Chapter Two
Finally, Simon snortedand told him, “We have rights here too, you know.These bikers are holding my aunt against her will.We thought we might have had to break her out of there and we wanted to be ready for any situation.”
The Sheriff sighed hard and called out, “Miss Amy, can you come out here for a moment?”
Amy came outside to stand beside Asa.
“Are these bikers holding you against your will?”The Sheriff called out.
“I think you know better than that, Abe.I’m here at their request and I am under their protection,” Amy called back.
Simon turned on her and said, “You know damn well that ain’t true, Amy.They just want that money for themselves.They say they won’t hurt you but as soon as they get the money, they’ll leave you to rot and you know it.”
Amy just stared at him then she turned back to the Sheriff.“I think you know the truth here, Abe.That treasure doesn’t belong to me or my family, if it exists at all.It was taken from its original owners a very long time ago, or at least that’s what the rumors say.But are the rumors really true or just a story?A story that gets bigger every time it is told.I doubt it really exists at all.”Amy paused then said, “Maybe this is the original fishing story about the one that got away.And that damn fish gets bigger every time someone retells it.”
Emma scoffed and argued, “But your own husband believed it was real.He stayed with an old woman like you because he believed the story was real enough.”
Amy shook her head.“Amos stayed here, that's true enough but he searched this mountain for forty years and never found anything.He set up ambushes that hurt people too, all because he thought the treasure was real.He got people killed and for what?Not a damn thing.But that wasn’t the only reason he stayed here.He was running a racket all his damn life.He’d let other people do his dirty work then when they were done, he’d step in with bogus paperwork, claiming what they found was his.He was nothing but a con man and in the end, he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.So, he will not be joining us today as he will be spending the rest of his miserable life behind bars.”
Simon narrowed his eyes and glared at Amy.“Tell me something old hag, is my other daughter here?”
Stepping over, Cheyenne reached out and slapped his face.
He staggered back while holding his cheek.
Cheyenne glared at him.“You speak to her with respect, you horrible little man.”
He snapped his gaze from her to the Sheriff.“Did you see that?”
The Sheriff had been grinning at Asa then he looked over at him.“See what?”
Simon narrowed his eyes at him then he looked back over at Amy.“Did Sophie come here to warn you we were on our way?She went missing yesterday.”
Amy just stared at him.“I wasn’t surprised at all to see you and yours at the gate this morning.You split from the family a long time ago.You had your reasons then and you should have just stayed away.But now it’s too late.”
“I won’t be arrested for something I didn’t do,” Simon insisted.“That was on Chester and Emma.”
Just then, Sophie came to the doorway and stared at her family outside the gates.
Simon growled when he saw his younger daughter standing beside Amy.“You little traitorous bitch.You brought us down.”
Sophie shook her head.“No Dad, you brought your own selves down.The Molotov’s were not the best idea and you know it.And Amy was right all along.Whether the treasure is here or not, it never belonged to this family.”
“I suppose your bastard whelp is here too, isn’t she?”Simon muttered.“Jolene, get your little ass out here.”
Jolene appeared at the door and her arms were crossed over her chest.“Yeah Grandpa, I’m here too.”
“You’re the devil’s own child.You know that, right?”Simon screamed at her.“I put your daddy in jail and you’re going to join him soon enough.”
“He only went to jail because you lied to the courts.My mother was eighteen when they were together, not sixteen like you claimed,” Jolene screamed right back.“You put him in jail only because you forged my mother’s birth certificate.He spent seven years in prison because you lied to the courts.Then he walked away from both of us saying we were too much trouble.”
“He was a deadbeat anyway.He never paid child support,” Simon shouted.
“That’s a damn lie.”Sophie defended him.“He paid every month, for eighteen years just like the courts told him to.You made sure of that, didn’t you dad.Yeah, he showed me the receipts.It all went into your bank account until three years ago when Jolene turned 18.He paid and paid but you took it all.Every cent.I never saw it, Jolene never saw it, you kept it all.”
The Sheriff looked back and forth at them.Then he turned to look at her.“Can you prove it?”
Sophie nodded.“Yeah, I got the paperwork.”
