“Since you want to be not only the law in this town, but the moral police and talk ill of my family and friends, what about all the times you’ve run around on your wife, huh? This is not a big place. The rumor mill is always spinning and whatever speculations folks say about me, there are ten more about you. What I mean is, be careful what stones you throw.” He narrowed his gaze on him. “You’ve got people in this town scared of you. Not because you can swing a bat at ’em, but because of your power, and how you can make their life miserable if they step out of line or do something that upsets your delicate sensibilities. I’ve got people in this town scared of me, too, just because I stood up for my son and wouldn’t give up. That’s who the hell I am. Far from perfect, but I have principles, and convictions. Yeah, you bet Brian was jealous of Chad, just like you were jealous of me back in high school. I was better than you in every way, and I had the prettiest girl in town.” He goaded.
Sweeney rolled his eyes and laughed.
“You had a crush on Francesca for years, and I knew it. She didn’t want you. She chose ME. You can’t stand on your own. I didn’t need a bunch of men in blue surrounding me to feel tough and important. I’m a one-man army. It makes you sick that you’re so weak, doesn’t it? I can’t blame you. If I were you, I’d be envious of me, too.”
“You’re a lunatic!”
“THAT MONSTER OF YOURS KILLED MY BOY!”
“SO WHAT! Good fucking riddance! I wasn’t going to let that one night that got out of hand ruin Beau’s future! You can come in here and shoot me, but you know you’re going to prison, and then what, Jack?! Chad will STILL be dead, and Brian will still be breathing, getting married to his fiancée, and living to a nice old age!” Sweeney got up from his seat and flung the chair to the floor. “It’ll be your word against mine. So go on! Shoot me!”
Jack stood tall and pulled out his gun. The clicking sound rend the air, loud in its significance.
Sweeney’s face broke into a sweat, and he raised his arms high in the air.
“I’ll look like the victim of a madman. I’ll get a parade and a funeral that will make front page news and knock your socks off! My wife will get all kinds of money to live well, and guess what? Beau will make a moving speech about me and be uplifted by the community—another victim of Jackson Currant. The headline will read, ‘Scorned Park Ranger Goes Mad! Kills again!”’
Jack stormed to him and pressed the muzzle of the gun against his forehead. Sweeney was breathing hard now, his shirt soaked with blood and sweat.
“You know, Sweeney, I used to kind of like you back in school, but now, I see how pathetic and spineless you are. I figured it out years ago, but this little chat just proves it.”
“You can think what you want about me, Jack, but you know I’m telling the truth about you and what will happen if you pull that trigger. If you kill me, things won’t turn out anything like you envisioned. If you leave now, we can forget about this. Forget it ever happened. You stay out of my way, and I stay out of yours.”
“You must really take me for a fool. I always finish what I start.”
“Everyone hates you, Jack. Nobody trusts you in this town anymore, and they wish you’d just disappear. You should’ve trusted the FBI and not come over here. You always did have a God complex and thought you knew best. Now, it’s too late. You’re done!”
Jack burst out laughing. “Yeah… I do hate being wrong.”
“You’re a good outdoorsman, but honestly, you were not always that bright due to your lack of self-control, brother. You’re just like a wild animal—primitive in every way.”
“Sweeney, a wise man once said, ‘The smartest man in the room admits he doesn’t know anything at all, while the village idiot will claim to be a scholar in every topic known to man. You, sir, are that town imbecile.”
The man looked confused.
BOOM! BOOM!
“FBI! CHRISTOPHER SWEENEY, GET ON YOUR KNEES!!!”
Jack took several steps back and gently placed his gun on the counter as men began to swarm the house. Sweeney gave him a death glare as an agent grabbed his wrists and threw handcuffs on them.
Jackson slowly unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his chest. Wired. The entire conversation had been recorded.
“I guess this Park Ranger with the crazy mother, deadbeat father, odd brother, drunken best friend, and beautiful Black woman on my arm is smarter than the average bear after all, huh, Sweeney?”