The Sheriff's Choice

Sheriff Dale Morrison's POV

Dale Morrison's hands shook as he put bullets into his service weapon. His phone was still buzzing with the text message that had changed everything: "Kill them both tonight, or your daughter dies at midnight."

The message came with a photo that made Dale's blood run cold. His fifteen-year-old daughter Emma was tied to a chair in what looked like an abandoned factory. Her eyes were wide with fear, and there was tape over her mouth.

Dale had thought Emma was safe at her friend's house for a sleepover. He never imagined Phoenix's people would grab her.

Now he had to choose between saving his own child and killing his nephew.

Jake Morrison wasn't just another case to Dale. They'd grown up together, playing cops and robbers in Thomas Morrison's garden. Dale had taught Jake how to throw a football. Jake had been the ring bearer at Dale's wedding.

But Emma was Dale's whole world. His wife had died in a car crash three years ago, and Emma was all the family he had left.

Dale's radio buzzed with Thomas Morrison's voice: "Dale, are you in position?"

"Almost there, boss," Dale answered, hating himself for saying the word 'boss' to his own brother.

Because that's what Thomas Morrison was now. Not Jake's loving father. Not Dale's bigger brother. He was Phoenix, the cold-blooded killer who had been ruling their town for twenty years.

Dale drove through the empty streets toward Jake's childhood house, remembering better times. Summer parties when Thomas would flip burgers while Dale and Jake played catch. Christmas mornings when their families would open presents together.

When had Thomas become a monster?

Dale's phone rang, and Phoenix's voice filled the car.

"Dale, I know this is hard for you. But family sometimes means making tough choices."

"He's family too, Thomas. Jake is your son."

"Jake quit being my son the moment he chose to work against us. He's made his pick. Now you have to make yours."

Dale pulled up to the Morrison house and saw the other cars already in position. Six teams of killers, all waiting for his order to storm the building.

"Thomas, please. There has to be another way."

"There is no other way. Jake and Maya know too much. They have proof that could destroy everything we've built."

"What about Emma? If I do this, will you really let her go?"

Phoenix was quiet for a moment. "Dale, you've been loyal for twenty years. You've helped us keep this town safe and wealthy. Do you really think I'd hurt your daughter?"

Dale wanted to believe his brother, but he'd seen what Phoenix did to people who got in his way. Sarah Martinez had been just eighteen years old when they killed her. Danny Santos was only sixteen when they tried to frame him.

"I need to see proof that Emma is okay," Dale said.

"Check your phone."

Dale looked down and saw a new video message. Emma was still tied up, but she was moving and trying to talk through the tape. She was living, for now.

"You have thirty minutes, Dale. Either Jake and Maya are dead, or Emma joins them."

The phone line went dead.

Dale sat in his patrol car, looking at the dark house where Jake and Maya were hiding. He could end this right now. One quick raid, two gunshots, and it would all be over.

Emma would be safe. Dale could go back to being the sheriff of a quiet little town. No more killings, no more cover-ups, no more lies.

But Jake would be dead. Maya would be dead. Two harmless people who were just trying to do the right thing.

Dale remembered the day Jake graduated from law school. Thomas had been so proud, bragging to everyone about his bright son who was going to fight for justice.

Now that same kid was hiding in a crawl space, about to be murdered by his own father.

Dale's radio crackled again. "All units, this is Phoenix. We're going in. Sheriff Morrison will take the lead."

"Copy that, boss," came the responses from the other teams.

Dale stepped out of his car and drew his weapon. The other cops were already moving toward the house, surrounding it from all sides.

"Remember," Phoenix's voice came through their earpieces, "I want them alive first. I have questions before they die."

Dale climbed the front door steps, each footstep feeling like he was walking to his own execution. Behind him, twelve armed men followed quietly.

He reached for the doorknob, knowing that once he opened this door, there would be no going back.

But then Dale heard something that changed everything.

A voice coming from inside the house. Not Jake's voice or Maya's voice.

A child's voice.

A scared little girl calling out: "Daddy? Daddy, is that you? Please help me!"

It was Emma.

Dale's blood turned to ice. Emma wasn't at some building across town. She was inside this house.

Phoenix had brought her here to watch her father kill Jake and Maya.

Or worse - he was going to kill all three of them together.

Dale understood with growing horror that this wasn't just about eliminating witnesses. This was Phoenix's way of making sure Dale could never turn against the group.

If Dale assisted in killing Jake and Maya while his daughter watched, Phoenix would have the perfect blackmail material to control him forever.

"Daddy!" Emma's voice came again, muffled and frightened. "There's a man here with a gun! He says you have to choose!"

Dale's mind raced. If he stormed in with the other cops, Emma might get caught in the crossfire. But if he didn't go in, Phoenix would kill her anyway.

His radio crackled: "Dale, what's taking so long? My patience is running out."

"Just getting into position," Dale answered, but his voice was shaking.

Through the window, Dale could see a shadow moving upstairs. Someone was in Jake's old bedroom.

His phone buzzed with another message: "Your daughter wants to say goodbye to her cousin before they both die. How touching."

Dale looked at his gun, then at the house, then at the other officers waiting for his cue.

He had to make a choice right now.

Save Emma and let Jake and Maya die.

Or try to save everyone and risk losing them all.

Dale took a deep breath and made his choice.

He turned off his radio so Phoenix couldn't hear him.

Then he did something that surprised everyone, including himself.

He pointed his gun at his own cops.

"Nobody moves," Dale said quietly. "This is over."

The other men spun around, confused and angry.

"Sheriff, what are you doing?" one of them asked.

"I'm choosing family," Dale said. "The real kind of family. The kind that saves innocent people instead of murdering them."

But before anyone could respond, the front door of the house exploded outward.

Phoenix himself stepped onto the porch, pulling Emma behind him with a gun to her head.

"Hello, brother," Thomas Morrison said with a cold smile. "I was wondering when you'd finally grow a backbone."

Dale stared at the guy who used to be his brother, holding a gun to a fifteen-year-old girl's head.

"Let her go, Thomas. This is between you and me."

"No, Dale. This is between all of us. Jake! Maya! I know you can hear me! Come out now, or I kill Emma right in front of her daddy!"

Dale heard moving inside the house. Footsteps on the stairs. Whispered sounds arguing about what to do.

"You have ten seconds!" Phoenix shouted. "Then Emma dies!"

Dale raised his gun, pointing it at his own brother.

But Phoenix just laughed.

"You won't shoot me, Dale. Because if I die, you'll never find the other children."

"What other children?"

Phoenix's smile got wider and more frightening.

"Did you really think Emma was the only one? Tommy Whitfield is tied up in the courtroom basement. Danny Santos's little sisters are locked in the old building. Five children total, all waiting to see if their families choose loyalty or death."

Dale felt the world spinning around him.

Phoenix wasn't just threatening Emma.

He was threatening every family in town.

"So what's it going to be, brother?" Phoenix asked, pushing the gun harder against Emma's head. "Are you going to help me clean up this mess, or are you going to watch five children die for nothing?"