Dead to Rights by Jack Patterson (fiction book recommendations .txt) 📕

Sloan didn’t move. “Got no idea, but whoever they are, they’re going to have a lot to answer for after tearing up my driveway like that.”

The car skidded to a stop just behind Cal and Kelly’s vehicle. When the dust settled, Cal identified the car as a white Ford Mustang but still couldn’t make out who the driver was. When the door swung open, Cal noticed the gun in the man’s hand before he recognized the man’s face.

Isaiah Drake.

Sloan didn’t appear intimidated by Drake’s gun, walking toward the uninvited guest as opposed to cowering away from him.

“What the hell are you doin’ here?” Sloan demanded.

Cal stepped to the side, unsure if he should get involved or not.

Drake kept his gun trained on Sloan. “I’ll answer your questions after you answer mine, starting with why did you kill her, Sheriff Sloan? Why did you kill your only daughter? Why did you murder Susannah?”

Sloan glared at Drake. “How dare you come on to my property and accuse me of such a thing. It wasn’t you who had to bury his own daughter. I’m givin’ you ten seconds to get back in your car and get outta here before I have you arrested and thrown right back where you came from.”

“I’m not here to negotiate,” Drake said. “I’ve dreamed of this moment for a long time—and there’s only one of us who’ll be leaving your property alive tonight … and I’m the one holding a weapon.”

Sloan slipped his right hand into his pocket.

“No, no, no,” Drake said. “Keep your hands where I can see them.”

Sloan pulled his right hand out of his pocket and returned it to the handle of his sledge hammer. “Well, nobody ever accused you of bein’ smart,” Sloan said. “If it wasn’t for me convincin’ Mrs. Danford to change your History grade, you would’ve ended up at some junior college in a Kansas prairie somewhere instead of playin’ college football at a top-tier program.”

“Susannah deserved better.”

Sloan laughed nervously. “She sure did. And she was tryin’ to get it with a respectable lawyer from Jacksonville before you took that—and her very life—away from her just like that,” Sloan said, snapping for emphasis.

“You were always the best at coming up with a way to avoid responsibility … or maybe you forgot that one of your deputies ended up in prison. He told me the whole story about your wife’s death. Suicide, my ass.”

“You watch yourself, Isaiah,” Sloan said, wagging a finger at him.

Drake glanced at Cal before turning his attention back toward Sloan.

“What? You don’t want this reporter here to know the truth, though I’m not even sure I believe the version your deputy told me.”

“Don’t even think about goin’ there, Isaiah. I swear to God—”

“You swear you’ll do to me what you did to her?” Drake asked. “It was an accident, right? Your gun discharged while you were cleaning it. You weren’t being careful. You killed your wife. Or maybe you did it on purpose. She committed suicide? And poor Susannah went to her grave at your hands, believing her mother couldn’t handle this life anymore.”

“You watch it, Isaiah. I swear—”

“Stop swearing and make me stop, if you’re man enough. I know what you did that night. I know you killed her.”

Cal recognized the situation was near a boiling point. In a matter of seconds, Drake was going to pull the trigger and kill Sloan. And then Cal had no idea what would happen after that, but he was sure it wouldn’t be a desirable outcome for anyone involved. He scanned the area for Kelly, who had moved to the side when Drake first exited his vehicle and was capturing the entire incident on her camera.

“Let’s not do anything we’ll regret, okay,” Cal said, placing both of his hands in the air.

“I’ll regret not doing this,” Drake said.

“I didn’t kill Susannah,” Sloan said. “It wasn’t me.”

Drake’s hand shook as he started to walk slowly toward Sloan. “Enough of your lies. I heard them in my head every day for almost twelve years.”

A tear streaked down Sloan’s face. “I miss her too. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her, about how she could’ve had a different life, a happy life.”

“Put the gun down,” Cal said to Drake. “It’s not worth it. Killing Sheriff Sloan won’t bring back Susannah.”

Drake’s gaze darted back and forth between Cal and Sloan. “No, it won’t. But it will get justice for her.”

“What type of justice will you be gettin’ if you murder an innocent man?” Sloan asked.

“You’re not innocent,” Drake roared before cocking his gun.

Cal then took a drastic measure, stepping directly in front of Drake. “He may not be innocent, but I am,” Cal said. “Put the gun down.”

In the distance, sirens wailed.

Cal looked past Drake to see a pair of deputy cars flying down Sloan’s driveway.

“It’s over,” Cal said. “Any justice you think you’ll be exacting will be negated by the narrative my peers will write about you. Do the right thing and throw your gun to the side before it gets worse for you.”

Drake dropped his gun and staggered to the ground. Tears began to roll down his face.

“But I miss her so much,” Drake said. “I can’t help but think about Susannah every single day.”

“Me, too, Isaiah,” Sloan said, kneeling down next to Drake. “I miss her, too.”

The deputy cars came to a halt behind Drake’s Mustang. The doors opened and then slammed as a pair of deputies rushed toward the scene.

Sloan held up his hand, gesturing toward the deputies to stand down. He proceeded to put his arm around Drake in a comforting move. “And if you missed her so much, maybe you shouldn’t have killed her,” Sloan said, before kicking Drake in the ribs. “Arrest him.”

Sloan stepped back as his deputies rushed in and wrestled a resistant Drake to the ground before handcuffing him.

Cal watched in somewhat disbelief over the scene that unfolded. He wasn’t sure which was more unfathomable—Drake threatening Sheriff Sloan with