Page 116 of Legacy of Lies
“You bet.”
Garrison stormed down the hall and banged through the double doors to the tiny waiting area.
Butch looked up and immediately backed away, hands raised. “Hold on, man.”
“No, you hold on. If you don’t recall, your psycho brother tried to kill my son and my ... Ms. Lopez.”
“I’m here to apologize, I swear.”
Like hell. All he wanted to was drill into the man’s head to figure out the truth. But damn it, but after Garrison’s brain had nearly exploded this evening, no way could he use his power right now. He’d have to take Butch at his word, such as it was. “Fine.”
The older man rubbed his balding scalp. “I had no idea what Hank and Wyatt were up to. Hank hasn’t involved me in the offers on your ranch, or I would have told him to shut up and leave you all alone. And Wyatt’s along for the ride, doing whatever Hank says.”
“So you claim.”
“I swear. If I get to my brothers first, I’ll personally take them to the county jail.”
“Again, your word is weak.” He softened his tone. “I never saw Wyatt out in the woods, so God knows where he is now. And frankly, I’m not sure if Hank’s even alive.”
Sweat beaded Butch’s forehead, and he swallowed. “I see. Wow. Well. Okay, we’ll check the place out and see if there’s any sign of him.” He played with the bottom of his jacket zipper. “I need to let you know I’ve fallen down on my job as principal. I’m going to tighten up security for visitors in the school.”
“And?”
“And I will make sure the bullying is under control. For all kids. Period.”
“Noted.”
“I’ll do what I can do keep my family in check. Again, I haven’t had a lot of involvement with them lately, but what happened tonight is beyond unacceptable.” He stuck out his hand. “On behalf of my asshole brothers and my lack of leadership, I am taking personal responsibility. I apologize.”
Garrison waited a beat until grasping his hand.
“Go back to your son, Taggart.” Butch walked away, shoulders slumped.
Reentering the ER, Garrison flagged a nurse outside of Zach’s space. “Excuse me. Where is Ms. Lopez?”
“I believe she checked herself out of the hospital.”
“What?”
“Eric took her home,” Shelby called from behind the curtain.
“What? Why?” He reentered Zach’s room.
“She claimed she didn’t want any more medical attention and that she needed to leave our family alone. Something about us being ‘better off’ if she didn’t hang around.”
“Exact words?”
“Yup.”
“Damn.”
“So, what are you going to do about it, big brother?”
Black, heavy, sucking emptiness settled over Garrison, but it couldn’t be helped. Family first. His Dad, Zach, Shelby. He had too much to take care of.
Besides, he’d given Sara an ultimatum and told her to think about her decision, hadn’t he?
Her choice was obvious, and apparently she’d made it clear tonight.
Frankly, he couldn’t blame her. Insanity and danger if she stuck with the Taggart clan or peace and quiet with her own life, free of land feuds and drama? Pretty simple choice for a nice person like Sara.
“I’m going to take my son home to rest, we’ll find out what’s going on with Dad, and we’re going to have a family meeting.”
Shelby punched him in the arm, hard, right over a bruise. “You’re a real idiot, you know?”
