Falling for the Suspect (Book 3 in the Smalltown Superstars

Steve Giles drank down the shot of whisky in one gulp slamming it down on the table along with everyone else. The liquid burned a path down his throat. Steve picked up the mostly empty bottle of whiskey they had been drinking and filled all the shot glasses for another round. If six months ago someone had told him he would be happily shooting whisky next to Dawson Archer, the night before he married Steve’s baby sister Brook, he would have laughed. Dawson was a habitual womanizer, and frankly, when he had taken an interest in Brook, Steve had been violently opposed to it. Steve prided himself on being easy going and laid back, but when it came to Brook, he was fanatically overprotective. He had even gone as far as shooting at Dawson. Had it not been for Brook intervening Dawson would have been picking buckshot from his butt. But Steve had seen a real change in Dawson over the past six months, and he believed the man loved Brook. So, resigning his objections, Steve had given his blessing, and tonight he and the boys were welcoming Dawson into the family. Everyone was telling tales about women in their past and guessing whether or not they were true. Every time a falsehood was detected the liar had to drink. If the liar got away with the tale, then everyone else was forced to drink. It turned out to be a rather amusing game. Josh Hinckley, a local farm vet, had started telling a story of his own when Steve noticed his best friend, and Dawson’s older brother, Liam Archer looking out the window. He placed his shot glass down on the table and rose from his seat. “What is up?” Steve asked looking out the window to see what had drawn Liam’s attention from the party. “I hear a car coming up the drive,” Liam said as a set of headlights flashed through the window. “That is Nicky’s car.” He said heading for the door. “I thought Nicky had to work tonight.” Hank Williams said standing up from the table. Hank had been the local heartthrob back in school until he married up and settled down young with his pretty little wife and their four kids. “He did,” Josh said placing his glass down. “He told me so just this morning.” “So why is he here?” David Giles, Steve’s father, asked following Liam to the door. Steve followed Liam and his father out the door as curious as anyone as to what brought Nick Julies by when he should be working. Nick was a musician like Brook, and he played at the local bars, more often than not at the hottest bar in the county The Iron Horse. Steve stood beside the wooden rail surrounding the porch watching the car come to a stop in front of the house. Liam stepped down the stairs to greet Nick but when the driver’s door flew open, and Nick jumped out with a grave look on his face everyone knew something was wrong. “What is wrong?” Liam asked. Steve watched as Nick opened the back door and reached into the backseat. It only took a moment and when he came back out it was with Brook cradled in his arms. Steve jumped at the sight of her covered in filth, and her dress torn. She barely looked alive. “Brook!” Their father screamed in agony at the sight of his daughter shattered and beaten. Steve leaped over the rail surrounding the porch and ran to Nick’s side. He took his baby sister into his arms, calling to her desperately to see if she were conscious, and demanding to know what had happened from Nick. Steve quickly carried his sister into the house. Liam tossed a few things around clearing the way and making space on the sofa to lay Brook down. “I found her like this behind the dumpster on my break,” Nick explained. “I thought she was dead, but then I saw her open her eyes.” He explained while Steve placed Brook down gently and knelt beside her checking her injuries. “Call the police,” Liam ordered looking at Josh. Josh nodded and headed for the phone in the kitchen. “I think it was the Griffin boys,” Nick said with everyone looking at him. “I saw them follow her out of the bar. I didn’t think-” He stopped the words catching in his throat as he looked at Brook. “She said Griffin’s name when I asked her who did this to her.” “I’ll kill Sam Griffin,” Steve growled stroking Brook’s hair. Sam Griffin was a sleazy dirtbag they had been forced to grow up around. He and his lackey brothers had terrorized the town and everyone in it for years. Sam had been harbouring a twisted crush for Brook since the day her figure came in, but Brook, like most women in town, avoided Sam like he had the plague. “The bastard is probably sitting in Margie’s bar right now laughing it up.” Worse Steve had always feared something like this might happen one day. Brook was a stunning beauty with a hot temper and no verbal filter. He was always chasing off overly aggressive suitors, but he couldn’t be with his sister all the time. Sam had bought his time until he had been able to get his sister alone. Guilt and anger ate away at him. He was going to kill Sam. Liam leaned over the back of the couch and touched Brook’s shoulder. Her face was bruised and covered in filth. “Brook, baby girl, can you hear us?” He called to her. Everyone held their breath. Her eye’s fluttered open and her gaze caught Dawson’s. Dawson stared at Brook lying on the sofa. The shattered look, the torn dress was more than he could stand. He could see the anger in Dawson’s eyes. Suddenly the man who never had so much as raised his voice in anger stormed over to the coat closet took out his brother’s bat and left the ranch house with Liam chasing after him. Steve stroked her hair and tried to fight the violence in his heart. “Where did Dawson go?” Brook whispered still slipping in and out of consciousness. “He is outside carrot top,” Steve said trying to control himself. “I’ll go get him.” He rose to his feet and went out to find Dawson speeding away in his car. Liam rushed to his truck to follow, calling to Steve. “We got to go get him. He is going to get himself killed.” Steve didn’t stop to think as he climbed into Liam’s truck and they chased Dawson into town. They found him a few moments later. His car and the Griffin boys’ truck parked out front of Margie’s Bar. By the time they got inside Dawson was already beating the boys down with the bat he brought. Steve was surprised as any to see how well Dawson had taken all three of the Griffin boys down and he was still beating Sam as they approached. Once Sam lay on the floor before him, Dawson kicked him hard and beat him mercilessly with the bat taking his vengeance. Flashes of Brook’s ordeal trapped in his mind fueling his rage. Dawson was so caught up in the violence he did not even notice Steve and Liam enter the bar. He even tried to hit Liam when his brother attempted to take the bat away. “That is enough,” Liam yelled breaking through the veil of his brother’s rage, bringing Dawson back from the edge. “He has had enough. Let the police deal with him.” Liam said taking the bat from Dawson’s hands and handing it to Steve. “Get rid of this.” Steve nodded and gave Sam a good swift kick himself. “You deserve to die,” Steve growled before walking out the door with the bat in hand. Reaching the truck, Steve tossed the bat into the box. Dawson and Liam soon joined him, and they headed back to Liam’s ranch. His ire still up Steve fumed quietly. That beating was not nearly enough. Sam still had to deal with Steve and Steve was not going to be as forgiving as Dawson had been. But Brook came first. Once he was sure she was going to be alright, he would hunt that dog down and give him what he deserved. When they arrived, a marked cop car sat already parked out front. Inside two uniformed officers were taking Brook’s statement and taking pictures of her injuries. She was awake but weak. She had changed into one of Liam’s wife Raven’s dresses, and the police had bagged her clothes for evidence. Steve sat on the couch next to his sister listening to the police assure her they would be looking into the matter. “Looking into the matter? Exactly when will you be arresting them?” Dawson asked with impatience. “When all the evidence is in.” One officer said. “She told you exactly who did it. What more do you need?” Steve demanded. “We need corroborating evidence.” The same officer said. “Nick here said he saw them follow her out.” Their father said with anger. “But he didn’t see it happen. Leaving the bar at the same time is not a criminal offence.” The officer explained. Dawson stepped forward furious that they were doing nothing. “Those guys are lying on the floor of Margie’s bar right now waiting for you to go over there and get them. You can ask anyone in that bar; they heard Sam Griffin confess to raping her.” “We will certainly follow up on that.” The officer said taking some forms from his clipboard and handing them to Brook. “You should fill these out and take them in when you can go to Victim Services.” With that, the officers left, and the house was buzzing with disappointment in the local police force. They were not going to do a damned thing, and they all knew it. Steve did not know which ticked him off the most, the fact that it happened or that Sam was going to get away with it. No, he was not going to get away with this. Steve was not going to let him. He was going to get what he had coming to him. *** Sixteen hours in the emergency room getting x-rayed and bandaged, and another four hours of useless cops interrogating him, Sam Griffin was thankful to be home. He was not too worried about what the cops thought they had on him. If they had anything solid, they would have held him and did not. He was entirely confident this whole this would blow over. But as soon as his bones healed that bastard, Archer was going to get a whooping that made his ancestor's heads hurt. Sam walked through his front door and headed inside. He was hardly through the door when he realized he did not have to unlock the door. He thought that odd. Sam walked down the short hall into the kitchen and laughed when he noticed he had an unwanted guest seated at his kitchen table. The lights out, the door unlocked and waiting in the dark for him to come home. Sam laughed out loud at the pathetic attempt to intimidate him. “Are you trying to scare me?” He mocked turning on the lights. “Ooo, I’m shaking in my boots.” He chuckled. “I get it; you are sore about Brook. What do you want, an apology?” He asked not getting an answer. “Well, you and everyone else can just kiss my lily-white ass.” He grinned leaning forward manically. “I can still feel that w***e wriggling beneath me. Quite the little screamer.” He laughed. *** Liam Archer pulled over as he came into town. The main road was heavily congested. There were cars everywhere, and people were standing around. “What is going on?” His wife Raven asked trying to get a better look. “I think I see flashing lights.” “I don’t know.” Liam parked his truck, and they both got out walking over to the crowd to see what the commotion was all about. Four police cars were blocking the main intersection outside Margie’s bar with their lights flashing. Liam pushed his way to the front where he found friends Steve and Josh standing around with the others. “What is going on?” He asked. “They found a body,” Josh said pointing up. Confused Liam and Raven looked up at the street lights. Raven gasped with horror and buried her face in his chest. Hanging from the red light was Sam Griffin’s lifeless body. He must have been there for hours. Someone had taken a rope, fashioned a noose and strung him up in the middle of the intersection. Pinned to his body was a simple note that read: this is justice. “Someone murdered him,” Liam said with surprise looking at Josh and Steve. Steve glared up at the body with a satisfied smirk. “He got what he deserved.” Steve placed his hat on his head and walked away leaving Liam with an unsettled feeling.