Sheriff Mac Brown's Story

Rick excused himself sensing he was no longer needed, "If you ever need help, Mrs.Tammy knows how to get a hold of me" he said, "nice meeting you Lola" he said as he walked out the door and headed out down the road.

It was another day or so later, Lolly had been doing some things around the house when she saw a police car pulling into her driveway. A few nightmares flashed through her head, was this some kind of move by Jason to get Mireya back, or did he set her up to get arrested so he could get Mireya. An older looking man stepped out of the car and walked up to the house, there was only one so it calmed Lolly a bit.

There was a knock at the door as Lolly opened it. "Good day Maam, sorry to bother you but just figured since you're new in town I'd come by and introduce myself. I'm Sheriff Brown, I kinda keep an eye on all the things going on in town here, so if you ever got problems, here's my card, give one of those numbers a call and we'll have somebody down to help you out...oh, and my wife Laura gave me this to give to your little girl, and just a word of warning now that she knows you got a little one and are on your own...it's pretty much guaranteed she'll make her way out here sometime with some sort cake, or pie, or something...I can't stop her either" the older Sheriff said chuckling. "Well that's all Maam, you have yourself a good day" he said turning around, Lolly asked how he knew all that info on her, he turned around grinning, "Young lady just how many new people do you think we get in town?" I said chuckling, "Besides, Mrs.Tammy is always a great source of information too...whether I ask for it or not" he said chuckling. "Good day Maam" he said as he climbed into his police car and pulled out of the driveway.

Lolly smiled as the Sheriff pulled off. It was nice. She thought, not having to worry that she'd get the call that Jason was dead in a ditch somewhere with a hole in his head. She looked over the card. Maybe she wouldn't be alone after all. A few hours later, Lolly had received a pie from the Sheriff's wife. It was homebaked and still warm.

A few days passed Lolly was woken to the sound of banging on the wall. Terror shot through her as she was up and out of bed. She ran to Mireya's room only to be stopped dead in her tracks. Mireya was staring at her. The little girl giggled and gargled out whatever she was trying to say and bouncing her crib.
"You're standing." Lolly gasped and was moments away from shouting Jason's name. Mireya bounced in her crib and the crib hit against the wall. Lolly walked over and kissed her baby girl. She also noticed a dent in the wall where the crib was. Lolly gasped. She's been standing. Lolly nearly missed it. Mireya's plopped on to her bottom and Lolly looked at her. She had to get her head right. She was gonna wind up missing everything if she let this depression over take her. She decided then, If it was going to be just them. She'd make the most of it. She got dressed in her old Lolly fashion. Like a movie star, dressed Mireya up in an adorable jumper skirt and they headed out on the town. Sure, her heart was broken but she wasn't dead. She'd make sure she'd gain control of her life. Walking around, she looked better, the color returned to her face, she ended up cutting her hair and now it hung just below her jaw line. Change, she figured, was good.

Lolly and Mireya walked around the town square checking out the little shops. She stopped at a store, when she noticed the 'Your Baby can read' Learning kit. Lolly looked down at her little miracle. She smiled up at her. Her face a mess with little baby bisciuts. Lolly just started her on soild foods so this was the extent of it now. The girl had no teeth so cleaning up the mushy mess those biscuits left was some something special. "You wanna read?" She asked her. Mireya just blinked. "Alright then." She said and proceeded to purchase the kit. As the girls exited the store, Lolly threw on her sunglasses and was about to walk on when she noticed Rick. "Hey." She said, her smile was forced but to any one other then Jason couldn't tell the different.

Lolly was in the kitchen preparing Mireya's breakfast while Jason was sat in the living room playing with some blocks with Mireya. Mireya would arrange the blocks, and then Jason would move one to bug her, that's when Jason found out how much like her mother she was. After the third time Mireya shouted, picked up a block and threw it at her dad, which made Jason and Lolly who'd happen to see it burst into laughter. Mireya looked at her mom and dad with a confused look on her face at first, which caused them to laugh more. He then leaned down "sorry babygirl, Daddy was just teasing" he said smiling as he kissed her cheek, and was met with a baby punch to the cheek which brought out another round of laughter, that's when Jason looked down and saw Mireya's foot shaking. "Baby are you seeing this?" he said with a grin "she may be Daddy's girl, but she's just like her mom, which means..." he then picked her up and started blowing kisses all over on Mireya's head, neck, stomach, which caused the girl to break into a wave of giggles.

Then the heard a loud crack. Mireya burst into tears, Jason and Lolly both knew immediately what the sound was. Lolly looked at Jason "that was no hunting rifle" Lolly looked out the window "Jason look!" she shouted. He looked outside and saw two people, one looked to be a boy in his late teens, he was ontop of a girl and had a gun in his hand. "Stay here with Mireya" Jason said as he got up and ran to the door, grabbing his .357 on the way out. Jason heard the girl crying and although he couldn't make it out could hear the kid ontop of her screaming. Jason aimed and hit a tree about 3 feet beside where the kid was, it got his attention. "Drop the gun and get off the girl" Jason said pointing the gun at the kid. Jason asked himself if he was really going to shoot some kid having just arrived in the new town.. He hoped he wouldn't have to make that call. The kid got off of Joey and stood up, he still had the gun. "There's only two things you can do with that kid, and one of them is going to get you killed...I promise you I can pull this trigger faster than you can raise that gun" Whether it was the tattoos, or just Jason's overall attitude, Dylan got a sense this wasn't a guy to fuck around with, he reluctantly dropped the gun.

Joey made a move for the gun and Jason stopped her "honey don't you be grabbing that thing either", normally she didn't care what people said, but like Dylan, there was something about this guy that made her stop. "Now you're going to turn around, walk down the road you came from, and go back home got it?" he said to the kid. As he said that a police car with it's lights going came around the corner "fucking perfect" Jason thought. Sheriff Brown got out of the car, his weapon raised "police! drop the gun!" he shouted. Jason shook his head, dropping the gun, he saw the kid's eyes move to his gun on the ground "go for it and I'll break your fucking jaw" he said quietly to the kid. "Sir I'm going to ask you to get on your knees and put your hands behind your head..." Jason looked at him "you're going to arrest me? Really? The punk here was seconds away from turning her into a corpse and I'm the one you're cuffing?", Sheriff Brown noticed the man's attitude. He wasn't nervous or scared like most people were when thinking they were going to be arrested, it was like he didn't even care, it was just more of an annoyance than anything. "Me and my girl here were out for a walk, then this guy comes up and started demanding money from us and shit, then he pulled the gun" Dylan said hoping to get himself free.

"That's fucking bullshit you little asshole" came a voice from behind him, Jason turned to see Lolly with Mireya in his arms "you know it's going to be great when one of those are the first words out of her mouth" he said to Lolly, referring to their pact on not swearing around Mireya...which really was a great idea but in all honesty had no hope of ever happening. "Shutup" Lolly snapped at him. Lolly went on to explain to the Sheriff what had happened and why Jason came outside. "If what the kid says is true, why is there a Glock 9 lying on the ground over there?" Jason asked pointing to the kid's gun. "Okay Dylan, hands behind your back" Sheriff Brown said, Dylan started protesting "you're in enough hot water as it is son, if I were I'd keep my damn my shut before it got any hotter". He led Dylan to the police car, then came back. "Sorry bout that, Sheriff Mac Brown" he said sticking has hand out, "Jason" Jason said shaking his hand. Jason didn't know how much about the outside world this Sheriff knew, but if he knew anything about the crime and law enforcement world across the US he'd know the name Jason Walker immediately. "Ya know Ms.Duncan, I didn't realize you were married and all" the Sheriff said, Jason turned to Lolly "Duncan?" he said in a quiet tone. Lolly stammered a little, Jason turned back "I'm her boyfriend, I've been busy travelling and stuff with work and all". Sheriff Brown nodded, looking at the tattoos on Jason's arms and neck. "So uh...what do you do?" the Sheriff asked, as he was sure this guy wasn't one to be wearing suits and going to board meetings. Jason had been interrogated by LAPD, ATF agents, FBI agents, you name it, a small town Sheriff was nothing. "I'm a bike mechanic, working on Harley's mostly, stuff like that. About a year ago these organizers of a big travelling bike show hired me to come work for them, doing routine maintenance stuff on the bikes, stuff like that. Sucked being away from my girls that long, but couldn't argue with the money ya know...so now I'm back and looking at maybe setting up my own shop in town." Lolly smiled at Jason's story, damn he was good, he was probably better at lying than she was, however the last part had caught her by surprise.

"Oh yeah, well hey ya gotta make money right" the Sheriff said laughing, "what was the name of that bike show ya worked for again?" he asked. The guy knew what he was doing, most guys would have got hung up there, but this was Jason Walker, probably the worst guy any cop could ask to interrogate. "Well it was run by the American Harley association, it was called the Hog Wild National Bike Show", Lolly tried to hide her smirk, the Sheriff nodded "I see. Well we're going to need you to come down to the station and make a statement and all about what went on here" he then looked at Lolly "sorry to bother you maam, you two have a nice day" he said turning to Joey "and Joey, I called one of my deputies, they'll be by right away to give you a ride home. And maybe try to stay out of trouble for the rest of the day huh?" Joey just glared at the Sheriff. Lolly couldn't help noticing how familiar the girl looked, it was like looking at a version of her younger self not too long ago. The Sheriff drove off as another car came for Joey. Jason and Lolly walked back to the house, Lolly looked at Jason "travelling bike show?", Jason grinned at her "oh, and is Martinez spanish for Duncan?" he said with a laugh as they made their way back to the house.

A short time later Jason and Lolly were in the truck riding into town Lolly had left Mireya with Mrs.Tammy. She dropped Jason off at the Sheriff's station, then told Jason she was going to get some shopping down. "I'll call ya when they arrest me" Jason said joking as Lolly glared at him. She drove off and Jason headed into the Sheriff's station.

Jason walked into the Sheriff's department, he paused for a moment, he didn't usually enter a place like this voluntarily. He told the receptionist he was there to make a statement and Sheriff Brown walked up. "I'll take it from here Jenny, thanks" he said and motioned Jason around the counter. Jason followed Sheriff Brown to his office and sat down as Sheriff Brown took a seat at his desk. "So you wanted a statement?" Jason asked. "Hell son I know what happened, the whole damn town knows what happened. Besides the kid's walking out of here any minute anyway" the Sheriff said leaning back in his chair. "The guy tries to kill a girl and he's going to walk out of here?", the incredible irony of that statement wasn't lost on Jason, after all if he were to account for his body count he'd racked up they'd have to kill him five times over to make up for it. "The kid's name is Dylan Archibald which doesn't mean a damn thing to you, but around here the name Archibald, hell the kid may as well be a Kennedy" the Sheriff said, with obvious annoyance in his voice. "Walter Archibald, that's the kid's old man, was a big time lawyer in Dallas then got out of the game and started going into real-estate, owns pretty much half if not more of Outlaw Creek" the Sheriff said as he looked through some papers. Jason smirked, he did in fact know the name. Walter Archibald had been a lawyer for the Sons of Hell, they had a major RICO case pinned on them in Dallas, what most people didn't know was that Archibald had his own issues and in a back-stabbing deal sold out the Sons of Hell to clear himself. That's why he got out of the game, and a place like Outlaw Creek made perfect sense to hide out in.

"Anyway nobody in town is going to testify against Dylan, afraid of what his daddy might do, and cause all we got is an eye witness who saw him holding a gun...there's not much to hold him with. However...you don't want to make a statement anyway, I mean you'd hate to have your name go out into the system and all right?" he said smirking at Jason. Jason looked at him "how did you know?" the Sheriff smiled, "well you're a pretty slick talker but I guess that comes with the territory huh? The Duncan ranch...Beauregard Duncan was known to be involved with a big biker gang in California...same one you got tattooed on your forearm there....you're Jason Walker aren't you son?". Jason smirked, "and if I am?", "well...I don't see know patches or colors, so I guess that means...welcome to Outlaw Creek" the Sheriff said with a grin. Jason smiled and reach over to shake his hand. They talked a bit more then headed out just as Dylan's dad was picking him up. Dylan looked at Jason with a cock grin "better watch yourself, now I know where you live...and your pretty woman too", Jason could tell the Sheriff's disdain on his face, the kid's only problem, Sheriff Brown was wearing a badge, but he sure as hell wasn't. He followed the kid outside and shoved him to the ground, kicking him in the ribs. The kid looked just as stunned as his dad, Jason grabbed him and pulled him up by his shirt. "I see you near my place ever again...nobody's going to find you got it?". "Listen asshole, I could have you arrested for that. Dylan go get in the car." the dad said as he got into Jason's face "you don't know who I am, but lay off my son before I make your life a living hell...got it?". Jason smirked "Alright Wally...I'll leave your kid alone", Walter look confused "How do you know my name", Jason grinned, then pulled up his shirt revealing the KOA tattoo he had on his stomach. "The name's Jason Walker, and I happen to know some boys back in Cali that would LOVE to know where Wally Archibald disappeared to...hell you know, I haven't talked to those guys in forever, maybe it's time I make a phone call", Walter Archibald turned ghostly white. "I see your kid messing with ANYONE in this town again.....I got the SOH national president on my speed dial" Walter Archibald was almost trembling "you know the saying Wally...snitches get stitches", Walter just nodded and hurried to his SUV.

As he left Lolly pulled up in the truck, he waved to the Sheriff and hopped into the truck, leaning in and giving Lolly a kiss. "Ya know I think I may like it here after all" he said with a grin as they drove off.

"You know I asked myself that question almost every day after you left. Why I let you just walk out....why I didn't just grab you and tell you that there was no fucking way you were going anywhere" he said with a smirk. "It needed to happen, all of it, without it I wouldn't be here...we wouldn't be here" he said holding Lolly. "And for the record I actually didn't plan on hitting you...it's just...reflex and all" he said with a smirk. "But there's no way in hell I'm apologizing for kick what's his name's ass...you should have taken Rey for a ride and let me settle things" Jason said, the anger at Rick still evident. Lolly just responded by crawling ontop of him and kissing him, until Jason stopped her. "You want your daughter at one learning how to do this?" Jason asked as a high pitched giggle filled the room, they looked back to see Mireya peeking around the door frame, holding herself up on her feet by it. She waddled over to the bed, falling down once, she cralwed a few steps, then got herself up and waddled a few more steps to the bed, then put her arms up towards Jason. Jason bent down lifting Mireya into the bed holding her, she giggled looking at Jason then at Lolly. "Mom-my!" she said putting her hand on Lolly's face. "Dad-dy!" she said as she moved her tiny hand to Jason's face. "Mi-lay-a" she said putting her hand on her chest then giggling. "You know I think our kid may just get this whole situation better than her parents" Jason said with a grin as he kissed Mireya on the forehead and then kissed Lolly as Mireya giggled.

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Rick was a little shaken, he didn't usually come up on the short end of a fight but whoever Lolly's boyfriend was, he knew how to handle himself. Rick pulled into the driveway of Sheriff Brown's house, he got out of the truck and rang the doorbell. Sheriff Brown's wife, Laura answered the door. "Well how do ya do there Rick, what brings you by our place?" she asked in her southern Texas accent. "Hey Laura, is Mac home?" Rick asked, Laura waved him in "He's on the back patio having his lunch...approach at your own risk" she said with a grin pointing Rick towards the patio deck. Rick opened the screen door, the Sheriff was dressed in a button up red plaid t-shirt and jeans, it was obviously his day off. "Rick what the hell son, what brings you by?" Sheriff Brown said putting his paper down and signalling for Rick to have a seat. Rick sat down, "hey Sheriff I came by cause I had to talk to you about something, but I didn't want to make it official, not yet anyway" Rick said. "Son I got an appointment with a boat and a fishing I simply cannot miss so get to it son" the Sheriff chided. "I was at the Duncan ranch and witnessed Lola Duncan's ex..or current...or whatever he is, boyfriend, beating her in their bedroom. I jumped in to stop him and all but I just was concerned. I mean, call me judgmental but he looks kinda sketchy" Rick said laying it all out. "Uh huh...jumped in to stop him huh?" the Sheriff said pausing a moment, "stopped him...or just got him to continue on your face?" the Sheriff said pointing to the few bumps and bruises showing on Rick's face. "Well he wasn't overly thrilled with me jumping in" Rick said in a low voice. "Is this the first time somebody's kicked your ass son?" the Sheriff asked with a smirk, Rick just looked up "well...yeah...but that's not why I'm concerned...I mean if I wasn't there this would have been on Lola's face" Rick argued.

The Sheriff took a sip from his glass of iced tea. "Now don't bull shit me on this kid, is there any piece of you that came over here to tell me all this just cause somebody is getting cozy with the girl you were dating?" the Sheriff asked giving Rick a long look. "Okay maybe...but...he's beating Lola, it's illegal either way isn't it?" Rick asked. "Look son this is my day off and I don't want to debate ethics and the law...so get to what it is you want" the Sheriff said rather impatiently. "I don't know, maybe go over there, take a look for yourself...maybe have a talk with him...I dunno, I just don't want to see Lola get hurt". The Sheriff grinned, "tell you what, I'll look into this, and you stay out of that boy's way. Until not too long ago he was running one of the biggest outlaw biker gangs in this country...he aint just some good ol' boy you can drop the dukes with any old time Rick...he's a legit badass, so watch yourself." Rick's eyes widened with this news, "her ex-boyfriend is a criminal and she took him back?" Rick said to himself more than anything. "Seeing as he's the one getting into her bed tonight, I'd say you could drop that ex part of it", Rick glared at the Sheriff "I'm just calling a spade a spade son. But hey...maybe think about your lady friend there too, guys like him don't usually end up with choir girls if you get my drift", Rick nodded his head. "Alright, now keep your nose out of this business ya hear me? I'll look into it". Rick nodded as he got up from the table, "got it Sheriff, and thanks". Rick said goodbye to Laura on his way out and headed to his truck. He definitely was going to talk with Lolly about this new info he'd received.

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Jason was in the living room while Lolly was just finishing up changing Mireya when he heard a vehicle pulling down the driveway. He looked and saw it was the Sheriff's police car. "Fuck" Jason muttered under his breath. The car stopped and Sheriff Brown got out, "hey babe you gotta see this" he said calling to Lolly as he threw on his t-shirt. Lolly came into the room and saw the Sheriff. The doorbell rang and Jason answered the door "howdy Sheriff" Jason said, already having a sneaking suspicion why he was there. "Hey Jason how you doing...Lola wouldn't happen to be around would she?" he asked with a knowing look. Jason shook his head sighing "come on in" he said opening the door for the Sheriff. Lolly had made her way to the kitchen with Mireya now as they walked in. "Do something to your lip Ms.Duncan?" the Sheriff asked seeing her busted lip, "fucking reflexes" Jason cursed to himself inside his head. Lolly came up with an excuse, the Sheriff nodded. "One of our residents informed me they had a concern that there may be issues over here" the Sheriff said looking at Lolly, Jason had enough of the game "there's like 10 people in town Sheriff, enough with the game. Rick was pissed off that I kicked his ass and came snitching to you....am I close?" Jason said, Lolly's ears perked up when Jason used the word "snitching", in the biker world the "snitch" label may as well have been a death sentence, and as angry as she was it worried her that Jason was using that term in reference to Rick.

The Sheriff grinned, "something along the lines" he said chuckling. "Now I don't need to remind you son...one arrest report that hits the federal system and every federal agency in the country will know where you are" Jason just stared at the Sheriff, the club had just barely been able to cover him on the casino incident in Vegas, and now that he was out of the club he couldn't be guaranteed that their connections would continue to help him out. "Now I can understand two young people getting into a heated exchange and one thing leading to another...hell son there was a time I nearly backhanded my Laura when we were newly weds. But I can't stand woman-beaters either, the difference between the two is whether this is a one time thing....if I end up back here one day cause of something like this, I don't care how tough you are son, I'll take a round out of you before taking you in...we clear?" Jason nodded, "looks like it Sheriff". "Anything you care to add Maam?" he asked Lolly. She just grinned and shook her head. "Well then, you two have a nice day" the Sheriff said as he tipped his hat and headed out to his car. He then looked over at Lolly "so pretty boy is a snitch? That's awesome" Jason said in a rather sarcastic tone as he walked into the living room.

After having just mended things over their last fight, Jason wasn't interested in starting another one off. However without the club he was in a rather exposed situation if he started getting into issues with law enforcement, and knowing that Lolly's do-gooder friend was willing to run to the cops made him on edge. There were a lot of skeletons...literally in some cases...he left behind when he came to Texas, and the last thing he needed was for them to start popping up without having the club's protection.

Lolly could see the anger in Rick's eyes, however it was different. She saw the anger in his eyes but he wasn't clenching his fists, or looking like he was trying to hold himself back from reacting. It was foreign to her as she had grown up around guys who didn't put much value on restraint. Rick was quiet for a moment, it was clearly evident there was a torrent of things he wanted to say...but he remained quiet, calming himself before he finally said "it's good to know what you really think of me after the last 6 months Lola...just some stupid farm boy" he said as he turned and headed back to his shop. As he walked off Lolly bent over and picked up a chain that apparently had fallen from Rick's neck when she grabbed him, she recognized the chain, it looked like military dog-tags. She looked at them and saw the metal tags carrying the imprint "Sgt. R. Parker - 2nd Ranger Bat.", in all her time she had spent with Rick he'd never mentioned anything about being in the military, let alone the Rangers. Rick noticing his tags missing turned back, seeing Lola holding them he walked back and grabbed them from her hand, "feel free to leave anytime" he said. She could tell there was a lot of emotion inside he wasn't showing, guys restraining themselves, not reacting out of anger, that was something she hadn't seen a whole lot of in her life.

As Lolly was heading back to her truck, she saw Sheriff Brown's car coming down the driveway, nervous at first till she realized Rick hadn't had any chance to call the police. Sheriff Brown got out of the car, "howdy Ms.Duncan" the Sheriff said with a smile "funny running into you out here". The Sheriff laughed at Lolly's silence "girl I aint here for you...no matter what it was you did" he said with a grin as she looked at him confused "girl I know the face of somebody who thinks I'm about to arrest them when I see it....no matter, whatever it was I'm sure is between you and Rick". Lolly excused herself and headed for her truck. "Guess we won't be seeing you and Rick hanging around as much anymore huh?", Lolly just looked at the Sheriff not saying anything. "Too bad...you were the first girl I've seen him take an interest too since he got back and the funeral and all". Lolly gave the Sheriff a look as if she was going to ask what he meant but didn't say anything. "I guess Rick never got around to telling you that huh? See after high school Rick joined the military...no surprise the kid had a way with a gun I tell ya, could pick off a pop can from clear across a field. Anyway joined up with the Rangers, got sent out to Iraq and all that. However he had this girl he'd been dating since high school, Emily was her name. He'd come home on leave this one time and ended up proposing to her...I tell ya that was the buzz of the town for weeks. Anyway Rick got called back out, a couple months later we found Emily's car on the highway just past Wilson Creek, she got hit by a drunk driver...it wasn't pretty, needless to say she didn't make it. Rick was in the field at the time, they couldn't even get word to him about it till after the funeral. After that he left the army and moved out here. Every girl in town has tried to get that boy's attention, I figured it was a lost cause, figured he would have been done with women after something like that...that is until you showed up." The Sheriff could tell by Lolly's face this was all news to her, "well...guess I better go see if Rick's done fixing my mower yet, you have yourself a good day Maam" he said as he strolled towards Rick's shop.

The meeting let out and guys all took off. Some guys said they were going to go "ride", Jason knew they were going to try and find Heathens, he didn't really bother stopping them. Other guys went home, and the hand full of guys Jason talked with got to work researching the local Heathens charter.

"Ya figure we should go pop in on the girls, seeing as we left so quick today?" Nicky asked as he and Jason walked out to their bikes. "Yeah, maybe grab some lunch or something with them" Jason said, as they were talking the Sheriff's car pulled up. He got out and walked up to Jason and Nicky. "Morning boys, looks like you had a helluva party here the other night?" the Sheriff said. "Sure did...sorry Sheriff, we'll put your invite in the mail next time" Jason said with a grin, the Sheriff just chuckled. "Heard one your guys was found out in Allister County a few miles away...helluva way to go out" the Sheriff said looking at Jason. "You wouldn't happen to have any ideas huh?" the Sheriff asked. "Not really, but sounds like a criminal that should probably be locked away" Jason said. "Now you boys aren't planning going out there, ya know, eye for an eye and all that bullshit now are ya'll?" he asked looking Jason in the eye. "We're a motorcycle club Sheriff...just a bunch of Harey enthusiasts" Jason said with a grin. "Well son...just remember, I swore an oath to keep crime out of this town. Some folks may be scared off by those patches ya got on, but son after 4 tours of duty in Vitenam...hell nothing much scares me anymore. Now you want to have your parties, go right ahead...I don't got time to write out reports for bullshit like that anyway. But I see your business spilling into this town, then son you and me are going to have an issue...we clear?" the Sheriff asked, Jason just grinned and nodded "of course Sheriff".

The Sheriff got into the car and headed out. "Guess he aint taking money huh?" Nicky said, "nope, didn't peg him as the type anyway. Let's just stay smart and he'll probably leave us to our business" Jason said as they hopped onto their bikes. They went back to the ranch but found the girls were gone, Nicky texted Jetta and she told them they were in the next city shopping. "Hell man, with the Heathens shit heating up...we gotta get out there" Nicky said, Jason had other ideas. "What, and go remove all doubt who they are? Listen us going out there won't do any good and probably will end badly" Jason said. "Hell they went after Lolly not even a month ago bro" Nicky said, not liking the idea of the girls being out there. "Yeah when I was on my own. What went down in LA should stand as a reminder to other MC's why my family is better left off-limits. They killed Jimmy, yeah it heats things up....they make a move on MY family...that's all out war, everywhere, every charter. Nah...this thing with Jimmy...they want a reaction, and I aint giving them one till I figure out why"

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Jetta got the text message from Nicky. She pulled Lolly aside as Joey was with the girls. "Hey Nicky just texted me, the boys are at home now. He also said to stay in public places and to take the Interstate home, and to call them if we see any Heathens anywhere...guess something happened" Jetta said as she showed Lolly the text.

Nicky went into the waiting room and saw Jetta and Lolly. Merc, was there as well with some other members in the waiting room. The hallway to the waiting room was lined with members as well. Lolly closed the door, Nicky could see how shaken she looked. "How are the girls doing?" he asked, "the bullet only grazed Elly, she'll be alright. They're all a little shaken, bu yea" Lolly said, then she asked "How's Jason? Tell me he'll be alright Nicky, please tell me he'll be alright", Nicky had a hard time looking at Lolly. "They're taking him into the operating room right now. The bullet missed the heart and lungs and spine by barley inches, but it still did it's damage, he's got internal bleeding, and he's still unconcious, they figure probably from blood loss" Nicky told her, trying to hold himself together as well, he could see the tears welling up and gave Lolly a hug. Nicky shook his head, "I almost fucking had that bastard too, at least we know to look for a Sportster with a bullet hole in it now" he said, trying to hold back the anger, "I fucking swear if I find this guy..." Nicky said but didn't finish the thought.

Sonny heard about Jason, he went and picked up Joey and brought her over to the hospital. She ran in looking for Lolly as soon as Sonny parked the bike.

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Sheriff Brown sat in his office at his desk, a liquor bottle in his hand as he sat alone with a million thoughts going through his mind. Things had gotten out of control, and now innocent people were getting caught up in all of it. He thought back to a few weeks prior when Rick had come to him, he was concerned about the Heathens motorcycle club, and he also voiced his concern for the Knights of Armageddon coming to town. The Sheriff stated how his hands were tied, that these clubs knew the law and how to work around it, and that's when Rick came up with his plan. The idea was to ambush a KOA member, if they didn't retaliate right away against the Heathens, they'd attack a Heathens member, in attempt to start a biker war. The idea was that one club would get wiped out or leave town, and that after a biker war the Sheriff would have enough evidence to chase the other club out of town.

As he was thinking to himself about the whole situation, Rick walked into the office. "Son have you gone and completely lost your fucking mind?" the Sheriff snapped at him as he walked in. "Things..changed...the first one wasn't supposed to go that way" Rick said sitting down. "You put two god damn bullets in the back of his head son, christ how is that an accident?" the Sheriff asked angrily. "I saw him at this bar, I waited for him to go outside. I tried to jump him, make it so he didn't get a good look at me and all, but he fought back and saw my face. I had to do it, otherwise the plan was ruined" Rick said. "And the other two, what the hell happened there?" the Sheriff questioned. "Well with one dead...I mean, the Knights wouldn't let the Heathens off that easily, so I had to keep doing it" he said in a lower tone. "Well you fucked up this last one even more than all those combined son. And hell, going after Jason Walker, don't sit there and tell me that wasn't personal" the Sheriff said. "Okay maybe a little, but that's going to get a reaction" Rick said defensively. "A reaction? Dammit son have you not fucking realized these two clubs are talking to each other? I've got reports coming in from neighbouring counties that they're seeing Knights AND Heathens talking with each other, sure as hell don't look like a fucking biker war to me! Not to mention you fucked up kid. That note you left on the one body, you used their whole club name not the acronym they always use...they know they're being set up." Rick just looked down, his plan had started unravelling almost from the beginning. "Not to mention you nearly killed an innocent little girl today too, did ya know about that?" the Sheriff asked, Rick's head shot up "what do you mean?". The Sheriff shook his head, "the bullet went right through Walker...it hit his 1 year old daughter Eleanor in the shoulder....an inch more to the right and she wouldn't be here anymore" the Sheriff said, Rick was stunned, somebody had come out of the house with a gun right away so he didn't have time to check his shot. "Son...do you have any fucking clue what will happen if they find out what you've been doing?" the Sheriff asked after a pause, Rick just nodded.

The Sheriff was alone again when Rick left. He didn't like these outlaw biker gangs and didn't like the KOA being set up in his town. When Rick came to him, he thought at the time he could trust Rick, sure it may start a biker war, but as long as it was bikers killing bikers nobody would really care too much. But now there was a little girl in the hospital with a gunshot wound, accidental or not, he felt responsible in some way. He took another sip from his bottle, he had to figure out a way to make things right, somehow, but first he had to make sure Rick shut down his whole plan before anything worse happened.

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Rick headed home after the meeting with the Sheriff. He kept going over it in his head, he was sure he scanned the area before he shot, he'd never have taken a shot if he saw anyone else nearby, especially one of the girls like Eleanor. In his mind he had been doing the right thing, Jason Walker was a criminal and he'd end up hurting the people in town in one way or another, but now Elly had a gunshot wound because of Rick. He parked his bike in the shop, he headed for his house when he heard the sound of a truck coming down the road.