Forbidden Crush

by Cole, Cassie

  “I did warn you that I’d punch him if I ever saw him, Peaches.”

  Hawk made no attempt to hurt him any further, but Scott scrambled away on his hands and knees as if he was about to be assaulted again. When he finally got to his feet he rounded on the sheriff. “That man physically attacked me! You saw it! There are witnesses!”

  The sheriff snorted and said, “Son, you brought that on yourself.”

  “Go home, Scott,” I said with a modicum of sympathy. “We can talk about everything another time.”

  “I’m not going anywhere!” Scott announced. “Not until that man is arrested for battery!”

  “Son,” the sheriff said calmly, “I suggest you listen to the nice young woman and leave town before I write you up for that broken headlight.”

  Scott’s eyes were wide and furious. “What broken headlight? They’re both fine!”

  The sheriff tucked his thumbs behind his belt. “Mmm, I don’t see it that way. Looks to me like it’ll be broken here in a few minutes. Unless, of course, the car is gone by then.”

  Scott realized what he was saying and finally started backing away. He looked from the sheriff, to me, to Hawk, then back to me as if searching for the justice he deserved.

  You won’t find it in Eastland, I thought.

  Judge Benjamin chose that moment to drive up in his shiny white Cadillac. He was still wearing his fishing gear as he got out of the car with a dark expression on his face. He spoke softly to the sheriff, then rounded on us.

  “I should not be surprised you would attempt to shirk your hours,” he declared, as if he were in front of a courtroom audience. “But it does disappoint me.”

  “I worked every hour!” I said. “All 120 of them!”

  “And the last 80 or so were accomplished with unwarranted assistance. This negates the entire penitence aspect of the work that we discussed earlier today.” He shook his head. “Clearly, you learned nothing these past weeks.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him I’d learned this town was as corrupt as they came, but Hawk spoke before I could.

  “Judge Benjamin,” he said in a deferential voice. “Charlotte is completely blameless in this. I continued working community service after my hours were complete, but Charlotte was unaware. She believed I had more hours than she did. If anyone deserves blame, it’s me. Don’t punish her for my mistake.”

  The judge listened with an expressionless face, then turned to me. “Is this true?”

  I could feel Hawk staring at me, willing me to agree. “Yes,” I said. “I thought Hawk had two more days of community service after I finished.”

  The judge thought about it for three heartbeats, then nodded. “Then I hope your conscious is riddled with guilt for deceiving this young woman.” He turned back to the sheriff. “80 additional hours of community service for Charlotte Owens. And charge him with title 16, chapter 10, article two of the Georgia Code: obstruction of justice. One count for each day he interfered. Send in the paperwork today and I’ll meet with him tomorrow to decide the penalty. He can sit in the jail cell until then.”

  My shoulders sank. 80 hours. Two more weeks. I didn’t think I could handle two more days.

  But as terrible as Hawk’s situation was, he only shook his head. Like he was resigned to his fate.

  Of course, that was the fate he was resigned to.

  “No,” Hawk told the judge, and pulled out his gun.

  42

  Hawk

  It was all bullshit. Granted, everything that happened in this awful fucking town was bullshit, but this was the grand-daddy of all bullshits.

  Not what the judge was giving me. What he was doing to her.

  Charlotte was just an innocent girl who’d made the mistake of driving through town on a rainy night. She wasn’t speeding, and didn’t run through a stop sign, yet she’d gotten arrested and thrown in jail anyways. Because it was all a bullshit charade to squeeze money into the pockets of the sheriff and judge while she was trapped in town. Motel fees, parking fees, administrative fees. The works.

  She’d done everything asked of her, and handled it better than most. Now they were condemning her to even more time in Eastland.

  I couldn’t let them do it. If anyone deserved to escape this hellish town, it was Charlotte.

  I pulled the gun from my hip and aimed it at the judge without a second thought. “No.”

  Charlotte gasped behind me. “Hawk!”

  I didn’t have a plan. I certainly wasn’t going to kill a sheriff and judge in cold blood, no matter how corrupt they were. But I had to do something to stop them from fucking Charlotte over. Even if it meant potentially missing out on getting my revenge on Sid.

  As the judge slowly raised his hands above his head, the sheriff drew his own weapon. “Drop it, Hawk!”

  My hand remained steady as I trained the pistol on the judge. “Can’t do that, sheriff. This ends here.”

  Judge Benjamin sneered. “Think about what you’re doin’, boy.”

  “I am thinking,” I replied while shaking my head. “For the first time in my life, I’m thinking about what should be done. The corruption in this town ends today. Now.”

  “Corruption?” the judge said. He frowned in confusion, but I saw it for the act that it was. “We have no choice, Hawk. You know what the Copperheads would do to us if we disobeyed them.”

  “They’re afraid of some snakes?” Scott asked behind me.

  Charlotte hissed at him, “Shut up, Scott!”

  I ignored them and remained focused on the two men in front of me. “Don’t blame this on the Copperheads. Your corruption is every bit as bad as theirs. Worse, since at least Sid is open about what he is. Sheriffs and judges are supposed to uphold the law.”

  “I’m gonna shoot you if you don’t put down the gun,” the sheriff warned.

  “I really wish you wouldn’t.”

  “Then put the gun down, Hawk!”

  Someone to our left whistled. Both the judge and sheriff glanced over, and after a moment of hesitation I did the same. The window of Flop’s bar was open a crack, and the barrel of an assault rifle peeked out.

  “Didn’t mean to interrupt your discussion,” Flop yelled. “But I’m with Hawk on this one.”

  A second gun barrel appeared out of the window slit. “Me too!” called Flop’s ex-wife. “We need a new sheriff who’ll protect us, not extort us.”

  “Count me on their side,” Mindy said as she came out of her diner. She held a pistol at her side but made no effort to raise it.

  “Thanks, Mindy,” I said. Her withering glare swung toward me.

  “I don’t appreciate being made to pick a side right now,” she snapped at me. She looked back at the sheriff. “Be that as it may, I want to live my life without fear. I’m done payin’ for your protection, sheriff.”

  “It appears you’re outnumbered,” I said more calmly than I felt. The sheriff’s face went through all the emotions: anger, fear, and then eventually reluctance. He lowered his gun, then carefully tossed it toward me. I picked it up and reached back to tuck it behind my belt. The wooden grip was cold against the skin of my lower back.

  Mindy took the handcuffs off the sheriff’s belt and then cuffed his hands behind his back. “Now what?” she asked me.

  “This is not acceptable,” Charlotte’s ex announced, as if he were making a town proclamation. “I cannot be a party to this kind of crime. Charlie, get in the car so we can get out of here.”

  “Scott, you’re free to leave,” Charlotte said. “Go back to Savannah while you can.”

  “I won’t let you remain with this… this…” He looked at me and gathered what courage he had. “This criminal. Come on.”

  He reached out and took Charlotte’s arm. She shook him off, and he tried to grab her shirt. I lazily swung my pistol at him.

  “Touch her again and we’re gonna have problems,” I said.

  Scott recoiled from the gun as if it would go off at any moment. “No, please! I onl
y want to get her out of here…”

  “You okay, Peaches?” I asked while keeping the gun on him.

  “Who’s Peaches!” Scott stammered. “Please…”

  “I’m fine,” she told me. “You can put the gun down.”

  I did, but I continued glaring at Scott.

  “Hate to break up the jealous love triangle bullshit,” Mindy said, “but what do we do now?”

  I looked to the north. There was still no sign of them. Yet.

  “You all need to get out of here,” I explained. “Sid and the Copperheads will be here any minute.”

  Mindy narrowed her eyes. “You need backup?”

  I gave her a smile. “You think you’ll make the difference against Sid’s entire gang?”

  “No, but I figured I’d offer.”

  As tempting as it was to have some allies alongside me, it would only ensure their deaths. I’m the only one who needs to die today. And, if I was lucky, Sid.

  I nodded at the sheriff and judge. “Take them inside the diner and lock up. Or take them home. Anywhere but here.” I raised my voice. “That goes for you too, Flop. Put your guns away and hide.”

  “You ain’t my boss!” he shouted back. “If I want to defend my property, that’s my God-given right as a veteran, and as an American!”

  I shook my head and didn’t bother arguing. Instead, I turned to Charlotte. I squeezed her arm with my free hand, and gave her the most loving smile I could. “Go with Mindy and hide out in the diner.”

  “No,” she whispered.

  “Yes. Shit’s about to get really bad out here, and if you’re in the middle of it…”

  But she was looking past me. Down the road to the south. A car was approaching.

  “No,” she repeated, eyes going wide. “Oh, no!”

  43

  Charlotte

  I recognized the old station wagon immediately. The soft sputtering sound of the engine was as familiar to me as my face in the mirror. We’d had it since I was a little girl, using it for road trips up the coast and down to Disney World. Momma was adamant on keeping it rather than buying a minivan.

  The station wagon stopped behind Scott’s car and my parents got out. “Momma?”

  She came running up to me. “There’s my sweet pea!” Her hug was strong and loving, squeezing my arms against my body.

  “Momma, what are you doing here?”

  She smiled at me with tears in her eyes. “The nice young man at the motel said you were out here. Oh, it’s so good to see you.”

  I waved off the deja-vu and said, “What are you doing in Eastland?”

  “We wanted to surprise you. Help you pack up if need be.” She looked over my shoulder. “Goodness, that’s the ugliest work of art I’ve ever seen.”

  She was looking at the metal sculpture next to the sign for Mindy’s diner. Behind me, Hawk made an offended sound.

  Dad came up and hugged me next. “And we were worried about your release fees. The deposit was still pending, so we brought some cash just in case there were any problems. We weren’t going to let a few hiccups keep you here any longer.”

  I gave a nervous chuckle. “There are, uh, a few hiccups.”

  Dad looked past me and surveyed the area with quiet, studious eyes. “What’s going on here?” he asked in his sheriff’s voice.

  “Scott?” Momma said.

  Scott had been slinking away toward his car, but had been spotted with his hand on the door. Momma rounded on him like a dog approaching a squirrel, finger extended.

  “You sleazy, good-for-nothing slimeball! How dare you cheat on my daughter!”

  “We were on a break!”

  “Hah!” Momma scoffed. “This isn’t Friends, and you’re not Ross! Charlotte was always too good for you. Dumping her is the biggest mistake you’ll ever make in your miserable little life, believe me it is!”

  She backed him up against his car, and he held up his hands protectively. “Yes ma’am, Mrs. Owens! I know! That’s why I’m here to get her back!”

  “You…” Momma froze with another round of insults on her tongue, then turned to look at me. “Sweet pea?”

  “It’s complicated,” I said. “Wait, no it’s not. He wants to get back together. I don’t.”

  “You haven’t thought about it yet,” Scott said weakly.

  “I don’t need to.”

  Momma resumed her verbal assault on my ex.

  “Good for you, honey,” dad said to me. But he was glancing at the scene behind me. “Afternoon. What’s going on, here?”

  “These people are kidnapping us!” the judge shouted. “Call the state police! Threatening a judge is a class C felony!”

  Dad glanced at me. “That true?”

  I winced. “Now this is complicated.”

  “Then you’d better explain it to me,” he repeated.

  I knew my dad. He had the look in his eye that said he was deciding how much action to take. And from the looks of it, he was going to decide to intervene.

  I took his arm and led him back to the station wagon. “There’s a lot of corruption in this town.”

  “So I’ve heard,” dad said skeptically.

  “But you can’t get involved,” I quickly added. “Get in the car and drive back to the motel. I’ll be there shortly.”

  “You have to go with them,” Hawk insisted. He cupped my cheek in his hand and looked at me with sadness. “Please, Peaches. If you ever cared about me, even for just a fraction of a second, you’ll listen to me.”

  It was like Hawk had reached inside my chest and gave my heart a squeeze. My feelings of betrayal swirled against my feelings of love for him, fighting a battle nobody could see. My throat was tight as I said, “I’ve cared about you for more than just a fraction of a second.”

  “Ah hah!” Scott announced as if he’d revealed some massive cover-up. “So he is your boyfriend!”

  Hawk ignored him. “Go with your parents. Forget about the judge and the extra hours and whatever else may happen in this town.”

  I wanted to listen to him. After almost three weeks in this God-forsaken town, the idea of jumping in my car and driving west was like the urge to climb under the covers during a rainstorm. This was my chance.

  “I can’t,” I whispered. “Not if you’re going to stay here and let yourself be killed.”

  Hawk’s expression hardened. “I have to stop him, Peaches. You know I do.”

  “But you don’t!” I insisted. “It’s over. Your sister is gone. Save yourself.”

  Hawk gestured around him. “It’s too late for that.”

  “Please,” I said in a small voice. “Don’t throw your life away.”

  “Why?” he asked softly. “You said last night that you don’t care about me. That I deserve whatever happens. Have you changed your mind?”

  Before I could answer, a rumbling drifted from the north like thunder from a cloudless sky. All of us turned toward the sound—the sheriff, Judge Benjamin, Mindy and Scott. My parents, who still looked frustrated and annoyed by the situation. And finally Hawk and myself. We stared to the north as a wind blew across the main street of Eastland, bringing with it the smell of death.

  The Copperheads were here.

  44

  Hawk

  I wanted to hear Charlotte’s answer. I wanted so badly to hear her explain why she didn’t want me to throw my life away—to hear her say that she still cared about me, and maybe even loved me.

  But fate didn’t have that in store for us.

  The sound of the Copperheads preceded them like the freight train sound of a tornado before the funnel was spotted. The line of them appeared in the distance, drawing closer.

  “You have to leave,” I repeated, turning to face everyone. “Get out of here now!”

  “Not happenin’!” Flop shouted from his bar. His ex-wife shouted her agreement.

  “Aww, hell,” Mindy said while checking her gun. “I always wanted to die under a blue sky.”

  “I’m not
going anywhere until someone explains what’s going on,” Charlotte’s dad said.

  “Dad, please! You and Momma have to leave!”

  It was too late; the Copperheads were here. It was a larger group than what Sid normally traveled with. At least three dozen. Maybe closer to 50.

  Sid was here for blood. Hopefully it’s only mine.

  I held my gun at my side and turned sideways to conceal it from the approaching bikers. With luck, I could squeeze off one shot at Sid. Maybe even two. The column of Copperheads arrived and slowed to a stop 30 feet from our group, pulling off to the side. The men at the front pulled shotguns from their bikes and aimed it in my general direction.

  “Drop it, Hawk. Let’s have us a peaceful day, yeah?”

  I tossed the weapon forward. The heavy metal scraped across the pavement before coming to a stop in front of the biker. The cold lump of the sheriff’s pistol still pressed against my back. I faced the Copperheads directly.

  They swung their shotguns toward Mindy. With a scowl on her face, she tossed her weapon forward too. I glanced at Flop’s bar. Neither assault rifle poked out of the window now. Either they were remaining hidden until the time was right, or they’d decided to take my advice and hide.

  The rest of the Copperheads pulled up in formation, parking along the road like the first few. Sid rode down the middle. He parked his bike far from the rest of us, which allowed him to dramatically stride forward like an NBA player entering the arena, flanked by his crew. A huge smile was on his face.

  “Well hello everyone!” he said, spreading his arms amicably. His crowbar poked over his left shoulder. “I didn’t realize we were having a town event. Would’ve brought a pie.”

  “Sid! They’ve taken up arms!” the sheriff shouted.

  The judge bobbed his head. “Thank God you’re here. I prayed for help to come, and my prayers were answered…”

  Sid laughed mockingly. “I’m not here for you.”

  “But Sid…”

  The leader of the Copperheads shook his head, which made his long dreadlocks sway like octopus legs around his head. “Seems the good townfolk of Eastland have had enough of you two. That right, Mindy?” He didn’t wait for her to answer before nodding to himself. “About time we had a change. Get some fresh blood in here. I’ll see that it’s done.”