I punch him again, knocking the gun out of the way.
Maybe I would have done more, I was mad enough to kill the son of a bitch. Two things stopped me, however. The first being my daughter who was holding her head out the truck door.
“Daddy?” she asks, worried and confused. Jasmine goes to her to hold her hand.
“It’s okay, Daisy, get down in the back seat, okay, baby? We’ll be leaving in a bit.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Lagger barks.
“Get down in the seat, Daisy.” I order, distracted enough that I miss Lagger going for his gun again, I manage to kick it away, but it was too close for comfort with my daughter and Jasmine so close by.
The second thing that happened is another car pulls up behind Lagger’s squad car. I curse myself for being stupid enough to start shit with my family so close by.
“Something going on here, Officer Lagger?” the other cop says, getting out and walking toward us. He keeps his hand on his gun, appraising the situation, but when he looks at Lagger there’s a flicker of something there that I see clearly.
Disgust.
“Jasmine, you okay?” he asks, looking over at her, real concern on his face.
“I’m okay, Mike. Dewayne hit me and my fiancé was trying to protect me. Then, Dewayne pulled a gun and was going to shoot Luke,” she says, her eyes bright with anger.
“Is that what happened, Officer Lagger?” he says, walking over and picking up the detective’s gun. I notice however, that he doesn’t offer to give it back to the guy. Instead, he secures it in the belt he’s wearing.
“Of course not,” Lagger growls, standing up and dusting himself off.
“Maybe we need to move this to the station and figure out what exactly did happen,” the other officer that Jasmine called Mike suggests.
“That’s bullshit. If he hadn’t hit me then how do you explain the cut on my face from that stupid ring you’re wearing. And who wears a class ring when they are knocking thirty? The eighties are calling you Dewayne, and they want you to go back in them and die,” Jasmine snarls, holding her face.
“Daddy,” Daisy cries.
Shit.
I hold my hand up to the one cop here that seems half-way legit and motion to my daughter. He gives me a silent signal and I walk over to her.
“Daddy’s okay, honey. It was just a little disagreement,” I tell her, looking at Jasmine, the blood on her face still making me livid.
“Like Auntie Gina and S’wedge have sometimes,” she says, sniffling.
“Yeah, kind of like that,” I tell her, wondering just what my daughter lived through before Jasmine showed me what a shit father I was.
I look over at the two cops who are now huddled together. Lagger is growling, demanding he take me to the station. We both know what he wants to do to me. He doesn’t have his gun back yet, though and that’s something that I’m keeping a close eye on.
“Luke…” Jasmine whispers, coming to stand beside me, her hand protective on Daisy.
I reach over and kiss her forehead. “Whatever happens, you take my girl and get home. Call my club and tell them to get to me.”
“Luke—”
“Do it, baby. Take care of our daughter.”
“Jasmine, I’m afraid I’m going to have to take your fiancé down to the station, while we try and figure out what’s going on here.”
“This is bullshit,” Lagger growls, clearly not happy.
“It is bullshit. Luke shouldn’t have to go anywhere. He didn’t do anything wrong here,” Jasmine yells.
“Did you hit Officer Lagger?” Mike asks me.
“After he hit my woman, you better believe I did,” I tell him, not even bothering to deny it.
“I want my fucking weapon and I’m taking this miserable shit in myself,” Lagger demands, still spitting out blood. I must have broken a tooth as well as busted his nose.
“Stand down, Officer Lagger,” Mike demands, his voice harsh. “Do I need to remind you as to who outranks who here?”
“I want the record to show I’m the arresting officer here,” he barks, clearly not happy.
“Trust me, it will be noted,” Mike sighs.
“And that the suspect admitted to hitting me,” he walks off, pouting like a petulant child.
“Listen guys, I’m really sorry about this. I’d send you on my way if I could. The simple truth is that even though Lagger is under an IAB review, he still has some connections high up, so I need to watch my back here. If you’ll come with me, I promise I will protect you,” Mike murmurs. His attention switches to Jasmine then, and even I can see the regret on his face. Apparently Jasmine’s parents might have been blind to Officer Lagger’s faults, but not everyone is. “Jasmine, get home, get safe and call your dad. Have him and Dragon get down to the station.”