Once again, silence felt like the best answer here.
“The Bandits are wicked, but they’re not stupid. They’re not going to attack a police officer in his home. You’d have the National Guard in here in a heartbeat. And trust me when I say no one, least of all you, wants that.”
“As if we don’t have any military service in our friends.”
But, actually, we didn’t. We had guys that wanted to go into the military, but our town was so small, even the dream of serving seemed outlandish. Cole had made mention before of some of his men being former military, but that wasn’t the case for us in New Mexico.
“In any case, head inside and get some sleep,” the sheriff said. “And Connor? Watch your back. I can’t patrol this entire town at once. You need to take care of you and yours.”
I nodded to the sheriff and walked in without another word.You and yours. You need to take care of you and yours.
It was funny how, without even having to think about it, I knew what that referred to for me.
Before, it had been Rachel. Even though she’d dated Brock, she was a sweetheart and an angel. The devils of this town had destroyed her, but she had truly kept me from going utterly mad back in the day.
And now, that was Katie.
It really was.
Only she could make me examine myself as she had. Only she could make me feel like she did. Only she could get me to look past all my bullshit and see the truth.
Two of the worst men in this town were now dead. But as long as the third still lived, what was “mine” was still at risk. I couldn’t wait past tomorrow morning. I couldn’t make excuses or pussyfoot around.
* * *
I couldn’t make it over the next morning due to some club meetings and a strict order from Brock to stay together out of fear of retaliation. But as soon as we could disperse, I headed straight for that damn gas station in the middle of Freedom Alley between Albuquerque and Santa Maria. I hopped off my bike, walked straight up to Katie behind the cash register, ignored the fact that she was in the process of closing the store, and leaned forward.
“I’m just going to say it straight,” I said. “Last night scared the fuck out of me. Not for myself, but for you. I worried about losing you. I realized I’ve been treating you like an ass because I have been afraid of what you might be, instead of recognizing you for what you are. So, I’d like to ask you something.
“You want to give this a second go?”
