“Adelaide and I will.”

“Neither of you will matter to the prosecutor or the judge. That’s why Preston gets away with everything.”

“Not this time.”

Marina nodded and climbed out of the truck but she didn’t feel very optimistic as they made their way to the front door. She could hear yelling as soon as they got close.

“You can’t be serious!” Preston yelled. “You can’t allow her to press charges. It’s her word against Chastity’s.”

“I’m afraid not,” Sheriff Owen said. “You see, someone took video of the entire thing. It’s up on YouTube and already has five thousand views.”

Marina looked over at Luke, who shook his head. Video? YouTube?

Then she covered her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing.

Adelaide.

“It just happened!” Preston continued to rant. “There aren’t even five thousand people in Last Chance.”

“Apparently people outside of our little town are interested as well. I can’t help you with this, Preston. Chastity attacked Marina Trahan without any provocation. Marina didn’t even defend herself. She only tried to pull Chastity’s hands from her neck. You best see about getting her a good lawyer. This is going to be ugly, especially given the situation with Avery.”

“That’s our cue,” Luke said and walked inside.

“I agree with the sheriff,” Luke said. “You should get a very good lawyer for your daughter. That video is irrefutable evidence. I don’t care how many people you’ve got dirt on. They’re not going to put themselves out there when there’s no loophole. You might need to adjust your methods now that everyone has a smartphone ready to go.”

“I’ll find out who took that video,” Preston said. “They’ll take it down and then they’ll pay.”

“I seriously doubt it,” Marina said. “But I’d love to see you try.”

“You can’t threaten me,” Preston said.

“It’s not a threat,” Marina said. “Just simple facts. Look at my injuries, which I will be photographing as soon as I get home. Or maybe I’ll go ahead and make that trip to the ER. You know, just to get everything on record.”

“It appears you’ve reached an impasse,” Luke said. “Both of you have daughters facing assault charges. I could make a suggestion that clears the slate for everyone.”

Preston’s face flashed with anger. He knew exactly what Luke was suggesting and he wasn’t having any of it.

“No way,” he said.

Luke shrugged. “Suit yourself, but we both know Chastity has no defense against video. Avery, on the other hand, was being robbed. Which case do you think is stronger? And while you might be ruler out here in the sticks, this sort of corruption has a way of finding itself into news stories in bigger cities. News stories tend to bring scrutiny. Unwanted scrutiny, if I’m sitting in your seat.”

“Listen to the man,” Sheriff Owen said. “The prosecutor won’t have any issue dropping the charges if Chastity says so and, given the circumstances, might do it anyway. This could be a big mess for everyone—Chastity, you, me, the prosecutor, the judge. You push this and you risk alienating everyone for good. No one is going to stick their neck out over this one. They can’t. Video trumps everything and you know it.”