Austin's Revenge (The Townsends Book 4)

by Angie Campbell

  She waited till he had sat her soda on the bar and walked off before turning back to Austin. She noted his obvious anger before speaking with caution. “How long has Amanda been back at the apartment?”

  He gave her a killing look and grumbled, “Early this morning.”

  “Well, maybe he just hadn’t realized he had lost her yet,” she thought out loud, really not worried about what Austin had to say at this point. “Maybe I’ll try calling him now.”

  “Go ahead, but he’s not going to take you back now, anymore than he was before.”

  She snorted, giving him a cross look. “Well, I know a little bit more about Zane’s sexual appetites than you do. I can assure you, he’ll come back to me.”

  “I doubt it. He’ll just find someone else,” he shrugged. “Besides, according to Amanda, she and Zane weren’t sleeping together.”

  She snorted. “If you believe that, you’re stupider than you look.”

  He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “While her innocent airs get on my nerves, she’s not lying. They weren’t sleeping together. I am thinking about pretending I don’t believe her though. I’m not much interested in her in that way, but I know it would be another jab at Zane if I did get to screw her when he never did.”

  “Zane is not in love with her, you idiot,” she snapped, rather loudly, drawing Jerimiah’s attention from down the bar.

  “Then go chase after him,” he growled. “Just get out of here and leave me alone. If you keep it up, you’re going to get me kicked out of here.”

  “Fine,” she hissed. “At least now, I won’t have to deal with you anymore,” she added before getting up to stomp away.

  Chapter 21

  Friday, August 29

  Officer Campbell knocked on the open office door, drawing Chief Anderson’s attention. The older man motioned for him to come on in, closing out whatever he had been working with on the computer.

  “Go ahead, take a seat,” he sighed, feeling certain he already knew what was coming. He waited till the younger man was seated before asking, “How was he today?”

  “In a word, worse,” Jeff grumbled, rubbing his temples. “I had to stop him three times from punching someone. That last time, I thought he was going to go ahead and try his hand with me. Even though we’ve already had a friendly match just to see if he could beat me, and he already knows he can’t.”

  “No offense, but better you, then someone he’s just pulled over for some minor traffic violation. If he wasn’t partnered with you, I’m sure we would have already been in hot water up to our eyeballs. The only other partner I think that would have had a chance of stopping him would have been Boston Daniels. And there would have been no guarantee Boston would have even tried to stop him. Catch Boston on the wrong day, and the two of them would cut a path of destruction a mile wide through town before we got them stopped.”

  Jeff chuckled. “Well, you’re always telling us there’s a reason you partner us the way you do,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll be honest, I understand why you put Daniels with Rogers. Andy’s light-hearted temperament somehow keeps Boston in control. It holds the dark stuff at bay. But on most days, I wonder why you partnered me with Zane. He’s usually very even tempered. I would have thought you would have partnered him with someone like Daniels or Haywood. Someone who needs the comedy that’s usually always coming out of the man’s mouth.”

  He lifted an eyebrow at Jeff and uttered the words, “Fire and ice.”

  He shook his head, giving the chief a confused look. “I’m still not following you.”

  “I take it, you’ve not seen him angry a whole lot, before now.”

  He shook his head, thoughtfully. “No, now that I think about it, I haven’t.”

  “You know how he’s either in comic mode or cop mode?”

  “Yeah,” he said, nodding his head. “I’ve seen that first hand, several times.”

  “He’s temper is much the same way. When it comes to his temper, Zane has two speeds. Zero and light-speed. You’re the only one with fast enough reactions, that I can be sure you’ll be able to stop him when he gets angry. Boston could do it, but I could never be sure that when the time came, he would stop him instead of standing ready with the shovels. Heck, he’d probably join in and help him with whatever misdeed he was in the middle of,” he added with a sigh. “The problem we have right now is, Zane’s temper is on a low boil. He’s always mad.”

  “Well, what are you going to do?”

  “I don’t’ know,” Chief Anderson said, sitting back in his chair and rubbing his hands over his face. “What do you suggest?”

  Jeff took a deep breath, staring up at the ceiling. He sighed, knowing there wasn’t a lot of possible options. He finally looked back at the chief, shaking his head. “Make him take two weeks of vacation, and I’ll, along with his entire family, try talking him into going after her. I don’t know what else there is.”

  The other man nodded his head. “Well, it’s worth a shot. I know my wife’s been praying for a miracle for this situation. Zane’s a good cop. Everyone normally likes him.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’ve seen several surprised faces over the last five days. I’ve seen a lot of understanding ones as well. Most people know what’s going on. Not that he’s real appreciative of the sympathy right now. That’s one of the things that’s setting him off so much.”

  “Is he still finishing up reports?”

  “Yep.”

  “Tell him I want to see him when he’s done. And come back with him. I may need you.”

  ******

  “Chief, you can’t be serious,” Zane bellowed, his temper rising for about the hundredth time today alone.

  Chief Anderson sighed, standing to his feet to look the man in the eyes. “Zane, you’ve got more than enough vacation time backed up. Take two weeks off before you kill someone.”

  “I’m not going to kill anyone,” he growled low. Unless I come across Austin at the right time.

  “Jeff’s kept me appraised of the situation, Zane. You’ve been getting angrier and angrier as the week’s gone by. Take vacation and go after her. She’s been gone a whole week, and you have turned into something none of us recognize. Your sense of humor is one of the things that make you a really good cop. It keeps you balanced. You’ve lost that balance,” he stressed, nearly shouting.

  He shook his head, glaring over at his partner. Of course, his obvious anger had no effect on the other man. He just stood there, propped against the door frame, raising an eyebrow back at him. Zane could pretty much read the words as they ticker-taped across his mind. What of it?

  “Zane, Jeff was telling me earlier this week that your mom wants you to go after her,” he said, shaking his head. “When have you ever not heeded your mom’s advice?”

  “I’m starting to realize my partner has a big mouth. Maybe we should call him Joe Harris Junior,” he snarled, glancing at the man in question once again. Just as before, the man remained unphased.

  “He’s not trying to gossip. He’s concerned. He, like the rest of us, want you to resolve this situation before you end up hurting someone and messing up your life.” And definitely before Amanda gets hurt or worse. He chose not to say the second half out loud, out of fear the man might start throwing the office furniture around.

  “What are you going to do if I refuse to take vacation?” he asked, staring at the wall behind the chief’s head. He was so angry, he knew the man had to see the fire in his eyes.

  “I’ll have to suspend you,” was the answer he got back with a rather loud sigh. “At least if you take vacation, it won’t show up in your file as a suspension.”

  “Fine,” he growled, turning back to the door. “I’m only taking two weeks.”

  “For now.”

  “What’s that mean?” he growled again, turning to look back at the older man.

  “I’ll have to see how you are in two weeks. You really need to go after her.”

  “She told me she d
oesn’t want me coming after her,” he snarled, barely resisting punching the door. With two knuckles on his right hand still healing from him punching the wall while talking to his mom the other day, he really didn’t need to be punching anything softer than a pillow. “It was her choice to go back to him. I don’t have a choice here.”

  “I think you do. I don’t think she wanted to go back to him. I think you need to find out what’s going on.”

  “No, I’m not putting myself in that position again,” he said, shaking his head, barely holding back the tears. “I’m tired of chasing after her. I can’t keep digging her out of the messes she get’s herself in. I had her out of it. She went back.”

  “I think you need to find out why she went back.”

  He just shook his head, finally turning to leave.

  Chief Anderson and Jeff watched him leave in silence before Jeff finally spoke. “I thought maybe Jackie Andrews and I could partner for the week. It would give her a chance to see if she really wants to become a patrol officer. She’s had all the training for it.”

  “Yeah, that sounds good,” the other man said, nodding his head, obviously still concerned about Zane. “You’re about the best choice I have for training a new patrol officer right now. My other, usual choice, just walked out the door, madder than a whole nest of angry hornets.”

  ******

  Zane wondered through Harris Grocery, seriously thinking about grabbing some of those frozen dinners he had aggravated Austin about that one time. It wouldn’t matter what he ate. It would just end up tasting like sawdust anyway.

  He thought he might be hungry, but really all he felt was hollow. The only reason he was in the store to begin with, was he had promised his mom he would make sure and eat something, and he knew for a fact she would call later and ask him if he had or not.

  The last thing he’d ate was this morning when he managed to choke down half of a sausage biscuit from the local fast food place. Food, along with everything else, had pretty much lost its allure for him. He’d been wondering around in here for ten minutes now, and nothing had caught his attention yet. At this point, he was pretty certain, nothing was going to.

  “Hey, Zane,” Chris called as he walked past the meat counter for about the tenth time.

  “Hey, Chris,” he mumbled, coming to a stop.

  “You want a suggestion?” the behemoth asked, propping his arms on the counter in front of him.

  “Yeah, sure,” he replied, throwing his hands up in defeat, thinking the man was talking about making a suggestion for supper.

  “Stop wondering around the store like a man lost in the middle of a forest, unable to find a way out, and go get Amanda,” he suggested, very seriously. “If you want, I’ll even go with you.”

  Chris stood there, waiting for him to stop uttering foul expletives. A lot of people would have run at this point, figuring they were about to get punched in the face. He could count on his fingers, those, besides himself, that would have continued to stand there. He’d have some fingers left over. Not to mention, one of those people was Carl Townsend, himself. He almost didn’t count. Anybody who knew Zane, knew he wouldn’t punch his own father. No matter what the situation was. With everything going on, Zane just wasn’t himself. He was all pain and anger just waiting to explode.

  “Why does everyone keep telling me to do that? Do you all enjoy seeing me in pain?” he snarled, taking a threatening step forward. “She asked me not to go after her.”

  Chris snorted, shaking his head with a sad smile. “No one wants to see you in pain. She may have said that, but you and I both know that’s not what she wants.”

  Zane held his hand up, wagging his finger back and forth. “Oh, no. I’m not going to be convinced of that one. I thought I was finally understanding what it was she wants. Apparently, I was wrong.”

  “Zane, you’re being pig-headed and stubborn, and you know it. You’re letting your anger make your decision for you. I’ve heard what your mom thinks is going on. When’s your mom ever been wrong about this kind of stuff?”

  “Maybe so,” he snorted. “But Amanda could have trusted me enough to tell me.”

  “Zane, I don’t think it was a lack of trust in you. I think she was just too scared. Go get her.”

  Zane heard someone laugh like a hyena behind him and spun with his fist up. He would have punched the man right in the mouth, but Chris saw it coming and had him in a full nelson before he could get it done.

  When Austin moved in like he intended to take advantage of Zane’s vulnerable position, Chris turned sideways and growled down at him. “I will let him loose. I’m not going to let you beat on him like that.”

  “You need to mind your own business, Butcher Boy,” Austin snarled.

  “Really?” Chris chuckled. “Are you really going to try and make fun of my job? At least I can hold one. How many jobs have you had and lost in the last five years.”

  “Whatever,” he said, taking a cautious step backwards. “You still need to mind your own business. I just wanted to tell him he needed to stay away from Amanda.”

  Zane started struggling, trying to get away from Chris. “Man, let me go. I’m going to…”

  Chris chuckled when Austin nearly came out of his own skin when Joe tapped him on the shoulder, at the same time saying, “Close your mouth, Zane.”

  The man spun around, his eyes growing huge. “What do you want?”

  “I want you to get out of my store,” the older man growled.

  Austin huffed, throwing his arms wide. “I wasn’t doing anything. You can’t kick me out,” he whined.

  “You were harassing another customer,” Joe answered back, crossing his arms in front of himself. “I also saw you try to attack Zane while he was unable to defend himself.”

  “He’s the one Chris had to put in a wrestling hold, and you’re kicking me out,” the younger man sneered in irritation. He laid his hands against his chest, somehow managing to look like an outraged teenager. “That’s not right.”

  “I don’t know exactly what you did, or how you did it,” Joe stated, stepping closer and placing his hands on his hips, then leaned down nose-to-nose with the other man. “But you managed to scare Amanda into leaving.”

  Austin chuckled, shaking his head. “That can’t be proved.”

  Zane started struggling to get loose again, prompting Chris to growl, “Stop squirming, Zane. I’m not putting you down yet.”

  “I want to…”

  “Shut up, Zane. We know what you want,” Joe snapped with enough authority he jerked in response. He might have actually saluted him if his hands had been free.

  “Yeah, I think sometimes we all forget the man was in the military when he was younger,” Chris laughed, shaking his head at Zane’s response. “If he had stayed in, he would have probably ended up being a drill sergeant.”

  “I can assure you, Zane, he’s got you until he’s ready to let you go,” Joe added before turning back to Austin. “You need to get out of my store. Right now, it’s just for this time, unless you want to keep pushing. Then I’ll put it on permanent record that I’m refusing you service.”

  “What? You can’t do that,” the younger man screeched in outrage.

  Zane chuckled, still locked in Chris’ full nelson. “Yes, he can. He has the legal right to refuse service to anyone he deems it necessary. Even if his reason seems lame to you.”

  “You think his reason’s lame?” Austin asked, giving him a strange look.

  “Nope,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ve had more than one run-in with you, while minding my own business in here.”

  “One of those run-ins was started by you,” he snarled in answer.

  “Hey, I was just making conversation,” Zane smirked.

  “Yeah, that’s what I remember,” Joe added. “This is the last time I’m going to tell you, so you better get moving. Leave.”

  He didn’t risk finding out what would happen if he didn’t heed the older man’s warning.
He took off, straight for the front door, not bothering to look back to see if Chris had let Zane go yet.

  Once Austin was out the doors, Joe turned back and held up a hand, stopping Chris from releasing his hold on Zane. “Hold on, Chris. Zane, does he need to take you back to the storage area before he lets you go? Are you going to take a swing at him?”

  Zane shook his head no, the anger still shining in his eyes. “It’s not him I’m furious at.”

  “I know that,” Joe nodded. “But that doesn’t mean your not going to feel the need to punch someone. Unfortunately for Chris, he’s the best candidate, considering he’s held you in a wrestling hold for the last several minutes.”

  When he growled back, Joe nodded his head at Chris, indicating he needed to take him to the back. “No, Joe. I’m okay,” Zane sighed. “I’m angry. I know it. I’m not denying it, but I’m not going to hit someone who didn’t do anything more than keep me out of trouble.”

  “Okay,” Joe said, nodding his head. “You can let him go now.”

  When Zane’s boots hit the floor, he stood stretching his arms and rolling his neck, working to get the blood flowing again. Once he started feeling more himself again, he turned to look Chris in the eyes. “Remind me never to give you reason to actually hurt me. I’m not sure I’d survive.”

  “Yeah, he managed to get Mark in that hold once,” Joe laughed.

  “Mark?” Zane chuckled, truly surprised.

  “Yeah,” Joe nodded with a wide grin. “Only that time it was on a bet. It took him about ten minutes to do though. That may have been more because Mark saw it coming and fought back. Thankfully, they were in our front yard. They were scuffling around in the grass for the largest part of that ten minutes.”

  “That I can believe,” he nodded. “They’re pretty close in size. Chris is the closest to Mark’s height. At least right now. And he’s a little broader. Besides, I can’t really see Mark getting mad enough for him to need to do that to him.”

  “Well, there was a time or two while he was dealing with that mess with Mike Collins, it got really close.”