Negotiation and Fault
Braddock Family SUV
Jules gripped the steering wheel tightly and blew out a frustrated breath that flipped her bangs up. Her tone brooked no argument when she stated, "Not another word out of any of you. When we get home, you will all sit down at the negotiation table and resolve this." She followed her statement with a glare only a mother can produce as she viewed her three recalcitrant children in the back seat of the SUV. Jules opened the door after hearing nothing but silence—blessed silence for two seconds.
Ten-year-old Sadie glared at her brothers. She wanted to bawl them out but she wasn't about to get in more trouble with mom so she crossed her arms, pursed her lips tightly, and turned her head to stare out the window. Little brothers could be so annoying—especially when they teamed up to bug her—which they did often. Rat One and Rat Two would get it when she got them to the negotiation table. She reigned supreme at that. They'd be writing out their confession and doling out a fitting punishment to themselves soon enough.
Seven-year-old Donny's and Jimmy's expressions were as identical as they were—resolute and angry. Sadie was not going to win at the negotiation table this time. This time it was all her fault and they would make sure she owned up to it and had a fitting punishment.
Jules closed the door and walked to the gas pump enjoying the respite from arguing children. They had been at each other all morning. Summertime was nice but sometimes the kids just got on each other's nerves over the silliest things—as was the case right now.
The negotiation table was a godsend because the kids learned how to resolve their differences in a calm and rational manner. No yelling or arguing was allowed at the table. Whoever was involved had to agree on one story and write it down. Then they determined a solution and a spokesperson. Once everyone was in agreement they would present the story and resolution. If anyone interrupted or disagreed with the spokesperson they were sent back to the table until one story was agreed upon.
As Jules dug out her card to swipe in the gas pump she grinned. The resolutions they came up with were rather interesting and were more like punishments, but the kids were the ones that came up with them and agreed to them. It was a great way to stay out of having to hear multiple version of she did, he did and try to decide who was right and what to do about it—and the kids developed negotiation skills in doing it.
Jules swiped her card and the pump didn't accept it. After five more tries she opened the door and said, "I'm going inside to run the card, the pumps not reading. I expect you all to sit quietly. I can see you from inside." She closed the door and headed for the small convenience store of the Gas-N-Go gas station.
Jimmy watched his mom until she got to the door and then turned on Sadie. "You owe me a new ball."
"I do not!" Sadie replied.
"It was your fault it popped," Donny growled.
Sadie turned back to her brothers and pinned them with a hard look. "I'm not the one that left the ball outside."
"Yeah, but you were the one that popped it," Jimmy retorted. "You're gonna buy me a new one or I'm gonna—"
"You're gonna what?" Sadie interrupted as she clenched her fist.
"If you punch me I'm gonna tell Dad and you are gonna be in biiiiigggg trouble," Jimmy stated.
The sibling's argument resumed its heated pace as they bickered back and forth over whose fault it was that the ball popped. It was so acrimonious that none of the three saw a car pull up to the convenience store and four thugs jump out and rush into the store.
Inside Gas-N-Go
Jules was waiting in line behind three other customers for her turn. The cashier was young and clearly new. The transactions were taking a long time because he hunted and pecked for the right keys and apologized many time for it taking so long.
As the door opened, Jules turned to check on her kids once again but was surprised when four young adults with ski masks on rushed in and brandished weapons as they yelled to fork over the cash. Jules hoped that everyone remained calm and didn't do anything stupid. That hope died instantly as one of the customers pulled a gun.
Pointing his gun at the would-be robbers, Carter shouted in a shaky voice, "Drop your weapons."
The gunshot that sounded caused Jules to flinch. She watched as the customer slumped to the ground.
"Anyone else want to be a hero?" the one who had fired shouted.
Another lowered his weapon as he cried out, "You shot him. You killed him. It wasn't supposed to go like this. Man, that's murder."
"It's only in the leg—he's not dying," the shooter retorted.
The other two moved towards the cashier.
Billy had hit the silent alarm the moment the men came into the store. He hit the register and it popped open. His voice was tense and scared as he said, "Take it. Take and go. No one wants to be a hero."
At the same time Billy opened the register, Carter lifted his weapon as he lay on the floor and shot one to the robbers. He then fell unconscious.
The three remaining robbers stared as their friend fell to the floor screaming. They heard the car they'd arrived in screech as it pulled away. They were left hanging.
Braddock Family SUV
Sadie, Donny, and Jimmy froze when they heard the first gun shot. When they heard the second shot, Sadie scrambled to pull out her phone as she urgently directed her brothers, "Quick, hide on the floor." And she followed suit as she pressed speed dial for her Dad.
When it picked up, Sadie whispered, "Dad, there were two gunshots." She heard a car screech away and peeked up in time to see a red car with a mismatched blue door pull out of the parking lot. "Mom's inside."
Sam was rushing to Winnie's desk as he asked, "Sadie, where are you?"
"Gas-N-Go near our house." Sadie ducked back down when she saw someone run from the store. The third gunshot had her cry out, "Daddy, hurry."
Winnie had hit the klaxon alarm and Team Three was racing to gear up. She then transferred Sadie's call to the headset so the entire team could hear.
Sam kept his voice calm even though inside he was a mess, "Lock the doors and stay down. I'll be there very soon."
Inside Gas-N-Go
Jules couldn't believe how quickly the situation devolved. She remained still and quiet. The gunmen were trigger happy and one of them had shot at the car as it pulled away. She was watching closely to see if there was any way to deescalate the situation.
The three who were left standing were nervous and there wasn't a clear leader among them. One had dropped to his knees to put pressure on the one who was shot in the leg and withered in pain on the ground. One had come back inside after shooting at the retreating car. The third was pulling all the money from the till and shoving it into his pockets.
Jules glanced outside at the SUV and couldn't see the heads of her kids. She hoped they ducked and then called Sam. Next, she glanced at mister hero—what he'd done was stupid. She could see his chest rising and falling but he'd need a doctor soon by the amount of blood that was pooling.
She was drawn back to the subjects as the one on his knees said, "We need to get a car and get out of here."
The one shoving the money in his pockets looked at the customers. He pointed at them one at a time as he demanded, "What car are you driving?"
An older woman who was first in line visibly shook as she answered, "The golf cart, I was here to buy milk only."
Second in line was a man wearing a leather jacket and he said, "Motorcycle."
Skipping the unconscious man, the subject pointed at Jules.
Jules calmly answered, "SUV but it's completely empty—coasted into the gas station on fumes, haven't filled up yet." It was mostly true, she had a quarter of a tank, but Sadie, Donny, and Jimmy were in there and she wanted her vehicle to appear a bad choice.
The one that shot at the car moved forward to the customer on the floor as he pointed the gun at Jules. "Find his keys."
Jules slowly complied as she went to her knees. She reached into one pocket and didn't find keys. She reached into the other pocket and was withdrawing a set of keys as she kept her eyes towards the subject. She rose and held out the keys and she relaxed slightly as she saw Sam making his way to their SUV. The kids were safe.
The shot subject said through clenched teeth, "How do we know what car the keys go to?"
Outside Gas-N-Go
Sam moved forward with Rollie and Mike and each were holding shields. The first order of business was to get his kids to safety. Lance was locating a Sierra One position while Tyler and Phil were trying to tap into the stores security system to see what was going on inside. Once he was in position, Sam said to Sadie. "Unlock the doors now, Sadie."
He lifted the handle and opened the door just wide enough for his children to slip out. Sam took Sadie, Rollie got Jimmy, and Mike picked up Donny and then closed the door of the SUV. The six of them made it safely back to the SRU SUVs and behind them.
Sam gathered his kids in a group hug for a moment. He ruffled Donny's and Jimmy's blond hair and gently caressed Sadie's cheek. "You did good. Now I need you to go with the uniform officer. She will take you to Aunt Shelly's. You be good for her."
Sadie looked at her Dad. "I want to stay here … Mom …"
Sam pulled her into a hug. "Your mom knows how to handle herself."
Donny's eyes teared up. "But there were three gunshots."
Sam watched as Jimmy's and Sadie's eyes teared up. Not knowing what was going on inside he couldn't give them false platitudes. Earnestly he said, "Your mom is the best negotiator I know and the SRU is here now. I need you to go somewhere safe so I can focus and do my job."
Sadie bit her lower lip and wiped her eyes. She held out her two hands to her brothers. "Let's go. Daddy and Mommy need to connect, respect, and protect."
Jimmy and Donny took Sadie's hand and the three of them walked to the patrol car with the officer.
Sam took one last glimpse at his kids and sighed in relief. If Jules was hurt or worse he didn't want his kids to see and be traumatized witnessing it here. He turned and strode off to join Rollie and the rest of the team. His thoughts turned to Jules for a moment and he begged the powers that be that she was okay.
Inside Gas-N-Go
Jules breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Sam whisk the kids to safety. She turned to the subjects and answered their question, "It had a security fob on it. Press the button and it will make a sound."
She thought the best thing to do would be to get the subjects outside away from the customers since SRU was already positioned outside. So she added, "You should go now—before the police show up."
The man with the keys pressed the button as he turned and looked outside. He grinned. "It's a van. Grab Owen and let's get out of here."
Two of the subjects picked up the injured one and all four rushed out the door towards the van.
Jules dropped to the floor and stripped off her top shirt leaving only her tank top on and then pressed it into the wound in the customer's leg as she looked up at the leather jacket customer and said, "Hold this in place."
When he knelt down and took over, Jules asked the cashier, "Is there a key to lock the door?"
The cashier nodded, reached under the counter and tossed her a key ring. Jules quickly moved forward to lock the door on the off chance one of the subjects tried to reenter. As she locked it she saw that was a moot point and quickly unlocked it.
Outside Gas-N-Go
Team Three went into action when four masked men exited the store and ran towards a white panel van. Two were hindered carrying one injured man. The fourth one bolted, but Sam poured on speed and took him down before he reached the van. Very quickly all four subjects were cuffed and on the ground.
Sam looked up to see Jules exiting the store with bloody hands. His heart skipped a beat thinking it was her blood, but then she smiled at him and relief flooded in—it wasn't hers.
Jules got to Sam quickly, "We need EMS inside. One man shot in the leg."
Sam relayed that to Winnie and then looked at Jules. He was on the job so showing his emotions wasn't a good thing. He asked, "You alright?"
"I'm okay. The kids alright?" Jules answered.
Sam nodded. "I sent them to Wordy's."
"Good."
Unable to hold back, Sam closed the distance between them and pulled Jules into a hug. It surprised him that she allowed it while he was working—they normally kept everything very professional so no one could accuse them of any favoritism. Sam felt the small shuddered and wasn't sure it was Jules or himself—it was probably both of them.
Softly, Sam said, "Sorry, I should've filled up the SUV yesterday."
Jules' head whipped up. "Oh no, you don't. Don't you go there. This is NOT your fault." Then she caressed his face. "Thank you for protecting them."
Seeing the familiar look in Jules' eyes—she was blaming herself. Sam shook his head and replied, "You can't go there if I can't go there. This isn't your fault either." He leaned down and gently kissed her, but pulled back before he could get sucked into the passion fog that always came with kissing Jules.
Braddock Home
Several hours later, the five members of the Braddock family entered their home. Sam closed the door, dropped his go bag by it, and armed the security system. Then he followed his family into the kitchen. At the entry of the kitchen Sam stopped and watched his family. He was a lucky man—fate was kind to him to allow him to have Jules and his children in his life and he was so glad everyone was home safe and sound tonight.
Jules opened the bags of take-out Chinese food and set it around at their places as Sadie, Donny, and Jimmy got utensils, napkins and drinks for everyone. When they all were settled at the table, Jules took a moment to look at Sam and her children and counted her blessings. Everyone was home safe again.
Sadie looked at her mom and said, "We did the negotiation table at Uncle Wordy's house. We are all going to pitch in to buy a new ball because we all were at fault."
Sam snorted then burst out laughing—Braddock's were good at believing they were at fault.
Jules realized what Sam was laughing about and joined in his laughter.
The kids stared at their parents with open mouths wondering what was so funny.
.
AN: I needed a small break from editing OUTLIER: Blood, Brotherhood and Beauty - so I wrote this little story. I can tell you that all the content for OUTLIER is written and I'm now in the editing process. It will take a bit of time to edit it because it is the longest book so far with apprx 460 printed pages (202,500 words). Seeing that the original second half of Belonging was about 60,000 words the story will contain over 70% NEW content. I'm still hoping to get OUTLIER published by early- to mid-July
Until then … if you haven't had the chance to check out my published version of the Beauty of Life series, you have the chance to catch up by reading the first three books of the series before the fourth is out in July.
The Beauty of Life series takes my original fanfiction stories and revamps them—with tons of new content and expanded story lines while still keeping the same heart and familiar feel of my fanfiction stories.
The first three books in my Beauty of Life series are available as ebooks or paperbacks on Amazon—just search for Laura Acton in books.
The ebook versions are only $2.99 (USD) – less than the price of Dan's favorite iced capp.
If you don't have a Kindle—no problem—just download Amazon's free reader app—it works on phones, tablets, and computers.
If you have Kindle Unlimited you can read them for FREE, too. And I think Amazon offers a free 30-day trial of Kindle Unlimited (where available) which is even better for you if you want to read all three in one month :)
Beauty of Life series
- FORSAKEN: On the Edge of Oblivion (Beauty of Life, Book One)
- SOLACE: Behind the Shield (Beauty of Life, Book Two)
- BELONGING: Hope, Truth and Malice (Beauty of Life, Book Three)
- Work in Progress: OUTLIER: Blood, Brotherhood and Beauty (Beauty of Life, Book Four)
- Work in Progress: PURGATORY: Bonds Forged in Hellfire (Beauty of Life, Book Five)
You can visit Amazon and search for LAURA ACTON in Kindle Books to read the first few chapters of each book with the look inside feature.
Come meet Daniel William Broderick, Alexandra 'Lexa' McKenna, Jon Hardy, Nick Pastore, Loki Baldovino, Bram De Haven, Ray Palomo, Tia Walsh, Brody Mikhail Hunter and the rest of your favorite characters (General Broderick, Yvonne, the Broderick cousins, Blaze, Mason, Patch, Winds, etc.). Delve into a complex world of courageous men and women riding a roller coaster of emotions and danger. Explore the nature of relationships and bonds developed, tested, and strengthened in the face of adversity as they seek to find the beauty of life.
If you like all the details, twists, turns, and connections of my fanfiction – then you'll love the books — they're filled with them.
If you're a JAM fan become a LAN fan – come fall in love with Dan and Lexa. Their relationship has all the passion of JAM with a new exciting and hot way they first meet. Their relationship has a surprising beginning that turns into a slow burning build of their soulmate connection—it's quite a ride.
If you love the Team, the General, the Broderick cousins, Blaze, Patch, Winds, Mason, and the rest of the cast of characters, you should enjoy the new Beauty of Life series—they get more time than before.