She paused. “I would hope I would.”
My eyes moved from Eleanor to the rest of the panel who were all looking at me in alarm.
Then I scanned the crowd, settling on Trance. I could tell he knew where I was going with this line of questioning, and he gave me a ‘good girl’ look that bolstered me.
“Well, I would hope I would too; but to tell you the truth, I hope I never have to experience that.” I said softly.
My eyes returned to her, but she was busy looking at the man in the front row I was trying my upmost hardest to forget. Paul. And next to Paul were his parents.
“Do you have a dog at home, Mr. Mills?” I asked him sweetly.
Mr. Mills was the one that was most neutral about it all. He was a native Texan, and had moved to Benton only a few years ago, according to Silas’ research. He was also pro-gun and pro Second Amendment.
His eyes flipped to mine, surprised by my addressing him. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And your dog, would you expect him to bark if someone showed up at your house?”
He smiled fondly. “Oh, old Blue barks at anybody that knocks on the door. I love it.”
“Would you hope that he would alert you if danger was imminent?” I asked.
He saw where my line of questioning was going. “Yes ma’am, I surely would.”
“What about protect you from a break in? Would you want him to protect you from the intruder?” I probed.
“Yes ma’am. I have three young children at home. I would want all the help I could get.” He answered.
“Mr. Burns, would you work for free?” I asked panelist number two.
He shook his head. “No. I most definitely would not.”
“What about going into a dangerous situation, and not getting paid to do that. Every single day. Would you do that?” I asked.
“No. I would not.” He affirmed.
“And you Mrs. Sims,” I said addressing panelist number five. “When was the last time you were in a public school?”
She tilted her head and pursed her lips as she thought about it. “Well, it would have to be a couple of years ago. My daughter used to be a cheerleader in high school. I went for her pep rallies.”
“Did you know they have a drug dog that sniffs out drugs every other week? Do you think a person could do what Radar does?” I asked serenely.
“No, I guess they couldn’t.” She confessed.
“On a daily basis, Radar goes to schools in Benton to make sure they’re free of drugs. He checks lockers and vehicles...all before his shift even starts. They may have a couple of hours to kill from there, but then they’re on shift for another twelve plus hours. He conducts traffic stops. He helps detain fleeing subjects. He protects his human officer with his life. Most of those are on a good day, too. He is the hardest working officer on the force...all without pay. Do you want to know what he gets out of it? Love. He gets loved. By Officer Spurlock. By the kids that he meets while visiting schools to teach them about safety. Do you know he even goes to visit kids at the local hospitals?” I asked.
When no one answered or said anything, I continued talking. “A few shifts ago, he saved my husband’s life. When my husband was entering a home for a well check, he was shot through the front door. Radar saved my husband’s life when he went in after the armed suspect. He also didn’t kill him. If that had been any other officer, they would’ve had to use lethal force, and that suspect would’ve been dead. Never having to face his crimes. At the football game last week, Radar protected me, just as any other officer would have. Next time you see a K-9 and his human officer, you think about all of the things that K-9 does for this city, and make sure to thank him. Because he’s doing it because he wants to, not because he has to.”
When I left the podium, I saw genuine smiles on nearly every single one of the citizens that I passed. And when I got close enough to Trance, he locked his hand onto my wrist and pulled, bringing me down hard into his lap and burying his face in my neck.
“I love the fuck out of you.” He growled softly.
I laughed lightly. “I love you, too.”
The ruling was in Radar’s favor six to one. The one opposing figure being Eleanor.
Whom I suspected was conspiring with Paul, as well as his parents.
Paul’s steely gaze followed me as I walked out of the town hall, his eyes promising retribution.
Chapter 19
Looks like today’s got shit storm written all over it.
Trance to dispatch
Viddy
I awoke to lips skimming over my cheek.
“Baby,” Trance said into my ear.
My eyes opened to slits and I stared at the dark room. The only light there was, was coming from the direction of the living room.
Trance got dressed in the spare bedroom that was all the way across the house, since he had to get up about four hours earlier than I did. He always came to kiss me goodbye, though.
We’d been married for two blissful months now, and each time he left me alone to go on shift, he said the same thing.
Today was no different.
“I’ve got to go to work. The .45 is in the nightstand. Love you to pieces.” Trance said softly.
Then I reciprocated with the same thing that I replied with every time he left me to go on shift.
“Squeeze you back together.” I whispered. “Stay safe. Watch your six.”
He chuckled, as he always did, and gave me one last kiss on the cheek before leaving.
As I listened to his retreat, and Kosher’s claws following in his wake, I felt around for Radar’s head and pulled him in close to my chest. Then I whispered the same prayer that I did every time he left me to go on shift. “Keep him safe, day and night. Give him courage, strength and might.”
My eyes closed, but as soon as I started to drift off to sleep, Radar started doing the dreaded barfing sounds that makes every pet owner shoot up out of bed as if their ass was on fire.
Running through the house at a sprint, I made it to the door and yanked it open, ignoring the alarm. Radar rushed past me, barely making it to the grass in time to yak up God knows what.
I was surprised to find that the wind was blowing like crazy since I never even heard the storm approach like I usually did. And dammit did it suck. I hated when Trance had to work in the rain. Not to mention his rain parka was hanging up in the laundry room.
Bolts of lightning streaked one after the other across the sky, followed quickly by the boom of thunder.
Following the second boom of thunder, the neighborhood, and the house behind me went deathly still. Which meant the lights were out and I’d have to get dressed in the dark. Yay.
Once he was done yakking, Radar came to my side, head hung.
When I turned around to head back inside, I dropped like a stone.
I never even saw it coming.
***
Trance
Lighting streaked across the skies, and thunder boomed, shaking my cruiser with its intensity.
Looking up, I could see the clouds moving at a fast pace. Which meant we were in for one hell of a storm.
Then I remembered that I’d taken my coat out of the car since it was covered in mud from the previous storm. Viddy had washed it for me, and hung it up on the rack just inside the laundry room door, but I’d left it there each and every time I passed it.
Luckily, I was only two, three minutes tops from the house. That would’ve sucked to not have it today. If I hurried, I wouldn’t even be late.
“Damn!” I yelled as another streak of lightening lit up the sky, scaring the absolute shit out of me.
I pulled a bitch in the middle of the road, and pulled up to my driveway just in time to see every single light in the entire subdivision go off.
“Wonderful,” I muttered under my breath.
Leaving the truck running, I locked the doors and made a beeline for the front door.
I didn’t use it often, so once I made it under the ov
erhang of the roof, I had to search for the key.
I was lucky I did, or I would’ve never heard my wife scream.
After one heart wrenching second, I decided to let Kosher out of the truck, and then I called in backup.
“I need some fucking help. I’m at home.” I said, and then pressed the little orange button that I’d never pressed in my entire career as an officer of the law.
The button was simple. Press it in case of emergency.
It wasn’t easy to press, which surprised me. In all the years of having that button, never once had I tried to press it.
Kosher was vibrating with tension at my side as we walked around the side of the house.
I’d been gone for no less than six minutes.
It wasn’t long. But it was long enough to have the lights go out, and someone to get in.
I don’t consciously remember that walk around the house.
All I remembered was my heart pounding, and my vision honing. The backdoor was wide open, but there was a large black lump just on the outside of the porch that I knew was Radar. My gut told me it was him without even needing to confirm it.
Stepping over his lifeless body, I came to a stop, crouched down low, just inside the back door.
I listened and concentrated on the sounds of the house.
Nothing was coming from the room off the back of the kitchen, but I cleared it out of habit rather than desire to do so before I pied the corner of the living room.
‘Pieing’ a corner is a strategic move where the only thing showing when you check around the corner is the barrel of your gun.
Once I confirmed there was nothing there, I turned the corner and pied the corner to the hallway that led to the two back bedrooms.
I’d done so well, not flipping out. I’d managed to shut my mind down and stop myself from reacting like every cell in my body urged me to do.
Instead, I contained myself, and fell back on my training.
I was about to send Kosher ahead when I heard the soft crying of my wife, followed by Paul’s sadistic reply. “Sit still bitch. Or I’ll tie your legs to the post and make it really good for you.”
What I heard made every single part of me freeze and then explode in motion.
In hindsight, I never should’ve done it. I knew better, but I just couldn’t stop myself.
I burst through the door and found Paul between my wife’s legs. She was crying, and blood was coating the front of her face and chest, soaking the grey ‘POLICE’ t-shirt she’d stolen of mine.
I raised my gun, tightened my finger on the trigger, and fired.
If I were thinking more clearly, I would’ve used my Taser. Or at least gotten him to come towards me before shooting.
With the way it happened, the bullet entered at the base of Paul’s head, and exited out the very top, blowing it to pieces.
Blood, bone, and grey matter spread in a fifteen-foot arc across the room, and Paul’s lifeless body collapsed on top of Viddy.
Viddy screamed in fear, and I grabbed the body by the collar of his shirt and hauled him backward, letting him drop unceremoniously to the floor with a loud, meaty thump.
Viddy was still screaming, which was not in the least surprising seeing as she was naked and covered in blood from the waist down.
Grabbing the corner of the bed spread, I brought it to Viddy’s face and started wiping away Paul’s blood from her face, causing her to finally calm enough to realize that Paul was no longer on top of her.
“T-Trance?” She whimpered, breaking my heart even more.
“It’s me, baby. It’s okay. Shhh,” I said, brushing her hair back, uncaring of the wet that slicked against my hand as I did so.
With one large inhaled breath, she launched herself at me, sobbing.
***
“Goddammit Spurlock. What the fuck were you thinking?” The Chief snarled.
I looked at him from my perch on the couch.
Thank God her sister came over as soon as she heard what happened. It gave me some time to collect my thoughts while Adeline helped Viddy get cleaned up.
That was after they took samples of the blood and guts on her skin for evidence.
My eyes narrowed on the man in front of me.
“What was I thinking?” I asked in a deceptively quiet voce.
The Chief’s eyes snapped to me, taking in my overtly calm demeanor and froze.
“What I was thinking was,” I said quietly. “Was that my wife was screaming. That I didn’t give one flying fuck what or who was in there with her. Obviously, I could’ve done things differently, but I didn’t. I only did what I thought to do at the time. Should I have done things differently? Yes, probably. However, that doesn’t change what’s been done. Nor would I change a goddamned thing.”
The chief sighed.
“Pending the investigation, you’re on administrative leave. The council’s going to have a goddamned hay day with this. First, the dog attacking him, followed by The Russo’s pulling every single favor they ever had with anyone with any goddamn reach whatsoever to get Radar to be put down, and then this. The media coverage this is going to bring to the department alone is going to fucking kill us. The Russo’s won’t let this go, either.” He growled.
I didn’t say anything. There was nothing to say. Even now, three hours after the incident with a much clearer head, I still wouldn’t have done anything differently.
“Bring them on.” I snapped at him.
The other officers in the room all turned and regarded me. They thought I was fucked in the head, and I probably was. Forever.
I didn’t think I could ever get the picture of that man between my woman’s legs out of my mind. What would’ve happened if I hadn’t come home?
I laughed sardonically. I knew what would’ve happened. She would’ve been raped. The one person in this entire world that I was supposed to protect above all others, I’d let down. Now there was no telling what kind of emotional state she’d be in. She’d probably need therapy for years to come.
Oomph.
That was the air leaving my chest in a rush as Viddy’s body connected with my own.
Her hair, which was still wet from the shower, pressed against my neck, sending chills down my spine. Reflexively, I gathered her closer, burying my head into her neck.
“How’s Radar doing, Trance?” She asked me.
I lifted my head to find her concerned eyes on me. “He’s doing fine. Silas took him to the vet for me, just in case. He was acting just fine when Silas put him in my truck.”
Radar had been knocked over the head with the same steel beam that Viddy had, knocking him out cold.
“You said he left the door open,” Viddy said with confusion clearly evident in her voice. “Did he not think that Radar would wake up at some point and come after him?”
I’d thought about that myself. The entire situation had been confusing to me. Paul’s actions weren’t the actions of a rational thinking person. Things weren’t adding up, and there had to be something we were missing.
Something that would’ve explained why he only wounded Radar instead of killing him. He knew, quite clearly, what Radar was capable of. By leaving that door open, he gave Radar the capability to kill him. He would’ve never even seen it coming.
Which was the only thing, right now, keeping me so calm. Radar would’ve woken up and done something, just as he was trained to do. Viddy wouldn’t have been alone for long.
“I don’t know what he was thinking, baby. Everything in me tells me that something isn’t right here. That something else is going on besides that. Something that Paul died with.”
She shuttered in my arms.
“Where are we staying tonight?” She asked softly.
My eyes flipped back up to find the room empty besides Adeline, Kettle, The Chief and Loki.
The Chief and Loki were talking quietly in the entranceway to the kitchen, and Adeline and Kettle were looking at us.
They’d left Saylor a
t their house with Kettle’s mom, who’d been more than happy to watch her on such short notice.
That was the first time I had seen Adeline without Saylor since she was born.
“You can stay with us,” Adeline offered.
I snorted. “No offense, Addy, but I’ve been to your house a lot in the past couple of months. I’d never get any sleep.”
She smiled fondly. “Yeah, I don’t either. Kettle can sleep right through it though.”
“You can stay at my place. I have an extra bedroom.” Loki interrupted.
I looked at Viddy. “That okay?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Feel free to go anytime. Obviously you’re off shift until you’ve completed the mandatory counseling sessions. Remember to turn in your service weapon as well.” He said looking pointedly at my gun that was still planted firmly in my hand.
I wasn’t really too keen on giving it up.
I’d been asked numerous times to turn it over, but I couldn’t make my hands release it just yet.
“I’ll turn it over when I’m about to leave. Can I go in and grab some clothes before we head out?” I asked him.
“You can have Officer Rector retrieve them for you. You’ve seen enough for tonight. They’ll process the scene and continue collecting the evidence by tomorrow morning, and then you can have a cleaning crew come in and take care of the mess. I want you in tomorrow morning by nine AM to see the doc, and then you can give your statement after that. Okay?”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, instead just agreeing to save myself the time. “10-4.”
Chapter 20
I’m old, bitch. I’m looking death in the face. The only thing that’d scare me was if I woke up with my dick gone.
-Silas’ words to live by
Trance
“You got a minute?”
I looked up and found Jack standing next to me with a file folder in his hand.
Silas was standing behind him with a grim look on his face.
It was two days after the shooting, and the weekend. Which meant an impromptu party at Sebastian’s house. As was usual with The Dixie Wardens MC. Despite the fact that it was the middle of winter.
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