Conall, page 17
His father stared at him sharply. “Stop it, Jake. Not another word!”
“Stop what? You don’t believe this guy gives a shit about anything, do you? Come on, Dad. You’re not that stupid, are you?”
His father just stared at him, as if he didn’t understand what could possibly have triggered that kind of response. Yet, when he looked at the others, he saw the same understanding of what was going on that he had missed all these years. “Damn.” Henry looked over at the sheriff. “Is there anything you can do?”
“I don’t know,” the sheriff admitted. “I can tell you this, Henry. … My job’s on the line here, as I’ll be investigated for all I’ve done up to now. There’s still the question of hassling the locals,” he noted, wincing. “It was one thing to keep him in control, but he really is ripping off the stores. He walks in, takes what he wants, and walks out. It’s not just the café, but the corner store and other places too.”
Henry closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “Oh, my God,” he muttered, eyeing his son. “You get thousands of dollars every month for spending money.”
“Yeah? So what? Why would I spend it on that stuff when I don’t have to? No fun in that, and, besides, there are better things to spend it on.”
“What are you spending it on?” Henry asked, looking at him closely.
Jake shrugged. “Stuff.”
“No, that’s not good enough. What stuff?”
Jake glared at his father. “I don’t know, just stuff.”
“I hear drugs are expensive,” Conall suggested.
Jake spun on a dime and glared at him. “I’m not into any goddamn drugs, and don’t you be telling my father any more lies. Just keep your trap shut.”
“I don’t have to tell your father any lies, Jake. Your father can see for himself that you’re lying, now that he’s looking for the truth. Drug abuse is what I smell on you. And abusing women? Do you beat them up too?”
He shook his head. “I don’t have to beat up women. They’re quite happy to be with me.”
“Are they?” Bethany asked, a serious look on her face. “I highly doubt that. What’s going on? You’re buying drugs for them or threatening to go to their parents over the drugs or whatever way you’re using to get them into your bed,” she snapped. “No way they would go willingly.”
He took two steps toward her, and his father immediately stood, but it was Conall who stepped right in front of her, as he motioned at Jake. “Come on at me. Just one more step,” Conall taunted. “You touch her one more time, and I will not hold back.”
“Yeah, and what will you do, you freaking loser?” Jake bellowed. “I can kick that leg out from under you, and you would be on the ground, begging for mercy.”
“Try it,” Conall said, as he stared at him. He waited.
“Don’t you dare,” Henry muttered. “He’s just egging you on.”
“How come he’s allowed to do that? I can’t have that lack of respect. You know that, Dad. You taught me that respect is everything.”
Conall snorted. “Did your father tell you that respect is earned and not bought? Maybe you forgot to give him that lesson,” Conall slyly told Henry.
Henry turned to look at the sheriff. “Look. While you sort out what you need to do, can I take him home and at least have a talk with him? If I can get the truth out of him about everything he’s been involved in, I can figure out some sort of restitution.”
The sheriff hesitated, then finally said, “You go ahead home, Henry, but Jake’s not allowed to leave. I’ll be coming by later to see you.”
“With what? Charges? I don’t think so,” Jake sneered. “Ain’t no way you’ll charge me with anything.”
Conall smiled and said, “If nobody else does, rest assured that I will.” And he walked over to block the front door.
“Move,” Jake snorted, walking toward the door to leave. The kid stopped, looked back at his dad, then faced Conall. “I don’t think so, cripple. You see? My dad’s a badass, and he’ll make damn sure that nobody touches me,” he muttered. “Especially not a cripple like you.”
“Yeah? You’re just too scared to do your own dirty work,” Conall taunted him again, with a big smile, widening his stance at the front door. “You’ve been hiding behind your daddy for so long you don’t even know what it’s like to not be his pet.”
His father immediately faced Jake and shook his head. “Don’t even think about it.”
“I won’t allow such disrespect,” Jake yelled madly. “My name is all about respect.” He glared at his father. “I carved respect out of the damn town, just like you did, and no way in hell I’ll let this piece of shit talk to me like that.” He turned to Conall. “I said … move.”
Conall remained blocking the door. As Henry headed toward the door now too, Conall remained standing right there before him.
Jake smiled and muttered, “This is perfect.” Then pulling out a gun, he pointed at Conall and fired.
Chapter 13
Bethany froze in shock as Conall went down, only to bounce back up again, his leg kicking out hard and fast, dropping the smirking Jake, kicking the gun free to skitter across the floor, as every other man in room the raced toward Jake. Bethany couldn’t believe Jake had shot Conall. As soon as Jake was subdued, she raced over to Conall. “Are you okay?” she cried out.
He nodded. “I’m fine, no thanks to this punk.” He looked over at Henry. “What now? You still think Jake should be let off? What’ll it take to get your attention?”
Henry’s hand was over his mouth, as he stared at the remnants of his faith in his son. “Dear God, what the hell happened to him?”
“What happened is his belief that he is untouchable,” Bethany explained, looking over at Henry. “The belief that his daddy will get him out of everything, supported by the knowledge that you always have.”
Henry shook his head, as he stared at her. “What did I do that was so wrong? I was just trying to protect my son, to give him a better life.”
“But what you did was create a monster, with no accountability for his actions,” she whispered.
Even now Jake glared at the sheriff, who struggled to restrain him.
“It’s not like you can fucking contain me,” Jake yelled. “Dad, you want to call him off?”
Jake’s bored tone had his father gawking at him in horror. “Call him off? You just shot somebody in the police station,” he cried out. “Not only is that absolutely insane, it’s the stupidest location you could possibly have thought of.”
Bethany turned and glared at him. “Shit like that is what you’re doing wrong.”
“What?” Henry asked.
“You basically just told Jake that it was okay to do what he did but next time choose a better location.”
“No, I didn’t mean it that way,” Henry replied, staring at her, then looking back at his son. “Obviously it’s stupid to shoot anybody.”
But Jake was laughing. “That’s okay, Dad. I got the right message.” He glared at the others. “Obviously the cripple’s not hurt, so no repercussions are needed here,” Jake declared, shrugging the men off, trying to restrain him.
They let him go, even as she watched in surprise. “Why are you not locking him up?” she asked, turning to the sheriff.
The sheriff motioned to another room. “Put him in the interrogation room. Things are obviously very heated now.”
She stared. “Did you say, very heated? Jake just shot Conall right in front of you.”
“Settle down,” the sheriff snapped at her. “Obviously this is a spurious accusation.”
Greg stepped forward, and, in an overly calm voice, he asked, “Spurious accusation? Sheriff, are you suggesting that there weren’t a half-dozen witnesses to Jake’s attempted murder?”
The sheriff winced. “Okay, okay, so maybe that wasn’t the right choice of words,” he clarified in an uncertain tone. “Everybody just calm down. This is my office, and I’ll handle this how I see fit.”
Greg stared at him for a moment, then shook his head. “No, Sheriff. You’ll handle it by the law, or you’ll be out of a job. And possibly facing charges of your own.”
In the ensuing silence, the sheriff just stared at him.
Greg smiled. “Sheriff, do you really think that people from my division come here on the basis of one problem?” As the sheriff began to turn pale, Greg continued. “Do you think other people in this county haven’t made complaints because you weren’t doing anything about this? Now that I’ve seen it for myself, it’s far worse than we imagined.”
Bethany turned and looked at Conall, still amazed that he was unhurt. “How did he miss at that range?”
He gave her half a laugh. “While it was a piss-poor shot, it’s not that he missed as much as he hit my prosthetic. Kat will be pretty upset.” He bent down and lifted his pant leg for her to see the hole.
She stared at it in shock. “So, it hit you?”
“He did hit me,” he confirmed, “and you can bet that will be on the report.”
“He said he missed.”
“Jake thought he missed, and honestly it could have been a good shot because I don’t know whether this will impact the workability of my joint or not,” he shared, frowning, as he stared down at his prosthetic.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I never intended for that to happen.”
Conall shook his head. “It has nothing to do with you. This is not your fault.”
She gave him a sad gaze. “Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not,” he repeated, staring at her. “You can’t let bullies like him keep running the town, and you know that as well as I do. I was just the right person at the right time to lend a hand.”
“But what happens when you leave?” she asked, looking around. “You know that the sheriff will buckle, as will Henry, and Jake will be out on the streets in no time, and I’ll become the next target.”
“I think Greg will be changing Jake’s location to a different holding facility. Plus I’m not planning on leaving anytime soon,” Conall shared. “Besides, we still have another pair of hoodlums to deal with.”
She winced. “Melanie and Page, Michael’s nephew.”
He nodded. “That won’t be easy either. You know that.”
“I do know,” she admitted. “I was hoping we could just get a pass.” The words had no sooner left her mouth, when Greg came over.
He bent closer to Conall and asked in a low voice, “How badly damaged is your prosthetic?”
“I don’t know for sure,” he admitted, shaking his head. “It just pisses me off that he did it in the first place.”
“Do you think it was on purpose?” Greg asked.
Conall snorted, then shrugged. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised. Jake will believe that it isn’t important, but I think he’s more directed in his actions than we think.”
“What’ll be the end result here?” Bethany asked.
Greg replied, “Monetary damages are due to Conall, besides the threat of death. The sheriff can’t let that go,” Greg explained. “So it’ll be interesting to see what he says, but I’m staying here to make sure that this gets handled appropriately.”
She nodded.
Henry was still trying to absorb what had happened to his life and to his son.
She walked over and spoke to Henry. “At this point, you should consider it a kindness to let him face his own consequences to make him grow up now. If he continues on this path, he’ll get himself killed.”
He looked up at her. “I don’t even know how to stop him at this point,” he shared, his tone low. “I understand what you mean, but nobody here will shoot him.”
“He already held a gun to me and has now shot Conall once. Do you expect a man like Conall to take it lying down, should your son try it again?”
He stared at her, then looked back at Conall and winced. “Unfortunately he does look like the kind of man to do the job.”
“He could, particularly if I was attacked again,” she pointed out. “There are very few things in life that these men will fight for so strongly, but women getting beaten up is definitely one of them.”
Henry sighed and nodded. “As it should be.” He looked back at the son he’d raised on his own. “You spend all that time raising them, thinking that you’re doing a good job. And sure, I stepped in and protected him a couple times, but I didn’t realize what that was doing to him.”
“It gave him free rein,” she said softly, “and he’s taken full advantage of it.”
“Which I don’t even know what to do with,” he said, staring at her in despair. “He’s my only child.”
“If you want him to survive, he needs to grow up, and he needs to grow up fast,” she stated. “Honestly I don’t have any sympathy for him. If he continues pulling guns on people, it won’t end well. He’ll wind up in prison for life, or worse, and, while I would be sad for you and for the simple waste of human life gone bad, I can’t say I would feel badly for Jake because, frankly, he deserves whatever he gets at this point. I’m happy he’s on the warpath right now in front of you and the authorities, and I’m hoping you let Jake think about it in jail, and you don’t bail him out.”
Henry winced. “Bail is something that every criminal gets,” he argued, “so, of course, I’ll bail him out.”
“But you also know that he will likely break bond and come after me and Conall.”
He stared at her. “You could always leave town.”
“So, we’re supposed to leave town? … How does that make sense? I run a veterinarian business,” she stated, staring at him. “So I’m supposed to give up everything so that your hoodlum son doesn’t get into more trouble, is that it?”
His shoulders sagged, and he whispered, “Before today that would have definitely been it, so I guess that’s where the problem started.”
“That’s exactly where the problem started,” she declared, shaking her head. “I have a right to my life too, not to just be caught up in Jake’s moods whenever he takes a notion to cause chaos and to steal and to abuse women.”
“Has he really been going to the cafe and taking whatever he wants?”
She nodded. “Usually a burger, coffee, some pies, anything he can get away with, never too big, never such that it’s massive, and all he’s taking is meals. But it’s just getting worse all the time, like he’s escalating, as are his threats,” she explained. “We had no idea he had a weapon, but now that he does or did,” she stated, “that’s even more troublesome.”
Henry sighed, raising both hands. “We have lots of weapons at home, so, even if he doesn’t get this one back, he’ll just go to the gun cabinet and get another.”
She stared at him, her stomach sinking. “Thanks for that,” she spat. “I’m sure I won’t sleep again.”
He looked at her and frowned. “I’m sorry he hit you.”
“Yeah, but will you be sorry when he tries to kill me?” she asked bluntly. “Because I think you’re still looking to protect your son.”
“That’s just it. He is my son.” Henry stared at her. “How come you don’t understand that?”
“I guess because I would like to think that my life or the lives of the others he threatens have some value too. But, to you, it seems absolutely nothing else is of value, except your son, and that’s sad, Henry. It’s sad because other people in this world have a right to a good life, without being terrorized by Jake and his goons, and you can’t see that. That’s where the problem is. You must realize that Jake and his hoodlum friends are running people out of town, that the town itself is dying because of Jake?”
Henry hesitated, shaking his head.
“So, here’s hoping your son doesn’t get released on bail,” she stated, tossing him a look. “And maybe, just maybe, that way he won’t get himself killed or wind up in prison.”
“I heard that,” Jake roared from the other room. “Don’t you talk to my dad like that.”
“Yeah? Or what?” she asked from the doorway. “Will you come after me again? Will you shoot me now?”
“I just might,” he threatened in a hard voice. “You don’t get to treat him like that.”
“Right, you guys are both messed up in the head,” she muttered, as she walked closer to Conall. “Can we leave now?”
He looked over at the sheriff. “I’m sure the sheriff would be more than happy if we disappeared. You ready to go?”
“I was ready to go before we even got here,” she muttered, as she glanced over at Greg. “We’ll head back to my place, if you need us. We’re tired and worn out, and this has definitely screwed up my emotions.”
Greg nodded. “Just stay safe, please.”
She froze at that. “Is Jake likely to get out?”
“If he makes bail, yes.” Greg waved his hands about. “There’s a lot of paperwork to handle first, but I can’t stop him from getting bail.”
“Even if he’s a danger to somebody else?”
“There’s no judge in town, and that’s often one of the reasons to let them go home and stay, at least until the judge shows up. In this case, it shouldn’t happen, since Jake’s fired a weapon in the sheriff’s office for all to see. He should be locked up and the key thrown away, but you and I both know it won’t go that way.”
“You can’t stop it?” Bethany asked in horror.
“The question is whether I should stop it,” he replied, looking over at her, “or do I need the sheriff to hang himself a little more by releasing Jake?”
She thought about that and nodded. “I guess, in the end, that would probably be the better idea, … but that doesn’t mean I like it.”
“Of course not,” Greg agreed, with a smile, “but you will have Conall with you though.”
“Yes,” she muttered, “but he also took a bullet in that joint. He’s not even sure if the joint will work, and that’s something else to consider.”
He nodded. “I’ll stop by in a little bit, if you want.”
She looked down at her watch and said, “Make it tomorrow. I need to get some sleep in a big way.”
