28. Chapter 28
Chapter twenty-eight
“Well, that was easy.”
As Abe and his brothers approached the parking lot, they could hear the ruckus. A crowd of about twenty people was watching and cheering on a group of a dozen men throwing punches at each other at the edge of the parking lot.
The three deputies were trying to keep the curious onlookers back and stop any more of them from joining in on the fight.
Deputy West came up to Justin. “This is getting out of control, man.”
“Where is your patrol car, Mikey?”
“We’re parked a few rows over .”
“Go get them and pull right up with lights and sirens.”
“Yes, sir.”
Justin looked at his brothers. “Can you guys try to disperse the gawkers?”
The four men split up, with Luke and Abe going in one direction and Wes and Milo going in the opposite one.
Abe tapped a couple of guys on the shoulder. “Move on back and break it up.”
The guy looked at him. “Get lost, man.”
“I’m here with the sheriff’s department. Leave the scene.”
The guy turned to him. “I don’t see a badge. Just because you two are related to the sheriff, it doesn’t mean you have any right to tell us what to do.”
Abe tensed, and Luke put a hand on his arm, then smiled at the man. “We don’t want any trouble, man. We’re just trying to help.” He pulled Abe back a few steps, and the man turned back around to watch the fight.
Abe scowled. “Bastard.”
Luke patted his chest. “Be cool. We’re the good guys. The ah…voice of reason.”
“Right.”
They spoke with a few more people who were a little more reasonable, and after several minutes, about half of the crowd of onlookers had dispersed. When the two patrol cars arrived with flashing lights and blaring sirens, a few more people left, but it had no effect on the dozen men fighting.
Abe and Luke joined Justin, who was scowling at the brawlers. Then he retrieved a megaphone from the back of one of the vehicles and spoke into it.
“Anyone still here three minutes from now will be arrested for disturbing the peace.” He looked at his watch. “Start moving out.”
Several more people left, and a few of the fighters dropped out and limped away. Abe looked at Justin. “Now what?”
Justin spoke into the megaphone again. “Two minutes.” He glanced at the deputies. “Turn off the damn sirens and get out the zip ties.”
“Are we engaging, sir?”
“Just be ready.” He raised the megaphone again. “Thirty seconds.”
The sirens were turned off, bringing the sounds of the fighting into focus. The thud of a fist against a jaw and the resulting grunt. Heavy breathing. Muffled curses. The crack of a bone and a yelp.
There were still eight men caught up in the fight, completely ignoring the sheriff’s department's presence. Justin sighed. “Okay. Start with the onlookers. Zip them up and set them down on the curb.” He looked at his brothers. “You guys stay out of it.”
Abe raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” Justin moved toward the two nearest men fighting and grabbed one of their arms. The man turned and threw a punch, hitting Justin in the jaw. Abe and Luke looked at each other, then jumped in to help.
Abe wasn’t sure when Milo and Wes joined in, but as he dodged a fist and wrestled a man to the ground, he saw Milo throw a punch and take one.
Abe put a knee on the man’s back, and Eddie tossed him a zip tie.
Abe secured the man’s hands, then stood and dragged him to the curb, where four other men were subdued and perched on the sidewalk’s edge, heads hung low, looking miserable.
As he returned to the melee, the man Abe had originally asked to leave grabbed his arm, then punched him in the nose. Abe staggered back, regained his balance, and swung at the man. The punch landed on the side of the man’s head, and he went down to the ground.
“Well, that was easy.” He swiped at the blood coming from his nose.
Luke came over to him. “I bet that felt good.” He handed Abe a zip tie. “Secure the bastard.”
It took another ten minutes, but Justin, his three deputies, and the four Buchanan brothers finally gained the upper hand, and everyone who hadn’t run off was secured.
Fourteen men sat on the curb with cuts, bruises, bloody noses, and swollen eyes.
A smaller group of curious onlookers had gathered, and two ambulances had arrived on the scene.
Justin looked at his brothers. “Way to stay out of it, guys. Who needs medical attention?”
Wes shook his head. “We’re all fine. Or, you know, close enough.”
“You don’t look fine.”
Wes touched his black eye. “You don’t look so great yourself, brother.”
When they all heard a familiar voice, they spotted Allie and John approaching. Abe muttered, “Shit.” And Luke said, “How the hell?”
She walked up to Justin. “How’d you let this happen?”
“Um…I tried to keep them out of it. How did you—”
She looked at the rest of them. “Your father heard it on the scanner. Of course, I told him it was a mistake. My boys wouldn’t be mixed up in a brawl.”
Wes held up a hand. “We were helping stop the brawl, Mom.”
John came up beside her, looked at his sons, then at the men on the curb. “Good job, boys.”
Allie nudged him. “Don’t encourage them.”
She looked at Abe. “Where’s your son?”
“Maggie has him.”
“Alright, all of you to my house.”
“Mom, we’re fine.” Abe looked at John. “Dad?”
“Out of my hands, son.”
Allie put her hands on her hips. “You’re not going to use the city’s resources. They have their hands full with these…ruffians.”
Luke nudged Abe and mouthed, “Ruffians?”
Abe put a finger to his lips and whispered, “She’s pissed. Don’t make it worse.”
Justin looked at her. “I need to stay here, Mom.”
“Of course. You have a job to do.” She pointed at him. “But we’ll talk about this later.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She turned back to the others. “The car is over there.”
Wes took a step forward. “We can drive, Mom.”
She studied him for a moment. “You drive and take Luke. Abe and Milo, come with me.”
Abe cleared his throat. “I can’t leave Maggie and Kai here.”
“Call her and tell her to meet us at the house.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After leaving the keys for Maggie, Abe was sitting next to Milo in the backseat of his parent’s car feeling like he was a kid again. He took out his phone and called Maggie.
“Abe? Where are you? I heard there was a giant fight.”
“There was.”
“Are you okay?”
“Mostly, yeah.” He glanced at Allie. “Um…I’m on the way to Mom’s.”
“What? You took the car?”
“No, Dad’s driving. Can you bring Kai there, please? I left the keys under the floor mat for you. Find someone you know to walk you to the car.”
“I’ll be fine, Abe.”
“Tell Lucia that Justin is okay, but she should probably take the girls home.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
“What does mostly okay mean?”
“You’ll see when you get there.” He glanced back at Milo, who grinned, then groaned and touched his split lip.
Abe looked at Allie. “We really tried to stay out of it. But when that guy hit Justin, we had to do something.”
She turned to look at him, then handed him some tissues. “Put that on your nose.”
By the time Maggie arrived at the house, Abe, Milo, Luke, and Wes were all sitting at the table, having been attended to by Allie.
Milo and Wes were both holding ice packs to their black eyes, and Abe had one on the bridge of his nose.
Both of his eyes were slightly discolored from the impact to his nose.
Luke had three fingers on his right hand taped together and a Band-Aid on his right cheekbone.
Maggie stopped in the doorway. “Oh my. What is going on here?”
Allie was rinsing a washcloth in the sink. “My boys took it upon themselves to stop a riot.”
Abe shook his head, then motioned for Maggie to bring Kai to him. She set Kai on his lap, then kissed Abe’s forehead. “Is it broken?”
Abe removed the ice pack from his nose and set it on the table. “No. Not for lack of trying from the…” He covered Kai’s ears. “Asshole who hit me.”
Kai looked at him. “Papa, ouchy.”
“Yeah. I’ll be okay.”
Kai leaned against him, and Abe looked at Maggie. “Really, I’m fine.”
Wes stood. “I need to go home. School tomorrow.”
Milo raised a hand. “Me, too. Will you take me to my car?”
“Sure.” Wes kissed Allie on the cheek. “Thanks for fixing us up, Mom.”
“What are you going to tell the students tomorrow?”
Wes shrugged. “That I was…defending my brother.”
Milo laughed. “I’m telling my kids I was in a cage fight.”
Wes shook his head. “You would tell them that.”
“Nah. I’ll tell them the truth. A rumble.”
Wes took his arm. “Come on before I leave you here.”
Milo hugged Allie. “Love you, Mom.”
“Go on now. I’m still mad.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
They left, and Luke stood up. “I’m going to go crash in my room.” After hugging Allie, he wandered off to the room he’d had since childhood, and still stayed in occasionally.
Allie looked at Abe. “Are you going home?”
“Um…” He looked at Maggie.
She smiled and turned to Allie. “I’ll see to it that they are both tucked safely into bed at home.”
“Thank you, honey.” She took Kai from Abe and hugged him, then kissed him several times on the cheek. “I will see you in the morning, my angel.”
Abe stood up, then kissed Allie on the cheek before taking Kai from her. “Thanks for nursing us all back to health.”
“You’re not there yet.”
“I’ll see you in the morning.”
He and Maggie left the house, and he put Kai into his car seat, then handed the keys to Maggie. “You drive. My vision is slightly impaired.”
“That’s not good.”
“I’ll be fine tomorrow.”
Maggie drove them to Abe’s house, then carried the sleeping Kai to the bedroom. Abe sat on the couch and listened to her talk quietly to Kai, who was probably still asleep. Or at least out of it.
When she came into the living room, she sat next to Abe and took his hand. “So, do you want to tell me what happened?”
“No. Maybe tomorrow. Right now, I want to close my eyes and listen to you talk quietly like you did to Kai.” He lay his head back on the couch and closed his eyes.
“Okay, my love. I can do that.”