Chapter 10
Keel saw the gun come out, and he wondered how the hell this punk got another gun. It was exhausting. The idiot was holding the weapon loosely, like he was a pretend gangster in a music video.
Keel assessed the situation, taking in the weak points, the attacks he could do to disarm this idiot again before he did something stupid.
He wished boys like this guy would be tossed into the military.
They’d learn lessons that they needed to and maybe grow up.
Then again, a boy like Forest wouldn’t last long in the Army.
He’d be eaten alive by a drill sergeant.
“Scared, big man? What are you going to do? I’ve got the only—”
Keel didn’t let him finish the sentence. He took advantage of the fact that Forest had moved closer. Keel might have twisted a little too hard as he disarmed the idiot, breaking one of Forest’s fingers.
Forest was on his knees, crying. His screams filled the area, attracting attention. Keel dropped the clip and checked the chamber, then tossed the gun into the parking lot.
He almost laughed when Forest looked at the gun longingly. The man was an idiot.
“You should pack it up and go home. Leave Frankie alone.”
Forest spat on the ground. “She’s a fucking bitch.”
Keel wanted to hit the idiot, but he knew that with the number of people watching from the lot, someone was recording. He wouldn’t hit Forest, even if he came at him. He would disable him, maybe put him on the ground, but he wouldn’t beat the shit out of him, even if the man deserved it.
“You need to learn some manners,” Keel said just as a police car pulled into the lot. The officer wasn’t the one who’d arrested Forest earlier in the week, but he hoped the officer read the reports and knew this guy was bad news.
“He stole my property again!” Forest yelled as he stumbled toward the officer.
Keel saw the officer put his hand on his gun, his gaze scanning the area quickly.
“Stop walking,” the officer said. “Don’t move any closer.”
“He just ripped it from my hand and—”
“Was it that gun in the parking lot?” the officer asked.
“Yeah. I have a right to carry it.”
The officer shook his head. “Put your hands up.”
“No. I’m not doing that.” Forest moved closer to the officer, who looked like he was done with being nice.
Keel would help the officer if he needed the help, but the guy seemed fit, and it looked like he could handle himself. The officer proved it when he took Forest to the ground.
Of course, Forest started yelling, and complaining, asking if he knew who he was. Keel wanted to tell Forest that no one cared who he was. Not one person cared who his father was or how much money they had.
Frankie would be lying to say it wasn’t nice to see Forest taken to the ground before the police put the cuffs on him. She also liked watching him being shoved into the back of the police car.
The officer turned back to them, shaking his head. “So I saw the video and read the report of some idiot who pulled a gun on a military guy who disarmed him the other night. I’m guessing that’s you.”
“Yes, sir. Same guy, same situation.”
The officer looked away, then back to Keel. “Sorry that keeps happening to you. We’re going to run him in and hold him for longer. The judge isn’t going to be as willing to let him go for the same stuff a second time in less than a week. And yes, we all know who the idiot’s father is.”
“I’m sorry,” Frankie said.
“No need to apologize for that trash, ma’am. He needs to go back north and leave us alone.”
“Yes, he does,” Keel said.
The officer glanced over his shoulder at his patrol vehicle. “I’ll see if we can’t hold him for the week, maybe longer. I know where you live, so if I need more of a statement, I’ll contact you.”
Keel shook the man’s hand. “Thank you, Officer.”
“Yes, thank you,” she said.
The crowd seemed to have dispersed. They walked around Forest’s car and saw a tow truck lumbering down the street toward them.
Keel chuckled. “His car is getting towed again. Kind of funny.”
“Yeah,” she answered. “I don’t know why I stayed with him.”
“It’s easy to look back and see the mistake. You shouldn’t have stayed, but you did. Now it’s time to work on forgiving yourself and making better decisions.”
She nodded, knowing he was right. Though it had been satisfying to see Forest in the back of a police car, she still needed to keep her head on straight and ignore the urge to do something stupid like grab a drink to celebrate.
She had to force herself to remember that wasn’t what she wanted.
She didn’t want to end up back where she’d been with Forest. It would be easy to just succumb to the madness of drowning in her guilt, but she wanted to live.
She wanted to experience happiness, to find the light instead of letting the darkness cloud her.
Keel could tell that the joy of seeing Forest going down had worn off, and now Frankie might be experiencing some remorse. It was natural to backslide when facing demons.
“Hey, want to read some, then we can talk about what you read later?”
She blew out a heavy breath, and he saw pain flash over her face. He felt for her. Pain like what she experienced freaking hurt.
“Sure. It’s what I need.”
“Or we could take a break, maybe watch a movie?”
She shook her head. “No. I need to read for at least a little. How about I spend a few hours reading, then we can watch a movie tonight?” They were almost back to the condo, and the itch inside her brain was bugging her.
She needed to take on whatever feelings seeing Forest had brought up and deal with them.
“Sure. That sounds great. Come over when you are ready.”
“Thank you. You really are a good friend.”
He nodded, knowing that to be a good friend, he had to tamp down the desire running through him.
He would keep it at bay and be what she needed.
He didn’t want to ruin it for her, and it was easy to see that she was still making it day by day.
There wasn’t any reason for him to push for more from her.
He was in control of his emotions, and this was the right thing to do.