I’d faced off with armed terrorists and insurgents wearing explosives. I’d gone toe to toe with extremists and militants. I’d brawled in bars and in close-quarters combat. I’d taken bullets and been sliced open by tactical knives. I’d been put through the ringer by drill sergeants and the opposition but none of it had leveled me out and taken me down like my little brother just did. He’d just inflicted wounds that wouldn’t heal, but they were ones that were necessary in order for the poison inside to start to leak out. He’d lanced the infection that had lived inside of me so long by showing me what a man that had been through hell and back looked like when he just kept going. My brother and Jules kept walking no matter how high the flames got and no matter how hot the fire burned. I had stopped and let the heat consume me. I quit walking and gave up while everyone else marched on. It was time to get my ass in gear and catch up to the rest of my family.

I reached out and clasped his stiff shoulder. It took some work to get him turned towards me, but when he did I pulled him to me and wrapped him up in a hug he struggled to get out of. I wasn’t a hugger by nature, though I was getting used to the ones Dixie kept pulling me into, so it was awkward and uncomfortable, but I held on to Dalen until he realized I wasn’t going to let go.

“Everything you said is the truth. I did choose wrong many times over, but I swear on all that I love that I will work on it now that I’m home.”

I squeezed him until I felt some of the tension exit his tall frame. Hesitantly his arms lifted to return the hug. Because he was a teenager and because he had a reputation in the town, I got a very stiff pounding on the back like we were bros instead of brothers. It made me chuckle but I would take it. I let him go and gave him a serious look. “I’m serious. I owe you and Jules the world that I worked my ass off to make a better place. I will show up, Dalen, and I’ll keep showing up. I will be here.”

I could see he didn’t believe me fully, and I didn’t blame him. I’d been lying to everyone for so long about so many things it was hard for him to know if I was actually being truthful.

“We’ll see. That girl you brought home with you is hot. When she goes I bet you run after her.” We both turned our heads as a patrol car pulled into the lot and stopped next to my Harley.

Even from this distance it was easy to see Jules was not a happy parent or police officer.

“She is hot, but she’s not mine to keep.” Even if the idea of a guy showing up to give her everything she wanted, that fuzzy future with all the trappings, made me feel murderous and alarmingly possessive. Jules got out of the car and slammed the door with enough force that the entire vehicle shook.

“You okay, son?” He walked right up to Dalen and grabbed him on either side of the face and turned his head this way and that while assessing the damage. “They got some good shots in didn’t they? Gonna take you to see the doc. I don’t like the look of that ding on the side of your head.”

Embarrassed, Dalen swatted Jules’s hands away. “I’m fine.”

Jules snorted and put his hands on his hips. “You might be fine but if you want to finish out your season we’re gonna make sure you don’t have a concussion. You think you learned your lesson about skipping school?”

My brother nodded and looked sheepish. “Yeah, Dad. It was dumb.”

“Need the names of the kids that were with you. I also need you to give me a description of the guys that attacked you and what they were driving. Don’t gimme no lip about keeping your buddies out of trouble. This is bigger than your next game, Dalen.”

I could see my little brother gearing up to argue, so I interrupted before things got too heated. “I’m going to stick my head inside and see if the cashier noticed anything. Maybe we’ll luck out and they’ll have video of the fight and the license plate of the truck.”

Jules nodded at me and waved me off with a hand. “Good thinking. I’ll be in right after you.”

I pushed through the glass doors and frowned when the girl behind the counter didn’t so much as look up as the electronic ding overhead rang to alert her to the fact she had someone in the store. She was propped on the counter, chin in hands as something played on her phone. She didn’t bother to look up as I approached either. The closer I got the more obvious it became she was oblivious to everything but what was happening on the tiny screen in front of her. I bet shoplifters had a field day on her shifts and if the owner didn’t have some kind of video surveillance in place then they were an idiot.

“Excuse me.” I tapped the counter in front of her until she rolled her heavily made-up eyes in my direction. At first she looked irritated but once she got a good look at me she perked up. I decided to use that to my advantage and gave her a flirtatious look and a half grin that was totally fake. “I was wondering if you noticed the commotion that just went down outside. Did you see anything?”

She grinned back at me and rose to her full height. She was probably about the same age as Dixie, but all that makeup and the unflattering red uniform shirt made her look older. She stuck her chest out as she tapped a manicured finger to her chin and I gave her the obligatory once-over. She was fine to look at, but I had zero interest in anything she was offering up. I wasn’t the right guy for Dixie, but that didn’t stop her from being the perfect girl for me.

“Naw. It’s quiet around here until noon when the school lets out for lunch. We get an occasional trucker and a couple of tourists passing through but nothing exciting usually happens in the morning. At least not until you walked in.” She batted spidery eyelashes at me and pursed her glossy lips. “Are you new in town? I definitely would remember seeing you around before.”