Reaper's Salvation: A Last Riders Trilogy by Jamie Begley (reading e books .txt) 📕

“I didn’t want that gun anyway.” Trying to salvage his ego, he tried to explain why he hadn’t taken his own marital advice but failed to regain his rooster status. “Dan’s got another sweet one coming in next month.”

Unable to prevent herself from smiling, she immediately brought her hand to her lips at the pain. The movement intensified the discomfort she was downplaying.

Greer reached through the open window to rest his hand on her shoulder as he directed his gaze on Gavin. “Friday still good for you? I could use a night out from the ball and chain.”

“Yes, I’m right there with you,” Gavin commiserated.

“What do you mean by that?” Ginny snapped.

“No need to get on your high horse.” Greer laid his hand more firmly on her shoulder, as if afraid she needed to be held back from attacking Gavin. “Ain’t gonna be no hoochie mamas there.” Dipping his head farther into the window, Greer asked wistfully, “Are there?”

“No, just Silas.”

“Uh … Greer? You really shouldn’t be so close.” Ginny began to feel uncomfortable with Greer standing so close to her. The heat coming from his hand on her shoulder was creating tingling through her body.

“Why? The whole town has been vaccinated.”

Ginny looked at him questioningly. “The whole town? When I left PharmFYOU, they were trying to get the vaccine approved for the study.”

“They got approval. Arin sent enough doses for the whole town. I reckon it didn’t hurt none that Jewell and Arin are like sisters, and her man is a Last Rider.”

“Still, the study would have to have a certain number of placebos for the study to be accurate.”

“Do they?” Greer wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Reckon she’ll have to throw out the town’s results. Nice to have people in high places, ain’t it?”

“The whole town?” she repeated.

Ginny found it surprising the town’s Mayor and the health professionals in Treepoint were able to convince the whole town’s population to take it. Many had the wait-and-see mentality that had been bred into them from waiting to see how something tasted until some sucker tried it first, or seeing if a neighbor could pull them out of a ditch before they put their snow chains on.

“You can thank me for that. Since Knox left me in charge while he was out of town, I spread the news around that if any of my deputies wrote them a ticket, they could bring the ticket to me, and if they showed me their vaccination cards, I would tear up the ticket.”

“Is that legal?”

“Of course, I was the sheriff. I could do anything I wanted.”

“But … how in the world was everyone else convinced to take it?” Ginny was stunned. She would have bet that a large section of the town’s population wouldn’t be convinced to take the vaccine. How many tickets had been written?

Greer removed his hand and straightened from the car to pull his pants up. “That was all my doing, too,” he bragged.

Ginny narrowed her gaze on Greer. “What else did you do?”

Greer squinted down at her, unfazed. “It might have gotten around town that everyone who took the vaccine would be given a free ticket to the concert you’re going to have when the state lets us start having them again.”

“The whole town took the vaccine just to come hear me sing?” Misty tears came to her eyes. For the townspeople to be willing to take the vaccine showed how happy they were that she had found a measure of success. However, she was only to experience the joy for a second before Greer brought her back to earth.

Frowning at her as if she misheard him, he clarified what he meant. “I wouldn’t go that far. Some people in town … you know how they be needin’ some more convincing.”

Ginny furrowed her brow. “How’d you do that?”

“When I was having lunch, I might have told a few of the men that I was in the trials and my dick grew three inches.”

“You didn’t?” Ginny gasped.

“Why not? It’s not like I had to show them a before and after picture.”

“That’s false advertising.” Besides, what knuckleheads would believe that?

Greer shrugged. “How’s it false advertising? PharmFYOU wasn’t saying it; I was.”

Resting her elbow on the door ledge, Ginny started rubbing her forehead. He was giving her a headache trying to keep up with his train of thought.

“The men in town believed you?”

“Sure did.” Greer snickered. “You should have seen the line outside the health department.”

“Okay. I can see men being stupid enough to believe that nonsense.” She couldn’t, but men’s psyches had never been her strong point. “But you said the whole town: How’d you convince the women?”

Greer blew out a sarcastic raspberry. “They were the ones making sure their men stayed in those long lines.”

“Still …” She couldn’t believe those were the two reasons that got the town inoculated.

Seeing her doubts, Greer looked over both his shoulders to make sure no one was listening then said, “I might—I ain’t saying I did or didn’t—but I might have threw in a couple of greens of Tate’s Tennessee Gold.”

That Ginny believed. “Isn’t that illegal for a sheriff to do?”

Greer didn’t argue that point. “Who’s gonna tell? Tate’s weed is harder to get than the vaccine. We only have a small supply. The wives don’t want us growing it no more. A man has to have their hobbies, you know?” He squinted at her like she should be agreeing with him.

“I can see their point. It’s hard to raise children when their father is in prison.”

“We’d have to be caught first.”

Dismissing her concern, Greer gave a nod to Viper as he walked toward the SUV. “Is that whiny baby still crying for a doctor?”

“Yes. Where’s Dr. Price at? I thought you were supposed to give him a ride from the Fieldman’s when he couldn’t get his car started?”

“On my way.” Greer didn’t rush away at getting caught lingering with them instead of doing the job that Knox had sent him on.

“We