A Little Dare - Brenda Jackson [27]
The sheriff.
He shook his head, not wanting to think about the fact that the sheriff was his father. But he had thought about it most of the day, and still, as he’d told his mother last night, he didn’t want the sheriff to know he was his son.
“What are you two looking at?” he asked in a tough voice, ignoring the fact that one of the boys was a lot bigger than he was.
“Your bike,” the smaller of the two said, turning to him. “We think it’s cool. Where did you get it?”
AJ relaxed. He thought his bike was cool, too. “Not from any place around here. My mom bought it for me in California.”
“Is that where you’re from?” the largest boy asked.
“Yeah, L.A. that’s where I was born, and I hope we move back there.” He sized up the two and decided they were harmless. He had seen them before around school, but neither had made an attempt to be friendly to him until now. “My name is AJ Brockman. What’s yours?”
“My name is Morris Sears,” the smaller of the two said, “and this is my friend Cornelius Thomas.”
AJ nodded. “Do you live around here?”
“Yeah, just a few blocks, not far from Kate’s Diner.”
“I live just a few blocks from Kate’s Diner, too, on Sycamore Street,” AJ said, glad to know there were other kids living not far away.
“We saw what happened with you and Caleb Martin yesterday,” Morris said, his eyes widening. “Boy! Did you teach him a lesson! No one has ever done that before and we’re glad, since he’s been messing with people for a long time for no reason. He’s nothing but a bully.”
AJ nodded, agreeing with them.
“Would you like to ride home with us today?” Cornelius asked, getting on his own bike. We know a short cut that goes through the Millers’ land. We saw a couple of deer on their property yesterday.”
AJ’s eyes lit up. He’d never seen a deer before, at least not a real live one. He then remembered where he had to go after school. “I’m sorry but today I can’t. I have to report directly to the sheriff’s office now.”
“For fighting yesterday?” Morris asked.
AJ shook his head. “No, for cutting school two days ago. I was throwing rocks at cars and the sheriff caught me and took me in.”
Cornelius eyes widened. “You got to ride in the back of Sheriff Westmoreland’s car?” he asked excitedly.
AJ raised a brow. “Yes.”
“Boy, that’s cool. Sheriff Westmoreland is a hero.”
AJ gave a snort of laughter. “A hero? And what makes him a hero? He’s nothing but a sheriff who probably does nothing but sit in his office all day.”
Morris and Cornelius shook their head simultaneously.
“Not Sheriff Westmoreland,” Morris said as if he knew that for a fact. “He was in all the newspapers last week for catching those two bad guys the FBI has been looking for. My dad says Sheriff Westmoreland got shot at bringing them in and that a bullet barely missed his head.”
“Yeah, and my dad said,” Cornelius piped in, “that those bad guys didn’t know who they were messing with, since everyone knows the sheriff doesn’t play. Why, he used to even be an FBI agent. My dad went to school with him and graduated the same year Thorn Westmoreland did.”
AJ looked curiously at Cornelius. “What does Thorn Westmoreland have to do with anything?”
Cornelius lifted a shocked brow. “Don’t you know who Thorn Westmoreland is?”
Of course AJ knew who Thorn Westmoreland was. What kid didn’t? “Sure. He’s the motorcycle racer who builds the baddest bikes on earth.”
Cornelius and Morris nodded. “He’s also the sheriff’s brother,” Morris said grinning, happy to be sharing such news with their new friend. “And have you ever heard of Rock Mason?”
“The man who writes those adventure-thriller books?” AJ asked, his mind still reeling from what he’d just been told—Thorn Westmoreland was the sheriff’s brother!
“Yes, but Rock Mason’s real name is Stone Westmoreland and he’s the sheriff’s brother, too. Then there are two more of them, Chase and Storm Westmoreland. Mr. Chase owns a big restaurant downtown and Mr. Storm is a fireman.”
AJ nodded. He wondered how Morris