“Fuck this,” Mendez growled, shrugging him off. He started for the door. “Like you said, boss, I’m not even supposed to be here.”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Dixon asked.

“I’m taking Lauren Lawton home,” he said. “She’s been through enough. If you decide Roland Ballencoa is running this outfit, you can come and arrest her yourself.”

“You’re not taking her anywhere until I’ve spoken with her,” Dixon said, following him out into the hall. “You can introduce me now.”

She was sitting exactly where Mendez had left her—on the floor in the corner with her head on her knees. She looked up at them, bored to see them. She got up slowly. Stiff from her fall, but trying to hide it.

“Mrs. Lawton,” Mendez said. “This is Sheriff Dixon.”

Dixon offered his hand. She stared at it like it might be dirty, with no intention of shaking it.

“Are you charging me with something?” she asked pointedly.

“Not at the moment,” Dixon said.

She tipped her head. “Then I’m free to go.”

“I’d like to talk to you about what happened, and about the situation with you and Mr. Ballencoa.”

“And I would like to collect my daughter and go home.”

Dixon jammed his hands at his waist and sighed. “I’m aware of the history—”

“Then you don’t need me to tell you about it, do you?”

“But you have to understand my office is in a difficult position here,” he continued. “We can’t have citizens taking the law into their own hands.”

“Are you going to tell me, then, that Roland Ballencoa is going to be arrested for stalking my daughter and me?”

Dixon frowned. “As far as I know—”

“The answer is no,” she said. “Your office hasn’t protected us, isn’t going to protect us, and I’m in more danger of being arrested than the man who kidnapped Leslie.”

“Unfortunately, Mrs. Lawton, Mr. Ballencoa has never been charged, let alone found guilty of that crime,” Dixon said. “I can’t apply the law based on what might have happened. He’s a free citizen.”

“I’m sure you’ll have his vote in the next election,” she said with contempt.

Dixon’s face reddened. He wasn’t used to having his integrity questioned, and he didn’t like it. Still, he held his temper.

“You’re new here,” he said. “You don’t know me—”

Lauren cut him off. “The fact that we’re even having this conversation tells me everything I need to know about you, Sheriff Dixon.