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As Judge fell forward to grab the man’s wrist, the crack of the gun going off made every inch of his body flinch and he stumbled, landing hard against the Dodge. He caught himself, his ears ringing and his mind spinning, trying to make sense of what just happened.
And then everything went still and deafeningly quiet.
With his own heartbeat pounding in his ears, Judge straightened and stared over the roof of the car into the dark. To where only the memory of the Original’s clubhouse remained.
His past.
He sucked in a deep breath of frigid winter air, and, with his gut twisting, dropped his gaze to the car’s interior.
To his and Cassie’s future. Now marred by what he saw.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Lange’s head had fallen forward. Blood and brain matter covered the inside of the car and windshield. The hand holding the gun sat lifeless on Lange’s lap and under it was Cassie’s signed divorce papers. Splattered with dark, shiny spots. Soon to be soaked to the point they were unreadable. When ink and blood eventually blended into one.
But it didn’t matter. None of that mattered.
What mattered most to Judge was Cassie was now free.
But not entirely. Because this was not how Cassie wanted it to go. Neither did he. And this might haunt her for a while. If not forever.
Judge turned and slid his back down the side of the vehicle until he sat with his knees cocked on the cold, rough pavement. He drew his fingers over his face, finding and smearing warm blood on his skin that was not his. He dropped his head into his hands and just breathed.
Fuck.
He’d have to tell her. And then she would have to explain it somehow to her little girl.
Daisy was too young to understand the wrongs Lange did. No matter what choices the man had made, he was still her daddy. A father she would never see or hold again. And that was going to hurt.
After a few more minutes, when he had pulled his shit together, he scrolled through his cell phone and found a saved number.
Not looking forward to making this call, he closed his eyes and put the phone to his ear. “Chief…”
Judge stood back but kept his gaze forward, keeping an eye on the activity in the distance.
Rochester had a few inches of snow last night and the wind was biting. He worried his girls would be cold since they’d been out there for over a half hour now. He was getting impatient for this to be over.
She said he didn’t have to come, but there was no way he was letting her come back up here alone.
Holding Daisy’s pink-mittened hand, Cassie guided her to the casket and helped her daughter put a flower on the top, then placed her own on there, also.
His woman, wearing a black dress and long black winter coat, turned and spotted him. Even from where he stood, he could see her eyes and nose were red since she’d been crying during the whole service.
She was still so damn beautiful even with her face ravaged with grief. Knowing that she could forgive the man that fucked her over and could come here today and pay her respects to him and his family killed him. But he understood it and supported her in doing so.
She didn’t think it would be good for him to stand by her and Daisy’s side at the service or the gravesite, so he didn’t. He stayed close but just far enough away to not intrude.
Even so, he had a difficult time not going to her and curling her into his side when she had been surrounded by Lange’s family and they pretty much ignored her. They mostly spoke to Daisy. He got it. She had left her husband a while ago and they probably didn’t consider her part of the family anymore. Or they blamed her for not sticking by his side during his troubled times.
Normally, he might agree with that, if she hadn’t asked Lange to get marriage counseling and help for his gambling. She gave him that shot, that way back in, but he’d turned it down. Cassie leaving his ass was all on him.
As was his choice of death over prison. He chose to take what he thought was an easier route, not caring his decision wouldn’t be easy for everyone else around him. The living left behind had to grieve and make sense of it all.
After Lange’s parents said a few more words to Daisy, Cassie squeezed her daughter’s shoulder and turned her in Judge’s direction. Without pointing him out, Daisy spotted him anyway, and her little tear-stained face lit up. She broke free of her mother’s grasp and ran across the rows of snow-covered graves, darting around headstones to get to him.
Daisy came toe to toe with him, dropping her head back and staring straight up at him. Seeing her red-rimmed eyes, he was reminded that Lange had done this to her. The man had made his daughter cry.
