He hooked his thumbs in his belt. “I’m hearing about everybody getting a payment. It’s the talk of the town. ‘Isn’t that Sophia DeBussi wonderful?’” He gave her a hard stare. “So where’s my money?”

“Your girlfriend will be receiving $15,000 very shortly. That should make you happy.”

“Hardly. We’re not seeing each other anymore,” he said. “So you’d better just split that payment in two.”

Ted jumped in. “Sorry, Chief. That’s not going to happen. You got your money’s worth when you walked away with her jewelry. And if you push this, half this town will be up in arms against you. I think it’s fair to say that Sophia’s popularity has returned. Now...is there a reason you stopped me?”

When he straightened, Sophia could no longer see his face, but she could hear the taunt in his voice. “The fact remains that she’s going to want to play fair with me.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll make her life pretty damn miserable if she doesn’t. And she knows I can do that.”

Ted shook his head. “Come on, Chief. This is Christmas. You don’t really want to start trouble today.”

“It’s my job to look out for public safety no matter what day it is, Mr. Dixon. And I do believe you were driving way too fast as you sailed through town.”

“Bullshit. You know I wasn’t speeding.”

“Who’s to say otherwise?” he said. “Driver’s license and registration, please.”

Ted didn’t bother reaching for the glove box. “Are you sure you’re committed to this? Because if you write me a ticket, I’m just going to take it over to Mayor Rackham and file another complaint.”

Chief Stacy spat on the road. “I heard you’d been down to city hall.”

“It’s true. Levi, Dylan and Aaron have been there, too. We’re not making a secret of it. We’re tired of seeing you abuse your power. And I don’t mind telling you that Mayor Rackham isn’t too pleased, either. The complaints are stacking up. Apparently, your ex-wife knows quite a bit about how you operate and has shared that information. She claims you’ve been harassing her since the divorce. So...you might want to consider yourself lucky that you’ve gotten away with your behavior so far and get back in your cruiser. Otherwise, you could lose your job.”

Sophia felt the desire to dig at her cuticles but curled her fingernails into her palms instead. She hadn’t realized Ted had taken action against Stacy, even though he’d once said he was going to.

Stacy sneered as if he wasn’t scared at all. “Don’t get carried away. You’re not half as tough as you pretend to be. There’s nothing you can do to me.”

“I won’t have to do anything. You’ve made enough enemies over the years to sink yourself.”

Suddenly, Stacy’s tone changed. “Let me tell you something, you little smartass prick. You go after my job, and you’ll never know peace in this town again.”

“That sounds like a threat to me, Chief,” Ted said.

“That’s a promise.” Shoving his ticket book in his pocket, he strode back to his car.

“He’s crazy,” Sophia murmured. “Let’s get out of here.”

But Ted wasn’t ready to go. He waved at Chief Stacy as if their exchange had been pleasant. “Thank you, sir. Merry Christmas!”

Obviously unhappy that he hadn’t made more of an impact, Stacy pulled his cruiser up alongside the Lexus and glared in at them before punching the gas pedal and spraying gravel against Ted’s door.

“He scares me,” Sophia said.

Ted stared after him. “Don’t worry. He won’t be around much longer.”

“How do you know?”

He held up his cell phone to show her that he’d recorded the whole encounter, then immediately sent the file to Mayor Rackham, Dylan, Aaron and Levi.

* * *

It was another two months before the city took action but by March, Whiskey Creek had a new chief of police.

Ted took Sophia out to celebrate when he heard the news—and that was when he proposed.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from HOME TO WHISKEY CREEK by Brenda Novak.