“I grew up here. My family is from around here. In fact, it was my little brother that was the one attacked outside your store.” My friendly tone got a whole lot less friendly when I started talking about Dalen getting attacked. “You weren’t paying attention. You didn’t call the cops when a teenager was being attacked by three racist adults. A teenager who happens to be the sheriff’s son. I’m sure you can see how this can end really badly for you.” I looked at her name tag through narrowed eyes. “Allison.”

“Shit. Dalen got beat up? That’s not good. My boyfriend likes to bet on the games and Dalen is the backbone of that team.” She put a nervous hand to her throat and looked at me out of wide eyes as she must’ve heard how callous her statement sounded. “Uh … I mean … is he okay?”

I didn’t respond to her fake concern for my brother’s well-being. “Tell me that you got cameras pointed at the parking lot.”

She rapidly nodded. “We do. Teenagers like to gas and dash, so the boss put them in a couple years ago. I’ll have to call him and ask permission to show them to you.”

“I already called since this is an official criminal investigation. Take us to the back and show us what we need.” I turned my head as Jules walked in and up to the counter next to me. He was in his no-nonsense police mode but I could tell that underneath he was one furious father that wanted payback for what had happened to his son.

We followed the cashier into the back and both of us stopped breathing as she enlarged the view from the camera we pointed out and started to roll back the feed until the scuffle appeared. It was hard to watch. The images had my hands curling into fists and Jules swearing every five seconds. The guys that attacked Dalen were no scrawny weaklings. They were burly backwoods boys that looked used to hard labor and hard living. I was glad there was no sound because not only would the noises of fists hitting flesh make it harder to take, I knew the things that they were saying to him, the names they were calling him, would push me over the edge. I already wanted to hurt them, but that kind of unjustified hate unleashed on a kid, well, that made me want to kill.

The footage was clear enough to get a plate number and Jules wasted no time in calling it in but it was the oblivious cashier who actually turned out to be the best source of information. After we watched the entire attack, twice, she nervously informed us that her boyfriend with the gambling problem went to a bar called Sassy’s a town over to place his bets with his bookie. Apparently the place was a dive that catered to yokels and hillbillies. She gave me a look when she said it that indicated it was a place where I would most definitely not be welcome.

“I’ve heard of it, but it’s out of my jurisdiction, so I’ve only ever driven by it.” Jules gave me a look that spoke volumes. We both knew where this was going and he didn’t want me to run off half-cocked. Well, he was in luck because I was fully cocked and more than willing to let the bastards that beat my brother find the person they were actually looking for.

“I’ve seen that truck in the parking lot. And the big guy who was driving, I think I’ve seen him at the door a time or two. I don’t ever go inside because it looks filthy and my boyfriend says it’s not safe, but yeah, I bet you can find those guys there.” She shifted her gaze between the two of us and tilted her head to the side. “So, do you think Dalen will be playing this weekend?”

I growled at her and went to take a step forward but was brought up short by Jules’s arm shooting out like a metal bar across the center of my chest. “Young lady, if you had been doing your job my son wouldn’t be in the shape he is in now. If you had called the police when those men pulled in with obvious ill intent, Dalen wouldn’t have had to fight three grown men while he was outnumbered. I’ll be speaking with your boss at length and you should mention to your boyfriend that he’ll need to find a new bookie because business at Sassy’s is about to get shut down.”

I continued to glare at her even as he grabbed the back of my shirt and started to haul me towards the door like he had when I was a kid. “Come on, Dash.”

Once we were back in the parking lot I wasted no time in swinging a leg over the Harley and pulling weight up off the kickstand. Jules put his hand over mine on the throttle and gave it a little squeeze.

“I know you think you should go after those men, that you want to defend your brother. I know you aren’t afraid of a fight, afraid of their close mindedness and bigotry, but if you start something, if you are the instigator that puts me in a tough spot, son …”

I shouldn’t be surprised that my intention to go knocking at every dive bar in the county until I found the guys that injured Dalen was clear on my face. I was still choking on rage and a desire for retribution for what had happened to Dalen. “They were looking for me and found Dalen instead. He got hurt because of me and I can’t let that slide.”

“Son, I know exactly what you are capable of and that could lead to trouble. You need to be smart and you need to think through whatever you do next. You may think just because you didn’t tell me where you were or what you were doing that I didn’t keep tabs on you. You’re my son, Dash. I’ve always known exactly where you were and what kind of hot spots you were in. I’m not too proud to use my badge and my position to get information that my son isn’t willing to share. I never wanted you to enlist because I didn’t think you were in a place where you could handle losing brothers in arms and seeing what the ravages of war can do to people. You’d already had so much death in your life I couldn’t believe you were actively chasing after more of it. I should have known back then that you were looking for a reason. Your mom and Caroline died senselessly, but when you went to the desert, well, that was death and destruction that made sense.” I stared at him like I was seeing him for the first time, which maybe I was. I hadn’t been trying to see through my darkness, I’d simply become comfortable in it, feeling my way around with my eyes squeezed shut. I was seeing a whole lot of things for what they were now that Dalen had prodded me hard enough to get them open. “I didn’t want you to be a solider, but dammit if you weren’t the best soldier you could be.”