Chapter 46 #3
Because of her, Deb was going to leave. Because of her, she was going to put herself and Jimmy in danger. Because of her, he was losing everything he had fought for.
Because of her…because of her…Was it because of her? Or was it because of himself?
Sean shook his head as that thought flashed through his head. He couldn’t think about any of that now. He couldn’t give it even a second’s thought. Deb was in there, but she wouldn’t be for long. After an hour or two, she’d try to leave, and Sean realized he couldn’t allow that.
He rushed toward the barn, peering inside. Deb was crouched over the body of a male ranch hand, changing out his bandages. Jimmy sat on the floor, smiling at the horses. There was nothing Sean could say to stop them. He knew that now. But maybe there was something he could do.
Grabbing the open barn door, Sean quickly pushed it shut.
As it was about to close completely, he saw Deb look up with her eyebrows raised in alarm.
He could hear her get to her feet and rush along the floor.
Sean responded by sliding the large wooden plank that served as the barn’s lock across the two doors.
Deb slammed into the doors, pushing on them in a fury. He heard her screaming his name from within, commanding him to open the door and let her out.
“I’m sorry,” Sean said, raising his voice to be heard through the heavy door. “I’m sorry for everything. We can work it out, though! We will! When I get back from the reservation, I’ll let you out. Just sit tight in there, and once I’m back, we will talk.”
“No!” Deb screamed, kicking and pushing on the door. “Sean, let us out right now! Right fucking now! Do you hear me?”
He heard her, but he didn’t respond. Sean knew that imprisoning Deb wasn’t the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, but right now, it was the only option he had.
Turning from the doors, Sean saw the crowd had all but dispersed. However, standing directly in front of him, arms folded across his massive chest and a look of mistrust and scorn on his eternal scowl, was Chainz.
Sean froze, looking up at Chainz with a mixture of embarrassment and dread. Chainz only smirked at him, seemingly amused at everything that had just gone down.
“Trouble in paradise?” he asked with a laugh.
Sean felt his cheeks grow hot. Chainz stared expectantly at Sean, and he soon realized that this wasn’t a rhetorical question.
“Well,” Sean said, rubbing at the back of his neck, “just a little misunderstanding is all.”
“Right,” Chainz scoffed. “So, the old lady found out that you tried to eighty-six Vin, eh?”
There was no point in lying. Just about the entire ranch had seen their epic blow-up.
“Yeah,” Sean said, his voice scratching at his throat.
“That sucks,” Chainz said, though Sean didn’t detect even a hint of remorse in his stoic base. “Guess that fuck up has really been biting you in the ass, eh Sean?”
Sean winced as though he had been struck.
He wanted to clap back, to make some kind of biting comment, anything to take back a modicum of control or power in his life at a time when he felt completely powerless.
But that would have been the dumbest possible thing he could do.
Chainz was the last person he needed to be challenging right now.
He needed to put all of this behind him, let Deb cool off in the barn, and focus on healing and planning for battle.
Chainz wasn’t moving. He continued to stare at Sean, waiting for a response. Sean silently cursed inside his head without letting it register on his face. No one was making anything easy on him today.
“I have a lot to make up for, it seems,” Sean said with a slow nod.
“Hmm,” Chainz said, reaching up to stroke his chin with two of his fingers.
Sean froze. He had no idea how this man’s twisted mind worked. One moment he was fine, and the next, he would snap for some reason known only to himself. And these outbursts were only getting worse and worse as time went on and he accumulated more power.
“I’m guessing you want her to stay in there until after the operation at the reservation?” Chainz asked, and Sean wasn’t sure what the right answer to that question was.
“Yeah,” Sean said, deciding to go with the truth of his feelings. “If that’s all right with you.”
Chainz seemed to contemplate this for a moment and nodded. “Why not?” Chainz said. “One less person running around causing shit on my land. I’ll make sure they’re fed and shit.”
“Thanks,” Sean replied with a relieved sigh.
He hated the idea of imprisoning Deb, but what else was he supposed to do in this situation? He couldn’t let her run off. Not now. Not ever. He had done too much, worked too hard. She’d see reason eventually. She’d come to understand why he had to do what he did to Vin.
And if she didn’t…well, she could stay in there until she saw reason.
Chainz gave Sean a nod in return and stalked off. Sean exhaled in relief, trying to block out the sound of Deb screaming for him and banging on the bard door. He would deal with all of this later. For now, he had a battle to plan.