Chapter
16
Standing next to the bar’s dumpster was Mohawk, and Brendan wasted no time. Conditioning took over and he charged at the man, knowing he’d probably need to withstand at least one good smack from the man’s club. The man’s smirk turned upside down comically at Brendan’s rush, but Brendan wasn’t laughing. The club glanced off his shoulder as he drove the tattooed Englishman up, and then straight down into the dirt. If he’d stuck around in high school football, his coach would’ve been proud of him.
Michelle screamed behind him, but the bloodlust had taken over. Brendan ripped Mohawk off the ground and slammed the man’s face into the corner of the dumpster. The
disgusting crack said it all. Brendan let Mohawk slump lifelessly to the ground, grabbing the club out of his limp grip.
Facing the other way now, Brendan got a good view of some thug struggling to contain Michelle, as three others approached Brendan warily. Seeing their leader’s head caved in probably sent an intimidating message, but two of these idiots hadn’t listened too well. They charged Brendan, but unlike Mohawk, he wasn’t skittish. His club cracked the first guy’s head across the path of the second, knocking both to the ground.
As the guy on top of the pile tried to get up, Brendan was on him, grasping the man’s head between his hands and then slamming his knee into the bridge of the thug’s nose. A muffled cry resounded from behind the man’s hands as he fell, covering his bleeding face.
Brendan turned to the man holding Michelle, who’d stopped thrashing about. Her wide eyes displayed shock at Brendan’s violence, but that was how shit got done. He wasn’t about to let these dickheads cheap-shot him again. Sensing movement to his left, he pivoted and connected his boot to the side of the head of the man he’d clubbed down moments ago.
The guy restraining Michelle started to drag her down the alley, saying, “Come on, Jasper.” The only other thug left on his feet looked from Brendan to the other guy a few times before hesitating, and then bolting. As he passed his counterpart, that dipshit let go of Michelle and followed suit, running like his life depended upon it.
That much was probably true, with the murderous rage coursing through Brendan’s veins. As he walked towards Michelle, who looked absolutely dazed and confused, he could feel the supreme tension that just begged for one more
moron to come at him. Instead, he had to just grit his teeth and clench his fists in an attempt to relieve the pressure.
He watched the two fleeing men retreat all the way around the far corner before addressing Miche
lle.
“You okay?”
She stared past him at the two unconscious men, and the one still writhing, gripping his face. Brendan tapped her on the arm and repeated the question. This time she looked up at him.
“Uh, yeah,” she stammered. She rubbed her arm where the thug had grabbed her.
“You sure?”
“I’ll live.
” Her eyes fell back on the unmoving bodies. “Are they dead?”
Brendan followed her gaze over his shoulder. “I don’t think so, but it’ll take more than Advil to cure those headaches.”
“You think this is funny?” She stared at him now the same way people did when he told some of his old war stories. In the past he’d tried to explain to them that he wasn’t insane, but civilians couldn’t understand that. All they saw was a guy who glorified violence, even when that violence was all that separated them from the realities of the real world. People just had no idea what life was like outside the soft, cushy boundaries of their bubblegum existences.
“No,” he responded evenly. “It’s not funny.”
She brushed past him and approached the three downed men cautiously. The one still conscious slowly got to his feet and started weaving his way past the crates strewn behind the bar. Every muscle in Brendan’s body wanted to chase him down and maul him unmercifully, to confirm the threat was contained, but one glance at Michelle’s face told him that was a bad idea. He let the guy go. Michelle didn’t seem to notice the man at all as she stared at the other two.
“Do you recognize them?” she asked.
“Just the one with the Mohawk,” he replied, standing next to her now. “You know him?”
“I’ve seen him around.” She crossed her arms tightly. “Kind of hard not to notice someone like him around here. I don’t know his name, but he hung around my cousin.”
“Good enough for me.”
Brendan ushered Michelle quietly back through the bar and out the front towards her truck. When she moved towards the driver’s side door, he gently redirected her to the passenger side.
“You look like you’re in shock,” he said. “Why don’t I drive you home?”
She nodded as he opened her door and helped her up. He walked back around the truck and got in behind the wheel. As soon as he turned the key in the ignition, the chair automatically started shifting forward to Michelle’s preferred position. With his knees jammed up against the dashboard, Brendan managed to reach over and shift the seat all the way back again.
Feeling more comfortable now, Brendan backed the truck out and headed down the road.
Cruising silently towards Michelle’s house, the fight behind the bar
replayed repeatedly through Brendan’s head. A couple of things didn’t really make sense, like how did they know he’d be there? Maybe they’d been spying on him and saw the two of them head into the bar. Hell, they could’ve had a guy inside the bar watching them and he’d never have known; he didn’t recognize most of these thugs at all from his previous life in Shallow Creek.
One other thing bugged him as he pull
ed into Michelle’s neighborhood, and it wasn’t just the close proximity of her neighborhood to Taryn’s.
“Did that guy call you Jasper?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the road.
Michelle turned away from the window.
“What?”
Now Brendan glanced her way as he navigated towards the houses.
“Sounded like the guy called you Jasper as he was pulling on you.”
“Must’ve heard wrong.”
“I know what I heard,” he said.
“And I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Are you implying this is my fault?”
“No,” he said. “Damn, chill out. It was just weird.”
“Weird that maybe the other guy’s name was Jasper?” she said, obviously pissed. “After what you did to those other guys, you don’t think they both just wanted to get away?”
He tried to steer the subject elsewhere.
“Why mess with you anyway?” She glared at him, not offering any explanations. “Think about it, what could you do? All five should’ve attacked me, but instead they went for you.”
She popped her purse open and revealed a snub-nosed .38. When Brendan didn’t respond, she smiled,
but not kindly.
“Guess I’m not a helpless damsel in distress.”
“Why didn’t you pull it then?” Brendan stopped the truck in the street. He had no idea which house was hers.
“
Shut up, Brendan.” Alcohol and anger was a volatile mixture. She thrashed at the door handle, trying to get out. Eventually she took a deep breath and composed herself before successfully unlocking the door and exiting. Brendan got out and met her in front of the truck to give her the keys.
She snatched them from his hand and stormed off down the street.
“You want me to come in and make sure it’s all clear?” he yelled.
“
Keep the hell away from me.”
He waited in the street until she walked up to a
double wide on the left and let herself in. He’d just saved her life, maybe, and that didn’t even warrant a wave as she disappeared from view.
R
ealizing that Michelle had picked him up from his parents’ house earlier, Brendan sighed dejectedly and started the long walk home.
Chapter 1
7
Brendan winced as he reached for the handle to the beer cooler. Fighting those guys the night before hadn’t felt that strenuous, but he’d managed to aggravate every injury from getting his ass kicked a few days ago. He’d woken up this morning feeling like one big bruise, so he made the gas station the first stop of the day to get his favorite remedy: Shiner Bock. His dad only drank Coors Light, which might as well have been flavored water as far as Brendan was concerned.
The frigid air escaping from the open cooler was a welcome relief from the heat outside. Even at this time of year, the thermometer in his truck exceeded ninety degrees Fahrenheit without much trouble. The dry heat was an improvement over the humidity in a city like Houston, but it was still unpleasant.
He grabbed a six-pack, but then returned it and grabbed twelve instead. As the door swung close, someone called out behind him, “Hey, stranger.”
When he turned, he expected to see Michelle again, but the friendly tone should’ve been the first hint that it wasn’t her. The woman smiling at him as she approached resembled
Michelle very closely, but Brendan quickly realized it was her younger sister.
“Howdy, Kim.
” He tried not to be too obvious about taking her all in. Her father, Mr. Prost, had been a complete ass-wipe, but damn, he could make some pretty daughters.
As Kim got a good look at Brendan, her smile turned to concern.
“Oh my gosh, what happened to your face?”
“Michelle didn’t tell you about my little run-in with your cousin, Scott?” And why hadn’t Michelle told him that Kim
still lived in town?
The bell over the door rang.
“Hey, Kim—”
Brendan looked past Kim to the
open door and found a familiar lady staring at him, stuck in midsentence.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” Brendan said, trying to keep the growl out of his voice.
Casey approached tentatively as Kim’s gaze switched between her and Brendan. “Y’all know each other?” Kim asked.
“Did you get the license plates on the truck that ran you over?” Casey asked, ignoring Kim and scrutinizing Brendan’s wounds.
“Yeah, I did
. Scott was driving it. He didn’t mention it?”
“You know Scott—?” Kim started, but Brendan cut her off.
“How did you two meet, Kim?”
“We met at the park,” Kim said uneasily. “At the running track.”
“I didn’t realize it was such a popular hangout,” Brendan said, eying Casey.
“I run a lot, so I’m going to meet a lot of people there,” Casey explained nonchalantly before turning to Kim. “I
was getting gas and saw you come in here and just wanted to say hey, but I’ve got to get going.”
“Oh, okay,” Kim said. “See you later, then.”
“Sure,” Casey said. “See you later. You, too, Brendan.”
Brendan grunted in response as Casey strode back out through the door.
“That was awkward,” Kim said, smiling a little.
“It happens,” Brendan said. “So Michelle didn’t tell you I was back?”
Her eyes dropped, sheepishly avoiding his. “We don’t really talk that much.”
“Oh, okay,” Brendan said, feeling that awkwardness that
came from knowing something bad has happened between two people, but not knowing what the heck it could be. “Listen, you got some time to kill?”
She brightened up. “Yeah, I don’t have to be at work ‘til noon.”
Brendan hefted the twelve-pack up. “You down to share a drink with an old buddy?”
“Uh, it’s ten in the morn
ing,” she said. “A bit early for me.”
Now Brendan was the one feeling sheepish. “Right, sure. Just a joke.”
She nodded uneasily, but said, “You can buy me a world-renowned gas station coffee, though.”
“Sounds good
.” He put the beer back in the cooler and escorted Kim to the coffee station.
While she prepared the generic-looking caffeinated coffee, Brendan decided it was a little hot outside to be messing with warm drinks. He headed for the back coolers and grabbed two bottles of water. When he returned, Kim was smiling and ready to go. He paid for their drinks
at the cash register, and then went outside with Kim in tow. A quick visual sweep of the area didn’t reveal Casey or Scott Fisher’s thugs lying in wait anywhere.
The gas station wasn’t exactly fit for purpose when it came to entertaining guests, so there weren’t any chairs or tables outside. No one else was parked at the pumps, and the overhang above
them provided the only shelter from the sun, so Brendan led Kim over to his mom’s truck and popped the tailgate down. They sat down on the open tailgate and let their legs dangle off the edge.
“I wouldn’t have figured you as the small truck kind of guy,” Kim noted, checking out the
Ford Ranger.
“My mom asked me to put gas in her truck since I was heading down here for supplies,” Brendan said. “I drive
an F-250.”
“That
seems more your style.”
This felt nice, hanging out with Kim
. Pressing things flew around in his mind, demanding his attention, but sitting with Kim alleviated the desire to deal with any of them. Brendan and Kim swung their legs in silence and exchanged fleeting smiles.
“
In the store, did you say Casey knows my cousin?” Kim asked suddenly.
“I’ll let you ask her about it,” Brendan replied. “It’s none of my business.”
“Oh, okay. Sure.”
And that broke the spell. Brendan’s train of thought leapt off the idyllic track of relaxation and chugged away down a different line, stuck now on the same track his mind had fixated on
since his long walk home the night before. He didn’t waste much time before putting a further damper on the mood.
“You mind me asking what happened between you and Michelle?” he asked.
“What happened to a simple, ‘Hey Kim, how’s life been since high school?’” she replied coyly.
Brendan didn’
t smile. “I’m serious.”
Kim stared into her coffee and stirred it a few times with a small stick.
“Why?” she replied. That was a good question.
“I’ve had a few rough experiences since I got back,” he said. “I’m just trying to make sense of things.”
She stayed quiet for a moment, now staring down the empty highway. “Um, it’s kind of personal.”
“
Sure, you don’t have to tell me.” He hoped that she would.
To his disappointment, she hopped off the tailgate. Instead of walking away, she turned to him.
“Maybe one day I’ll tell you,” she said, captivating his gaze with her deep green eyes. “Thanks for the coffee, but it sounds like you’ve got a lot going on up here.” She tapped him gently on the forehead. “Why don’t you get that stuff squared away, then give me a call.” When Brendan didn’t immediately react, she added, “I mean it. I’d like to catch up.”
“Okay,” he said, still irked that she hadn’t told him what he wanted to know.
“It’s a little embarrassing, but I live in the apartment above my mom’s garage,” she said as she started to walk around the side of the truck. “Just swing by sometime when you’re ready.”
Brendan watched her walk towards a beat-up Chevy coupe, noticing the easy sway in her hips. His brain tried its best to keep him on the investigative track, but he couldn’t peel his eyes away. Her movements
hypnotized him, but his brain eventually won out.
She
stopped halfway across the empty parking lot when he called out, “Did Michelle ever do meth?”
Without turning her body, she slowly peered back over her shoulder in his general direction.
“Don’t be a stranger, Brendan.”
With that, she strode more purposefully to her car, and a minute later Brendan was sitting all alone on the back of his mother’s pickup.