Page 112 of First Surrender
“Sheriff.” He grabs my attention and I stand back to my height, forcing my eyes off Dec. “I’ll scare the bear off. Stay behind me and grab the boy when you can. Keep your hand on your weapon but don’t shoot. Even if that bear knocks me on my ass and I’m bleeding out, only if it goes toward the boy.” His eyes are hard, giving me no room to question his sincerity. One day I’ll ask him about his dedication to these bears, but not today.
“Got it.”
Standing at his full height with his arms above his head, Lochlan starts waving the limb in the air, yelling gibberish. Hissize rivals the bears as he marches toward it slowly, but that doesn’t negate the danger. This is a wild animal and he feels threatened.
I keep pace behind him with my gun low but ready. My eyes ping from the bear to Dec, over and over.
The dog’s still barking, not listening to any commands from our onlookers to stand down. If anything, he’s backing closer to Dec, keeping guard between him and the bear.
“I’m coming, Dec. Hold tight, buddy.”
When Lochlan’s within ten feet of the bear, it mewls in distress, collectively making the whole of our group freeze. There’s a deafening silence as we wait to see the bear’s reaction to Lochlan’s approach.
He’s flailing his head side to side in defiance of being cornered but after a few seconds, it ultimately starts shifting backward, preparing to flee the area.
It lowers to all four legs very suddenly, taking off into the brush line, and I sprint the final distance to Dec. I scoop him up out of his hiding spot before I have a chance to regain my breath. “I’ve got you. You’re safe,” I strangle out through a tight throat as he cries against my shoulder.
The dog stays hot on my heels as I rush him over to his sister, dropping to my knees to lower him so Natalie can hug him.
My lungs intake a full breath of air for the first time in hours.
We’ve got him.
“Are you okay?” Nat fusses over Dec, checking him from head to toe. He’s dirty, and his legs are cut up, but he looks fine.
“I hurt my ankle when I jumped over the fence. I couldn’t run anymore, I tried.” He whines into his sister’s neck and I see her own eyes shining with tears. She told him to run and he was trying not to disappoint her.
“He climbed a barbed wire fence? Brave kid,” Lochlan says from beside us. “Looks like you might have a new friend.”
The panting red dog is lying in the dirt beside us, his nose resting against Dec’s thigh. “Thanks for finding me,” Dec says softly to his unlikely savior, petting the top of his head.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.” I lift Dec into my arms again and we head back out of bear territory the way we came.
It isn’t until we’re through the fence that I finally feel like Dec’s safe and it’s all over but the dread in my stomach stays thick. Dec’s had one of the worst days of his life and I still need to tell him that I killed his dad.
“Patch that.” Lochlan directs his guys and then waves me over to the side-by-side. “I’ll take you guys back up to the road.”
There’s still work to do, I’ll have to break Dec’s heart tomorrow.
* * *
“It was smart expecting me here at the church so my family would be easier to kidnap. I’ll give you the credit there, Reverend.” It’s late, Dec and Natalie are safely tucked away at home, and now I have a case to close.
“Ah, Mr. Malec. I deserve so much more credit than that. I’ve been pulling the wool over your eyes for as long as you’ve been Sheriff.” Reverend Porter sits slowly in the front pew of his church. The lights are dim and the ghostly glow of the platform lingers behind me.
I put myself in his line of sight while my two backup deputies remain on the back wall, giving us room to chat. “Why is a Godly man running a crime ring in Rollins County? Tell me that, Mr. Porter.”
“Son, you have no idea what it means to be a man of God. I am only doing his bidding. Cleaning his beautiful earth of sinners.”
“Sinners?”
“Sinners took my wife from me. My family.”
“Explain.”
He chuckles as if he’s amused by my inquiry. “My sweet, Marcy was taken from this world because of sinners. High on their drugs and alcohol. They drove her off the road and we didn’t find her until the next day. My wife was murdered, leaving me to raise my children on my own.” He inhales a deep, rattling breath, but continues. “My sister allowed men to ruin her, bringing babies into this world out of wedlock. Men who are driven by their own sexual needs, leaving children to unwed mothers, belong in hell. Sinners have ruined this place. Rollins used to be peaceful, a place where families attended church and put their hands on the bible.”
“All of this because you think you’re cleaning up Rollins?”