thirty-three
(slam)
*NOW*
I stood next to the cruiser then the SUV pulled up.
Fucking Chief Richards.
He climbed out, a shotgun in his hands, and he pumped the chamber. He pointed it right at me, his eyes locked to mine.
“Fuck,” I said.
“Told you,” the officer said.
“Andley, go home,” Chief said.
“What?”
“You heard me. Go the fuck home. Get in your cruiser and split. You saw nothing here tonight. Got that?”
“Sir, if you need…”
“Out!” Chief bellowed.
The officer did as he was told, climbing into his cruiser and pulling away.
Now it was just me and Chief Richards. And a shotgun. Which was then put to my chest.
“I can explain everything,” I said.
Chief swatted the barrel up, hitting my jaw. I quickly tasted blood.
“You listen first,” he said. “When my guys call and say that you’re tailing my daughter… fuck. Everything she told me, is it true?”
“Depends on what she said,” I replied.
“Don’t get fucking smart with me, Spencer.”
I swallowed. “Yeah. Everything is true.”
“Why her?”
“In the beginning, it was to get to you. That’s the truth. But then I saw how deep she was in with that asshole you wanted her to be with. So I stepped in to help her. I fell for her, Chief. I couldn’t help it. She’s the most important woman I’ve ever met.”
“Christ,” Chief said. “What did you do to Kyle?”
“Made him leave town.”
“How?”
“Does that matter?”
Chief gritted his teeth. “And you really love my daughter?”
“Yes. That’s why I did what I did with you. I fucking hate your guts, Chief. I wanted to get back at you for setting me up. But then I met Belle. And the violence in my heart gave way. That’s why I gave you Tommy. To show you what the Reap is capable of. And that’s why I was on my way to take care of your other problem. To get closure for you and for Belle.”
The shotgun started to shake in Chief’s hand. “You really know where the guy is?”
“Yeah. He’s more local than you could ever imagine, Chief.”
“The guy that killed my wife.”
“Yes.”
He lowered the shotgun. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it. I fucked it all up, Spencer. I put my wife right in the middle of a war. And now I’m supposed to accept my daughter with the same fate?”
“No offense, Chief, but on my side of the law there is no law. And I will protect Belle with every breath I have. Not find comfort in a bottle and an affair.”
“She told you everything.”
“Yeah.”
Chief Richards looked at me. His eyes were glistening. “Go get him, Slam.”
“That was my plan.”
Chief took the cuffs of me. He then grabbed my shoulder and stared at me. What a crazy moment in my life. We stared each other down.
“You’re not going to kill him though,” Chief said.
“Are you fucking serious?”
“Dead serious.”
“This prick shot your wife in cold blooded murder. And you’re not…”
“Slam. Go get him. And bring him to me.”
“He’s not going to sit the rest of his life in prison.”
“You’re right.”
“What are you saying?”
Chief flickered a little smile. “I’m going to kill him.”
It was just before midnight when I rolled up on the house. Right at the edge of town, a known shit hole area for drugs and violence. Chief told me that there was no way he could ever build the right case against the guy that murdered his wife. His name was Stevie. His association had been infiltrated and ripped apart by Chief Richards, the local PD, and even some help from the federal level. But at the end of it all, Stevie did a little jail time here and there but was never brought to an actual trial for killing Belle’s mother. Her name was Rose. How fucking beautiful was that? A mother named Rose naming her daughter Belle.
It pained me to imagine the life Belle lived without a mother.
Knox rode shotgun, saying he wanted to help. To show faith with Chief and hope that beef between the Reap and the PD would come to rest for good.
For me, it was all personal.
I took the front door and Knox took the back.
We found Stevie sleeping in bed with some porno playing on a big screen TV. It was the nicest thing in the house. Lucky for us, he was sleeping and not jerking off.
Stevie woke up and reached for his gun. Knox had moved the gun and switched it out for the bottle of lotion on the bed. The fucking guy sat up and squirted lotion on himself, thinking he was popping shots at us.
Knox laughed. I didn’t.
I swung a right and smashed him in the mouth. I then took him to the floor and told him I wasn’t going to hurt him as long as he told me the truth. That’s when I got the confession. He was part of a gang that was being pressed hard by Chief Richards. In typical Chief fashion, he singled out the group and wouldn’t ease up on them. That’s when the decision was made to end Rose’s life. The original plan had been to kill Rose and kidnap Belle. They were going to use Belle as leverage before killing her too.
I kept to my word and I didn’t hurt Stevie. But I did stand him up and throw him at Knox. With a wicked left hooked Knox knocked Stevie out cold.
We tied him up and put him in the pickup truck.
And just like I’d done before with Tommy, I drove to Chief Richards’ house to make another delivery.
As we pulled up the driveway, Chief was outside, standing in a black shirt and black pants.
“This guy is crazy,” Knox said.
“Yeah. And now we have him, brother. We have control of the entire PD.”
“You did it,” Knox said. “You were right on course with all of this.”
I stopped the truck and climbed out. Then it was me and Knox facing off with Chief.
“He alive?” Chief asked.
“As you wanted him,” I said.
“You sure about this?” Knox asked.
“Yeah,” Chief said. “I have to get this guilt off my chest.”
“This isn’t going to solve it,” I said.
“But it’s worth the shot,” he said.
Chief took a step and Knox blocked him. “Let me get my part of this said before all hell breaks loose.” Chief looked at Knox. “You understand what the Reap does in this town. We aren’t the enemy. We aren’t the good guys either. You need to follow your line, I get that. But breaking our balls over nothing has to end. We do too much good for everyone. You know that.”
“Fair enough. But I’m not crossing the line.”
“Says the man about to commit murder,” Knox said.
“This is not murder,” Chief said. “This is settling an old debt. And as far as you two assholes are concerned, you dropped off a wanted criminal to me. Got that?”
“Got it,” I said.
Knox offered a hand and Chief Richards shook it.
That was a historical moment for the Reaper’s Bastards.
Knox walked back to the truck.
I walked to the bed with Chief and opened it. Just like I’d done with Tommy, I grabbed the legs of Stevie and pulled him out and to the ground.
“This is the man who murdered your wife,” I said. “I got his confession. He was going to kidnap Belle. They were going to fuck with you and then eventually kill Belle. Where do you want him?”
“In the shed,” Chief Richards said. “That’s where I have all my tools.”
It was strange putting Stevie in that little blue shed. A shed that was built to hold the lawnmower, some shovels, a chainsaw. But now the shed was going to be something very different.
Chief had a grave dug right there in the shed for Stevie. He also had concrete. The guy was smart. He was going to bury the prick that killed his wife right there and nobody would ever know.
I stepped out of the shed and Chief Richards offered his hand.
I took it.
“You were always a prick,” he said. “I’m damn sorry for how you grew up. I thought I was doing my duty by keeping a future criminal off the streets. I guess I got that wrong.”
“Yeah, well you have a chance to make it right,” I said.
“How so?”
I squeezed his hand tighter and then let it go. And then I told him exactly what I wanted.
“I want your daughter’s hand in marriage.”