“I am going to give you one chance to apologize and get out of my way,” he said clearly, as if he hadn’t had one drop of alcohol.
The guys looked at each other and started laughing. Clearly these assholes had no idea what they were about to get themselves into.
“Listen man, just stumble your drunk ass back home and have your fat, ugly wife tuck you into bed before you get yourself hurt,” one of them said arrogantly.
Decklan’s eyes narrowed as he took another step closer. “Say something like that again. I dare you.”
It seemed that two of them got the message from Decklan’s tone and they stepped back. However, the one guy that Decklan figured was the little leader of the group didn't back down. This guy had something to prove for some reason, and Decklan’s patience was wearing thin.
The young guy leaned in and whispered, “Fuck you, buddy.”
Before he could lean back away, Decklan grabbed him by the back of the neck and held him there, keeping him from moving.
Then he whispered something back. “This is going to be fun.”
Decklan landed a hard headbutt right on his nose, busting it wide open and sending the guy stumbling backwards into his two buddies. Then he noticed one of them coming at him from his left, so he kicked the kid’s knee in, grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head through a table.
That’s two, one more to go.
The last guy standing hesitated, trying to decide if it was worth it or if he should just back down and get the hell out of there. Then Decklan noticed the guy reaching for something in his waistband. He knew there was only one reason for that. He lunged forward, grabbed the guy's wrist before he had the chance to pull the gun out, and punched him square in the throat. He took the gun away, unloaded it, dropped the mag, and took the gun apart in under five seconds. He tossed it off to the side and headed for the exit.
Before getting outside, he could see the unmistakable blue lights flashing through the bar windows. Someone called the cops and he was about to get arrested for assault.
CHAPTER 5
Morning finally came, which was evident by his splitting headache. Decklan couldn’t wait to hear what his brother had to say about what happened last night. He could hear the disappointment and judgment already.
Right on cue.
Parker came over to the holding cell where Decklan was and had the guard let him out. Neither one of them said a word as they walked back to Parker’s office. Once inside, Parker shut the door and closed the blinds so the other officers knew not to disturb him.
“Deck, what the hell were you thinking? You know what drinking does to you,” Parker said, choosing to speak first.
“What’s it matter to you, Chief? You haven’t exactly been much help,” Decklan said sharply.
“Come on, Deck, you know that’s not fair.”
“Fair. You want to talk to me about fair? Is it fair that someone broke into my house when I wasn’t home to slaughter my family? Is it fair that they made me watch so it would be burned into my memory forever? Is it fair that…”
“Okay, I get it,” Parker said. “I am just concerned about you. I don’t want you doing anything you might regret. We both know you could have killed those guys last night.”
Decklan waited before responding.
“How could I regret something if I don’t have anyone left to disappoint?” Decklan finally responded. “Plus, I knew what I was doing. I wasn’t going to seriously hurt them, but they needed to be taught some manners.”
“I get it, Deck. But you thought the same thing when we lost Mom and Dad in high school. But you still had me. Even if you didn’t care.”
“That was a long time ago. I think you turned out just fine, little brother,” Deck snapped back.
They could both tell this conversation wasn’t getting them anywhere productive, which was the usual theme for them over the years.
“Am I free to go, Chief Parker?” Deck asked sarcastically.
“Considering what you just did, you’re lucky no one is pressing any charges,” Parker said.
Most people would be thrilled by this news, but Decklan was so numb to emotion right now all he wanted to do was get the hell out of there.
“Just promise me something,” Parker said. “Stay away from the sauce and please don’t get into any more trouble. You might not be so lucky next time.”
Decklan stood up to leave without acknowledging his brother's statement.
“See you around, little bro.”
He was finally out the door and back in his pickup. Parker must have had someone drive it back to the station. It was now day two since his family’s murder and he still had no lead or any idea where to start. The only thing he’d managed to do was get drunk and beat up a few college kids. Not exactly his proudest moment. Unsure of his next move, he decided he would go home to shower and regroup.
As he approached his driveway, he found himself not being able to drive in. He just stared at his house as if it was some stranger's house that he had never seen before. Maybe it was his house still, but it would never again be his home. He knew the only thing that waited for him inside was pain and silence, but he knew he had to go inside, no matter how badly it might hurt. No matter how badly he wanted to burn it down into a pile of ashes. Plus, the men who did this knew he was still alive and they obviously knew where he lived. What would stop them from coming back to finish him off? He couldn’t know for sure that this wouldn’t be the case, but he assumed that if they wanted him dead they would have killed him when they
