Page 57 of Jag

“You can just stop in front of the house and let me out unless you want to come in and see River. You can talk to her, so she doesn’t try to help me load shit in the truck,” I mentioned because she would try, and she didn’t need to be lifting anything in her condition.

“Carly can keep her occupied, and I’ll help you load her stuff,” Will volunteered as he pulled to the curb, stopped the car, and he and Carly got out.

Carly smirked when she opened the door to let me out.

“Would have made a great Christmas card,” she said and closed the door once I was out.

I never got a chance to reply because we heard River scream. The three of us took off in a run, and as we reached the door, the man’s voice told us River wasn’t alone.

“You ruined everything because you couldn’t keep your legs closed. I should shoot you now!” The man’s words were the only thing that had kept me from kicking down the door.

“Sonofabitch,” Will said in a low voice, and I looked at him. “It’s her fucking prick ex.

“I’ll kill the bastard.” I turned to the door, and Will grabbed my arm.

“You heard him. He has a gun, and we can’t take the chance. You and Carly give me a minute to get around the house. The kitchen door glass might give me a visual of where they are in the house,” Will said, leaving Carly and me as he headed around to the back of the house.

Carly and I leaned closer to the door when Thomas’s voice lowered, and we no longer could make out what he said. Carly reached for the handle of the door, and I grabbed her arm. No way was I letting her go in first, cop or not.

“Get out of the way, Jag. I am a sheriff’s deputy, jackass.”

“Yeah, and I don’t care,” I said and grabbed the handle, stopping when it gave, and the door moved just enough to show it hadn’t been locked.

“You step in, and I will kill you, then her, asshole,” River’s ex said, which let us know that Will was at the door.

“Ease the door open. He’s talking to Will, and his back will be to us, we might be able to make it inside without him noticing,” Carly whispered and pulled her gun from her side.

Pushing the door open we saw, Thomas had one arm around River’s neck while he swung the other arm with the gun between River and Will.

“Drop the gun or I will shoot you,” Will said.

“We both know you aren’t going to shoot me and take the chance of hitting your slut of a daughter. I know you never liked me, but I’m a hundred times better than some piece of shit biker. I came to take her back since she wouldn’t talk to me. We could have made it work once I told her Teresa’s baby wasn’t mine. Instead, she gets herself knocked up by some low class—”

“Biker,” I finished Thomas’s sentence and stepped in the house. I’d heard enough. If he wanted to take a shot at someone, it would be me.

Thomas moved, placing his back against the wall where he would be able to keep an eye on Will and me. The move allowed me to see River’s face. I expected to see fear. Instead, her face was flushed, and her lip was curled. She was pissed.

“You’re so fired up to shoot someone. Shoot me, fucker,” I spread my arms, “you know you want to. You can call me any names you want, but I’ll still be the man who did what you couldn’t do. You aren’t man enough to knock her up, my sperm took the first time I fucked her.” Taunting Thomas worked. By the time I finished, his gun was aimed at me.

The next thing that happened was I heard Carly say, “Shit,” then her body slammed into mine as Thomas fired. Carly and I were on the way to the floor when the second shot was heard. I watched Thomas’s eyes widen as he dropped his gun and released the arm around River’s neck to grab his shoulder. Then he did something that I would remember as long as I lived. He looked at his shoulder and the hand covered in the blood pouring out of the hole from the bullet going straight through and fainted.

“Are you crazy!” I heard River yell as I stood, then wrapped my arms around her as she reached me.

“I’m thinking this house needs to be torn down. More shit happens here than in the whole town,” Carly said, then walked to where Will knelt by Thomas on his radio.

I had to agree with her. Carly had been attacked by the old VP from the Haven MC, and Crusher had shot him through the window from Sue’s place. Now, River.

Ilaid in bed withRiver in my arms sleeping while it evaded me. I knew it was because my mind was still swirling with everything that happened.

The ambulance had come, and Thomas had been taken to the hospital. He wouldn’t be an issue anymore for River with the shit ton of charges he was facing.

Since he was Will’s ex-son-in-law, the shooting would be investigated. Will would come out of it clean, but he would be suspended with pay until it was over.

By the time statements were taken, and the nine hundred people who came and left the scene, it was dark.

River had surprised me through it all. I’d kept waiting for her to break down, it’s usually what happened after the adrenaline rush ended for victims of crimes. I said as much to her as we ate dinner. Thanks to my dad who cooked. He was currently crashed on the couch because he stayed in case we needed him to help with Poppy.

“I may not have grown up with my dad, but I’m still the daughter of a cop. Everyone came out fine but Thomas, and that’s his damn fault. If it had gone down differently, I would have more than likely fell apart,” was River’s reply to my inquiry. She made it sound a lot simpler when I knew for a fact it wasn’t.

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