Seeking Vengeance (20 page)

Sam
shook his head and sighed.

“
Speaking of your sister, guess who I ran into outside?”.

Sam didn’t hear Johnny reply, but Howard said, “Your sister.”

“Molly? No, she’s back home. Besides, she wouldn’t be caught dead at a bike rally. She hates bikers.”

Howard roared with laughter;
the sound tearing through Sam. “That’s not how I remember it. Did you know me and Molly go back a ways? Like…let’s see…how old is your little niece?”

“What?” Johnny sounded confused and Sam wished he could turn and watch his face. Did he know anything about Molly and Howard?

“Your niece. She must be about six by now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Shit, I knew you weren’t too bright, but I thought you could do simple math.”

Johnny backed away from the table, and Sam turned his head as Johnny came into view. He looked as if he might vomit any second and Sam empathized. Johnny pointed at Howard. “Kelsie?
You’re
Kelsie’s
father
?”

Sam had to see Howard’s face when he replied. He had to know for sure. Shifting, he brought the man into the edge of his vision.

Howard spread his hands, his smile wide as if he was a proud papa. “The one and only.”

Sam balled his fists on top of the table, imagining burying one and then the other in
Howard’s face.

“You’re a lying son of a bitch—” Johnny charge
d the table, the action ripping Sam away from his morbid fantasy. Sam pivoted, arms stretched wide to stop Johnny. Howard would kill him and be able to claim self-defense. “Johnny! No!” Sam wrapped his arms around Johnny, struggling to hold the angry young man.

“Hey, don’t believe me, just ask your sister. There she is now.”

Sam whipped around to see Molly rushing towards her brother. She ignored Sam and grabbed her Johnny’s arm, trying to tug him away. “Listen to me, Johnny. Whatever he told you—it’s not like he said.”

“You mean what he said is true?”

Molly glanced at Howard, her gaze snagging on Sam for a moment before shifting back to Johnny. “It’s true he’s Kelsie’s father, but we never had a relationship. I met him at a bike rally, had a few drinks, and the next thing I remember is waking up at a hotel with him. It’s not something I like to talk about.”

It sounded like Molly had been drugged. It made sense, but was it true? Why hadn’t she told him when he had first mentioned Howard? Sam didn’t have time to think about it as Johnny’s face darkened
and he lunged at Howard again. Sam took the brunt of the force against his chest as he blocked Johnny. Ignoring Sam, Johnny pointed at Howard over Sam’s shoulder and shouted, “You threatened to kill my family, and all along, you knew Kelsie was your own
daughter
? What kind of sick asshole are you?” He elbowed Sam in the side of the head in his attempt to get to Howard. Sam reeled, staggering to the side. He reached out and grabbed Johnny’s sleeve. Part of him wanted to release the kid and let him do what Sam had longed to do for a year, but it was one thing to kill Sean’s murderer and something totally different to kill Kelsie’s father.

Howard grabbed the front of Johnny’s shirt, balling it in a fist and pulled him close. “I’m the asshole who’s going to end your life.” He yanked a gun from the back of his waistband and shoved it against Johnny’s stomach. “

Sam swore and released Johnny to pull his own weapon, ramming it against Howard temple. His finger itched to pull the trigger. Nobody would blame him. Howard had made the first move and Johnny’s life was in danger, but Molly watched, her face contorted in fear, her eyes wide in horror as they darted between the gun against her brother’s stomach, and the one Sam held. “Don’t do it, Howard. Drop the gun.”

“Who the hell are you? This
ain’t none of your business.”

“Well, seeing as I’m an ATF agent, I can’t very well stand by and let you kill this guy in
cold blood now, can I?”

Howard couldn’t turn his
head because of the gun, but he tried to look at Sam out of the corner of his eye. “Hey, I know you. You look different, Brennan, but your voice is the same. You couldn’t stop me before and I doubt you have the balls to stop me now. By the way, how’s your family doing?” He slanted a smirk at Sam.

Caught in a stalemate, Sam clenched his jaw and vowed not to let Howard goad him into making a mistake. He couldn’t be sure that even if he pulled the trigger and killed Howard, that Howard’s finger wouldn’t reflexiv
ely squeeze the trigger and fire into Johnny.

“Ray, please drop the gun. Why kill my brother? He’s your daughter’s uncle. If you care about her at all, you’ll drop the gun.”

Johnny’s head moved a fraction as he caught his sister’s eye. “Molly…don’t. Kelsie would be better off with him behind bars for killing me.”

Johnny was willing to sacrifice himself for his niece and Sam swallowed hard. He’d judged the kid wrong all along. “Do as your brother says, Molly.” Sam had an idea but if it went bad, he didn’t want Molly anywhere nearby. Molly crossed her arms, visibly fighting to hide her fear and terror. “No, I can’t do that. I have to stay to make sure you don’t all kill each other.”

“Aw, there’s my girl, looking out for me,” Howard said, a grin stretching across his face.

Molly took a step closer
to Howard. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about you. You raped me, but the last laugh is mine as I have the most precious daughter in the world, and she doesn’t need you in her life. I’m pleading because I don’t want my brother to die and I don’t want Sam to kill you because I know he would regret it. It won’t bring his son back and it would just tear him to pieces.”

“Ho
w the hell do you know about Brennan and his kid?” Howard attention wavered, and Sam took advantage of the moment. Keeping the gun pressed against Howard temple, he twisted suddenly and grabbed Howard’s gun hand, shoving it down as he brought his own body between Howard and Johnny and yelling, “Get Molly out of here!” Johnny spun out of the way and snatched Molly’s arm, jerking her out of Sam’s line of sight.

Sam’s
right hand slid with his momentum, losing contact with Howard skull, but he maintained his grip on Howard’s gun hand. Howard jerked his arm up despite Sam’s attempt, and pulled the trigger. Sam felt a hot burn against his left side, but didn’t release Howard’s arm. With a grunt, he put all his weight into forcing Howard’s arm lower until the gun was aimed at the ground. Now all the way in front of Howard, Sam used Howard’s own weight against him and jerked him forward, angling the gun to the side and praying that no one was behind him, either inside the tent or outside of it.

As Howard lost his grip on the weap
on, he stumbled, and Sam stifled a groan as the other man fell against him. Sam tossed Howard’s gun toward a now empty part of the tent, then clutched Howard shirt, pushing him down. “On your knees, you son of a bitch.
Now!
” He shoved his weapon against Howard forehead, pressing until the barrel dug into the other man’s flesh. “You don’t know how badly I want to kill you. How I’ve planned this moment in my head for the last year.”

Sam’s chest heaved as blood pounded through his head. This was
it. In an instant, he could obtain his vengeance. Only a millimeter of skin and a quarter inch of bone separated his bullet from Howard’s brain. He grimaced as he fought the urge to kill the other man.

For the first time, Howard looked afraid and he
sank to his knees, his hands rising. “Listen, I didn’t mean for your son to die. It was just supposed to be a warning. I swear to God.”

Sam’s finger twitched and he almost gave into his desire to pull the trigger, but Kelsie’s face popped into his mind. Such a sweet and gentle girl shouldn’t have her
father killed like a rabid dog even if he was one. Instead of pulling the trigger, Sam put his hand on top of Howard head and pushed him face first into the dirt, then he shoved his knee into the small of Howard’s back to keep him down.

Sam removed his wallet from his back pocket and flipped it open, revealing his badge
to a security guard who approached. “I’m Sam Brennan, ATF”

The security guard scrutinized the badge, and then nodded. “What happened?”

“I’ll explain in a second. First, I need your cuffs. “

The guard handed Sam the cuffs and turned to clear out the bystanders, asking those who had witnessed the event to stick around to be questioned, and sending the rest away. From his tone, Sam guessed he was an off-duty cop moonlighting as security. Sam
snapped the cuffs around Howard’s wrists. “You’re a lucky man, Howard. You have the right to remain silent…”

* * *

“I’m going back in!” Molly tried to push past her brother, but he wouldn’t let her past him.

Johnny put his hands on her shoulder.
“Just wait a few minutes until we know it’s safe.”

“But I have to see if Sam’s okay. There was a gunshot!”

“I know, I heard it, but he’s fine. If he was shot, Howard would have run out here by now.”

That made sense, but Mo
lly bit her lip and tried to peer around him into the tent. A security guard had entered only a minute or so ago and now people were exiting. From the conversations she overheard she learned that Howard was the one on the ground. Had he been shot? On one hand, she was relieved it wasn’t Sam, but she prayed for Sam’s sake, he hadn’t killed Ray Howard. More security swarmed the area and Molly heard sirens approaching.

A few moments later, the same security guard who had first entered stepped out, a hand-held radio held to his mouth. He was calling for medics to the tent.

Molly stepped forward. “I’m a paramedic.”

The security guard looked her up and down. “You’re a medic?”

“Yes.” Molly fished into her purse and pulled out her work ID. “I’m not from this county, but I’m licensed for the state.”

“Well, come on in and take a look.”

At first, Molly headed for Howard, who stood between two security guards, his hands behind his back. When he saw Molly, he swore at her. She looked him over but didn’t spot any injuries and asked one of the guards, “I’m a paramedic. What’s the matter with him?”

The guard shook his head. “He’s fine. The other guy over there needs some attention though.” He pointed to the back of the tent. She looked in that direction and saw Sam sitting
on the ground, his back against the front of the bar. His face was chalky and dotted with sweat as he held his side. His eyes appeared closed and a shard of fear pierced her heart. “Sam!” She rushed to his side. “Can you talk to me? Where are you hurt?” She put her hand on the arm he clutched to his side, gently pulling it away from his body.

Sam’s eyes opened, and he tried to sit straighter, but winced at the effort. “
Of course I can talk. It’s nothing, just a little scratch.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

“Molly, get away. You can’t be here.” He sounded weary.

Stung at his words, she pulled her hand back. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Ray Howard, but right now, I’m a paramedic who just wants to help you.” She tried her best to sound professional and not like a woman whose heart had just been torn in half.

Sam shook his head. “I don’t mean that. When the other paramedics get here, they’re likely to see the other wounds I had and wonder about them. I don’t want you being associated with me and getting in trouble. We can discuss the other thing later.” He grimaced. “Besides, it is just a scratch. I think Johnny’s elbow to my head inflicted more damage.”

“Let me just look and see how bad the scratch is.” She doubted it was just a scratch from size of the bloodstain she saw beneath the edge of his jacket.

“I swear, it’s nothing. I’ll get a few stitches and they’ll send me home. I’m just a big baby about these things—you should know that by now.” He licked his lips. “But why didn’t you tell me about Howard?”

Molly looked over her shoulder as more security entered the tent. So far, they were leaving Sam alone, probably figuring she was taking care of him and they didn’t want to interfere “I was afraid you’d hate me or even worse, hate Kelsie.”

Sam’s eyes searched her face. “I could never hate either of you. You should know that by now.”

“It’s just she loves you so much already and I wanted to protect her.”

His expression softened and he blinked. “She loves me?”

“Of course she does. Why do you think she was acting so miserable the other day wh
en she thought you were leaving?”

“
I love her too, but what about her mother?”

Molly reached for his arm again. “Just let me look so the guards will think I’m actually doing something here.”

He allowed her to see the wound, but when she tried to unbutton his shirt to get a better look, he covered her hand with his. “Wait—what about her mom?”

“Her mom?” His hand was covered in blood, but it didn’t faze her.
It was his question that made her pause. “Me?”

He nodded.

Molly took another peek around. Nobody was heading towards them yet, but sirens had stopped just outside the tent. “She loves you, too.”