Page 75 of Truck Hard

Echoes of Conflict

Liam

My phone buzzes on my desk, and Hannah’s name lights up the screen. A smile tugs at my lips. She’s been at work all day and we haven’t talked. She must be home now. I click on her name and it feels like my heart drops out of my body. Just one word and it sends a chill all the way to my bones.

Hannah

Help

I shove back from my chair, papers scattering across the floor. “Warren! Mac!” My voice booms through the shop as I sprint for the door.

The afternoon sun blinds me for a split second before my eyes adjust. Hannah’s driveway comes into focus—and there they are. Charlie towers over her, his stance predatory and familiar. The bastard’s done this before, cornered her like prey.

Fuck.

My feet pound against the pavement as I race down the road. I’m not going to make it. The thought barely registers beforeCharlie’s fist connects with Hannah’s face. The sound of the impact carries across the distance between us.

Hannah crumples to the ground like a rag doll, and something inside me snaps. A roar tears from my throat—pure rage and horror mixing together as I watch the woman I love lie motionless in her own yard.

Behind me, boots scrape against the pavement as my brothers follow. But I can’t focus on anything except getting to Hannah, closing this distance that suddenly feels endless.

Red bleeds into the edges of my vision. My legs pump faster, pavement burning under my feet. Charlie grabs Hannah’s hair and he starts dragging her toward the house. Each step drives splinters deeper into my heart.

“Get your fucking hands off her!” The roar tears from my throat, feral and raw.

Charlie’s head snaps up. His grip loosens just enough for Hannah to slump to the ground. She’s unconscious, blood trickling from her split lip.

I don’t slow down. My shoulder connects with Charlie’s sternum, driving him back. We hit the ground hard, my weight pinning him. The impact jars through my bones but I barely feel it. All I can see is Hannah’s blood, all I can hear is the crack of his fist hitting her face.

“You piece of shit.” I snarl, driving my fist into his face. Bone crunches under my knuckles. “You think you can come here? Think you can hurt her?”

Charlie spits blood, his smile turning cruel. “What’re you gonna do, Mutter? You have no power here, no say in anything that happens.” He laughs, the sound grating. “My family owns this county. One call and you’ll be the one in cuffs for assault.”

“Try it.” Another punch punctuates my words. “Give me a reason.”

He bucks underneath me, trying to throw me off. I shift my weight, using every trick I learned in countless backyard brawls with my brothers or in fights against the Koch brothers. Charlie may have money and connections, but I grew up fighting to survive.

“She’s mine.” He hisses through bloody teeth. “Everything she has is because of me. What can you offer her? A grease monkey’s salary? A falling-down house?”

The words hit harder than they should. Old insecurities rise up—the same ones that made me push Hannah away thirteen years ago. I wasn’t good enough then. I still worry that I may not be now.

Charlie seizes the moment of hesitation. His knee drives up into my ribs as he twists, reversing our positions. Pain explodes through my side.

“Face it.” He sneers, raining blows. “You’re nothing. A nobody from a family of nobodies. Hannah knows it too. Why do you think she chose me?”

Something snaps inside me. Not rage—something colder, sharper. Every hit I’ve pulled, every careful line I’ve walked… none of it matters. This man hurt Hannah. He terrorized my son. He doesn’t get to walk away this time.

I catch his next punch, twisting until tendons creak. “She didn’t choose you.” My voice comes out deadly calm. “I pushed her away. Biggest mistake of my life.”

Before he can respond, I drive my head up into his nose. Cartilage gives with a wet crunch. He reels back, cursing, and I follow. Each punch lands with surgical precision, powered by years of regret and helpless rage.

“You don’t own her.”Crack. His jaw. “You don’t own Cam.”Thud. Solar plexus. “You don’t own anything anymore.”

Sirens wail in the distance, growing closer. I barely hear them over the thunder of blood in my ears. Charlie’s face is a mess of red, but his eyes still burn with hate.

“I’ll always own them.” He chokes out. “You really think you can protect them? Where were you ten minutes ago when I had my way with her.”

The words weigh heavy on my heart and guilt creeps in. He got one punch in and I wasn’t here to stop it. But I’m here now.

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