Vengeance Before Virtue

by Tyler Porter

  For all he knew, his dad was out to slaughter the entire family. If he would kill their mother, surely he would kill the children that drove him to insanity in the first place. Then he would likely turn the shotgun on himself. After all, what else would he have left to live for with everyone he ever loved dead and gone?

  Matt could continue to drive north on 163, which would dead end into the road that would take him into Alta Vista. He didn’t know what he planned on saying to her or how he was going to explain what had happened, but somehow, he was going to find a way to make her understand that she needed to come with him. She needed to leave this place and start fresh and he could make that happen for her. He could give her a brand new life; she just had to trust him.

  He’d made his decision, turned off his hazards, and began to pull out into the road. That is when the sirens blared. He looked in his rearview mirror, and sure enough, the flashing lights blinded him. He checked the mirror on the driver side of his vehicle, and Sheriff Demsey came into view. But not the old family friend. Not the friendly face. Not the man who’d defended him in court and called in favors to help him. The man had a hard look on his face and his gun drawn. He held it out in front of him and aimed toward the driver door as he approached.

  Chapter 13: Two Sides of the Law

  “Show me your hands, Matt!” Demsey yelled as he carefully approached the vehicle one slow step at a time. “O’Bannon! Now! Show me your fucking hands! Put them out the window and do not move them!”

  Matt relented and slowly stretched his hands out the window with his fingers spread wide to show that they were empty.

  “Place them slowly onto the door, but keep them in sight!” Matt did as he was told.

  Demsey finally arrived at the window, but stayed four or five feet back and did not return his gun to its holster. His face was angry, jaw set.

  “What did I tell you the first day you were back and I found you in handcuffs?” Matt did not respond. Old habits die hard, and one of his was to go silent during interrogations, having been through too many of them. “I told you to steer clear of the bullshit! Didn’t I!? I told you that I was fucking done doing favors for you! I told you the next time I find you in my cruiser, you were done. And I damn well meant it!”

  “I haven’t done anything wrong, Sheriff,” Matt said trying to remain calm in hopes that it would have a similar effect on Sheriff Demsey.

  “Don’t lie to me! After everything I have done for your sorry ass, don’t you dare goddamn lie to me!”

  “Sheriff, I have never lied to you. There have been times when I’ve refused to answer a question that you asked, but I have never, ever lied to you.”

  “Really? Let’s test that little statement, shall we? What happened to your back window, Matt?” He waited for an answer, each passing second seeming to grow more furious. “Is that one too hard? Fine! Let’s try a different one. Why is your back window shattered Matt? Why are there bullet holes in the back of your car?”

  “It isn’t what you think.”

  “Don’t give me that shit! I am done falling for that bullshit! That’s always your answer, that it’s not what I think. Well let me explain real clear what I think. I think that I got reports on your parents’ street of gun shots. I think that when I got there, I found an empty house, your dad’s car missing, shattered glass in the street which I now know came from your car, and you know what else I found?”

  This time it wasn’t that Matt didn’t want to answer⸺he just couldn’t. He couldn’t find the words. He hadn’t stopped thinking about his mother’s crumpled corpse, but he had yet to say it out loud. And apparently he wasn’t going to be able to start now. He met Demsey’s eyes with his and realized that in the all the years that he’d known the Sheriff, and through all the time they’d spent together when he was growing up, he had never seen the man cry⸺not until that moment.

  “You can’t even say it!” Demsey screamed as he used his shirt sleeve to clear the moisture from his cheeks. “I found your mother! Dead on the fucking ground!”

  It was only then that Matt took inventory of the Sheriff’s attire. He had deep, red stains on his uniform. He guessed that Demsey had done exactly what he’d wanted to do when he first saw his mother laying there on the living room floor. He guessed he held her. Cried for her. Rocked her and told her he loved her. They had been like family. A slight sense of relief showed itself to Matt just briefly. He was grateful that someone had been with her, if even for just a moment. Grateful that she didn’t just lay there forgotten. Grateful that he was able to offer her body some sense of comfort as the last of her soul left the world when Matt couldn’t.

  “That woman was the most beautiful human being I have ever met, inside and out. She loved you so much more than you could ever understand. Even when you ran off and abandoned them all those years ago, she never stopped loving you. She never gave up on you, and she supported everything you did from afar. And this is how you repay her?” Matt’s eyes narrowed at the question. “This is the thanks she gets? For her deserter son to return home, which was all she ever wanted, just to have him take her out of the world?”

  Matt’s thought was confirmed. Sheriff Demsey was convinced that Matt had killed his mother in cold blood.

  “No. No, Sheriff. I would never⸺”

  “You would never? You did! Why is it you were at the scene when the gunshots were reported? Why is your broken glass in the street in front of their house? Why was your vehicle seen flying through town on its way out as fast as it would go?”

  “Sheriff, I need to get something out of my pocket that will help me explain all of this.”

  “No! Keep your hands there!”

  “Look at me Demsey. Look at me!” Now it was Matt who was letting his emotions fly. He’d just lost his mother in the most horrific way possible, and he was being accused of killing her. Demsey met his glare. “I didn’t do this. I loved my mother, that is the reason I came back. I loved her, and I wanted to make up for the all the time I had taken away from her. What I have in my pocket is going to prove to you that I did not do this.”

  “Get out of the car, slowly, and keep your hands raised,” Demsey answered, after several seconds of deliberation. “Keep them up and move slow.” He still had not lowered his gun.

  Matt slowly reached over the door frame, felt for the handle, and pulled it. He opened the driver side door while keeping both hands on the steel and stepped out. He stepped two paces to the side with his hands still up and Demsey’s gun still aimed at him. He began dropping his right hand to his pocket.

  “Slowly!” Demsey yelled brandishing the gun.

  Matt slowed his movement, but finally got to his pocket. He then reached two fingers inside and clamped them around what he needed. Sheriff Demsey watched as he pulled the small, folded-up note from his pocket. The same note that had been stuck on his hotel room door earlier that morning. The note claiming to be from his mother, but also stating that his mother would be next, and that if he didn’t hurry, all he would find would be her remains. He held the folded piece of paper out in front of him with the other hand still up in the air glued in place.

  He was partially doing as Demsey said without any pushback, because he liked and respected the man. He’d always been good to their town, and he’d always been fair. Even the people who always seemed to be getting into trouble admired him. The other reason why he was following every order to the smallest detail was the fact that the Sheriff’s gun was still aimed at him.

  Matt was fairly certain that Demsey had rarely had to take his gun out on duty, and that being the case, it was doubtful he spent very much time on the range. For all Matt knew, he might not even know how to operate the weapon. He could just carry it for the intimidation factor. He had just narrowly escaped being gunned down by his own father, and shortly before that, had narrowly escaped being castrated and left to bleed to death. The last thing he wanted was for his obituary to alert the world that he’d been accidentally killed by
an inexperienced officer of the law who let his emotions get the best of him and let off a shot unintentionally.

  He stayed put and stayed still as his old friend read the note, thought to himself briefly, and then read the note again. Several different emotions appeared on his face and then left as quickly as they’d appeared, but confusion was the one that kept coming back. Without looking away from the note, he dropped his gun down to his side, and after a minute or so longer, he returned it to his side holster and buttoned it into place.

  “What the hell is this?” Demsey looked bewildered as he asked the question, but he still didn’t look up from the note.

  “That was left on my hotel room door this morning Sheriff. Someone banged on the door early in the morning and that was all that was there when I opened it. That’s not all of it though.”

  “What do you mean, ‘that’s not all of it?’”

  “I received a note before this one. That one was also supposedly from Mom. It said for me to meet her behind Daryl’s, and that it was important that I come alone.”

  “And?”

  “And I went. I got there, and a short woman who looked kind of like her got my attention and led me into that alley between Daryl’s and the barber shop.”

  “It wasn’t her? Who was it? She led you into the alley for what?” Clearly his mind was moving a mile a minute, quite a bit faster than he was used to in the small town of Council Grove.

  “No, it wasn’t her. I don’t know who she was or why, but I followed her in there, and she pepper sprayed me.”

  “What!?”

  “It was an ambush. When you picked me up in Alta Vista after I went and found Mariah, that wasn’t the whole story. I went to a bar out there first, a place my mom told me she hung out a lot. I got into a little scuffle with some bikers.”

  “What do you mean by ‘little?’”

  “Look, one of the main guys, Bran something, he made a comment about Mariah. I snapped a little, and we got into it. It didn’t last long because the leader, a guy named Cody, showed up.”

  “Let me take one damn guess. This Cody shows up and things get a hell of a lot worse.”

  “They did, but it didn’t involve me. He⸺ I told him what the guy said, and he⸺ He had another one of the bikers take him in the back room and take his balls.”

  “His balls?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Both of them?”

  “I would assume so.”

  “Jesus Christ kid, you just can’t seem to live a normal damn life can you? Always in the middle of a steaming pile of shit. Anyways, none of this is making sense. You better start connecting some dots. What does any of this have to do with this note or your mom? With what happened?”

  “The ambush⸺that first note set me up for an ambush. It was some of the bikers, including Sergeant no-nuts. They were fucking me up pretty good. Then this guy came along and fought them off.”

  “What guy?”

  “I don’t know, some guy named John. I didn’t get his last name, says he lives in town, runs some kind of online business out of his house.”

  “John... What did he look like?”

  “Look I don’t really know how to describe him. I don’t think it matters, though. What matters is the guy saved my life. And then this morning, this note was on my door.”

  “So that’s why you went to your parents’ house? And what? You just found her that way? You really expect me to believe that with your history?”

  “I didn’t find just her, Sheriff.” Matt’s jaw tightened as his mind began to roll, bringing back the details he would soon have to share out loud with Demsey. He would have done anything to not have to say any of it, but Demsey was certain he’d killed his mother. He had to tell him the truth.

  “Who else?”

  Matt breathed in a deep breath before answering ... “My father.”

  “Patrick? Yeah, sure he was there. He’s the one who blew out your back window according to the neighbors! Why would he be shooting at you if you had nothing to do with her death, Matt!?”

  “Because⸺” He didn’t want to say it. He couldn’t say it. He just looked at Demsey and hoped that he could say enough with his eyes.

  “No. No, no, no... You can’t be serious. He wouldn’t! He couldn’t! He loved that woman!”

  “Did you know about the gun room, Demsey?”

  “What gun room?”

  “The addition on the back of the garage. I was there the other day, and had never seen it before until then. It was stocked full of guns, top to bottom: vests, cop-killers, silencers, all kinds of shit. Who the hell did he turn into while I was gone?”

  Sheriff Demsey turned away and dropped his head. He looked like someone had just ousted his deepest darkest secret, and he would now have to face a world that knew the truth. The terrible, terrible truth.

  “He’s changed a lot, Matt.”

  “Changed? You call that changed? He goes from a loving, caring husband and father to a man who murdered his wife and tried to kill his own son?”

  “Jesus.”

  “He was standing over her with the gun in his hand when I got there. He tried to blow me away. I barely got out of there and have a shattered window and a trunk full of lead to show for it. I guess...”

  “You guess what?”

  “I guess it just runs in the family.”

  “What does?”

  “The killer gene. Me with Vincent, him with my mom. Like son, like father.”

  “You had your reasons; whether the legal system agrees with them is another story. But this? What reason would your father have for killing the love of his life?”

  “You would know better than I would.”

  “No, I wouldn’t. We weren’t as close as we were before everything happened with Mariah. He wasn’t truly close with anyone after that. I don’t know what happened, but if what you’re saying is true, he certainly isn’t the same man I thought I knew.”

  “You know what has to happen, don’t you?” Matt said while Sheriff Demsey neither moved nor spoke. He just stared blankly at the ground. “We have to take him down. This is your jurisdiction, and you have a murderer running free in your town. He has to be put down.”

  “I know what you’re saying, but that may not be so easy.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He’s missing kid. He hasn’t been seen since the report of gunshots this morning. Neighbor said he took off quick out of the driveway in that old car of his. After seeing what I saw and hearing the neighbor’s account, I just figured he’d gone after you. Kinda figured I’d find you both together, one of you dead.”

  “We have to find him. Sheriff, the things in that war room... He isn’t right. Something broke in him, and he had enough inventory in that room to wage a small war.”

  “I have to find him. There is no ‘we,’ Matt.”

  His first instinct was to criticize Demsey for his lack of manpower and inexperience with dire situations, but he didn’t. It would have to be Demsey. Matt had already proven once that he didn’t have it in him to kill his dad. He had the chance, but he couldn’t do it. He didn’t think that was about to change. If he was going to be stopped, Demsey was the only option.

  “You’re right. You have to find him, and I have to find Mariah.”

  “No, no, no. You go riding into their town on horseback with your sword drawn and you’re gonna get yourself killed by those biker friends of yours who are already looking to finish the job.”

  “He killed my mom, and would have killed me. There is only one more person that would make sense as a target before he continues on a spree and then kills himself. I will not let that happen to her.”

  “Then I will place you under arrest right now. If that is the only way to keep you from getting yourself killed, then that’s what is going to happen.” Demsey reached for his cuffs, but stopped, keeping his hand on them when Matt responded.

  “I love you, Sheriff. You have always been good to me. You have
always treated me well, and I will never forget that. But if you arrest me, you are standing in the way of me keeping what’s left of my family safe. Listen to me when I say this, because I have never been more serious. There is nothing that I would not do to protect her, and that includes going through you if I have to. Please don’t make it come to that.”

  The two men stood eye to eye, squared with each other, neither making a move. Each knew the other was true to their word, that if either made the wrong move, someone was going to get hurt. In the end, the Sheriff was just a good man. He wanted to protect Matt from the fate he might suffer because of his decision. He could run into those bikers, or his dad could catch up to him. Either way, Demsey had genuinely always wanted to keep him safe, and this time was no different.

  He slowly removed his handcuffs from their pouch, and began to open them. He looked at Matt as he did, and nodded as if he understood what was going to come next. He understood that Matt had to do what he had to do, regardless of Demsey’s desire to keep him safe. Matt understood that Demsey was a good man, and that was why he also had to do what he had to do.

  “Matthew O’Bannon, I am hereby placing you under arrest for obstruction of justice. You have the right to remain silent...”

  As he started the Mirandas, he moved to clip a cuff around Matt’s wrist, but after one last heavy-hearted nod, Matt grabbed his hand, twisted it, and flung him face first into the Tahoe. Demsey grunted quietly when his head bounced off of the steel. Matt turned him and drove his knee into his soft, bloated belly. This time, he heard no grunt of pain, just air driving out of his target. He stood Demsey back up, and with tears forming at the corners of his eyes, jammed one tightly clenched fist into his temple, knocking him out cold. He stood over him momentarily, feeling every ounce of both regret, and necessity. He dragged him out of the road and into the grass beside his cruiser, before getting back into his vehicle and pulling away from the scene toward Alta Vista.

  Matt pulled into the small trailer park and flew toward the back corner where the tattered, yellow single-wide was parked. He skidded to a stop and jumped out, hurrying up to the door. He knew before he arrived that she wasn’t there, and that he was too late. The first thing that he noticed was that the front door was open wide, not on purpose, but because it was ripped from the frame and barely staying in place. The second tell was inside, which he saw partially from the windows as he approached, and more fully when he arrived at the open door.