Sheriff Tom Harrison had always been overprotective of his daughter Emma. At nineteen, she constantly reminded him she was an adult.
“Dad, you can’t run background checks on every guy I date,” Emma said, rolling her eyes as she grabbed her purse.
“Watch me,” Tom replied, adjusting his badge. “Where are you going with this Derek kid?”
“His name is Derek, and we’re going to dinner. Normal people do that.”
Tom had run Derek’s plates the moment he saw them in his driveway. Clean record, but something about the kid’s cocky smirk rubbed him wrong.
Three hours later, Emma burst through the front door, tears streaming down her face. A red handprint blazed across her left cheek.
Tom’s coffee mug shattered on the kitchen floor.
“Who did this to you?” His voice dropped to a deadly whisper.
“Dad, please don’t—”
“WHO?”
“Derek got angry when I said I wouldn’t sleep with him on the first date. He said I was a tease and…” She touched her cheek gingerly. “He slapped me.”
Tom’s hand moved instinctively to his service weapon. Twenty-three years as sheriff, and he’d never felt rage like this.
“Where is he now?”
“Probably at Murphy’s Bar. Dad, you can’t arrest him for—”
“The hell I can’t. That’s assault.”
Emma grabbed his arm. “Please don’t make this worse.”
Tom looked at his daughter’s swollen cheek and felt something cold settle in his chest. “Worse? Baby, this is just getting started.”
Fifteen minutes later, Tom walked into Murphy’s Bar. Derek sat at a corner table, laughing with his buddies about his “disappointing” date.
“Derek Matthews?” Tom’s badge caught the neon light.
Derek’s face went pale. “Sheriff Harrison? What’s—”
“Stand up.”
The bar went silent. Derek slowly rose, his confidence evaporating.
“You laid hands on my daughter tonight.”
“Look, it wasn’t that big a deal. She was leading me on, and I just—”
The slap echoed through the bar like a gunshot. Derek stumbled backward, holding his face.
“That’s what you did to her,” Tom said calmly. “Except she’s half your size and didn’t see it coming.”
Derek’s friends started to stand, but Tom’s hand rested on his weapon.
“Anyone else want to discuss respect for women?”
They sat back down.
“Now, Derek, you have two choices. You can apologize to my daughter, pack your things, and leave town tonight. Or you can spend the next five years explaining to your cellmate why you’re in for assault on a minor.”
“She’s nineteen!”
“She’s my daughter. And in case you missed the memo, I AM the law in this county.”
Derek’s lip trembled. “This is abuse of power!”
Tom leaned closer. “Son, you haven’t seen abuse of power yet. But keep talking, and you will.”
The bar owner, Murphy himself, stepped forward. “Derek, I think you should take the sheriff’s first offer.”
Derek looked around the room. Every face stared back with cold disapproval. In a small town, everyone knew everyone’s kids.
“Fine. I’ll apologize and leave.”
“Good choice.”
An hour later, Derek stood on Tom’s porch, a duffel bag in his car behind him. Emma answered the door, her father’s imposing figure behind her.
“I’m sorry, Emma. I was drunk and stupid. It won’t happen again.”
“You’re right,” Tom said. “It won’t.”
Derek nodded quickly and hurried to his car.
As the taillights disappeared, Emma turned to her father. “You know I could have handled that myself.”
Tom gently touched her bruised cheek. “Maybe. But you shouldn’t have to.”
“The whole town’s going to talk about this.”
“Let them. They’ll talk about how Sheriff Harrison’s daughter is off-limits. And how any man who raises a hand to a woman in my county better find a new county.”
Emma hugged him tight. “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, baby. And next time you want to date someone, maybe let me meet them first?”
She laughed despite herself. “Deal. But no interrogation rooms.”
“I make no promises.”
The next morning, Tom’s deputy brought him Derek’s speeding ticket from the county line.
“Clocked him doing ninety in a sixty-five zone,” Deputy Martinez said. “Guess he was in a hurry to leave.”
Tom smiled grimly. “Some people learn fast. Others learn hard. Derek chose wisely.”
Word spread quickly through town. The sheriff’s daughter was protected, and justice in their county came swift and personal.
Derek never returned. And Tom Harrison’s reputation for protecting his family became the stuff of local legend.
