Bearly Hanging On (The Jamesburg Shifters #6)(54)

"A gallon. One. One single, solitary, reasonable gallon, Ryan." Jamie's voice was tired, strung out, and worn. "You're allowed to take one single gallon from the pump. That's it. Not five hundred. And not every day. Shit," she swore. "This was really, really stupid."

"Well then what's the point? What good is a gallon gonna do anyone?"

"Really? You're really asking me that? It's so everyone can get one. You being all clannish and thinking your little crew is more important than anyone else, that's going to ruin your whole little idea here. You, and no one else, is going to get what could have been an opportunity for progress and growth turned into a f*cking nightmare. All because you didn't read a sign."

Ash walked over and clapped Jamie on the shoulder. "As the town council's representative, I'm gonna need to, uh, run a few things by you."

Jamie nodded. "Go sit down, Ryan," she said. "I doubt there's anything I can do, but..." she closed her eyes, tight. Imagining the way his hands felt on her skin, the way his lips tasted, she hated to say what she was about to say, but she did it anyway. "I doubt there's anything. Just go sit, okay?"

It was like he was struck by the gravity of the entire situation all at once. His eyes sagged, his shoulders slumped. His whole body took on the inglorious appearance of an uneasy pudding. "I'll figure something out," he said. "I always do."

Jamie watched him return to Cora, his aunt, and Marmite, his uncle, and sit back down. He said something to them, and Cora shot a smile in Jamie's direction. Jamie felt her eyes getting all misty, and had to turn away before mist turned into red streaks.

"Okay," Ash said. "So this is pretty bad. But you already knew that."

"Act like I don't," she said. "How bad is bad?"

The big bear cop lifted his notebook near enough he could see and tallied something. Partway through, he scratched out whatever he was scribbling, and started over. "This can't be right," he said. "No way."

"No way, what?" Jamie asked. "Come on, Ash, I know you’ve heard about us, there's no reason to take it easy on me, or on him."

Two huge shoulders lifted and then fell with a sigh. "This is bad," he said, repeating the earlier sentiment in slightly different words.

"What, damn it! Stop telling me it's bad and tell me how bad it is!"

"I'm not so good at math. Hold on."

Frustrated, and more than a little flustered, Jamie snatched his slightly-crumpled notepad, and his pen. The numbers he had been noodling with had a few zeroes after them, and then there was a dollar sign in front.

"What is this?" she asked. "Ash! What am I looking at?"

He took another deep breath. "Theft from a public resource. That's, er, well, that's the fine. Hundred dollars a gallon. Says so right on the sign. And they've apparently taken, well, at least a month's worth of this much. It's," he trailed off. "I'm sorry, Jamie, but it's on the sign."

"Right," she said. "The one time signs matter in Jamesburg. Sorry, I'm not mad at you, it's just..."

Ash patted her again, and left her to her thoughts.

"What if I paid it?" Ryan must've heard the conversation with those ridiculous bear ears of his. "It's just a fine, right? What can the fine for stealing water possibly be?"

Boston, his uncle, shot Ryan a really nasty glance. Ryan winked at him. "What's the damage?"

Jamie spun on her heel, which was bare, for once, and glared at him the same way his uncle was. "Do you want the real number, or something made up so you feel better?"

Ryan shrugged, in his easy, obnoxiously hot, way. "Whichever."

"About thirty-five thousand bucks. Not counting court costs and fees." She pursed her lips. "Got anything cute to say about that?"

"Get my checkbook," Ryan shot back. "I'll pay it."

Boston kicked him, but Ryan kept on. "Let me go get the money. No problem. I'll pay for that, and for whatever the bail is, if we're all actually being arrested. If this town is so ridiculous that the police will arrest four old shifters and the guy who takes care of them? Fuck it, I'll pay the whole bill, and I'll find somewhere else to go."

"Ryan," Boston hissed. "Shut your damn mouth, for once."

Jamie opened her mouth to say something, but it stuck in her throat. "You'll what?" she finally said. "You'll pay? All of it? With what money?"

Ryan shrugged. "Does it matter? Does it really? Let's say it's inheritance. That good enough?"

She didn't understand why he'd turned on her quite so viciously, and so quickly, but the longer she stared at him, the colder his eyes got until she hardly recognized him at all. "Who are you?" she finally asked.

"That doesn't matter either," he spat. "So what'll it be? You carting us all off to jail or can I just float the bill and not waste everyone's time being proven guilty, which I obviously am? And none of them had anything to do with it. Not a damn thing. They came along, but they didn't know, just like I didn't, that they were living in a place that didn't give a shit whether they lived or died."

Amidst the chaos, Erik rolled up, wearing his robe and yoga pants, and hopped off his bike. "What's the problem?" he said, striding up to Jamie.