by Kylie Walker
**
There was no more sleep that night. Asher showered and dressed and while Mia showered he sat sipping his coffee and staring off into space thinking about the confrontation he planned on having with Randall Proctor as soon as it was late enough for him to be at his office.
“Hey, are you okay?” He hadn’t even noticed Mia walk into the room. He held his arms out and she came into them and he pulled her down onto his lap. He just held her there for a long time and then he looked up at her face and said, “I’m okay. We’re all going to be okay. I’m going to see Proctor today.”
Mia looked instantly worried. “Asher, I know you’re capable of handling yourself, but please be careful. You need to be wary of him and his boys. They don’t fight fair.” Asher smiled gently at her. He was very capable of not fighting fair himself, but he didn’t want Mia worrying about that too.
“I’ll be careful baby, but this has to end.”
She nodded and pulled his head against her chest and held him there. They sat like that for a long time and when it was finally time for him to get up and go Mia said, “I’m going to start a fund for the Harper’s at the Bar and Grille. It’s time this community started standing up for each other.”
“You’re amazing,” he told her, as he ran his fingers down the side of her smooth face.
“I get my strength from you,” she said, with a smile. “Be safe. I love you.”
“I love you too baby. I’ll be fine.”
He kept imagining those poor horses as he drove into town and down the street that would take him to Proctor’s office. The kind of hate and greed it would take to do something like that to defenceless animals and people like the Harper’s who had worked their entire life for everything they had, was unimaginable to him. He parked in the front lot and walked into the outer office. Proctor’s secretary looked up at him and smiled. Asher ignored her and walked up to the door of his office.
“Sir, you can’t go in there…” Asher already had the door open and was stepping inside. He slammed it behind him, drowning her out. Proctor was on the phone. When he saw Asher, he got a smug smile on his face. Asher let him tell the person on the other end he would call them back and hung up the phone. He just stood there for a few seconds letting the smug bastard think he was here to beg them to let him sell.
“Asher,” Proctor said, rising from behind his desk. “This is a nice surprise. How are you doing?” He tried to convey a pleasant, empathetic demeanour. It was lost on Asher. His heart was pumping wildly and his stomach was on fire.
“This isn’t a social call, Proctor. This is me telling you that the bullshit stops, today.”
Proctor raised an eyebrow at him and still with the semblance of a smile he said, “I don’t understand. What ‘bullshit?’” He was still behind his desk, likely wary of the look Asher knew he had on his face.
“You want me to spell it out for you? I know about the corruption, the extortion, the intimidation. I know that you are responsible for the anxiety that caused my father’s heart attack and killed him. I know that you’re responsible for the fire last night that killed six defenceless horses. You and your ‘boys’ make me sick and I’m finished playing games with all of you.”
The smile was gone from Proctor’s face. It was replaced by an intense glare that was meant to intimidate. Again, it was lost on Asher. He was not the least bit intimidated by these people, any of them. The older man stepped from behind his desk and in a voice he surely believed was scary, he said, “You don’t know who you’re messing with young man. I know all about you. I know you were responsible for the death of Travis Halloway. I know you ran from that and joined the army. You spent years looking down the scope of a rifle and killing people from yards away like a coward, and ultimately you went on one last mission. But your men didn’t come home from that one…did they? You left them dead on that mountain and you stopped by to pick up your medals on your way home. I know all about you, boy, and I knew your father who was just as weak as you are.”
Asher didn’t hesitate as soon as he heard Proctor mention his father. In one swift move, he had Proctor by the front of his shirt and shoved up against the wall behind him. He wanted to kill him, but he knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t hear anything but the ticking of the clock on the wall and Proctor’s noisy breathing. In a low, deep voice he said, “No Proctor. You are the one who doesn’t know who you are messing with. This will stop. Either you will stop it or I will. I don’ think you will be happy with the way I handle it. You will be lucky to escape with your life and you won’t be collecting any fucking medals. Do you understand me?”
Proctor was snorting through snot and his face was turning red, but he didn’t answer Asher. The fear Asher saw in the man’s eyes was satisfying enough. Asher let go of him, took a small step back and used his hands to smooth Proctor’s suit. Asher’s mouth curled into a wicked smile and said, “You’re old, you’re slow and guess what? I know everything about you. You are going down old man. Do yourself a favour and walk away now while you still can.” Asher was still smiling as he walked away. Proctor looked terrified and Asher would bet a million dollars by the time he hit the parking lot that he was already on the phone to one of his sons.
Chapter 28
“Can I go to the hockey game Saturday night?” Mia, Asher, Frank, and Axel were having dinner together. Mia had made a roast and potatoes and it must have been good because Axel was stabbing the last piece onto his fork as he talked.
“With who?”
“Whom,” Frank corrected.
Mia rolled her eyes and smiled at her father. “With whom?” she modified.
“Mike and Craig.”
“Who’s driving?”
“Mike.”
“How long has he had his license?”
“Jeez Mom! Dad, a little help here?”
Asher grinned. “I’m on her side dude, how long has Mike been driving?”
Axel shook his head but smiled as he said, “He started driving his dad’s pick-up on the ranch when he was eleven.”
“Axel…”
“I’m kidding, Mom. He got his license when he was sixteen. He’ll be eighteen in two months. He’s never had a ticket. He doesn’t drink or do drugs. It’s just a hockey game.”
Mia smiled. “You should have just said that in the first place.”
Axel shook his head. “Next thing she’ll want me to wear a helmet so I don’t get hit with a puck.”
Asher and Mia looked at each other and Asher started laughing. “Don’t you dare,” Mia said to him, threatening him with a breadstick.
“What?” Axel said.
“Never mind,” Mia said.
Asher was still laughing. “Come on, tell us now,” Frank said.
“Yep, Grandpa’s right.”
Asher looked at Mia and said, “Sorry baby. So Mia and I went to a hockey game one night when she was about sixteen. Travis and Dean were there too and the game was kind of slow so we were all just talking and hanging out. All of a sudden people started yelling and cheering. We turned towards the ice and a hockey puck came right at us. I yelled at Mia to duck and she did…” Asher was laughing so hard he could hardly talk.
“Did it hit you, Mom?” Axel asked, wondering why that would be funny no doubt.
“No.” she narrowed her eyes and looked at Asher again. He was still laughing. He tried to finish telling the story but every time he started talking, he would start laughing and he couldn’t get the words out. Axel and Frank were laughing too because he was laughing so hard. Finally, tormented enough, Mia said, “I was holding the nachos in my lap.”
Axel, still laughing said, “Oh my God, you didn’t?”
“I did. I gave myself a cheese facial.” She was laughing now too and Asher reached over and grabbed her around the waist. She tried to act mad at him, but it wasn’t working.
When he could finally talk again he said, “The puck hit the guy two rows back, so we were
distracted by that for a minute. When we turned back around,” he started laughing again. “Mia was sitting there with cheese all over her face and a jalapeno stuck to her cheek.”
Mia let them all laugh and poke silly fun at her for a while and then she said, “Let’s change the subject. Has Andrew called you back?”
Still chuckling Asher said, “Not yet.”
“Who’s Andrew?” Frank asked.
“He’s a friend of mine from my army days. Andrew Fletcher. He was my second-in-command on the last mission I went on in Afghanistan. I called him to enlist his help with this Proctor stuff.”
“To break some kneecaps?” Axel asked with a grin. Asher smiled back at his son, Mia shook her head.
“Not yet, son. We’re going to see how much information we can come up with about them and hopefully let them hang themselves. Andrew is putting together a team to turn over every rock out there and find any evidence we can use against them. They’re going to work on finding out exactly where the money comes from and just why the hell they have so much power.”
“Is he still active?” Frank asked.
“No, he’s retired and so is the team he’ll be putting together. In Special Ops you tend to make a lot of friends in a lot of places. Between six of us, we’ll have hundreds of connections, to just about anything.”
“Cool. I think I want to join the army,” Axel said. Mia nearly got a case of whiplash from turning her head so quickly. When her huge eyes met her son’s he laughed. “Just kidding, Mom.” Axel did feel the brunt of her breadstick.
Mia got up and started clearing the table. Asher was helping her when his phone rang. He looked at it and told her, “It’s Andrew.” She nodded and he stepped out through the back door and put the phone to his ear. Axel and Frank got up to help her with the cleanup and by the time Asher came back inside the work was done.
“So, what did he say? Can he help?” Mia asked him.
“Good news,” he said, “We might not have to do much after all. Andrew found out that the FBI has them under surveillance already. They’ve been watching them for five years.”
“Five years?” Frank pulled his brows together, “What the hell is taking them so long to bring them down then?”
“According to Andrew it’s happening soon, but he doesn’t have an exact date. Apparently they’re really thorough. They’ve been gathering proof that Randall has been misappropriating funds from grants the school has received, as well as lining up witnesses that will testify about money laundering, bribes, and the drug part of the business. They have a roomful of evidence against these guys; all four of them.”
“You mean it’s finally almost over?” Frank asked.
“That’s what it sounds like,” Asher said with a grin. Frank still looked anxious. “What’s wrong, Frank?”
“I’m just so used to worrying, I think. I guess I’m just anxious about the damage they can cause in the meantime.”
“It’s been so long in coming that it’s no wonder you’re still anxious about it, Dad. At least we know it’s coming now, and Andrew said soon, right?”
Asher smiled again. “Yes, he said very soon.” He saw Frank visibly exhale.
“I wish I could be there when they slap the cuffs on James,” Axel said. “I can’t stand that guy.”
“We’d all like that, baby,” Mia told him. “Hey! I made a banana cream pie. Let’s have a piece and celebrate.”
The men were all on board with that. They moved into the living room and Axel turned on the baseball game. A few minutes later Mia returned with pie for everyone and a carafe of coffee. Axel got up and went into the kitchen for a soda. Mia poured her and Asher’s cup of coffee and she had just begun pouring one for Frank when she suddenly said, “Damn! I forgot I was supposed to go lock up the main safe after they closed tonight. I’ll have to run down there. You guys can start the movie without me.”
“I’ll go do it,” Asher said.
“Are you sure, babe? I don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind either. You made dinner and pie and you cleaned up. Relax and watch the movie. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay, if you’re sure you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all. I’ll go take care of it and be back in ten minutes.” He stood up and then leaned down to plant a kiss on Mia’s lips. “Be right back.” He headed out the door and down the walkway towards where his car was parked. He had almost reached it when Axel called out after him, “Wait up, Dad! I’ll go with you.” Asher liked that Axel chose to go places with him now on his own. He smiled and in a playful manner he said, “Well if you’re coming you better hurry up, I’m already half-way there.” Asher heard the car before he saw it. When he turned back around all he could see were headlights. The car was speeding and headed right towards him. He turned back to warn Axel but then everything happened within a split second. It was too late!
Chapter 29
Asher had seen a lot of horror in his life. He had always thanked God that the day Travis died he had been knocked unconscious because watching someone you care about getting hurt or killed is entirely different than watching it happen to a stranger.
He was running towards Axel when the car hit him. He heard himself scream as he saw his boy’s body fly up and slam back down onto the windshield. He bounced off that and flew about ten feet into the street. The impact of his body shattered the windshield and the driver, who hadn’t stopped was trying to drive away across the front lawns of Asher’s neighbours. He ran first to Axel and he was knelt down on the asphalt next to him when he heard a heart-wrenching scream.
“Axel! Oh my God! Asher! What happened to him?” Mia was at his side on her knees. Asher was in shock as he looked at Mia’s face. Axel was bleeding from the back of his head. A pool was forming under him. One of his arms was twisted at an unnatural angle. Asher was aware enough to know that Mia was about to cradle him.
“No!” He didn’t mean to say it so sharply. He lowered his voice and said, “Don’t touch him, baby. Don’t let anyone touch him until the ambulance gets here.” Frank was standing next to them with his phone to his ear. Asher could hear him talking to the 911 operator. He was shaking so hard he could barely keep the phone to his ear. About twenty feet behind Frank, Asher saw it. The car that hit Axel had crashed into a tree a few houses up the street. He got up and left Mia with their son. He had to make his way through a sea of people that had descended out of nowhere. They all seemed to be on their phones. Once he was outside the circle of people, Asher broke out in a dead run towards the car. He grabbed the handle on the driver’s side and pulled. James Proctor practically fell out at his feet. Asher had never felt the kind of fury racing through his veins. He was barely conscious of what he was doing. He grabbed hold of James by his shirt and threw him onto the ground. The other man tried to scramble away but with a kick to his ribs, Asher knocked him back down to the ground and within a fraction of a second he was on top of him.
Asher unleashed the fury inside him onto James. Each time he slammed his fist into the man’s face it would bounce off the pavement and Asher would hit him again, and again. People were watching him now but Asher didn’t see or hear anything going on around him. He was in the zone. All he could see was his son smiling at him just before he watched the car plow into him. And then he would think of the terror in Mia’s face when she looked at this man, and the horror in her eyes when she saw their son in the street, and he had hit him again and again.
“Asher! Asher, stop! You’re killing him.” Frank grabbed him by the shoulder hard and it brought him back. He finally looked down at the man underneath him. James was unconscious and his face was a bloody mess. “You have to stop son,” Frank told him, gently. Asher was shaking all over and his knuckles were bleeding as he struggled to stand up.
“Axel…”
Like a man in a trance, he pushed his way through the crowd that had just watched him beat James into a bloody pulp. He could see Mia in the street with tears streami
ng down her face as she sat next to their son. Axel was still not moving. He dropped down to his knees next to Mia and his son. The blood pool underneath his head was larger now and although he was still breathing, his breaths were slow and shallow. “Where the fuck is the ambulance?” he screamed out to no one in particular.
“It’s coming, son. I can hear it.” Frank was at his side once more. Asher looked up at him and then down the street. It was suddenly like his head was in a vacuum. He couldn't hear the ambulance coming but he could make out the blurred shape of it through his puffy, blood-shot eyes. He looked back at Axel’s pale face. It was like he was watching the life drain out of him onto the asphalt. The ambulance stopped behind them and Asher had to physically move Mia out of the way. She felt as strong as an ox as she tried to break out of his grasp and get to her baby. They stood helplessly by as Axel was strapped onto a body board and loaded onto a stretcher. The light from the ambulance was blinding as they watched him be channelled to it.
Mia shrugged Asher’s hand off of her arm and ran to the ambulance.
“I’m going with him,” she said. She didn’t leave room for argument as she climbed inside.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Frank told her as the doors closed. Asher couldn’t take his eyes from his son. He stood there and watched as the ambulance rushed off down the street. When it disappeared Frank said, “Come on, let’s follow them.” Asher followed Frank to his car and that was when he saw the other ambulance and the police cars. They were loading James into an ambulance and one of the witnesses was pointing Asher out to the policeman. Asher waited while the cop made his way towards him. When he got close he said,
