by Mark Mathews
“Hey. Good to see you up and about. Hope you don’t mind me joining in on your stakeout.”
That put every doubt out of his mind. Wren had swapped her shift to get away from him. He hung his head, thinking he was going to have to do something to make it up to her. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite know what he should do, because he only had limited movement, and he didn’t know her as well, say, Alice and his girls.
“It’s all good. We can deem the porch the bachelor pad for now.”
Max chuckled at Garrett’s joke, but he knew that it wasn’t funny. He appreciated it all the same. Hours later, when he couldn’t stand sitting down any longer, Garrett made his way out into the backyard to walk a few laps. He was hoping he’d be able to exercise his sore muscles enough to stop them from tensing up. He wanted to be able to react as quickly as possible should anything else happen, and right now he felt like a geriatric. He was making his fifth lap when he was aware of someone watching him. Turning around as fast as he could, he saw Brooke standing on the deck, watching him with a blank expression on her face.
“Busy?”
She wasn’t sure how to tackle what was bothering her, and she was warring with her thoughts. He didn’t quite know how to react to her asking for help, because this was something new from Brooke. He was afraid to say or do the wrong thing to make her clam up again. He decided he would let her do all the talking, and just try to listen and be supportive of whatever it was that bothered her.
“Nope. Just aerating the lawn. What’s wrong, honey?”
He made his way to the deck, and was proud of himself that he didn’t need to hold on to the railing to get up the steps. She sat down in one of the lawn chairs, and he managed to get himself into the other one. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and she looked at her feet, biting her lip. Garrett reached out a hand and gently rubbed her shoulder. The motion killed him, but she needed it, and part of being a parent was to make sacrifices.
“I was thinking about what you said before. About showing me how to use a gun?”
Garrett held his breath. He didn’t know what she was going to say, and he didn’t want to somehow change her mind on it, whatever way she wanted to take the conversation. He waited, nervously.
“I was thinking that maybe it would be better to learn how to use one. You know, just in case.” She looked up at him, a fierceness in her eyes. “Now that I know what happened with you and Austin, I think I should be ready, no matter what.”
“Okay, well I can teach you to shoot, that’s not a problem, but there are safety rules that go along with shooting. And I don’t want you to take out your anger or revenge on Austin for what he did. That is not why I’m teaching you. Agreed?” The flame of anger didn’t die out of her eyes, but she jerked her head up and down in a nod.
“I know I can’t hurt him the way he hurt you, but I want to be able to protect my family. Even if it means hurting someone else.” Her mind was made up, and he thought that it might be time to show her.
“Dad? I want you to know that I would hurt him for what he did to you, though. I won’t, but I would.”
That was something he’d never thought he’d need his daughter to say, but it made Garrett feel like he was doing something right as a parent. Then he realized how morbid his thoughts were and he shook himself out of it. Brooke headed back into the house.
“Where are you headed now?” She paused long enough to answer him, turn and give him a loathsome glare, then whip around again and disappear.
“I want to go talk to Nat. I’m starting to learn to trust people again, and I feel like I need to get to know him all over. It’s strange that you don’t really know someone until you’re in a hardship with them.”
She left, and Garrett found that he was very proud of her. She was growing and changing in this hard time, but it was in a way that wouldn’t destroy her, or hurt anyone else. That was something that he wanted to protect her from, but all he could do was teach her the right way. He couldn’t protect her from herself. He hated that she was his little girl, going through her own personal hell, and that he couldn’t do anything to help her get through it.
CHAPTER SIX
A FEW DAYS WENT BY, and Garrett could feel himself healing. His walks in the backyard loosened up his muscles and they didn’t take nearly as long anymore, and didn’t wind him nearly as much. He’d been sure he’d cracked a rib when Austin had used him for a soccer ball, and that was something he wanted to confront the sheriff about. Sheriff Ramsay had been newly elected when all of this had started, and he’d been doing his best to serve and protect, until the lawlessness got out of control. Furthermore, he didn’t quite know what he was doing, so maybe he didn’t know what his team was doing, either. Austin was stepping over the line with confidence, and something had to be done about him. It was a trip that Garrett would rather take alone, so he slipped out of the house unnoticed and got on his bicycle. He watched the houses as he peddled by, and it seemed even more like he was in a ghost town. He felt like he was in an episode of The Walking Dead, just without the zombies.
Parking his bike, he thought twice about locking it up, then decided it should be fine. People were looking for food right now, not bicycles. He took a deep breath, wincing as he did, because his rib still wasn’t completely healed. Squaring his shoulders as much as he could, he walked toward the front door, pulling it open as slowly as he could. He didn’t want to bring any negative attention to himself by coming in flustered and angry. He had to stop almost immediately because it was so dark in the station house. He could hear faint rustling, but he could barely see. How could they get anything done at all in a building where they couldn’t see?
After the brightness outside, he had to stop to let his eyes adjust. The desks did have little candles sitting in glass jars, but that wasn’t enough for him to see the whole room. Garrett just barely could see Sheriff Ramsay sitting in a back corner, looking up from the huge stack of papers in front of him. What he possibly could be working on, Garrett had no idea, but he started out for the man’s desk anyway. The sheriff kept his eyes on Garrett, and he was forced to take in the changes that presented themselves in the man. His face was worn, lines of worry marred it like a roadmap. His eyes looked red-rimmed, like he hadn’t slept the whole time this had been going on. But there was also a hardness in them. That alone told Garrett the sheriff was starting to change into the type of man who could get through this situation, but what kind of a man would he be now?
“Good morning, sheriff. I was wondering if maybe we could talk for a minute? In private?”
The sheriff didn’t hesitate, just got up from his desk and preceded Garrett outside through a side door. He adjusted his gun belt, and it struck Garrett that he’d forgotten his own gun belt. On second thought, though, it was probably better that he hadn’t brought it, just in case things went wrong. They went out to what looked like a smoke pit, and the sheriff sat down on a picnic table.
“What can I help you with, Garrett?”
His voice was measured, and Garrett felt like he needed to proceed with caution. He was sure the sheriff had had his hands full since all of this had started, and he didn’t want to cause him any more stress if he could help it. He sighed, there was nothing he could do. He had to tell the man what was going on with the members of his team.
“I wanted to talk to you about Austin. He’s crossing lines now that he’s part of your team, and it’s making me feel like he’s putting my family in danger. I’m protecting my family, and he’s trying to kill me in any way he can so he can step in and take over everything that I’ve prepared for situations just like this.” There. It was all out in the open now. Austin probably would hear about it, but he didn’t care. The sheriff laughed bitterly, looking down at the ground before raising his face up to Garrett’s again.
“What do you want me to do? I have no control over any of them anymore. Not even my original team. They don’t listen to me, nothing I say matters, and they do what they
want. There’s nothing I can do about Austin’s corruption, because they all are that way now. They will do what they want, when they want, and it doesn’t matter who tries to get in their way, they will get rid of them. I’m sorry that you wasted your time coming down here.” Garrett closed his eyes and tried to compose himself. He’d warned the sheriff that this was going to happen.
“I told you this was going to happen.”
The sheriff’s head snapped up like it was yanked with a rope, and his eyes blazed as he glared at Garrett. If the sheriff was going to go over the edge like the rest of his team, then Garrett was dead and a fool for coming down here without a weapon of his own. He took a few steps back, hoping to get far enough away from the sheriff to get a head start on running if he had to do so. Granted, his injuries hadn’t quite healed all the way yet, but he could enjoy the pain later while he was still alive.
“The whole ‘I told you so’ crap isn’t going to help anything now! Yes, I admit it! Okay? There, I said it. I should have listened to you, but you have to look at the situation I was faced with. Most of the town thinks you’re crazy, and even though something did actually happen, they still don’t want to absolve you. Now that they know you were right, it isn’t any easier for us, either. They hate us for not knowing what you knew! So enough with the ‘I told you so’!”
Garrett was taken aback. He hadn’t realized this was going to cause a problem. All he’d wanted was Austin reined in, or kicked off the force. Now that he knew the sheriff’s office could do nothing to keep the peace between people, short of killing them, he felt there was no reason for him to be here. He should be home, so his family had an extra gun in case people got unruly.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make it worse. I was just concerned that some of your team is trying to bully the people in town, and I wanted to make sure you knew.” They sat in awkward silence for a little while, then Garrett cleared his throat.
“Would you like some advice?” Sheriff Ramsay sat there in silence, not looking at Garrett. “Well, I’ll give it to you anyway. Go home, pack your bags, and come over to my place. No matter what happens, you’re still always going to be welcome to join my fort. Family. Whatever you want to call it. I know you’re trying to do what’s right for everyone, but right now, there’s nothing that can be done. Those animals are doing what they want, and if you try to stand in their way alone, they’ll run you over, too. Just forget about the job, and come survive with us.”
“I can’t do that. The job is all I have! I have no family, no friends. Hell, I don’t even have a pet.”
Garrett wanted to laugh at the last little piece about not even having a pet, but when he looked at the sheriff’s face, he quickly sobered. Tears welled up in Sheriff Ramsay’s eyes, and it hurt Garrett to see how this was tearing him apart. He was trying so hard to make everything right, and all that really was happening was it was falling apart twice as fast.
“This job is the only thing that makes life worth living for me. I know that it sounds stupid when I hear it out loud, but it’s the truth.” Garrett awkwardly patted his shoulder, trying to make the poor man feel better.
“I don’t want to make it worse, but listen to me. I’m only going to tell you the truth. It won’t get any better. I don’t know how long this is going to last, but it could be permanent. Things only are going to get worse.” The sheriff walked away a little bit, trying to compose himself. Garrett opened his mouth to try saying something else, but the sheriff held up his hand for silence and Garrett closed it again with a snap.
“Just leave, Garrett. Go home and don’t come back.”
There was more pain than anger in the man’s words, but Garrett didn’t want to make things worse. He walked back around to the front of the building, and got onto his bicycle. He was glad it was still there. Thinking in hindsight, maybe it wasn’t a good idea to leave the bicycle unlocked in front of a corrupt police department. He started peddling home, purposefully not looking back over his shoulder. He didn’t want to give Austin the satisfaction of knowing he was a little worried. He didn’t fully relax until he was back at home, putting the bike in the garage. The moment he walked in the door, he found Alice with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at him. That was never a good thing.
“Where in the hell have you been? You’re supposed to be resting! How do you think you’re supposed to heal if you don’t do what’s best for your body?”
Her righteous anger shamed him a little, but it was something that needed to be done, so he had no regrets about risking his health a little. The only problem he could face in this situation would be telling her the truth, and hurting her by telling her what kind of a beast Austin really was.
“I was taking care of something that needed to be done. I’ll be just fine. Nothing happened to me, and I’m back home safe. Everything is fine. I can’t stay in the house forever, you know.”
He thought he was being reasonable, but when Alice stuck out her bottom lip in a childish pout, he knew she was throwing logic out the window, and making it so she would win no matter what. That was definitely something he hadn’t missed at all.
“You can too stay in this house forever if it means you’ll be safe. Now get back upstairs and rest.”
She was pointing toward the staircase, treating him like he was her child, and it really rubbed him the wrong way. Granted, no one ever had told her she couldn’t do this to him anymore, because she used to do this to him all the time when they were married, and she always got her way. He’d had to deal with her pouts and her victory dances before, but this time, she wasn’t going to get it. He was going to hold his ground.
“Don’t you understand? No one is safe! Least of all me. Your husband is gunning for me because he thinks I’m taking you from him, and the sheriff can’t keep a hold of the animal.”
He hadn’t meant for it to come out that way, if at all, but he couldn’t help it. Her eyes got big, and her bottom lip trembled. She was going to cry in a minute because she was going to blame herself for marrying him, for bringing him into Garrett’s life, and so on and so forth. He hated how predictable she’d become to him. She stepped forward, opening her arms and trying to hug him, thinking that a hug and a kiss would make everything better, but no. He wasn’t going to stand for it. He put up a hand and brushed off her embrace.
Leaving her with tears in her eyes, he went deeper into the house until eventually he found his way out to the backyard. It was the only place he’d felt alone with his thoughts lately, and even though he didn’t feel like doing the therapy he’d prescribed for himself, he still wanted some fresh air behind high walls that would offer him as much protection as he could give himself. He sat down in the middle of the yard, where he had the most space, then put his head in his hands. He felt so trapped any time he was in the house. The tension of Wren not wanting to be anywhere near him was bad enough, but throw in the problems between Wren and Alice, as well as the passes that Alice consistently was making more of lately, and he just felt like he was being smothered.
How could he tell Alice he didn’t want her in that way anymore? Yes, he still loved her, and that never would change because she was the mother of his children, but he couldn’t be with her anymore. He needed to make that clear to both her…and Wren. This was a dilemma he never had thought he would see himself in, and now he had no idea how to get himself out of it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CRICKETS PLAYED a symphony in the soft summer breeze, and Wren and Garrett had watch together, even though she’d done everything she could to get out of it. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough people for them never to be stationed together. Garrett had been trying to get her alone so he could talk to her about the proverbial elephant in the room, and yet she made sure he never could catch her. Now that they were together, he’d been trying to get a conversation started, but she either didn’t answer, or when he got too annoying for her, she gave monosyllabic answers. Their watch was almost over, and he still hadn’t b
een able to get a lead into what he’d wanted to say to her. Sighing heavily, he knew he just needed to come out with it or he’d run out of time. He had no idea when he’d be able to get her as his watch partner again.
“Wren, please, just listen to me.” She pointedly looked away from him to show she wasn’t interested in a word he was saying, but he knew she still could hear him so he kept going.
“I want to apologize to you for what happened with Alice. I don’t want her to ruin our friendship. I wouldn’t have asked you to be here with me if I didn’t want you here, okay? I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry for anything she’s said. I’m glad I met you and that you’re here.”
He looked away from her down the other end of the street, hoping she would at least believe him, even if she didn’t answer. She choked out a sob, and it immediately made him turn back toward her in wonder.
“Do you really think that, after everything I’ve done to try protecting you and your family, I would let you get hurt?” She almost spat the words out, and Garrett was quick to reassure her.
“No! Of course not!”
His face crumpled in pain, and he thought that maybe she was upset that Alice had thought her to be less than human. Yet now he thought that maybe there was something more to it. Did he dare let himself hope?
“Then why the hell would she? Honestly, I don’t even care about anything else, but I can’t believe she would think I would let you get hurt if I had anything to do with it!”
“She doesn’t mean anything by it, she’s just being somewhat childish lately.”
Garrett had hoped that would placate her a little more, but it only made her angrier. She whipped her head around to look at him, her eyes blazed, and the edges were red from her tears.
“She really has no clue! You’re the closest thing I have to a home right now, and even more so than I’ve ever had in my life! I would do anything for you! I’d take a bullet for you! Doesn’t she get that?”