As I get out of the truck Eddie walks out onto his front porch with a beer in hand, dressed in dirty jeans and a wifebeater. His fourteen-year-old son, Brian, steps out behind him and watches me wearily, probably wondering if I’m here for him. The kid has a serious attitude problem and a short temper. He’s been brought in a few times for fighting at school.

“Deputy Taylor, what brings you all this way?” Eddie asks, before taking a swig of his beer and propping his forearm on the post next to him.

“I need to speak with you alone, Eddie,” I say, lifting my chin toward Brian.

Eddie twists his head and gives his son a dismissive nod. Brian hovers for only a second before shutting the large wooden door.

“What can I do for ya, Grayson?”

I decide to forgo any bullshit and cut right to the chase. “What was the purpose of your visit with Walter Bradshaw yesterday?”

He shrugs. “Just wanted to check on Olivia is all.”

“You sure that’s the only reason?”

His eyes narrow suspiciously. “Yeah, I’m sure. Why?”

I shrug. “Things seemed tense when I showed up.”

“Of course they were. We were checkin’ up on Walt’s granddaughter, who was raped and beaten. Shit ain’t gonna be pleasant. Especially when those bastards are still out there somewhere, just waitin’ to strike again.”

“The police are on this and we’re doing everything we can. Trust me, I won’t stop until they’re found.”

He shakes his head. “That’s not enough. It’s going on weeks now since the attack on her. The respectable people of this town are concerned for their safety and can ya blame ’em when this town is filled with their kind?”

Anger coils low in my gut, but I keep my cool because this is exactly what I want. I want him to crack. I want to hear him say it with my own ears. “Tell me, Eddie, what kind are you talking about?”

“You know exactly who I’m talkin’ ’bout,” he grinds out, jaw clenched.

“Actually, I don’t.”

“The hell you don’t,” he snaps, his eyes flashing with indescribable hate. “Don’t play that shit with me, Taylor. This town is fallin’ apart and it’s been a long time comin’. Ever since that coon, Clarence Rodgers, got elected mayor, Harmony Falls is overrun with them motherfuckers and they brought their fucking drugs and crime with ’em. We ain’t standin’ for it no more and we’re gonna do somethin’ about it.”

To hear him spout that about Clarence makes me wonder if it was him who burned the cross on his lawn. I take a step toward him, rage pumping viciously through my veins. “This isn’t about race goddammit, this is about some asshole thinking he had the right to break the law and seek vengeance for a crime that Liv nor Walter committed. The exact same thing you and Lane are trying to do. This shit stops now.” The curtains shift behind the window, which I assume is Brian. I gather my control and lower my voice but move in closer, only inches from his face. “Listen to me carefully, Eddie. If I find out either of you are interfering with this case, I will haul your asses in without question. Do you understand?”

Defiance rages in his eyes, a hatred so powerful it electrocutes the air between us. “Whatever you say, Deputy Taylor.” My name falls from his mouth with disgust before he takes another pull of his beer.

I don’t believe him, not with what I see staring back at me. “For your sake I hope you mean that. Don’t go out to Liv’s again. There’s no need for you to be there.”

He tenses. “You can’t tell me I can’t go out to Walt’s.”

“Actually, I can. Walter and Liv don’t need you out there stirring up shit. Leave them the hell alone and let them deal with this in peace.”

A smug look transforms his face as realization hits. “So that’s what this is about. You got a hard-on for Olivia, is that it? Like preying on the victims, Taylor?”

My composure snaps. I knock the beer out of his hand and grab him by the front of his grungy shirt. “Watch your fucking mouth, Willard.” I grit. “If you’re smart you’ll fucking listen, because you won’t like the consequences if you don’t, trust me. So stay the fuck away from her and Walter, and stay the hell out of my case.”

“Eddie?” The screen door squeaks open and his wife, Janet, steps out with a cigarette dangling from her mouth, looking her usual haggard self. “Everythin’ all right?”

I release Eddie’s shirt and back out of his personal space as she comes to stand beside him. “Yeah, s’all good, darlin’. He assures her by wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in close.

For the sake of pleasantries, I acknowledge her with a nod. “Janet.”

“Grayson,” she greets back, her glassy eyes roaming down my body with appreciation, something I’m used to from her. I can’t count how many times she’s come on to me at Tucker’s, the local watering hole, when I’ve gone in for a drink while she’s waitressing. It got so annoying that I don’t even bother going if she’s working.

I shift my attention back to Eddie. “Make sure you give Lane my message.” As I start back down the stairs he calls out to me. I turn back around to face him.

“If you care so much about Olivia then what do you give a shit about them niggers for anyway?”

My jaw locks down tight, as I try to restrain myself from going back up there and laying him out. “How do you even know they’re black, Eddie?”

His back straightens. “What?”

“How do you know if the people who hurt her are black? Maybe they’re white or Hispanic.”

It’s Janet who scoffs. “Please. Everyone knows they’re black, it’s all because of that kid Walter shot. It was in retaliation and—”

“Exactly,” I snap, cutting her off. “This is about vengeance, not color.”

“Fuck that!” Eddie barks. “It is about color. They’re goddamn animals, every last one of ’em, and it’s time they took up somewhere else.”

“Damn right!” Janet agrees, taking another pull of her cigarette.

As I stare back at them, seeing their hatred fueling one another, I finally realize what the hell is wrong with Brian and where all his anger comes from.

It has me remembering what just went down at the store with that kid. There’s no point in trying to reason with this level of ignorance. Instead, I point my finger at him in warning. “I’ve got my eye on you. Remember what I said, back the fuck off, and stay away from Liv and this case.”

I head back to my patrol truck, fury branding the blood beneath my skin. The entire drive back to the station I wonder what the hell I’m going to do. I don’t care what the sheriff said, what I just heard Eddie spew is far from being some harmless redneck. Dixon needs to lock this shit down and fast.

By the time I pull up to the station my rage has been reduced to a simmer, but I can’t stop thinking about what went down with Eddie. I’m so caught up in my thoughts that I don’t hear Terrell enter my office until he takes the seat across from me, his gaze sharp and assessing. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah.” I lie. “Why?”

“Because you look like you’re ready to kill someone.” He leans forward. “What’s up, Taylor? Talk.”

I pull a hand down my face, trying to clear my head. “I’m fine, just pissed off. I paid Eddie Willard a visit and it went worse than I expected.”

“Why? What’d you go see him about?”

“Him and Lane went out to Walt’s yesterday and Liv overheard him say some things that made her uncomfortable.”

“Like what?”

“Racist shit,” I reply vaguely, not wanting to offend him.

He grunts. “And you’re surprised by that?”

“A little, yeah, and to be honest I’m sick of the bullshit. I’m tired of everyone making this about race.” I tell him what happened at Pillar’s, then the diner yesterday with Liv and how they sent Fletch away.

He shakes his head, his anger mirroring mine. “Yeah, well, what else is new?”

I tense. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Wake the fuck up, Taylor. It’s always been this way for as long as I’ve lived here.”