by Pj Fiala
JT’s heart pounded. This brought back too many tortured memories of Afghanistan. He’d never dreamed he’d feel that way here at home. The slickness on his palms and the trickle of sweat down his back had nothing to do with the heat this time. He turned and looked at Kayden. “I have to go and help them.”
“No, JT; please don’t go out there.”
He crawled toward her. “Kayden, I have to. The shooting has stopped and it looks as though the men have been wrestled to the ground and are being detained by citizens. Stay here. If you don’t want to stay here, come with me and I’ll find my mom and the girls and you can be with them. I’d prefer that, by the way.”
He watched her process this for a brief moment before she scooted toward him. Making sure it was all clear, he checked from behind the curtain again and then slowly stepped out from his hiding place, not wanting to make any quick movements. His dad looked up and nodded to him. People were still trying to push their way out of the building. The noise had lessened, but still the yelling and screaming was all that could be heard.
He held Kayden’s hand as they made their way down the five steps from the stage. “No sudden movements, just slow and steady. Okay?”
“Yeah.”
Landing on the floor, he maneuvered them along the front of the stage and over to where his dad and Gunnar were. He knelt down. “Where’s Mom and the girls?”
His dad nodded. “Over helping Ryder with another shooting victim. He was shot in the neck and head.”
He glanced at the rest of his family, helping victims. Molly was calming a woman, must have been the wife or girlfriend of the victim Ryder was helping. She kept her arms wrapped tightly around the hysterical woman to keep her out of the way. Looking down at Kayden, she said, “I’ll help you with whatever you need.”
Seeing a woman lying close holding her arm tightly to her stomach, JT and Kayden stepped around debris to help her. “Where are you injured?” he asked
Through tears she said, “My arm was broken when I was pushed to the ground.”
He removed her fingers from her injured arm when police stormed in all doors at once. “Police. Everyone freeze. Hands on your heads. Lace your fingers.”
Slowly, they laced their fingers on their heads as the police stood at each exit and waited for everyone to comply. Looking at the woman JT was just beginning to help, an officer ordered, “Hands on your head and lace your fingers. Now!”
She began crying and JT addressed the officer. “Her arm is broken.”
The officer eyed the woman and said, “Put your good arm up on your head until we have assessed this room. Please.”
Several officers stood guard watching the people in the room while three officers slowly made their way to the victims. Jeremiah addressed one of the officers, nodding to the two shooters. “Those are your shooters under the knees of those men over there. They tackled them to the ground after the shots began.” Looking down at the man he was helping, he said, “This man has a gunshot wound to the chest. That man over there…” he said, nodding to Ryder and the women, “has a gunshot wound to the neck and head.”
“Who are you?” the officer asked.
“Jeremiah Sheppard. Former Marine Corps.”
The officer nodded. “Are you triage trained?”
“Not formally. Just what we learned in battle.” He nodded to JT and Ryder. “Those are my sons and also Marine Corps battle trained.”
The officer asked for Jeremiah’s ID, which he slowly pulled from his pocket. Once he was cleared, the officer asked him to continue to help the man until paramedics could arrive. Making his way to Ryder and then JT, he asked them each for their IDs and once they were cleared, they continued to help their respective victims. A couple of nurses had been in the crowd and also were tending to the injured.
Paramedics arrived and loaded the victims into ambulances; the police carted away the two shooters. One was Boon; the other was one of the Aces.
38
It was after seven o’clock when they were able to leave the scene of the Build-Off shooting. No one had officially won the trophy for this year, but they’d know more in the next few days how the winner would be notified. Though it would be anticlimactic, after the events of today, anticlimactic sounded damn good.
Kayden offered to bring the women home in her Jeep. They were all shook up after the shooting and being able to sit in the Jeep on the hour long ride helped them relax. JT eagerly looked forward to riding and letting the road take away the horrors of today. Riding with his family was one of his greatest pleasures. The bikes easily weaved through traffic, and he’d lost sight of the Jeep long ago.
As the wind whipped his hair and he rode the curves of the road, he felt himself relax just a bit. Finally pulling into the parking lot of OK’s, he continued through the parking lot and to the garage below Kayden’s apartment. He shut his bike off and dismounted. Pulling the hair band from his hair, he massaged his scalp and fingered the snarls as he slowly walked toward the bar. Soft crying caught his attention and he stopped and listened to see what direction it was coming from.
He walked toward the crying, which seemed to be coming from Oakes’ old garage behind Kayden’s. Stepping as quietly as he could on the gravel, he trained his ears on the sound. It sounded like a little girl. His heart began pounding in his chest and he called out, “Dakota?”
The crying stopped, but he called again. “Dakota? It’s JT, are you okay?”
The service door was cracked open and he stepped inside the darkened garage. Feeling the wall for a light switch, he couldn’t find one. He pulled his phone from his pocket, turned on the flashlight app, and slowly canted the light around the room.
“Dakota? Honey, it’s JT. Come out so I can help you.”
Softly, a little voice sniffled, “JT? I need help.”
His heart sped and the lump in his throat threatened to suffocate him. Swallowing several times, he asked, “Honey, where are you?”
“In the back room.”
Roving the light over the contents of the garage, he saw Oakes’ motorhome covered in a thick layer of dust. His pickup truck sat next to that and various rakes, shovels, and lawn equipment lined the walls. Continuing around the room, he saw the old wooden door on the wall that butted up to the hills behind the garage. JT made his way to that door and tried the knob. It turned, but the door seemed to be stuck.
“Dakota, are you in there?”
Crying, she managed, “Yes. I’m scared and Grandpa is hurt.”
JT slipped his phone into his pocket and pulled on the door with both hands. He got it to budge a little but not enough. It seemed to be stuck on the bottom. Pulling his phone out once again, he trained his light at the bottom of the door and found an old differential from a truck had been pushed in front of it. Once again sliding his phone into his pocket, he tugged and pulled and was finally able to move the differential enough to open the door.
He turned the knob and opened the door. He knelt down and Dakota jumped into his arms, her wet little face buried into his neck as she cried. He shone his light into the makeshift room, cut into the hill behind the garage. It had the eerie appearance of a cave, but he could see it wasn’t all that deep. Makeshift wooden shelves lined the walls and sitting on those shelves were a few bricks of what looked like marijuana.
He moved his light to the ground, and there laid Oakes—his face ashen—not moving. JT scooted to Oakes’ side, Dakota hanging on to his neck with shaking arms. “What happened, Kota?”
“The men were here and they were mad at Grandpa. They yelled and yelled but he told them he’d meet them tomorrow with their shit. When they finally left, we came out here. Grandpa told me to stay close to him and not wander. But when we got out here, those bad men came back. They fought with Grandpa and I hid right there.” She pointed to the ground under a shelf where she must have tucked herself.
“They took some of Grandpa’s shit.” She pointed to the shelves and the remaining blocks.
She whimpered. “Okay.”
“Then what happened?”
“Grandpa put his hands on his chest and then fell down. Those bad men left and I couldn’t get Grandpa to wake up. I couldn’t get out of here. So, I cried.”
JT held her close as he pulled his phone up and tapped his dad’s icon. As he waited for his father to answer, he whispered to Dakota, “It’s okay, honey. I’m here now.”
“JT, where are you?”
“Dad, I’m in the back behind Kayden’s garage. Oakes has another garage back here and he’s in here with Dakota. You better come quickly and call an ambulance.”
JT ended the call and felt Oakes for a heartbeat. Finding a very faint heartbeat, he let out a long breath. He told Dakota, “It’s going to be okay, honey. We’ll get Grandpa help.”
Dog, Ryder, Gunnar, Chase, and Frog came blasting through the garage door yelling for JT.
“We’re back here, head toward the hillside of the garage. You’re going to need your flashlights; I don’t think there’s lights in this garage.”
Almost immediately, one phone after another began lighting up the place. As they made their way toward JT and Dakota, he said, “I think Oakes had another heart attack, based on what Dakota just told me.”
Dakota began crying softly, and JT continued to hold her close to his chest and whisper in her ear that all would be all right.
For the second time in a day, the Sheppards dealt with police and paramedics. Oakes was loaded into the ambulance as Kayden and the women pulled into the parking lot. Kayden ran toward the ambulance and JT, still holding Dakota, intercepted her path. Kayden’s panicked look disappeared when she saw that Dakota was all right. She held her arms out and Dakota happily hugged her momma. “Oakes had a heart attack, Kayd,” JT softly informed her. “He’s still alive, but it isn’t good.”
Her eyes filled with tears, but he continued, “The police want to talk to you.” He took a deep breath. “Your dad had a large amount of marijuana in that garage and they think he’s been selling.” He watched her face as the surprise flitted over it.
She looked at the ambulance and then back to JT. “What? He’d never do that. Why do they think that?”
“Kayd, the Devils came here and fought with him.” He nodded at Dakota who still had her head down on Kayden’s shoulder, her little face in the crook of her neck. “She heard it and saw it. She saw them steal bricks from your dad’s garage.”
The tears slipped down her cheeks, but not a sound came from her. She watched the ambulance pull out of the parking lot, lights flashing, sirens whining. His heart broke for her.
“Ma’am, we’d like to have a word with you.” Kayden turned toward the police officer and nodded her head. JT held his arms out for Dakota and she snuggled back into his chest where she’d been before. “I’ll take her upstairs and get her ready for bed.” Kayden nodded as she followed the officer to his car. JT caught his mom’s attention and motioned her toward them.
“I’m going to need some assistance in getting Dakota ready for bed. She needs a bath and I’ve never done that before. Will you help me?”
“Of course, honey.” She patted Dakota’s little back and they walked toward the apartment. JT glanced back once and saw Kayden standing next to the officer’s car, her arms wrapped around her middle, hugging herself, her face wet with tears. He couldn’t remember a time he’d felt lower.
Kayden shoved her hands into her hair and held them there. She felt numb. First the shooting, now this. As she thought back on certain events in her life, it made sense now. About the time she got pregnant with Dakota, things changed around here. She’d been so wrapped up in herself that she either didn’t notice or chose not to think about it. The Devils came around a bit more and she assumed it was because Rog was friends with some of them. Then her dad caught Rog stealing from the till and fired him. That’s when things started getting nasty. Rog went to jail for robbing a store in Deadwood and things settled for a while. New customers were coming into the bar and she thought things were going good. The big house came on the market and Kayden brought the idea to her dad about the vacation rental to earn more money. He had the money for her in no time, said he had it in his savings. Then they had money for remodeling. Two years ago when she needed money for an attorney to begin the process of termination of Rog’s parental rights, he helped her out. But that’s when things got nasty with the Devils. They started coming around and chasing away their customers, and her dad told her it was because of the mica. They still had some regular customers, but that was about it. Now she wondered if something else transpired between him and the Devils. She hated to think about it, but the police told her they thought Oakes had stolen from them. They’d been watching the bar for a little while now and suspected something was going down at the bar. The regular customers were not actually customers at all, but buyers.
She slowly made her way up the stairs to her apartment. This was a day she’d never forget and one she’d very much like to. She’d called the hospital and was told her father was resting and that visitors were discouraged until tomorrow. Fine by her. She was pissed and tired and not in the mood to go and have to rein in her anger at him tonight.
Opening the door to her apartment, she heard JT’s low sexy voice softly reading a book to Dakota. Peering into the living room, he sat in her recliner. Dakota rested in the crook of his arm, her eyes droopy, but she looked peaceful. She was wearing her pink nightgown and her little bare feet rested on his thigh. If you can fall in love twice with the same person in the same week, she just did. He looked up at her and a slow sexy smile turned his face from soft and endearing to dangerously sexy in a nanosecond.
Dakota peered around her book and sleepily said, “Hi, Mommy.”
“Hi, baby. Looks like you and JT have things handled in here.”
“Yeah. And Joci helped me take a bath.”
JT grinned. “I’ve never done that and Mom said she’d help, so I took advantage.”
“Are you almost finished?”
Dakota yawned. “Yeah.” She rubbed her little eyes. “Is Grandpa okay?”
Kayden glanced at JT, then back to Dakota. “Yeah. He’s resting now.”
JT set the book on the table beside the chair and stood holding Dakota in his arms. “Let’s get you to bed, little one.”
Kayden started down the hall before them, and he followed, carrying her precious bundle. She pulled the comforter back and JT laid Dakota in her bed, kissed her forehead, and said, “See you in the morning, Kota.”
In her sleep-filled voice she said, “Okay. Thank you for saving me.”
Kayden furrowed her brows. She hadn’t heard this part of the story yet. JT stood and Kayden swooped in to kiss Dakota good night. “Sleep tight. I’ll love you always, Dakota.”
“I’ll love you always, Momma. You too, JT.”
He instantly put his hand over his heart and Kayden thought it was the sweetest thing she’d ever seen. Definitely a keeper.
His voice low and soft, he said, “I’ll love you always, too, Dakota.”
She smiled and nestled herself into her pillow and closed her eyes.
39
Kayden looked at JT as they entered the kitchen. “Beer?”
“Yes. God, what a day.”
She pulled two beers from the refrigerator and popped the tops off with the opener she pulled from the drawer. Handing one to him, they tapped their bottles together and both of them had a nice long drink. He took her hand and walked to the living room and sat on the sofa, pulling her down next to him.
“You okay?”
She sighed heavily. “I’m okay, I think.” Her fingers absently picked at the label on the beer bottle where she pulled and tugged until the whole label came off. “I don’t know what to think. I didn’t know he was dealing. I feel so stupid that it was going on right under my nose, and I didn’t know a da
mn thing.”
“That’s how they do it. You can’t let too many people in on what you’re doing. More risk of word getting out that way. Plus, I suspect he never wanted you to know.”
“Yeah. Tell me about saving Dakota.”
JT explained everything to her and she sat stoically and listened, anger bubbling up in her chest so powerful she wanted to scream. Right in front of her little girl, his little granddaughter, he messed with them and that shit. Pissed her off.
“I don’t know what to do, JT. I’m so mad at him, I want to hit him full force. How could he do this? He’s always been so good. All these years since he’s been sober, I thought we walked the narrow line. And he put Kota and me in danger.”
JT sat quietly for a few moments. Finally, he said, “I know what you mean. I’m pissed at him for all of this, too. He’s not the man I thought I knew. And the fact that he put the two women I love in danger, well that rankles something awful.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, kissed her lips and laid his head on top of hers. “But, in truth, he might not make it through this heart attack, Kayd. You need to make peace with that. And don’t let him die with you angry at him; that will haunt you.”
She sniffled as the tears sprang to her eyes. He was right. Again. He was always right. She sat enjoying the warmth and comfort of his arms, the smell of his aftershave, and the fact that he loved her and her daughter and they loved him just made it so much better. She’d be okay. They’d be okay.
After a long silence, he said, “You’ll probably lose the big house, you know. He bought it with drug money, so the feds will take it.”
“Yeah. The police mentioned as much.”
“The bar was purchased long before this, so you can sell it. You and Dakota can come back to Wisconsin and live with me.”