Chapter 8: LAW

"I'm not keeping you against shit, you can go anytime you fucking please, but your daughter stays; she's under my protection now."

"But if she doesn't go through with it, there's going to be trouble..."

"What kind of trouble?" She wrung her hands harder and looked miserable as fuck; still, I couldn't find it in me to give much of a shit.

She had stood by and watched her husband abuse her kid; that little bit of heat she'd shown this morning had worn off, and now she was probably thinking that she was better off with the devil she knows.

Whatever her reasoning, I couldn't say that I was surprised. I'd seen it often enough to know it.

There were kids here whose mothers had crawfished as well. Unlike the government, we didn't give children back to their fucked up mothers who were willing to put their own children in danger.

The one time the slimy fuck sheriff had come out here for one of my kids, as they all come to be known, I'd sent his ass packing with a warning.

If he didn't want me burning down his house of cards, he'd leave my shit alone.

He didn't know what Clay and Brand had copied from his office before they walked, and we always held that shit over his head.

We had plenty to take the greedy fuck down, but we were playing a strategic game that was full of checks and balances.

If I moved too soon, I'd miss the one thing I wanted most of all. To burn Royce Davis once and for all!

"I don't know too much about..."

"Lady, do I look like I have time for your bullshit? I know that two minutes after getting here, you started having second thoughts; I don't give a shit. I want to know what's planned for tomorrow, and I want to know it all now."

"You have to understand; Carl never would've done it if we didn't have the need..."

"You know, when I pulled you out of that place, I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but if you're gonna sit there and spout excuses for your piece a shit husband, then there are no longer any doubts.

I repeat I don't care about your fucked up feelings or what the fuck you think. You and your husband sold your fucking kid to a monster." I saw her flinch as if I'd hit her and really couldn't care less.

As soon as I got what I wanted out of her, she was gone. She was starting to piss me the fuck off, and I wasn't in the mood. I had shit to do because I didn't know exactly what her daughter had brought to my door, and I had people to protect.

Her old man might not have known me personally before today, but the way he'd tried to run from me earlier, told me that he knew something of who I am, or at the very least had heard of me.

Which meant that he could've already told Royce what was going on. Would this be the thing that brought the slimy fuck out from behind that cast iron wall? I should be so fucking lucky.

Then again, what were the odds of the man's intended, bought, and paid for bride, falling into my lap so effortlessly?

I know how the bastard thinks; if he paid for it, he owns it lock stock and barrel. Or, more to the point and more his style; if he sees it and wants it, it shall be his.

And he doesn't share well with others, whether the shit belongs to them or not. I can't see him spending all that money over the past six years and just walking away from it.

I especially couldn't see him accepting a loss to me, so there was definitely going to be trouble.

I was purposely leaving out the most important reason why I think he wouldn't be happy with this turn of events, why I think he would do whatever possible to get back what he thinks is his.

I have the feeling in my gut that when she cleans up, that little girl is going to be one gorgeous piece of ass. A man would die for some shit like that.

Should I go on the offensive or play defense? That was the only thing in question, but first, I needed this idiot to talk.

"Mr. Davis came to my husband when the farm was in trouble." The fuck he did.

"Start at the beginning, the Royce Davis I know doesn't give a fuck about anyone, so I don't see him coming out to your half-ass farm just to lend a helping hand."

Again she started that fidgeting shit, and I was beginning to suspect this shit might be worse than I first thought.

"Um, well, I guess it started one day when we went to the feed store. Dana Sue had tagged along with her dad and me. She wasn't well known in town because we sorta kept her close to home.

She didn't go to the school; I schooled her at home since she was about seven or eight, and the other kids started picking at her."

She must've seen the 'do I look like I care about this shit' glare on my face because she sped up her narrative.

"Anyway, that day, Mr. Davis was coming by the store; he owns it, you know." Another glare had her moving it the fuck along.

"Anyway, he seemed to take a real interest in her, and well..." she broke off her speech and looked at me, and for the first time, I saw a little bit of shame there.

Well, at least she had some human left in her, and the asshole she was in an all-fired hurry to get back to hadn't beaten it all out of her.

I think I'm going to be sick, though. The girl was all of twelve six years ago, which meant Davis had to be at least fifty back then since he was dad's age.

"Go on." I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists so that I didn't leave my chair and strangle her where she sat.

I have to admit, after hearing her out, that there really wasn't much she could've done, but still, it pissed me off no end.

I'm sure my mother suffered even more in the end because she was doing everything in her power to protect her baby girl. I didn't have to be there to have seen it to know it; it's just who we are.

So though I might have a little empathy for her plight at the hands of that abusive asshole, there are other alternatives to selling an innocent young girl to a man that everybody knew, whether they admitted it out loud or not, was three steps past being a fucking monster.

I walked away without saying another word to her and went in search of one of the younger members of my crew. I needed something to clear my head after that sickening revelation, and this would be killing two birds with one stone.

I was making a quick stop to take care of something that needed tending to today but was put off because of the whole Dana situation. Only thing is now, with things going in this new direction, it was even more imperative that I deal with it now.