Chapter 12
Case
When the call came through dispatch that there was a high-speed chase happening on one of the highways running along the outskirts of town, I didn’t think anything of it until the make and model of the vehicles involved came through. Kody was the only person in Loveless who drove a lime-green Jeep Wrangler. She was also reckless enough to try and outrun a pursuer at top speed in the middle of traffic.
I was already losing my mind with worry when a second call came in from the leader of the local motorcycle club. I had a tenuous truce in place with the Sons of Sorrow, and Shot in particular. Begrudgingly, I had a lot of respect for their president, Shot Caldwell. He was a former marine, so I understood him on a soldier-to-soldier level. I never liked how chummy he was with my little sister, or how blatantly he skirted the edges of what was and wasn’t legal. But I appreciated his attention to detail when he gave me a full description of the SUV trying to run Kody off the road. My heart dropped to my toes when he mentioned Kody wasn’t alone in the Jeep. She had a pretty, petite, dark-haired passenger along for the wild ride.
I saw red.
I was so distracted after hearing that Aspen was in the Jeep with my sister, I didn’t utter a word of protest when Shot told me he was sending a couple of his guys after the SUV. I wouldn’t normally permit anyone who wasn’t a member of my department getting involved in such a volatile situation, but Shot and his boys could handle themselves, and I wanted the driver of the SUV, no matter what shape he was in by the time I got my hands on him.
But my first priority was making sure my sister and my confusing, confounding nemesis were all right.
Siren screaming, I raced out of town and down the highway with little regard to the speed limit. I actually flew past a couple of the bikers as I made my way to where Kody had pulled off onto the shoulder of the road. One of my patrol cars and a deputy were already on the scene. He was obviously doing his best to keep his patience in check while talking to my little sister. She would try the patience of a saint, so I gave him credit for keeping his cool as Kody rolled her eyes and scowled at each question tossed her way.
Aspen was also leaning against the side of the brightly painted Jeep. She had a crutch under one arm, and her black hair was a wild tangle around her alarmingly pale face. She was answering the questions coming from the uniformed deputy much more calmly than Kody, but I could tell she was nervous by the way she kept fidgeting around on her good leg and the way she kept tugging on her lower lip.
Both women turned and looked in my direction when I pulled the SUV to a stop behind the Jeep. I watched as Kody stiffened, posture automatically going defensive and ready to fight. Aspen was the opposite. If it was possible for her to get even smaller, she did. She seemed to shrink in on herself.
I stalked the short distance separating me from the two women. I was so agitated I forgot my hat back at the station, so I pushed a furious hand through my hair as I glared at my younger sibling.
“What in the actual fuck, Kody?” She turned to face me, and we squared off, just like we had a million times before when she was growing up and purposely pushing every single button I had. My deputy tactfully made his escape, telling me he had enough to file a report and would use the picture Aspen took to put out a Be on the Lookout alert for the SUV.
“What were you thinking? And why is she with you?” I glared to where Aspen was hovering over Kody’s shoulder. When our eyes met a fresh wave of rage swept through me. The woman literally had someone gunning for her, and she dragged my baby sister into the line of fire. “Protective custody means you don’t leave the safe house, Counselor. I’m sure you know that.”
Kody poked me in the center of the chest with her index finger. “Calm down, Sheriff. No one is hurt. That’s the important thing to focus on.”
“No. It’s not.” I swatted her hand away and stepped around her, so Aspen had no choice but to look at me. Angry, hurtful words shot out before I could think through the implications. Just like that day on the steps when my life came crashing down around me and she was in the center of the wreckage. “You can’t stop playing games with my family, can you? It doesn’t matter who gets hurt as long as you get your way. Will you be satisfied when I finally lose someone I love completely? How many different ways do you want me to suffer, Aspen?”
My voice was rising, and I could feel my temples throbbing as unchecked fury coursed through my veins. But there was something else there too. Another feeling trying to push its way to the surface. Something warmer and softer than the familiar anger. Something that scared me and made me nervous because I had no clue what I was supposed to do with it. So, like the mature, well-adjusted man I was, I clung to the familiarity of being pissed as hell at Aspen Barlow so I didn’t have to admit I might, possibly, be worried sick about what might have happened to her right alongside my flesh and blood.
“Case!” Kody’s voice was sharp as a knife, and her hand was back on the center of my chest pushing for all she was worth. “Stop it. I didn’t have to go and pick her up. That’s on me. You can’t be mad at Aspen for my choice. You know better than anyone, no one makes me do anything I don’t want to do.”
“She shouldn’t have left in the first place. It’s too dangerous. Someone wants her dead.” I bit out the obvious.
Kody threw her hands up in exasperation. “Yeah, we all know that. But Aspen has a life that didn’t simply grind to a halt because someone has it in for her. Maybe if you could stop being hardheaded all the time, and took the time to talk to her instead of yelling at her or ignoring her, she could’ve asked you to help her instead of me. Or maybe you would’ve realized it on your own if your head wasn’t so far up your ass.”
“She is right here, and she is perfectly capable of speaking for herself.” Slowly, Aspen maneuvered herself on the crutch over the uneven ground until she was facing both of us. “Kody, I really am sorry you got dragged into this mess. I knew it was a risk leaving the house and I had no right to ask you to put yourself in danger like I did. Case is right. I was selfish. I shouldn’t have involved you.”
Aspen narrowed her eyes in my direction as the shockingly white pallor of her face gave way to a scarlet flush. “As for not leaving the house, we never discussed that. No one is supposed to know where I am staying, and I stuck to that. We never talked about the fact I would practically be under lock and key until you have someone in custody.” She gave me a pointed look, and I bristled automatically. I didn’t like the implication that if I were better at my job, we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all because whoever was out to get her would be behind bars. “I have things to take care of, a life to manage. I can’t do that cut off from the entire world. I’m not going to be punished any more because someone out there wants to hurt me. I’m not hiding forever. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Kody piped up before I could respond to Aspen’s defiant rant. “I’m glad you called me, Aspen. Case taught me defensive driving before I even had my license. If you’d been with someone else, in a taxi, or in an Uber, today might have ended very differently. Not to mention Shot only got involved because he recognized my Jeep.” Kody sniffed and lifted her eyebrows in my direction. “Instead of huffing and puffing, and trying to blow the house down, why don’t you look at the upside of the situation for once.”
I growled and pointed a finger at my little sister. “That’s another bone I have to pick with you. Why are you and Shot Caldwell still buddy-buddy? I thought I told you to steer clear of him and the SoS. You don’t know what they get up to, and if things ever go sideways, the last thing we need is a Lawton tied to an outlaw motorcycle club.”
“You don’t get to tell me who my friends are, Case. You don’t get to tell me where I can go, or what I can do, either. You’re my brother, not my keeper. How many times do I have to remind you of that fact? Be happy Shot has a soft spot for me. That SUV wasn’t backing off and had already shoved us into oncoming traffic once. Shot ended the situation w
ith no fatalities, and he called you to tell you what was going down. Sounds like he was a Good Samaritan if you ask me.” Kody tilted her chin back and flipped her hair over her shoulder. She was dug in, ready to argue her position until she was blue in the face or until I gave in. We’d always been this way.
I sighed and lifted my hands to my hair and tugged. Frustration pounded at me from all directions. There was no making Kody reevaluate her choices when she was certain she was in the right. So I shifted my attention to Aspen. At least she had the sense to seem contrite over the near heart attack they’d given me.
“If you wanted to leave the house I would have sent a deputy over so you would have had protection while taking care of what you needed to do today. I would have sent someone whose job is to put themselves in the line of fire. My sister likes to meddle where she shouldn’t, and lord knows she enjoys pissing me off, so I’m not surprised she jumped at the chance to run you around town. But she shouldn’t end up smeared all over the asphalt because you suddenly got cabin fever.” My tone was cold, and I knew the pointed barbs hit their mark when Aspen flinched hard. “You’re playing with lives and hearts that don’t belong to you. I know you’re used to doing that at your job, but this is different. You had a choice this time, and you made the wrong one.”
Kody snapped my name once again, but I didn’t look her way. Aspen blinked her wide, doe eyes at me and slowly nodded. “You’re right. I did make the wrong choice, I do that a lot where you’re concerned. I won’t do it again.”
I grunted my response, buried my confusion and inclined my head toward my SUV. “Get in the car, and I’ll take you back. I’m going to assign someone to stay with you when I can’t be there. That way if you need to leave for some reason you can do it safely.”
Before I was done speaking she was shaking her head violently back and forth. “Oh no. I’m not going back to that house. I’m done.”
I turned to blink stupidly in her direction. “Done? How can you be done when we still have no idea who’s after you?”
Aspen shook her head again, dark hair catching in the wind and blowing wildly around her face. “I’m done with you, Sheriff.” She shifted her gaze toward Kody and almost whispered, her voice was so low and quiet, “I need my new phone out of your Jeep. I’m calling for a ride and catching the first flight I can get out of town.”
Kody jumped from foot to foot, clearly unsure of what she should do. Eventually, those big, dark eyes of Aspen’s must’ve won her over because my sister suddenly bolted for the opposite side of the car, leaving Aspen and me facing off on the side of the road.
I should be relieved. Getting her out of town was actually a really good idea, but something heavy and unwieldy settled in my gut at the thought of her being out there on her own with an unknown threat breathing down her neck. If she left my county, she would no longer be my problem, and everything inside of my chest tightened up at the thought. I liked knowing where she was and that she was tucked away, somewhere safe and sound.
I liked going home and having someone besides my son there. Someone who asked about my day and watched me with soft eyes and a perfectly pouty mouth. Someone who seemed genuinely glad to see I made it home from patrol in one piece and sometimes understood the bad days were so bad there was no getting past them. Someone who forced me to slow down and appreciate the good days because it felt like there were fewer and fewer of them.
“Aspen…” I took a step in her direction, and she practically scrambled backward. Her crutch she was using for balance slipped on the gravel, sending her off-center, and I reached out to catch her. I swore under my breath when she immediately fought my hold and tried to break free.
“Let me go, Case. I’m sick and tired of you finding fault with everything I do. Was I stupid today? Yes. But you have no idea, no clue how hard I worked, how diligently I fought for those lives and hearts that weren’t mine. I hate that you lost so much time with your son, but you could have lost even more than that. No one is exempt from making the wrong choice. That includes you, Sheriff.” She used her bandaged hand to pull her wayward hair out of her face as she glared at me. “The difference is, I can accept responsibility for my screwups. Can you?”
I scoffed at her and tilted my chin down so I could match her, dirty look for dirty look. “Of course I can.”
She snorted. “Really? Because you’ve been blaming me for everything that’s gone wrong in your life for the last decade. I had nothing to do with you knocking up Becca in high school. I wasn’t the one who kept you from leaving Loveless. I never suggested you go work for your father, knowing how corrupt he was. I had nothing to do with your marriage falling apart, and it was never my idea to take custody away from you, and I wasn’t the one who threatened the judge. The only thing I did was try and save the very last good thing you had in your life at the time…your reputation. If it weren’t for me, this entire town would believe you were no better than your father.” Her voice was steadily rising, and her cheeks were getting redder and redder. I’d never seen her in a full-on temper before, and I had to admit she was still beautiful even when she was mad. Her anger made her seem bigger than she actually was, and I fought flinching away from the heat in her eyes and acid in her words.
“Do you know Becca claimed you admitted to helping your father with covering up a case when you were a deputy? She told me you had a direct hand in letting an abusive husband go. He later kidnapped and attacked his wife. She swears you got drunk and admitted to her you knew the guy was dangerous, that you saw your father hide evidence that would have kept the husband behind bars, but your father let him go, and you didn’t do anything about it. She told me you knew all along your father took money from the man to cover it up and keep what he did to his wife quiet. The only reason she never came forward with the accusation during your divorce and custody hearings is because I talked her out of it each and every time. I’m the one who convinced her she needed actual evidence for the claims to matter. I’m the one who reminded her if you lost your job, if you went to jail, you couldn’t pay the outrageous amount of money she was asking for every single month. Everyone in this town had been dying to see you fall from grace. I saved you from that, and I saved Hayes from that, because I never believed it was true. Even after you threatened me. Even after you treated me like I was a leper. I always believed the best of you, Case. You kept your job, your repuation, and most importantly, you kept the time you did get with your son. All because of me.”
I couldn’t fight it any longer. I fell back one step and then another. I couldn’t breathe. And I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the woman standing in front of me. It was like the sun suddenly peeked out from behind a thick covering of clouds, and I was finally seeing her without the shadows and murkiness from the past.
“Why didn’t you ever talk to me about what happened back then?” I whispered and watched as Kody cautiously came around the back fender of her car.
Aspen gave me an are-you-kidding-me look and snorted so loudly a flock of birds in a nearby field took flight.
“How was I supposed to talk to you, Case? You hated me. I tried to help you once that day on the stairs, and you shut me down after insulting me. You made it clear you wouldn’t believe anything I had to say. Then I didn’t talk to you because your ex-wife was still my client and I was legally obligated to keep my mouth shut. And even when she wasn’t my client, you still hated me, yet I didn’t do anything with the accusations, even though it’s my job to uphold the law. I couldn’t convince myself the boy I was so very attached to and cared so much about in high school became a man who was so blatently corrupt. And it has eaten at me all these years. Made me question who and what I am.” She must’ve caught sight of Kody coming around the car and held out her injured hand for the phone. “But I’m done being a martyr. I’m done being your convenient excuse for everything that doesn’t go the way you want it.”
I was stunned stupid and silent. I had no clue. All these years she was sitting on a sec
ret so huge, so damning. All for me and Hayes…
It wasn’t true, of course. Well, my role in the events the night the young woman reported her husband wasn’t true. Yes, I believed my father accepted a bribe from the deacon to make the pictures of his wife’s injuries and her medical reports disappear. And yes, I was aware that he was fully responsible for sending the abused woman on her way and letting the husband go, but I had nothing to do with any of it. I took the woman to the hospital. I urged her to press charges and told her she needed to get a lawyer and go above my father’s head if he wouldn’t listen. I worked for weeks to prove my father tampered with the evidence, but he was so good at covering his tracks it was like beating my head against a brick wall. I diligently checked up on her, and when she was taken by her ex, I was the one who coordinated with the FBI and local officals to find her as quickly as possible. I’d even gotten a chance to make amends when she returned to Loveless several years later looking for closure. An apology didn’t seem like enough after all she’d been through, but I was glad I got to say “I’m sorry.”
I did vaguely recall getting hammered one night back then and telling Becca that seeing that young woman black and blue, with broken bones and a broken soul, was finally my breaking point. My father was really good at being a bad guy, and I was tired of him getting away with it.
I forced myself to take a breath, and before my sister could pass the phone off, I intercepted it. Kody let it go without much of a fight, so I figured she knew this conversation I was having with Aspen was far from over and for once was cutting me some slack and not intervening. I slipped the thin device in my back pocket and took a step in Aspen’s direction. She swore at me and bumped against the side of the Jeep as she tried to evade me.
“Aspen…we need to talk about this, about what happened back then. It’s not true. I would have never helped my father hide evidence. But, either way, no one asked you to throw yourself on the funeral pyre.” Which made the fact that she had even more impressive and poignant.
Justified Page 16