Shot Through the Heart

by Diane Benefiel

  She hung her keys on the hook by the back door before letting Cooper into the backyard. It had been a killer shift. The heroin ODs were still coming. Where, even a month ago, they’d get maybe one a week, now they were getting one, sometimes two, a day. If her father was still a cop, she would have asked him what was going on.

  She climbed the stairs to change. Since it was Friday evening, John probably had a date. Well, good for him. She’d bet he didn’t have any trust issues. He was probably out with some pretty girl-next-door type. They’d fall madly in love, get married, buy a house in the ’burbs, and have two kids, boy and girl, with their dad’s black hair and gorgeous eyes. And she was just making herself miserable.

  So she thought he was hot. There. She’d admitted it to herself. John Davidson made her heart go pitter-patter. Having acknowledged the attraction, now maybe she could deal with it. Not that dealing with it meant anything. She couldn’t start dating him. Given the situation with Kyle, dating anyone was too dangerous. Her best bet was to keep avoiding him and hope her wayward heart would get over it.

  Resigned, she headed downstairs where she filled Cooper’s bowl with kibble, adding a couple of scoops of canned food before setting it outside. She was standing at the refrigerator with the door open, trying to decide whether she wanted a salad for dinner, when the doorbell sounded.

  She approached the front door cautiously and glanced through the side window. A man, medium height and medium build, stood silhouetted by the porch light. Not Kyle, and not any of the neighbors she knew. Nine-thirty was pretty late for someone to be knocking on her door. Uneasy, she moved back from the window. She didn’t have to answer it.

  The bell rang again then a low voice called out. “Rane Smith? I saw you come home so I know you’re in there. It’s Simon DiNardo. I want to talk to you.”

  Simon. Kyle’s brother. Rane’s stomach clenched. She remembered the night during her senior year of high school when Kyle had shown up at her home, face bloody, body bruised. He’d told his brother he didn’t want anything to do with the family business, and, in return, Simon had nearly killed him. It wasn’t that Kyle hadn’t wanted anything to do with illegal drugs that had set Simon off. It was what Simon considered disrespect to the family. A business that paid for the food Kyle ate and the clothes he wore. Loyalty to family was more important than anything, and Simon had beaten that fact into his brother.

  Hurrying to the hall closet, Rane opened the door, flipped on the light, and punched in the code to the downstairs lock box. She raised the lid and pulled out the Glock. After donning a loose jacket with deep pockets, she advanced a round into the chamber then set the safety and stuck the gun in her pocket. She didn’t care if he could see she was armed. She wasn’t stupid and refused to meet him without some way to defend herself.

  She paused, remembering her promise to John to call the police if she felt she was in danger. But she just couldn’t do it. Calling the police on Simon brought them too close to her father’s involvement in Kyle’s case. She’d have to deal with this on her own. Moving swiftly through the house, she fumbled for Cooper’s leash on its hook before slipping out the backdoor. Securing the leash to the dog’s collar, Rane opened the gate and walked down the driveway.

  It wasn’t much of a plan, but she figured she was safer talking to Simon outside with the dog beside her and in full view of her neighbors. While still out of sight, she paused, giving herself a minute to draw in a calming breath. Steadier, she rounded the house to the front lawn. DiNardo was on the porch, peering through the window into the front room.

  “What do you want?” Rane made sure her voice remained firm.

  Simon turned. In the light from the porch and the streetlamp, she could see him fairly well. When it was clear that she wasn’t going to join him on the porch, he crossed to the steps. He appeared unchanged since she’d last seen him, several years ago. In his mid-forties, Simon DiNardo worked at being forgettable. He’d dressed in khaki chinos with a tan jacket over a collared shirt. He wore his brown hair trimmed short and parted on the side in a conservative cut. His appearance was so bland, so unremarkable, that if someone witnessed him committing a crime, the description would have matched thousands of men. When he stepped toward her, Rane suppressed a shudder. His eyes. She remembered his eyes. They were the palest gray, so light they nearly blended with the whites. She sensed again what she’d felt as a teenager. She was looking into the face of evil.

  Rane gripped Cooper’s leash tighter, the dog sitting at alert, and repeated her question. “What do you want, Simon?”

  Simon stuck his hands in the pockets of his jacket. “Well, that all depends on you, Rane.” He smiled, a lipless grin that made her think of a snake. “Me, I’m just concerned about my little brother.”

  “I don’t have anything to do with your brother. If you both left me alone, we’d have nothing to talk about.”

  When he turned his head, she saw the ugly scar that stretched from his temple to curl under his right ear. That was his one distinguishing feature. Puckered and uneven, it didn’t look like it had healed properly. “That’s a little difficult since we have a score to settle with you.”

  Everything inside Rane froze. She wished desperately that John was home. “What do you mean?”

  “Exactly what I said. Your family owes mine.” He watched her with that soulless gaze, unblinking. “I have an offer for you that could help settle the balance.”

  Cooper must have sensed her tension because he growled. Simon ignored the dog.

  “My family owes you nothing. I want you to leave.” The solid weight of the gun steadied her.

  DiNardo rocked back on his heels, looking up and down the street before returning his attention to her. “Let’s be honest here, Rane. Your father set Kyle up. You let him do it. Both of you could go to jail.”

  Rane stared at him as a feeling of disbelief washed over her. There it was, out in the open. While frightened, amazingly, she also felt relief. She wouldn’t have to worry any more that it would come out. What she had feared, protected against, and lost sleep over for the past year since she had discovered what her father had done was finally happening. Suddenly, she was fervently glad John was away. “There was more to it than that.”

  “Yes, of course. But the fact of the matter is you and your father broke the law. Police detective Douglas Smith set Kyle up because he didn’t want him around his little girl. You let him do it. And now you’re going to have to pay.”

  “Kyle was involved in your operation. He was dealing. He was guilty of that.”

  Simon’s thin smile made Rane nauseous. “Perhaps. But that heroin was planted by your father. He lied in court. You knew about it and didn’t come forward. That makes you both guilty of a crime.”

  “You don’t know that. You have no evidence of what my father did or didn’t do, and you have no idea what I know. You’re bluffing.”

  Pale gray eyes watched her carefully. She wondered if he would strike with the speed of a snake. “I do have evidence. Your poor old man’s brain is wasting away in the loony bin. Do you want to put him on trial? His nurses say he’s lucid some of the time. I think retribution through the justice system would be much more fitting than me simply exacting personal revenge. A public trial where everyone can see you both for the hypocrites you are is very appealing to me.”

  Rane shook her head. “There’s not one prosecutor in the city that would put my dad on trial, even if they had any evidence. He has Alzheimer’s.”

  Simon shrugged away the comment. “That may be. But I visited him yesterday. Did he tell you about that, Rane?”

  She stared at him numbly. “You went to see my dad?”

  “Yes. I’m his cousin from Portland. Didn’t you know that? At least that’s what I told the nurses. He told me all about planting the heroin in Kyle’s car. I’d already figured out Detective Smith must have planted it. There was no other explanation. But good old Dad told me how he let it slip to you. How you weren’t happ
y when you found out. But you didn’t step forward, did you? You let my brother spend three years in prison.”

  “You know Kyle was dealing heroin to high school kids, college students. Some of those kids died, and he was responsible. Just as you are. And he had already served over a year by the time I found out.”

  “When you found out doesn’t matter. He wasn’t guilty of the crime he was charged with.” Simon’s expression turned cunning. “Tell me, Rane, what would you do to keep your old man from dying in a prison psych ward? Or to keep his reputation as an upstanding police officer with a sterling record free of tarnish? If you want to protect him and to stay out of prison yourself, you’re going to do something for me.”

  Rane felt as if she could shatter at the slightest touch. “I’m not going to do anything for you.”

  “Your choice, of course. But you might want to think about it. You won’t like living in a six-by-eight cage.”

  “How do I know you’d keep your word?”

  “You don’t. But I’ll give it anyway.”

  Rane looked at her quiet street, at lighted windows shining from homes where kids were watching TV and parents were relaxing after a day’s work. “What do you want me to do?”

  Simon nodded his head as if he’d known she would come around. “The man who is renting your apartment? His name is John Garretson.”

  Rane frowned. “No, it’s John Davidson.”

  “That’s his cover. His name is John Garretson, and he’s a detective with Seattle PD. He’s on a task force assigned to bring me down. Me and my family. You’re going to find out what he knows and pass it along to me. That’s all.”

  Rane took an involuntary step back. Cooper looked up at her as if trying to figure out what was going on. “You’re wrong. John just got out of the army, and he’s training to be a firefighter. All his references checked out.” Doubt crept in when she remembered how he’d acted the two nights Kyle had shown up. She’d even told him he’d make a good cop.

  Simon gave her a pitying look. “You shouldn’t be so trusting, Rane. People lie all the time. He’s a cop, and so is his brother. They’re on the same task force. John Garretson was assigned to keep tabs on you. They’ve been dogging me for too long, and I’m going to end it.”

  She held onto her faith by a flimsy line. Simon or John. She put her faith in John, faith he hadn’t lied to her. “I don’t believe you.”

  Simon shrugged. “Believe it. You’ll find out for yourself once you do as I say.”

  “No.”

  “So brave, yet so misguided.” He sighed, a teacher disappointed by his prize pupil. “You’re going to do exactly as I ask because you don’t want your dad’s reputation tarnished or the possibility of him going on trial and because you don’t want to go to prison yourself. For a bit more incentive, you’ll do it because you don’t want your crazy father hurt. You don’t want your dog hurt. Or your friend Lily to tragically drown in the pool at her condo. You don’t want to get shot when you’re sitting at a stoplight on your way to work. I could go on.” When he paused, the night seemed to pulse. The images he’d put in Rane’s head spun in some uncontrollable eddy. Simon’s pale eyes glowed faintly in the night. “You might want to remember what happened to that college boy you brought home. That’s was trivial compared to what I will do if you don’t cooperate. Are we clear?”

  She stared at him, her mind functioning sluggishly. “That was you? I thought it was Kyle who beat up Jordan.”

  “My brother is soft. It’s up to me to deal with the difficult tasks. Rane, are we clear?”

  She nodded jerkily before asking, “What does Kyle think of your plan?”

  Simon’s expression didn’t waver. “You leave my little brother to me. Just deal with the cop.”

  “I don’t see why you think he’ll tell me anything. He’s just my tenant.”

  “You’re going to play on his hero instincts. Tell him you need him to protect you. Guys like him eat that stuff up. I want you to tell him you’ll help set me up. Once I know when and how they’re planning to bring me down, I’ll take it from there.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t get it. You don’t need me. It sounds like you could carry out your plan any time you wanted.”

  Simon nodded. “It’s good you see the whole picture, but I don’t want just John Garretson. I want the brother. I want the rest of that task force. Seattle PD has sent three of my family to prison over the past five years. Getting the task force is payback. I’m going to kill them, every one of them.” He paused, inhaling a deep breath as if to regain control. “And, Rane, if you want to stay alive, you’re going to do exactly what I tell you.” Simon held out a card. “That’s my cell number. Only call if you have something. I’ll be in touch. Don’t think the cops are the only ones watching you. If I get reports that you aren’t moving ahead with our plan, I’ll have to give you some motivation.” He looked at Cooper before he turned away. “Nice dog.”

  Rane tightened her hold on the leash.

  ***

  Rane moved mechanically about her kitchen. The gun was already secure in its lockbox. Now she needed to do something normal. She emptied a can of soup into a pan and set it on the stove. Cooper lay curled by the table, eyes following her every move. When John’s truck roared up the driveway, she paused, her mind racing. She still didn’t know what she was going to do. She didn’t want to believe Simon, but what he’d said made a sick kind of sense.

  Hard rapping sounded at the kitchen door. She adjusted the flame under the soup before turning toward the door.

  “Rane! Open up.” The harsh sound of John’s voice accompanied more pounding, this time with what sounded like his fist.

  She opened the door, and before she could take a breath, he was in the kitchen, slamming the door shut, backing her up against the wall. “Are you okay?” His hands were moving up and down her arms as if checking for broken bones. He brought with him the smells of outside, wild and dark.

  When she stared at him mutely, he must have read the tumult in her expression.

  “Fuck this.” He cupped her face, long fingers threading into her hair, and tipped her head up so his lips could find hers. The ice encasing her emotions cracked, and sensation flooded through her. Attraction, anger, desire, all fueled a combustive combination that set her off. She brought her hands up to fist in his hair. With the wall at her back, he leaned into her until they were melded together from lips to knees. She found herself caught in the tumult of the moment, slipping a hand under the collar of his shirt, feeling the skin warm to her touch. He braced his hands on either side of her, head bent to brush his mouth along her jaw.

  Rane fought to maintain a hold on the maddening explosion of her senses. She lowered her hands to grip his arms and felt muscles tense in response. Pushing against him was like pushing against a granite wall, but he finally broke away, sucking in a deep breath before pressing his lips to her forehead. When he pulled back, the stark passion on his face nearly undid her. “John.”

  His expression darkened, and he brought his fingers back to her hair, brushing it back from her face. She thought he was making a monumental effort to strap down whatever emotions consumed him.

  “Okay, okay. Sorry.” He stepped back until they were no longer touching, lifting his palms as if to show he wasn’t a threat. “I didn’t mean to come on so strong.”

  The withdrawal of his body heat left her feeling cold. “Then why did you?”

  He looked away, seeming to gather himself.

  “Well?”

  His head turned back, gaze narrowed. “You don’t make it easy for a guy, do you?”

  “No, I’m not going to make it easy for you.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” When she didn’t say anything, standing motionless with her back against the wall, he raised dark brows. “Rane?”

  “Are you a cop?”

  She’d caught him by surprise. She could see the truth in a flicker of his eyes that was gone in an instant.<
br />
  “Whoa. Where did that come from?”

  “Just answer the question. Are you a cop? Is your name really John Garretson?”

  He stared at her for a long minute before nodding. “Yes, to both.”

  Rane bit back a sigh. Lesson learned. She fought to control the anger suddenly burning inside, anger at herself. She’d believed him, trusted him, and, once again, been shown that trusting someone only led to hurt. She turned away, needing to do something, anything, and picked up a spoon to stir the soup bubbling on the stove. “You’re here to spy on me.”

  “No, Rane, not to spy on you. To keep watch out for Kyle. To protect you.”

  He moved toward her and Rane whirled, throwing the spoon into the sink with a clatter. “Don’t come near me! You lied. You told me you’d been in Afghanistan and were training to be a firefighter.”

  John stepped back, treating her like an unexploded IED that one wrong move could set off. “I was in Afghanistan. That part’s true. But I’m not training to be a firefighter.”

  “Because you’re a cop. You’re undercover, and you’re watching me.”

  “Yes. I’m a cop. I was undercover. Obviously, my cover’s been blown.”

  “So why all the drama when you came in just now? That was a pretty good act, by the way. Very convincing.”

  He wanted to shake her, make her understand something he wasn’t even sure he understood himself. He’d been pulled to her from the first moment, but he hadn’t expected to lose control. He couldn’t tell her how panic had ripped through him when he’d gotten the call from Nate. “There was no act. I got word Simon DiNardo was here, that you were talking to him.”