Page 48 of Enforce This

I had to do this.

My inner conflict was interrupted by the faint sound of sirens. By the time I recognized the sound and identified them as the wail of multiple police sirens rather than the bogged down cry of a firetruck or the screams of an ambulance siren; they had already amplified. Each breath brought them closer. As we neared the viaduct, and rolled out from under the opposite side, I spotted him.

My brother was riding with one hand on the bike, the other clutched his pistol. He was half-turned, exchanging fire with a marked Maryette County cruiser.

“Jesus–!” I roared, my bike rolling to a stop.

We were all staring at Ant, watching in a mixture of shock, horror, and perhaps a few with awe. He was a God amongst Outlaws…

And then I blinked and looked toward the light, just as he descended upon it.

The fucking anhydrous truck driver was so busy looking back at us, he hadn’t noticed the commotion coming from the side. The farmer slammed the brakes at the last minute, but the damn thing already had its nose out there. The vehicle skidded forward four or five feet.

I didn’t actually see my brother collide with the truck. I didn’t hear him hit…

But the explosion that the impact caused left a plume of thick, black smoke rising into the air that was reportedly seen from three counties.

I was stuck. My world frozen. My mind incapable of processing what I had just seen with my own two eyes.

A scream ripped me back to reality. It sent a chill slithering up my spine and my brother’s name shot out of my mouth as I dropped the bike and started toward him on foot.

Crystal and I collided in an effort to race toward the accident, both of us bouncing off of each other and blindly scrambling forward.

“No!” a sheriff’s deputy barked, grabbing Crystal.

“Easy,” Oak grabbed my arm, probably hoping to get to me before some unfortunate cop stepped into my path.

I didn’t have anything against any of the local boys, but I probably would have clobbered a grizzly bear to get to whatever was left of Anthony at that moment.

“The fuck off me!” I barked, shoving at Oak.

I couldn’t even formulate a complete sentence. I was rabid and roaring like an animal. The sight of those flames and the knowledge that I’d lost every last member of my family of origin to a fiery death broke me. I didn’t care if it blew up again while I was beside it.

I just wanted to see my brother one more time.

I couldn’t even remember the last thing I’d said to him…

Crystal screamed, sobbed, and squirmed around on the ground repeating the word ‘no’ until she choked on it.

I twisted and battled against Oak, but as always, it was futile.

“I got him,” he firmly told a set of approaching deputies.

“We Believe you, Oak,” Officer Tiffany Reedle soberly answered, “We just need a few moments with Eric.”

My head was pounding. The familiar overwhelming feeling of failure and guilt was raging inside me, and the sound of her voice just goaded at me until I snapped.

“A few moments…” I snorted and gave a manic laugh. “You know what…”

I looked into her clear-blue eyes, not giving a fuck if there was a badge on her chest. I’d nailed her in the backseat of Daisy’s old grocery getter in high school, I wasn’t afraid of her, her fucking badge, or any of her friends.

I was going to live with my demons for the rest of my life, and probably the first two hundred years of whatever came after…

Let them give it their best shot.

“I don’t have time right now. You don’t, either.” I bugged my eyes and looked around at the growing line of cars that were piling up at the stoplight. People were getting out and gravitating toward the scene.

“Get back!” Tiffany’s partner Lou Challens barked at the pedestrians.