Chapter 9

"Move wrong and I swear I'll fucking kill you," Dabi hissed. She looked up to see Pride, Brody, and Chris, and about three other police officers surrounding them, weapons out and aimed at them. "And if I don't, they will." She looked at Pride. "Is he covered?"

"He's covered," Pride assured her.

She let go of the man and moved towards a café table, sitting down heavily. She watched as the man was surrounded and cuffed. "I think his gun is under one of the tables," she said to Pride. "I remember seeing it go flying."

"I want her charged with assault," the man growled.

"Go for it," said Chris, smiling coldly, watching as officers retrieved the weapon and took statements from witnesses. "But I'll have you know, everyone here knows you just got your ass kicked by a deaf nineteen year-old girl. And by the end of the day, the whole town's gonna know too. I'm even seeing a few cell phones around. YouTube; it's a wonderful thing."

The man blanched at the thought.

"You're under arrest for attempted kidnapping and the murder of Seaman Ryan Adders," said Pride. He glanced at the police officers and said, "Get him out of here."

"Gladly," said one officer.

Someone quietly placed a drink in front of Dabi and the smell told her it contained alcohol.

"I'm not legally old enough to drink," she said to whomever it was that had given her the drink.

The man, wearing a bartending apron, just smiled and shook his head. "I'm not asking for i.d. Besides, after the way you just kicked that guy's ass, I think you've earned it." He grinned even wider. "And thanks to you, you just made me a whole wad of cash." He walked away chortling, and Pride, Brody, Chris, and Kate joined her.

Dabi held up the cane and asked, "Who did I swipe this from?"

Kate kindly gave it back to the elderly woman who was still looking at Dabi with wide eyes from a nearby table. "May I have your autograph?" she asked Dabi when she got the cane back. "No one in Florida is going to believe me when they hear about this!"

Chuckling tiredly, Dabi signed a paper napkin for the woman and, abet reluctantly, posed for a picture with her.

"Be careful out there," she told the elderly woman, who gave her a hug before walking away.

"What happened?" Pride asked Kate and Dabi.

"Dabi and I were just doing our own thing and that guy grabbed me and shoved a gun in my ribs," said Kate. "He's one of Jake's enforcers and I screamed. Dabi nailed him with the cane and basically beat the crap out of him."

"I remember seeing the guy grab Kate and I remember him from the photos you guys showed me and I remember getting mad, but after grabbing the cane and going after him, everything's kind of a fog up until I had the cane against his throat," said Dabi. She rubbed her arms. "I hate that. I could have killed him. Would have been so easy."

"Yes, you could have, but you stopped," said Brody. "Why?"

"It's like I could feel someone putting their hand on my shoulder, and it pulls me out," she admitted. "I don't want to kill again, King. I've done it before and I didn't enjoy it."

"I know. I read the reports, and from what I gathered, it was kill or be killed," said Pride. "You did what you had to and then you got the hell out."

As tears started sliding down Dabi's face, Kate put her arms around her. "You saved my life and you gave that guy a beat-down he won't forget any time soon. You saved Sara's life and she's as innocent as they come, and one day she's gonna know that and she's gonna know she's loved and someone cared enough to try and defend her."

"And the missing moments?" Dabi asked.

"I've done it. I'm sure your dad's done it, and I'm sure plenty of other people have done it too," said Pride. "It's our brain's way of protecting itself. We shut down the conscious part, the part that hesitates, and we go on instinct. As for that hand on your shoulder, you ever wonder if maybe that's your grandfather or your mother reminding you?"

"Where did your grandpa die?" Kate asked.

"In the main bakery office, where my office is these days," Dabi admitted.

"And you stopped, in the bakery," said Pride. "I'm not much of a believer in spirits, but I'm betting that was your grandfather."

"And just now?" Dabi asked.

"This is New Orleans," Chris reminded her. "You know yourself it has plenty of haunted spots, especially after Hurricane Katrina."

"Actually," said a man joining them, "this area is said to be where a cop died during Hurricane Katrina. He was trying to help a bunch of people and got trapped in a mess and drowned."

"You knew him?" Pride asked, studying the man. He had white hair, tanned skin, and a dignified build that suggested he was used to wearing a uniform.

"Not directly, but a lot of guys on the force know the story," the man said. "A bunch of people have reported seeing a guy in a uniform hanging around and then disappearing. From what you've just said, pretty lady, I'm willing to bet that was him."

"But why?" Dabi asked.

"To remind you, maybe to help you," said the man. "I'm a retired police officer. I was there when Hurricane Katrina hit and I gotta admit, some of our guys, they got desperate and did stupid things. But for every cop that did something stupid, like run, those that stayed, we did our best to help, like Officer Jones, as we like to call him." He leaned forward, studying Dabi. "You're a fighter. You take care of the ones you care about, and that tells me you've got a good heart. Darlin', you've done what we've all had to do. It ain't easy to live with, especially when we've been forced to take a life, but we've done it. The fact that you stopped, that you haven't done it again even though it would be very easy to do, that tells me you have a conscious and that you care but you're willing to do what needs to be done. In my eyes, sweetheart, that makes you a hero."

"I don't want to do this anymore," Dabi admitted. "I just want to run my bakery, maybe have some fun once in a while, and stay the hell out of trouble for a bit."

"I'm sure your dad would like that too," said Chris, grinning.

Dabi groaned. "He is so gonna kill me when he finds out about this."

"We'll redact the report as much as we can," Brody promised.

"What about the one Director Vance reads?" Dabi asked.

"That could be a problem," Pride admitted.

"NOPD could give her a medal of valor," the man offered. "Might work in her favor. After all, you did save someone's life several times, from the sounds of it."

"This is my dad we're talking about," said Dabi.