Oh, Christ, Steele…
Talking back to a cop? What was next, fighting the cop? And then what, everyone else coming out and starting a fight like at Reapers, except instead of the Black Reapers and the Bandits, it would be the Black Reapers and one sheriff? How would the death of a sheriff go over?
“Are you trying to tell me how to do my job, boy?”
Please don’t get arrested, Steele.
“Because I would love for you to tell me what else to do.”
His lip curled slightly upward. I’d underestimated what the cop was. He wasn’t just biased—he was outright trying to goad Steele into doing something very stupid.
And for someone as prone to emotional swings and outbursts as Steele was, that was like daring a dog not to chase a loose rabbit.
“Come on, Steele. You’re grown up now, aren’t you? Aren’t you going to tell me what else I can do?”
“I’ll tell you what else you can do,” Steele said.
Shit, shit, shit—
“You can do your job. You can protect this town. You can stop working with the Bandits.”
The sheriff laughed in an exaggerated fashion.Why isn’t anyone else coming out to defend Steele? Do they think he can handle it himself as the cop guy?
Or is this sacrificing Steele for the good of the club? That seems unfair.
“You think I’m in cahoots with the Bandits?” he said. “The Bandits. Oh, heaven help us all, if I’m in their pocket, this town really is going the way of the dodo, huh!”
He laughed some more. Steele never flinched. That seemed to annoy the sheriff even more, as his laughter quickly turned into a menacing scowl.
“Boy, you keep acting like a punk, and you want to know what you’ll do? You’ll end up like Stan.”
In a flash, Steele’s eyes went wide, he took a step forward, and his whole body tensed. I grabbed him and held on.
I…I grabbed him?
It happened so quickly, I couldn’t believe I’d actually done that. It felt akin to trying to grab a hunting lion by the tail.
“Steele!” I said.
His nostrils flared. I’d seen him annoyed at Tara, even yell at her. But I had never seen him look like he wanted to break another person’s skull. I’d never seen him look like he wanted to literally kill a man.Until now.
I can’t let this happen. I can’t…I can’t be a witness to something like this.
“Officer, I’ll make sure everything is under control. If we have to stay quiet, we will. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
I still couldn’t explain what the fuck I was doing. It was a true out-of-body experience. I didn’t step in and stop things like this. I never did.
But Steele had some kind of an effect on me, I suppose.
The sheriff looked at me with resigned disappointment.
“Very well.”
He didn’t say another word as he got back into his car, walking almost like a zombie, and driving off slowly as if I had put him under a spell. I didn’t breathe normally again until he had completely disappeared from view—I held out some ridiculous fear that he would suddenly turn around, surprise us with an additional charge, and drive off laughing.
No, I knew police didn’t really act that way. But the worst-case scenario never really left my mind, not in a moment like this. And it wasn’t like Sheriff Davis had acted completely professional.
“You stopped me from beating the shit out of him.”
