The bus from the airport was taking for frigging ever, but if I wanted to keep it a surprise, I couldn’t call for a ride. I’d spent practically my last dollar to catch that flight, and my paycheck from Uncle Sam wasn’t going to hit for a few more days. Not that it was much of a paycheck when you thought about what we went through.

That’s what I signed on for in the army. Honor. Country. Duty. Those are things a man can believe in, along with surprising his mama with his unexpected leave.

The bus dropped us at the station, and I waited for two old ladies and another guy to get off before I shouldered my duffel bag and climbed down the stairs. It was a mile to the house, but it was worth it. Ma would be surprised as hell.

I just didn’t expect that I would be too.

Fifteen minutes later, I opened the back door and stuck my head inside the kitchen. Ma’s old dog, Rudy, didn’t bark to announce my arrival.

I crept inside and shut the door behind me, and finally heard rustling coming from the laundry room. Keeping my footsteps light, I moved across the polished wood floors down the back hallway as her blond head popped out of the room.

“Surprise!” I yelled, and she dropped the basket of clothes she was carrying and screamed, covering her mouth to cut it off before her gaze swung to mine.

“Ma! What the fuck happened? Are you okay?”

I kicked the laundry basket out of the way as I moved toward my mother. My mother with a fucking split lip and a bruise on her right cheekbone, despite her attempt to conceal it with makeup.

“Did you have an accident? What happened?”

“Kane, you didn’t tell me you were coming home.” Her voice held none of the excitement I thought it would.

I stepped forward and reached out to cradle her face in my hands. “Ma, what the fuck happened?”

Her pale blue gaze, just like mine, dropped away. “Nothing. Just clumsy.”

Chills rolled down my spine, and the hair on the back of my neck rose like a pissed-off dog’s. There was only one explanation that made any sense, and it was the last one I wanted to hear.

I met her gaze for a beat. “Tell me he didn’t do this.”

Her gaze dropped to my chest. “Kane, don’t go jumping to conclusions. It’s not gonna do anyone any good. You know me. Clumsy old lady these days.”

“You’re not clumsy and you’re not old. I’m gonna fucking kill that bastard for laying a hand on you.” I released my light grip on her face to turn around. “He at work?”

Her attention cut to my face, her blue eyes wide with panic. “Please, Kane. You can’t. Don’t even think about it.”

“Why not?” My hands shook with the rage charging through my bloodstream. “Court in session? Good. Then they can all watch me beat the judge to a pulp.”

I took one step, but she reached out and grabbed my arm, her perfectly manicured nails digging into my skin.

“And what do you think is gonna happen when you leave? You think getting him all riled up is going to make it go better for me somehow?”

I turned, my jaw clenched. “Then I won’t go back.”

She gave my arm another tug. “You have to. You’re making something of yourself. And if you don’t, you’ll go to prison. I’m not visiting my son in prison. You hear me?”

“Tell me this was the first time he’s ever touched you.” I knew no matter what she said, I wouldn’t believe it, even though I wanted to. I hoped it would calm the storm raging in my blood.

The fine lines bracketing her mouth deepened into grooves as she pinched her lips tight. Her voice shook as she said, “It was my own fault. I dropped his favorite whiskey and the bottle shattered. He’s just come off a terrible trial. I should’ve been more careful.”

Listening to my mother try to justify my stepfather’s actions was like someone taking a knife to my gut.

“Leave him, Ma. Now. Today.”

Her lips trembled before they pressed together. “It’s not a big deal, Kane. I swear. And I’m not gonna file for divorce over something trivial like this.”

Trivial?

I shook my head as I listened to her. “How can you possibly think this is trivial? He fucking hit you. No man who raises a hand to a woman in anger can still call himself a man. He needs to be taught a lesson, and I’m sure as hell capable of being the one to teach it.”

Her grip tightened. “Did you come back here to stir up trouble and make my life more difficult? Because that’s what you’re fixing to do. If you give a damn about my life and me living it as peacefully as possible, you’ll pretend you didn’t see a thing. I’ll do a better job on my makeup after I fix up your room.”

Disgust flooded my system, mixing with rage, and I didn’t know what to do. I wouldn’t be a man worth a damn if I let this go unpunished, but what kind of son would I be if I went against her wishes?

I pulled my arm free of her grip. “Don’t bother fixing up my room. I won’t stay here and face that bullshit excuse of a man without ripping the arms off his body and beating him to death with them.”

The blood drained from her face. “Kane, please. Just . . . forget it all. You can’t say anything to him. He’s been under a lot of stress with this trial.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t say shit to him, because he ain’t gonna see me while I’m here. That man is dead to me.”

“He’s your stepfather.”

“He’s a fucking bastard. Has been since the day you married him.”

“He took care of us when we needed it.”

“Tell yourself whatever you want. I’ll get you out of here, set you up near base, give you every dime of my paycheck, and make sure you don’t want for anything. Just tell me you’ll leave, and we’ll pack the car right now. You’ll be gone before he gets home for dinner.”

“You know I’m not leaving your gran. She might not know my name, but I’m all she’s got.”

“Then we’ll take her too.”

Ma’s eyes went hard, telling me I was wasting my breath. “You should go wash up for supper.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. “I’ll find somewhere else to stay.”

“Kane, wait—”

I turned and strode down the hallway.

---

With my duffel bag over my shoulder, I walked three miles to the only other place I could think to go. I pushed the front door open as chimes made out of spent brass jangled to announce my entrance.

“Be right with ya,” a familiar gruff voice called from the back.

I breathed in the scent of gunpowder and mildew, and suddenly felt more at home than I had in that big, perfect house the judge had Ma spend all her time keeping fancy.

I crossed to the glass case holding shiny revolvers and matte-black pistols, letting my fingers trail across the top as I gazed down at the guns and wished I had one to go hunt down the judge and make Ma’s choice for her.

Then again, she didn’t want to visit me in prison.

“What can I help you with today, son?” The smoke-roughened voice came from the other side of the case, and I looked up. “Holy shit. Kane Savage. I had no idea you were home, soldier.”

Jeremiah Prather, Bulletproof’s proprietor, saluted me, and I returned the gesture.

“Surprise visit,” I said. The forced smile that briefly curved my lips fell away just as quick.

His gaze drifted to where I was white-knuckling the bag over my shoulder. “Surprise for your ma or you?”

Something in his tone set me on edge. “The whole town know he’s smacking her around?”

Jeremiah’s expression turned rueful. “Gossips have just started catching on. Someone heard there was some kind of dustup over there the other night from a neighbor walking her dog, and speculation has been running rampant since your ma missed church but was spotted at the corner market in dark glasses and makeup caked on about an inch thick.”

I swallowed the rage that threatened to choke me. “And no one did a damn thing?”

Jeremiah crossed his arms over his stout chest. “What do you expect them to do? Giles is in so deep with the chief of police and the DA, there’s no one who would file a complaint if your ma had the willingness to try.”

My stepfather, Bernard Giles, owned this town. Hell, the Giles family owned most of the parish. Anyone who pissed him off found themselves hauled in front of his bench before being dragged off in cuffs. His sentences were legendary for their lack of mercy, but no one dared speak out against him. Joining forces with his dirty brother of a DA and a crooked chief of police made them a lethal combination.

“I’m gonna kill him.” There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in my tone, and Jeremiah had known me long enough to know I wasn’t fucking around.

He glared at me, the lines in his leathery face deepening. “Don’t say that shit on camera, boy. You know better.”

He retreated into the back office before reappearing a few minutes later. Instead of returning to his position in front of me, he went to the entrance, flipped the sign to Closed, and locked the door.

“Had to erase all the way to before you came in and turn ’em off. Last thing you want to do is give them the rope to hang you with.”

I leaned back on the counter, my fists clenched at my sides. “Then give me a throwaway piece, and I’ll be gone before they know I was here.”

“Boy, I know you carry a gun every day for Uncle Sam, but what you’re talking about is something totally different. You don’t make a move like that without it staining you to the very core of your soul.”

My teeth ground together. “You think I haven’t already seen and done things that are gonna send me straight to the devil? Two tours in hell, and I didn’t come back the same person I was when I left.”

“I know. You don’t have to tell me.” Jeremiah raised his forearm, where the lines of his POW/MIA tattoo were blown out and fading. “But that’s still different. Why don’t you head out into the range and shoot a few boxes to take out some of that anger you got riding you. I’ll grab you a gun. My gun.”

His emphasis was no mistake, nor was his choice of weapon. Jeremiah knew, or at least he thought he knew, that I wouldn’t use his gun to take out Giles. Wily old bastard.

He slipped out from behind the counter again and disappeared for a moment before coming back with an old .45. He laid it on the counter and grabbed three boxes of ammo from the shelf behind him. “If I don’t hear you firing, I’ll come track you down with my AK, and it won’t be a good day.”

I would have sworn nothing could have dragged even a hint of a genuine smile from me, but Jeremiah managed with his play on the lyrics of Ice Cube’s It Was a Good Day.

“I’ll be shooting, but when I’m done, I make no promises. I might even borrow that AK.”

“Blow off some steam, get your head clear, and we’ll talk some more. I ain’t letting you do some fool thing without a fuck-ton of thought.”