Read Online VEX: Valley Enforcers, #1 by Abi Walters - Free Book Online Page A

Sheriff.
    “What are you doing here?” I asked again.
    They both looked at me. The Sheriff cleared this throat. “I think I have everything I need. I’ll be in touch.”
    Being alone with Vex made my heart thump out of my chest. I was wearing a hospital gown that looked like it doubled as my grandma’s curtains and had just gone through something mildly traumatic but his nearness still warmed me. The fuzzy feeling in my chest had nothing to do with the low grade pain killers they had pumped through my IV and everything to do with the man sitting next to me.
    For the third time since he burst through the door I asked, “What are you doing here?”
    “I was heading home and heard sirens. I was worried that something happened to you because that is probably the only reason there would be an ambulance in the middle of the mountains at midnight. There wasn’t an ambulance around when I got to your RV, but I still felt like something was off. I knocked, and when you didn’t answer I opened your unlocked door and found a mess. Your blood was everywhere and there was glass. A bloody butcher’s knife. I was fucking terrified, Acacia. What the hell happened?”
    I felt bad that I thought Vex was behind whatever happened back at my RV. When the thumping stopped and the shaking started it was obvious that it wasn’t a prank on a girl who had read one too many conspiracy theory books. Even if it had been a prank, Vex had never once laughed at me or treated me as less than an equal. I gave him a quick rundown of what happened. I even included the possible Bigfoot siting to gauge his reaction.
    “I would know if there was a Bigfoot in my woods, Acacia,” He simply stated, as if we were talking about a Bald Eagle or a moose.
    “There have been forty-two Bigfoot sightings in Montana in the last twenty years and none of them have been in this county. I don’t know if I completely believe that what I saw was a Sasquatch, but the entire thing is just confusing. I don’t know what happened.”
    He reached over and gingerly touched my arm, examining the row of stitches. “I’m going to kill whoever hurt you. Whatever hurt you.”
    I believed him. I never thought that a man threatening to kill Bigfoot for me would make me want to cry, but I was on the verge of tears. It was a compilation of the emotional few days I had encountered and the lack of sleep. I swallowed hard and tried to compose myself, though my voice was hoarse when I spoke.
    “Punching a Bigfoot is illegal in twelve states,” I deadpanned, trying to get a hold on my emotions.
    He looked up at me, and for the first time that night he smiled. “I’m pretty sure murder is illegal in all fifty, but I’d risk it.”
    “I’m not worth it. Believe me. Besides, I’m alive. The doc made sure to line my skin up so that my tattoos won’t be too messed up. There will still be a gnarly scar over them, but I think that will only make me more punk rock. The cut wasn’t too deep, thankfully. Just really long. They’ve only kept me here for so long because they wanted to make sure I didn’t have a concussion or any internal bleeding.”
    The nurse assigned to me had also meticulously tweezed the glass from both my feet and my knees. Both she and Dr. Maston had asked me about my tattoos to keep my mind occupied while they worked. It was a good distraction. I ended up with twenty five dissolvable stitches in my arm and a prescription for some medical ointment for the soles of my feet.
    “You are worth it, Acacia.”
    I pretended like I didn’t hear him because it was easier that way. “Anyway. Thanks for checking up on me. I’m sorry I won’t be able to leave in the morning. I need to see what’s wrong with Big Betty first and get some new tires, but I’ll be out of your hair soon enough.”
    The tires and repairs would drain my savings. The economical solution would be to scrap the RV and buy a bus ticket to DC, but I wanted to hold onto Betty as long as I could. On