In life there are few things that are certain. Most would speak of death or taxes as the only items of certainty. Those people think too small. Beyond death and taxes there is one other permanent fixture of human society. People who hold even a modicum of power for a lengthy period of time will with great frequency grow to believe that they deserve that power. It becomes an innate entitlement that in colloquial terms would be similar to believing in one’s own hype.

One such powerful person growled angrily as he held the metal bars of his prison cell. “Do you hear me? I’m suing every damned one of you!”

Scott stared at the colonel briefly then then shrugged. “Good luck with that.”

Enraged, the colonel moved before the point of being able to respond in words. Not long after Scott’s aura effect wore off, he promptly forgot what it had done to him. Determined to think of it as a trick, he returned to being demanding and authoritative despite his current position. In a cell nearby, several of his subordinates stood quietly. They were men who had tried to stop the group as Scott marched the colonel through town.

“Doesn’t feel nice to be forced to stay somewhere you don’t want to stay. Does it?” asked Scott.

He did not wait for the answer to come. The sheriff wanted to see him, and he was certain exactly how that meeting would go.

In a room on the floor above, the Sheriff held his phone lightly in his hand. Eyes closed, he breathed in and out a few times to steady himself. He had just engaged in a lengthy discussion with the mayor, a one-sided one that mostly involved the mayor yelling about how he was an elected official.

Everything had gone to shit already due to the attacks, but this was a kick to the hornet’s next that the county did not need. “Dammit, son…”

Derrick put down his phone then frowned. He opened a desk drawer and gazed quietly down at a stack of paper. He schooled his expression and hardened his resolve. He reached in and took out the discharge of duty papers. “I trusted you to have a little tact. You brought this on yourself.”

Not long after he began signing the paperwork, a knock at the door caught his attention. “Enter.”

Scott walked into the room in a calm and measured manner. He stood before the sheriff’s desk and looked down at the only man in town who even pretended to give a damn about him during the worst days of his life. “You wanted to see me, sheriff.”

“I wanted this to work out,” said Derrick. “I promise you that I did.”

“I know,” said Scott quietly.

“What you’ve done… You do know that I can’t just let that go,” said the Sheriff.

“The raid on a group of kidnappers,” replied Scott. “You can’t overlook that?”

Derrick slammed his fists down on the desk and he glared at Scott. “Stop calling it that!”

“Do I call it illegal medical experimentation on unlawfully detained individuals?” asked Scott calmly.

“No! You don’t call it anything!” snapped Derrick. “You were not authorized to go on that raid, and had you mentioned it to me at all I would have gone with you to assure—”

“If you had gone, Ashton would have died,” replied Scott calmly.

“You don’t know that!” shouted Derrick.

“I do know that,” said Scott.

Derrick growled under his breath then shook his head. He shoved the paperwork in his hands toward Scott. “I just got an earful from the mayor. He wants me to arrest you.”

“I see,” said Scott. “What did the duly elected sheriff of the entire county say to the local mayor who had set up his own private army of kidnappers at the expense of the less fortunate members of his township?”

“It’s not that easy, dammit!” Derrick shook his head wildly. “We do not have the manpower for this! I had no choice but to agree to letting those people set up shop.”

“I see,” replied Scott.

“Do you?” asked Derrick. He chuckled darkly then cast his eyes downward to the paperwork on his desk. His voice tight with emotion, he asked. “What do those red eyes of yours see?”

Scott gazed at him quietly for a moment. There was no sound in the room for a moment other than the rhythmic noise of their breathing. Eventually, Scott spoke but it was about the true matter at hand. “My eyes see a good man who lacks the resources needed to do his job.”

The sheriff snorted lightly but said nothing. Scott waited for a moment, but then continued. “I’ll gracefully accept my discharge, but the people in this town need more than a corrupt self-serving mayor and a militia full of snotty assholes.”

“No disagreement there…” muttered the Sheriff. He tried to look Scott in the eyes but found that he could not. “No mention of the Sheriff’s office, huh?”

“You’re doing your best,” said Scott, a slight shimmer in his eyes.

“I’m open to suggestions if you have any,” replied the Sheriff in a hopeless tone.

Scott offered a slight, and overly toothsome, smile. “I might have a few solutions for you, actually.”

Derrick looked up, the light gleaming strangely in his eyes. “Do you?”

“Tell me Sheriff… Has there been any property seized by law enforcement in this county recently?” asked Scott casually.

“Property? Like what? Cars? Boats?” asked Derrick.

Scott waved his hand dismissively. “Land, buildings, things of that nature.”

“Not really, and least not recently,” said Derrick.

Red eyes gleamed softly in the dim light. “Fine. Sell me this police station instead.”

Derrick was taken aback. “Why?”

Why would Scott want the police station? What possible reason could he have for making such a request? He could not wrap his mind around the possibilities.

Scott’s smile widened in a decidedly predatory manner. “Let me tell you a little secret about your former deputy, Sheriff.”