Dark Saints weren't disbanded after Daddy’s death? That made her bitter.
My hate-fueled Grandma and she’d passed it down to me: “When you’re a Ranger you can bring them down. One by one if you have to.”
People don’t just walk in and file an application to be a Ranger. There was a long process and I was just at the start.
You needed eight years of law enforcement work for the State of Texas.
I was fresh out of school and the academy. I was itching to work in the field. I wanted to prove I was Ranger material.
Unfortunately, I was the only one who thought that. My first three months as an employee of the Department of Public Safety involved answering phones, getting lunches, and sitting at one person’s desk while they got lunch. It was the farthest thing from exciting as a career could get.
Then I saw it: the posting for a temporary assignment in Por Azrael. No one wanted it. It was almost as boring what I was doing at the Department. The job was to sit in a library for a month.
It wasn’t hard to convince my bosses that I was the right person for the job.
Little did they know, it was my first step in helping to get my Grandma’s longed-for revenge against The Dark Saints of Port Azrael.
So, I had a legitimate reason to be in Port Azrael beyond my other agenda. I didn’t know how I was going to do it though – find dirt on The Dark Saints. But I would. At least I was in the right place.