SLAM HER(55)

Dad reached for me. He touched my arm. “I’ve always loved you, Belle. I’m sorry if I’ve been a shitty father to you. Maybe someday you’ll understand the burden I’ve carried for years. But I can’t do that tonight. I have to get back to him.”

“Don’t hurt him,” I said.

“I’m not. I’m letting him go.”

Dad turned and started to walk away. I charged out of my apartment and called for him.

“Do you know what he’s planning on doing tonight?”

It looked like there were tears in my father’s eyes.

He nodded. “Yes, Belle, I do. He’s going to do something I was never able to do.”





thirty-three



(slam)



NOW



I stood next to the cruiser then the SUV pulled up.

Fucking Chief Richards.

He climbed out, a shotgun in his hands, and he pumped the chamber. He pointed it right at me, his eyes locked to mine.

“Fuck,” I said.

“Told you,” the officer said.

“Andley, go home,” Chief said.

“What?”

“You heard me. Go the f*ck home. Get in your cruiser and split. You saw nothing here tonight. Got that?”

“Sir, if you need…”

“Out!” Chief bellowed.

The officer did as he was told, climbing into his cruiser and pulling away.

Now it was just me and Chief Richards. And a shotgun. Which was then put to my chest.

“I can explain everything,” I said.

Chief swatted the barrel up, hitting my jaw. I quickly tasted blood.

“You listen first,” he said. “When my guys call and say that you’re tailing my daughter… f*ck. Everything she told me, is it true?”

“Depends on what she said,” I replied.

“Don’t get f*cking smart with me, Spencer.”

I swallowed. “Yeah. Everything is true.”

“Why her?”

“In the beginning, it was to get to you. That’s the truth. But then I saw how deep she was in with that * you wanted her to be with. So I stepped in to help her. I fell for her, Chief. I couldn’t help it. She’s the most important woman I’ve ever met.”

“Christ,” Chief said. “What did you do to Kyle?”

“Made him leave town.”

“How?”

“Does that matter?”

Chief gritted his teeth. “And you really love my daughter?”

“Yes. That’s why I did what I did with you. I f*cking hate your guts, Chief. I wanted to get back at you for setting me up. But then I met Belle. And the violence in my heart gave way. That’s why I gave you Tommy. To show you what the Reap is capable of. And that’s why I was on my way to take care of your other problem. To get closure for you and for Belle.”

The shotgun started to shake in Chief’s hand. “You really know where the guy is?”

“Yeah. He’s more local than you could ever imagine, Chief.”

“The guy that killed my wife.”

“Yes.”

He lowered the shotgun. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it. I f*cked it all up, Spencer. I put my wife right in the middle of a war. And now I’m supposed to accept my daughter with the same fate?”

“No offense, Chief, but on my side of the law there is no law. And I will protect Belle with every breath I have. Not find comfort in a bottle and an affair.”

“She told you everything.”

“Yeah.”

Chief Richards looked at me. His eyes were glistening. “Go get him, Slam.”

“That was my plan.”

Chief took the cuffs of me. He then grabbed my shoulder and stared at me. What a crazy moment in my life. We stared each other down.

“You’re not going to kill him though,” Chief said.

“Are you f*cking serious?”

“Dead serious.”

“This prick shot your wife in cold blooded murder. And you’re not…”

“Slam. Go get him. And bring him to me.”

“He’s not going to sit the rest of his life in prison.”

“You’re right.”

“What are you saying?”

Chief flickered a little smile. “I’m going to kill him.”





It was just before midnight when I rolled up on the house. Right at the edge of town, a known shit hole area for drugs and violence. Chief told me that there was no way he could ever build the right case against the guy that murdered his wife. His name was Stevie. His association had been infiltrated and ripped apart by Chief Richards, the local PD, and even some help from the federal level. But at the end of it all, Stevie did a little jail time here and there but was never brought to an actual trial for killing Belle’s mother. Her name was Rose. How f*cking beautiful was that? A mother named Rose naming her daughter Belle.

It pained me to imagine the life Belle lived without a mother.

Knox rode shotgun, saying he wanted to help. To show faith with Chief and hope that beef between the Reap and the PD would come to rest for good.

For me, it was all personal.