Chapter 9 #2
He shook his head, but his gaze shifted. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Yet he sounded a little edgy.
“I don’t believe you,” Wilden declared. “I just don’t understand assholes like you who can’t even be bothered to get a job and instead prey on everybody older and weaker. I get that my father was a lazy-ass loser, but what’s your excuse?”
The man stared at him, and then his expression turned ugly. “You do see that I have a gun on you?”
“Yeah, and I really don’t give a shit,” Wilden said, followed by a world-weary sigh. “You think I went to war without having more than a few guns pulled on me?” That seemed to give their new gunman pause. “It really doesn’t matter to me.”
“But I could kill you.”
“You could most certainly kill me, but these dogs would take you out in no time.”
“I’ll just kill them too.”
“You might try, but you won’t get very far. There’s four of them, and these dogs are trained,” he explained with a lazy drawl.
Vivian was wondering what he was up to because it seemed he was asking to get shot.
“I got enough bullets for all of you.”
“Only if you’re fast enough,” Wilden stated, with a visceral smile. “You kill me, and they’ll mow you down before I hit the ground,” he vowed in that same lazy tone. “So, it’s best you just piss off.”
The other man’s eyes widened, and he bellowed, “You can’t talk to me like that.”
“I just did,” Wilden declared, with a wave of his hand. “I know exactly what kind of loser you are. I know where you slum around in your world, but I’m not too interested, except for anything about you taking advantage of the poor veterans.”
“I haven’t done shit,” he snapped, glaring at him.
“You can say that, but we’re still missing a vet, and Jackson’s in pretty rough shape.”
“No, he’s not,” he argued, then stopped. “What do you mean he’s in pretty rough shape?”
“You heard me. He’s in rough shape, but what did you expect? You pack him out there in the middle of nowhere, unable to move. Did you expect him to survive that?”
He stared at him, looking confused. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Oh, so you didn’t know what your partner did? Yeah, well, that was Coop’s solution to the problem of what to do with Jackson. Apparently you and John didn’t get back to Cooper in time, and so he panicked and dumped Jackson out there, near the falls, on the other side of the creek.”
“That’s not on me,” he declared, shaking his head. “What the hell? That’s just a shit move.”
“Ya think?” Vivian quipped, staring at him. “That was definitely a shit move, but apparently that’s what you guys are all about.”
He glared at her, waving the gun in her direction. “And who the hell are you? Honest to God, you should probably just shut the fuck up anyway.”
“That is how you operate, right? Everything in your world is about what you want, and nothing at all to do with what anybody else might need.”
“And what do you want?” he asked, his tone sharp.
“I want you to leave town,” she declared.
“Go away and never come back. And, just so you know, the local police are definitely looking for you, in case you were wondering. Your cohort Cooper sang like a canary, just last night. And Jackson of course. He survived his ordeal, and he’s been real busy talking to the cops. ”
This gunman looked mad. “He fucking better not,” he yelled, waving his gun back and forth between them. “We warned him what would happen if he did.”
“Yeah, what did you warn him about?” she asked, matching his snarl. “I mean, that’s what you do though, right? You terrorize people. We told the FBI and the US War Department too, just so you know.”
“Oh, hang on, are you that vet?”
“Yeah, I’m that veterinarian, the one your good buddy wouldn’t leave alone.”
He snorted at that. “Yeah, he had it bad, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, he really did make my life miserable,” she agreed, staring at him. “And I’ve had my fill of assholes making my life miserable.”
He stared at her, then over at Wilden, but back at her again. “You probably should tell her to shut the fuck up now.”
“Oh, hell no,” Wilden replied. “After all the pain my father put her through, if she wants to rant and rail at you, who am I to stop her?”
“Remember this?” the armed man yelled, as he waved the gun.
“Yeah, I do,” Wilden replied. “We’ll also remember it when it comes to your court date.
We’ll remember how you were brandishing it about and using it as a threat to get us to do your bidding.
But the fact is, we’re not doing your bidding, something you’re not at all used to, and you don’t quite know why. ”
“No, I don’t know why,” he agreed, staring at him. “And what the hell do you mean that my partner’s talking? He ain’t talking to nobody.”
“Cooper got picked up last night by the local cops, or did you not know?”
“No, I don’t know that, and I’ve been trying to reach him.” He frowned. “What do you mean, he’s been picked up? And what’s this about him being in jail?”
She stared at him with a feral smile. “Yeah, didn’t I tell you already that the cops are looking for you, and all the more now since Cooper’s been talking? He’s in jail, and they were already looking for you, so I can only imagine they’re trying a little harder now.”
He swore at that. “I didn’t do nothing, so it doesn’t matter.”
She smiled. “Good, then you won’t mind going to the station and clearing your name.”
“Hand myself over to the cops? Why in the hell would I do that?”
“It doesn’t matter if you’ve done nothing. As soon as they see you, they’ll figure out you’ve got other things that they want to book you for.”
“I didn’t do shit, and I ain’t going no place.”
She shrugged. “In that case, get out of our way so we can head home.”
He just stared at her in shock.
She turned to Wilden. “Let’s go.”
He nodded, and they walked forward as if to pass him, and he fired the gun into the ground.
That triggered an effect that nobody could have expected, as Sarge leaped forward, going for the man’s throat.
Something about the gun and the danger he presented had triggered Sarge, and Wilden had a no-holds-barred fight on his hands to stop Sarge from killing the man on the spot.
With their latest gunman on the ground and bleeding, and Vivian frantically dialing the police, Wilden crouched beside him and whispered, “That really wasn’t a smart move, Larry.”
He looked at him in dazed shock. “I was just trying to scare you, man. How do you know my name? What the hell? How do you know my name?”
“I may or may not know that you are Larry Hinkle,” he quipped, with a feral smile. “But Sarge? He’s a trained military dog. There is no such thing as a false alarm when it comes to guns,” he shared. “So, in this case, he didn’t take it for a joke, and now you’re paying the price.”
“Those fucking dogs should be put down.”
“No, they shouldn’t because you were threatening us. Sarge just saved our lives, so, as far as we’re concerned, he should get a commendation.”
Wilden watched as Larry was loaded into an ambulance. The cops stood there, glaring at them. One of them looked at Sarge and declared, “He’s dangerous.”
“No, he’s not dangerous. He’s a trained War Dog,” Vivian snapped.
“Larry shot at us. What do you expect Sarge to do—or us, for that matter? Just sit here and let the man kill us? Wake the hell up. You’re still missing a veteran, by the way.
Do you have any idea where that guy is? Because this asshole wasn’t even aware that his partner Cooper was picked up. ”
The cops just looked at each other.
She continued. “Then there is the added problem with your coworker, Jimmy.”
“No, not at all,” one argued. “He’s been put on administrative leave until there’s an investigation into this.”
“That’s great,” she muttered, raising both hands. “So, now he’s got plenty of time to be out there helping his criminal buddies, right?”
Just then Paul Hanson arrived, and he had clearly heard her comment. “No, he wouldn’t be involved in this.”
“He already is,” she snapped, staring at him. “I don’t know how you can tell me that he isn’t, when it’s clear he already is.”
The two cops shared another look, then faced Paul.
Paul motioned at one, saying, “Go bag the evidence, and I want everything by the book.” Then he turned back to them. “You need to stop dragging Jimmy into everything that’s happening around here.”
“Yeah?” Trying to stifle an outcry, Vivian countered, “I know what you want to imply, and I’m not having it. No way I’m letting it go now. I’ve been threatened twice at gunpoint, and now shot at, by two of these men who you guys supposedly couldn’t find in town, and yet both were nearby.”
Paul flushed. “Hey now, no need to act like that.”
“Right,” she grumbled, staring at him. “So, are you suggesting there’s absolutely no reason to be concerned that the two men you thought had left town were sitting here and shooting at citizens?”
He stared at her and then at Wilden.
Wilden just smiled that lazy smile.
Most people didn’t realize it meant danger was imminent, but she did.
Wilden began, “I really didn’t want this to be a crooked-cop case, but, if it is, believe me that I’ll be right there to confirm any and all crooked cops who have to go down,” he stated, with a flat tone. “So, carry on, and we’ll just see where this all ends up.”
“Now hang on a minute,” the one cop interjected, having clearly heard the whole thing. “No crooked cops are here,” he declared angrily.
She turned on him. “What about Paul’s partner, Jimmy, the punk-ass kid working last night? If he’s still out there playing games with people’s lives and defending his criminal friends, you can bet that’s a crooked cop,” she announced, not giving an inch.
Paul shook his head. “He’s on administrative leave. We can’t do any more than that while the investigation is pending.”
“Sure,” she quipped. “That’s exactly what Jimmy told us too.
You can’t do any more than that.” She chewed on that for a moment.
“But you’re also not providing any facts to make me feel better about any of this.
” He glared at her, and she glared right back at him.
“It’s really not that hard, you know? At least it shouldn’t be.
But, for whatever reason, it seems as if you guys just can’t sort this out.
And these bad guys have been running roughshod on this town for years, from what I hear. ”
“We can sort it out, and we will,” Paul stated, his tone quiet, yet with a note of finality in his voice.
“I didn’t know anything about it,” the other cop replied, “but I’ll head back into town and sort it out.” Something in his tone made Paul pale.
“Hey, I turned him in. I told the chief about it,” Paul argued.
The other man snorted, didn’t say anything, and kept on walking. Paul had to hurry to catch up.
She stared after them, then told Wilden, “Something tells me that Paul may have been trying to cover Jimmy’s tracks.”
“Yeah, that seems to be a possibility,” he agreed, with a wry smile. “The good news is that’s not our problem now. We can take a break and maybe even go out to dinner.”
“So, how are the older people in our group faring? Are they going to eat, or are they sitting at home, all holed up as if they have no problems in the world?”
“They’ll eat well because I will pick up something for them.”
“Good,” she said. “The last thing I want to think of is Jackson or your grandma going hungry.”
He smiled at that. “Let’s do it. Not to mention,” he added, as he turned to her, “didn’t you say you had to do food prep today?”
“Yes, I’ve got a lot of stuff to do,” she grumbled. “I’ve got a busy workweek ahead of me.”
“Okay then,” he noted. “This would be a good way to end it and a good way to start your week.”
“Okay, let’s go,” she said.
It wasn’t long before they had both seniors fed and tucked into bed, her food prepped for the week, the animals taken out one last time at their homes, and everybody finally crashing into their own beds.
Wilden had promised to see her in the next couple days, maybe over dinner and walks Tuesday and Thursday for the animals, if nothing else. It was the if nothing else part that kept her smiling because Wilden seemed to not want to push things with her. Yet she wanted him to push.
She wanted him to be a little more assertive, yet found it hard to get him into that space, partly because she figured he was worried about her. His own father, after all, had made her life so miserable for a while.