Victor's Vow, page 15
pulling his attention away from Charlie. “Broken jaw, three broken ribs,
and one of those ribs punctured a lung. Broken leg with a shattered knee
cap. Someone really did a fine ass kicking job on him.”
“You think I did it, don’t you?”
Dozer shook his head. “Nope. If you had your hands would look like
hell.” He dragged another chair into the room and sat down on the other
side of the bed. “There are a few around who are whispering you
might’ve had something to do with it, though.” He sat down with a sigh,
looked at Charlie for a moment, then back at Vinny. “His father is
raising hell. He’s coming right out and accusing you. I think the only
reason you’re not in jail right now is because there’s no proof, and Levi
isn’t talking. He can’t. He’s unconscious.”
“I guess there’s someone else around here who’s after the little
prick, which could be half of the town.” Vinny snorted. They went silent
again, neither talking nor looking at each other. The room filled up with
silence. Vinny broke it once more. “I love her, Dozer.”
“Yeah, I sort of figured that part out already.”
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“I’m not going to lose her.”
They sat for a good couple of hours before a nurse came in and
kicked them out for a bit. Together they walked down to the cafeteria for
some coffee and a small bite to eat. Vinny wasn’t really hungry, but
Dozer forced the issue. He wanted to go back to the room. Instead, he
stood by a window, with a disposable cup of hot coffee in hand, just
waiting.
“I know you did this.”
Vinny slowly turned around and before him stood Levi’s father,
Harris Kendricks, in a suit, short dark black hair, cold eyes, and thin lips.
The man walked around like he owned the place and could get anything
and everyone he wanted. A perfect role model for a son—not!
“You’ll pay for it.”
“Trust me when I say, if it’d been me who beat the hell out of that
piece of shit you call your son, there wouldn’t be anything to put back
together.”
Kendricks glared at Vinny, but said no more. He turned and walked
away, still acting like he owned everything around him. Vinny put his
cup down on the table and started his way back up to Charlie’s room, but
stopped when he saw some sheriff deputies standing with Dozer and
Kendricks. From the way the old man was talking and his body
language, Vinny knew he was getting his way about something. He
stopped talking for a moment and met Vinny’s eye. The corner of his lips
twitched like he might be holding back a smile. Then he spoke again,
and the deputies turned to Vinny. Dozer didn’t look too happy, either.
The deputies broke away from the group. Dozer turned his attention
to Kendricks and the two of them started arguing.
“Mr. Laron, I would like for you to come with me to the station for
some questions,” one deputy said.
“About what?” Vinny asked, darting his eyes over the man’s
shoulder to look at Dozer and Kendricks.
“About the assault on Levi Kendricks.”
Vinny moved his eyes back to the cop. “What about it? I didn’t have
anything to do with it.”
“Mr. Kendricks seems to think differently.”
“Of course, he does.” Vinny smiled. “What about the assault Levi
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did on Charlie? Are you boys looking into that, or just going where the
bribe sends you?”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” Vinny moved around him, only to have the man
grab his arm. “Get your damn hands off me!” Vinny yelled, jerking away
from him. He also made the mistake of pushing the man back.
The policeman quickly got hold of Vinny again, twisted his arm and
had him up against the wall fast, the cuffs wrapping around his wrists.
Vinny was smart enough then, not to fight them. “Now I’m going to
have to place you under arrest for assault on an officer.”
“Whatever gets you that check, buddy,” Vinny snapped back.
“What the hell is going on?” Dozer demanded, rushing up.
“Step back,” the policeman told him.
“Call Amanda,” Vinny told Dozer. “They’re just looking for
something to arrest me for.”
The policeman jerked Vinny from the wall and walked him toward
the front door.
* * * *
Dozer gritted his teeth, watching Vinny being taken away because of
Kendricks’ big influence in the town. After Vinny was placed in the back
of the patrol car and the officers took off, he turned his anger on the man
who had started this mess.
“You really think your son is going to just walk out of his hospital
and get away with what he’s done, don’t you?”
Kendricks kept his composure. “We don’t know that my son has
done anything.”
“Then you’re a fucking idiot!” Dozer snapped. He moved, getting
up close and personal with the man. “We both know Levi did this, just
like I’m pretty sure it wasn’t his first time.” Kendricks’ nose flared.
Dozer grinned. “Yeah, he’s done this shit before, and you’ve covered it
up. Not this time. This time he’s not only got Vinny to deal with but me,
and I’m going to make sure his daddy,” Dozer poked the man in the
chest, “can’t get him out of the dog shit he’s buried himself in.”
“Threatening people now?”
“I never threaten. I only promise.” This time Dozer shoved the man
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back hard enough he had to take several steps or fall on his ass. “You’re
not going to whip this one under the rug, Kendricks, not this time. He’s
going to pay for what he’s done.”
* * * *
Vinny sat in the cell alone, glaring at the deputy who’d arrested him,
waiting for Mandy to come and bail him out. He put him in this cell to
‘cool off.’ What a joke. How was he supposed to cool off when he was
arrested for something the damn cop started in the first place?
He couldn’t get any information, either. The only charge coming his
way was assaulting a law officer, a joke in Vinny’s eyes. The man was
clearly being paid off by Kendricks, which had him wondering just how
much pull the man did have in this town. Could he really make
something this minor stick just so Vinny would be in jail for what
happened to Levi? Probably.
Loud banging of doors had Vinny standing up. He approached the
bars, grabbed the cold iron, and stared at the door. When it opened he
expected to see Amanda come in, not Jessie.
“What are you doing here?” Vinny asked in confusion.
“Dozer called the house, and I answered,” Jessie said. “Amanda
wasn’t home. Something’s going on with her shop, so I agreed to come
and help.”
Vinny took a deep breath, let it out slowly and pushed away from
the bars. “Fine role model I’m making for Samantha, huh?”
“We’re from the city, Vinny. We’ve seen worse.”
“Yeah, well, this is my first time ever in a jail, and I’m sure it’s
because of Kendricks. He thinks I’m the one who beat the hell out of
Levi.”
“From what I’ve seen, under normal circumstances, I’d be likely to
agree.” Vinny frowned at him, and Jessie went on. “But your knuckles
aren’t damaged from a beating.”
“You make it sound like I should thank you.”
Jessie smiled. “Look, if you’re the kind of guy to act like this after
someone you care about gets hurt, then as far as I’m concerned you’re
the best guy to be around Sam. She needs to be around people who’ll
care about her, not her bank account.”
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“What do you mean?”
“The people back home who claimed to be her friends were only her
friends because she had the money to hang with them. Sam knew that
and didn’t want to be around them anymore. Rich bitches that turn on
one another are the cruelest kind out there.”
“What did they do to her?”
Jessie waved his hand in the air. “Let’s not talk about it right now.
We need to get you out of this mess.”
“Jessie, don’t leave me hanging here, man, what did they do?”
Vinny asked again with a bit more force in his voice.
Jessie looked Vinny right in the eye. “They took her out to the
woods, stripped her down to her underwear and dumped a bunch of shit
on her head, and then left her out there. However, when they took her
clothes they dropped her phone, so she was able to call me to come get
her. Since half of the school was there, I pulled her out against my
father’s wishes and hired a tutor to finish her education.”
“Anything happen to those kids?”
“Yeah, I made sure the ones who set the whole damn thing up were
expelled, which fucked up their college programs.” Jessie snickered.
“Another thing which pissed our father off. Those families were, I guess
you can say, the closest thing he has to best friends. It all happened last
year, and she’s put it behind her.”
“Has she?”
“Once I took her away from all that Sam became a different person.
I think those girls and our father sort of beat her down, took away her
self-confidence. ‘Act like this because you’ve got money. Be like this,
because of the family.’ That kind of crap. Since I removed her from
school and their influence, I’ve seen a whole new person.”
“That’s good.”
Jessie took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together. “All right,
now back to you. I’ve made a few calls, and this cop who arrested you
for assaulting him does plan on pressing charges.”
“Not a surprise there.” Vinny moved back to the bed and sat down
with a heavy sigh.
“Yeah, well, I’m not done.” Jessie smiled. “I’m still digging, and I
believe you’re right about the payoff thing.”
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“No shit?” Now Vinny sat straight up on the bed. “And?”
“I’m working on proving it, which might take a day or so.”
Vinny’s hopes sank.
“That doesn’t mean we don’t have him, though. Once I get the proof
of his being paid off, and that your arrest is because of that payoff, I’m
sure all the charges will be dropped. I have a couple friends who owe me
a favor or two.”
“Why are you doing this, Jessie?” Vinny asked. “We just met, and
you don’t really know me.”
“True, but I can read people, and we share a sister. I know you’re a
good man who’s hit rock bottom at the moment with all this shit. I’m not
going to hold it against you. None of this is your fault.”
“Thanks.” Vinny rubbed his face to clear his head some. “So what
do you think is going to happen if you can’t get proof of this? Then
what?”
“Then I’ve got a kick ass lawyer who will get you out of here. I
promise this mess will get cleared up. My lawyer is on his way now.
He’ll fix it.” Vinny nodded and tried to relax. “Oh, there is some bad
news. When the lawyer gets here the shit is going to hit the fan over it.”
“What?”
“For some strange reason no bail is being posted. Even if I wanted
to get you out now, I couldn’t.”
Vinny frowned. “There’s always bail.”
“I know, which is why my lawyer is coming here now, and why we
think there’s some cash being passed around. I’m going to ask you to
keep your head, stay cool, calm down, and let the lawyer take care of it
all. This is a bullshit charge, and we don’t need you getting something
major added on to it. Got it?”
“Yeah.”
Jessie nodded. “Okay, I’m going to have to go. They only gave me
ten minutes.” He looked down at his wrist, and the door opened at the
same time.
“Time’s up,” a deputy said.
“I’ll be in touch,” Jessie told Vinny.
“Keep an eye on Charlie for me,” Vinny called out. “Give Dozer a
hand and keep him under control!”
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“You got it.”
The door slammed shut behind Jessie, and Vinny slumped back
down on the bed. Trapped is the only word that came to mind. He was
trapped, and not a damn thing could be done about it. He just hoped like
hell this lawyer of Jessie’s could get him out of this mess Kendricks had
handed him.
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Chapter Twelve
They kept him for over forty-eight hours. Vinny was fuming by the
time he got out of jail, and his anger didn’t go away. Not when he found
out he was being taken in front of a judge instead of going home.
Everything that had happened around him didn’t make any sense, and no
one had followed the proper procedures. The lawyer Jessie had hired
argued against how Vinny had been treated. The judge agreed, dismissed
the case, and ordered an in-house investigation, but it didn’t end there. A
list was being made of all the irregularities in Vinny’s case. They were
going to sue over his mistreatment. Vinny didn’t really want to. He
wanted it all to go away, but the lawyer insisted because the sheriff’s
department had handled things incorrectly from the beginning.
It was late when he finally got home. Vinny knew the officers on
Kendricks’ payroll didn’t want to let him go. They’d tried everything
they could to delay his release. When he finally made it home, it was
way too late for him to go to the hospital to see Charlie.
The house was all lit up. Walking in the front door his stomach
instantly growled with hunger at the smell of something very good
cooking.
“I’m home!” he called out.
He heard scattering from the kitchen, then one by one the small
group filed out. Amanda, Jessie, Samantha, and Dozer. Amanda smiled
and lunged at him, hugging him tight.
“Just in time for dinner,” Samantha said from the archway to the
kitchen, a smile on her face.
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“They were still trying to screw me over,” Vinny said as soon as
Amanda let him go. He looked right at Jessie. “That lawyer of yours is a
hard ass also.”
“Told you so.” Jessie grinned.
Vinny turned his attention to Dozer. “How’s she doing?”
“Good,” Dozer answered. “They kicked us all out for the night.
She’s going to be moved into a private room, and the ventilator is being
removed in the morning since they are also stopping that crap that is
keeping her in a coma.”
“Man, I want to see her.” He sighed, suddenly feeling very tired.
“The doctor told us to hold off until around noon,” Dozer went on.
“He wants to make sure she’s stable enough for visitors and able to
handle knowing about the trauma.”
“Why?”
“Because there have been too many disturbances,” Amanda said.
“Cops have been there so many times, and Levi’s father, who almost
started a fight.” She turned and glared at Dozer.
“Hey, I told that son of a bitch to stay the hell away from me and my
family,” Dozer said. “He asked for it.”
“Asked for what?” Vinny asked.
“Dozer broke Harris’ nose,” Amanda snapped. “You’re damn lucky
he didn’t toss you in jail also.” She raised her voice at Dozer.
“Hey, I hate to interrupt this, but dinner is ready and getting cold,”
Samantha said.
“I’m so hungry,” Vinny stated, moving away from Amanda, up to
Samantha, and put his arm around her shoulders. “So what did you
cook?”
“How can you know I cooked?” she asked with a frown.
“Because Amanda can’t make anything that smells this good.”
“Hey!” Amanda cried out behind him.
Samantha had indeed put on a huge spread of food. She had fixed
fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, homemade rolls, mixed
vegetables, and there was a pie for dessert. Vinny hadn’t seen anything
like this since before his mother decided to up and leave them all.
Everyone ate their fill, and there was hardly anything for leftovers.
Dozer went home about an hour later, and Amanda also called it a night.
