“We have eyes,” he said.
They both turned and looked at the clearing. Price was just emerging from a tree line, heading for the cabin.
“Fuck,” Levi said, and he pulled Sun down the mountain.
They half ran and half fell. Sliding through huge drifts of snow, they landed on the side opposite of Price and Sybil. She could only pray he didn’t see them.
“She can’t get a shot,” he said, peering around the side of a stack of firewood.
She looked around him. He was right. There was no way Zee could take the shot. He had Sybil draped over him. “Son of a bitch,” she said. “Ideas?”
“You’re the idea person,” he said. “I’m more of a ‘let’s get in front of him and blow him away’ kind of guy.”
“We have to get her away from him.”
“Agreed.”
She drew in a deep breath, her stomach raw from all the acid pumping into it. “I have an idea. Zee, stay sharp.”
“Always,” she said, her voice as calm as the breeze on a summer’s day. She was already in the zone, centering the crosshairs on her mark, slowing her pulse.
She explained her plan, then said, “He’s got to be exhausted. I’ll get her away from him. You just make sure he doesn’t make it into the cabin with her should I fail.”
“Don’t fail,” Levi said.
She looked at his profile again, studied it, a mere shadow in the dark.
“Don’t,” he whispered as Price got closer.
The man was groaning, straining against the weight of the fourteen-year-old over his shoulders and the resistance of the snow at his feet.
They realized she was awake. Her whimpers drifted over the snow.
“Levi,” she whispered.
He reached back and took her gloved hand into his.
“If I do fail,” she started, her voice as quiet as the snow, but he turned to glare at her before she could finish. She shook her head, determined. “If I do fail, will you take care of her?”
They both knew she wasn’t talking about Sybil.
It took him a long moment to answer. When he finally did, he echoed Zee’s sentiment when he said, “Always.”
She nodded and ducked behind the woodpile as Levi slid onto the porch of the cabin from the back and slunk around to the front to head Price off.
Price started to take the first step when she realized he was carrying a hunting knife in one hand, and she almost lost her nerve. He could do so much damage to Sybil in such a short amount of time with that knife, but she had no choice.
She eased from behind the woodpile just as his foot landed on the first rung of the steps. That was Levi’s cue, and he played his part beautifully.
“Can I ask what you’re doing here?”
The plan was to make Price think Levi owned the cabin and was in residence.
Not expecting company, Price stumbled back in surprise. It was the opening she needed. She rushed him from the side, grabbed hold of Sybil, and pulled with every ounce of strength she had.
At the same time, Levi shot off the porch and, while Sun did succeed in getting Sybil away from him, she also succeeded in allowing Price to get a firm hold of her instead.
Before Levi could get to them, in a move startlingly quick, Price had his arms around her and the knife at her throat. A knife that was longer than her forearm.
“Back!” He gave Levi a warning glare as he dragged her backward.
Levi slid to a stop a few feet from them and raised his hands.
“I will slice her fucking throat so fast she won’t even know it until she sees her blood spraying onto your face.”
“Price,” she said, her voice calm.
He was beginning to unravel. All his plans spoiled.
“This would have worked if that idiot Redding had won the fucking election,” he said. He laughed helplessly. “Oh, my god, that man was so stupid.”
“Can I ask your real name?”
“Why, Sheriff? You gonna be my friend?”
“If you’ll let me.”
“Yeah, well, you can cut that psychobabble shit right now. How did you know?” He kept moving with her, turning her as he scanned the distance as though he knew Zee was out there trying to get a shot. “How’d you figure it out?”
“The divot,” she said. “The one where your ear meets your temple.”
When Sun had originally seen the slit in Price’s temple, she’d thought it was part of the injury he’d sustained chasing dogs in the middle of the night. Part of the scrapes and bruises when, as he put it, the bushes attacked him. She was wrong.
“Sybil has one, too,” she said, her breath fogging on the air. “It took me a while to make the connection, but once I realized you were somehow related, it all fell into place. That kind of dimple is hereditary. And it’s pretty rare.”
He pulled her around again. “No shit?”
“Sybil doesn’t deserve this.”
“Where is she?” he asked, spinning her around as he scanned the trees again.
“Who?”
“Zee!” he yelled into the quiet night. “I know you’re out there, gorgeous. Let me see you or she dies.”
“Zee’s not here. We didn’t have time to wait for her.”
He hugged Sun to him, his mouth at her ear. “You know, Auri and I have a lot in common.”
“Yeah?”
“I was a surprise to my mother as well.”
“Really?”
“Only my mother threw me away. Of course, the minute my adoptive mother got little ole me, that bitch got pregnant and suddenly I didn’t matter anymore. They had their dream kid. I was an inconvenience. Do you know what they did to me?”
“Why don’t you tell me?”
“They took me to meet her when I was fifteen.” He laughed, the sound bitter in the quiet night air. “I stood on the doorstep to this … mansion and rang the doorbell while my parents sat in the car. And Marianna St. Aubin answered the door, her redheaded daughter nipping at her heels. I told her who I was.” He squeezed her tighter as the memories washed over him. “I begged her to take me in, but she said I had the wrong house. Told me to never come back and closed the door on my face while my parents laughed.”
Sun felt the sting of the blade a second before she felt a warm drop of blood slide down her neck. He was getting angrier by the second. She needed to change the subject. “The deputies at the station said you’ve been a great cop.”
He scoffed. “You giving me my job back?”
“I think you have a lot to offer the world.”
“Where are you, Zee?” he shouted, completely ignoring her.
She heard Zee’s voice in her ear. “Can you drop?”
Levi gave the barest shake of his head, but she nodded. If she could get a hand underneath the blade, she could drop to the ground and give Zee the shot.
Levi glared at her, but she ignored him. Closing her eyes, she offered up a prayer and counted off with her fingers out of range of his vision. But before she could drop to her knees, Price fell to his and took her with him, hugging her to his chest, his chin on her shoulder, his mouth at her ear.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, Sunshine on My Shoulders. No cheating.” His breaths came in shallow gasps as adrenaline coursed through him. “No cheating.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He pulled her even closer, his grip like a vise around her ribs. “How about we both go, huh? I take you out, and then Zee takes me out, and everything is right with the world.”
“As long as Sybil is okay.”
He burst out laughing. “Oh, she’s dead, beautiful. Or she will be soon.”
Sun stiffened and glanced at the unconscious girl in the snow. “What do you mean?”
“OD. She kept fighting me. I got pissed off. I’ve been told I have anger issues.”
“What did you give her?”
“The usual, GHB. Still, I did want to gut her. Leave her in little pieces on Marianna’s porch, just
like she left me.”
“You don’t know how hard that was for her.”
He was rocking her now, making peace with whatever demons possessed him, preparing to die. Question was, would he take her with him?
Zee came back on. “One inch to your left, in three…”
“I’m sorry it’s come to this, Price.”
“… two…”
He looked at her from over her shoulder, tears shimmering in his eyes, and whispered his real name. “Cory.”
“… one.”
She turned to him, tilted her head to the left, and put the tips of her gloved fingers on his jaw. “Cory.”
Blood exploded across her face, the execution of the order happening so fast she almost lost consciousness. His head shattered before she even heard the shot.
Levi dove for the knife before Cory’s muscles could tighten in reflex and cut her throat. Something she hadn’t even thought of. He held on to the blade until Cory’s muscles realized his brain was no longer in control.
It was barely a second. Maybe two. But it seemed like an eternity until he went limp and fell to the side. Sun scrambled to get to Sybil. Zee and Quincy ran toward them as Sun and Levi checked her.
She was still warm. Her breaths were shallow, but she was still warm.
The medics arrived in a helicopter and stabilized her enough to fly her out.
The cabin, which was normally accessible by road, had been cut off due to the snow. If not for small miracles, Price … Cory could have just driven Sybil there and killed her before they could get to them.
Clearly, someone was watching out for Sybil. She wondered if it was the same entity that had given her the premonition in the first place.
After the helicopter took off, another one landed, blowing ice-cold bursts of snow around them. They would secure the scene and take Cory’s body to the OMI.
About twenty minutes later, the cavalry arrived. The engines of several emergency ATVs echoed in the clearing, and time was running out. Sun had been busy organizing the emergency personnel, but now she had to decide what to do with Levi.
She looked over at him as he leaned against the porch rails. He’d saved a life tonight. Possibly two. But he’d also confessed to killing his uncle.
His gaze didn’t waver as he watched her. Then, as though he were taking a stroll on a beach, he put a hand in his jacket pocket, tipped an invisible hat, and disappeared into the darkness surrounding him like he belonged to it.
She let him go.
For now.
26
Church parking only.
Violators will be baptized.
—SIGN AT DEL SOL CHURCH ON THE ROCKS
Auri woke up in the middle of the night, partially on her grandparents’ sofa, the buttery one she’d helped her grandmother pick out, and partially on the chest of a boy.
Cruz lay asleep underneath her, his long frame stretched across the length of the sofa. Only it didn’t fit, so his feet, still clad in an old pair of running shoes, hung off the edge and rested on a side table along with a hideous ashtray Auri had made her grandparents—who’d never smoked a day in their lives—at summer day camp.
She blinked in the low light, her head still spinning from being drugged, and looked across the room at a man sitting in the matching recliner. The one with a rifle in his lap.
Auri rocketed from a sleepy haze to a startlingly lucid awareness. She jumped and tried to fling herself off Cruz in a flurry of arms and legs and blankets. Her extremities were twisted and trapped, and she lost her balance. The floor rushed to get up close and personal with her face when two arms wrapped around her torso and scooped her up.
She landed right back where she’d started. On top of none other than Cruz De los Santos.
“You’re okay,” he said, his voice soft and calming. “You’re okay.”
She melted into the rich warmth of his dark irises. Then she remembered her grandfather.
“Grandpa!” She twisted around to look at him. “This isn’t what it looks like!”
But when she spotted him, he’d put the rifle aside so he could double over in laughter. Another round of laughs emanating from the love seat caught her attention, and she turned to see her grandmother prone on the chair, giggling it up.
“My falling is that funny?”
“No,” she said, trying to sober. “The fact that you thought your grandfather was here to chaperone.”
They doubled over again, and Auri almost cracked a smile. Cruz tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, fighting a grin himself, and Auri gave up. She laughed softly, feeling more than a little sheepish. Then a realization dawned.
“Hey,” she said, glowering at her grandparents. “What makes you think I don’t need a chaperone? This could be exactly what it looks like. You never know. We could be in the throes of passion right now.”
Cruz choked on air as Auri’s grandparents exchanged humorous glances and burst into laughter again.
“I’m sorry, hon,” Elaine said, wiping her eyes. “It’s just, your arms and legs flying about? You looked like a spasmodic starfish.”
Heat spread across her cheeks. “Thanks.”
Cruz offered her a sympathetic grin, but not too sympathetic. He brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek, and she giggled and ducked.
Then everything hit her at once. Cruz. Her grandparents. Sybil. Her mom.
She shoved off her potential boyfriend, fought a dizzy spell, then sat up and refocused on her grandparents. They took her cue and sobered instantly, a knowing smile on their faces.
“Mom?”
Cyrus nodded. “She’s okay.”
Cruz sat up and took her hand.
She swallowed and asked, “Sybil?”
Elaine expression softened, and something akin to sympathy flashed in her eyes. “She’s going to be fine. They got to her just in time.”
The emotion Auri had been holding in for days threatened to erupt out of her. A happy sob escaped her, and she pressed her hands over her mouth as the news sank in. Then she sprang forward and hugged her grandparents.
* * *
“Your boyfriends left.”
Sun gave Quincy the barest hint of her attention as she strolled past his desk. None of them had gotten much sleep, but her inquisitive daughter made her tell her everything the minute she’d gotten home. She’d skipped the plasma facial, but she did tell her that Zee had delivered a fatal shot. She wanted Auri to have that closure.
But the story put Auri into a mild state of shock. Either that or she was figuring out how she could put it into a novel and get rich. Sun knew she’d see her daughter’s memoirs on a store shelf someday.
“I don’t have a boyfriend.” Clearly.
“Not boyfriend. Boyfriends.”
She stopped and lowered her sunglasses so she could give him just enough of a glare to spur him to finish his story.
“Agent Fields got called back to the Albuquerque office. And the marshals’ work here was done.”
“Done?”
“The fugitive was apprehended last night in Santa Fe after robbing a convenience store and falling asleep in the getaway car. While it was still in the parking lot!” He snorted, then pointed to his eye but gesturing to hers. “That’s pretty.”
Somehow, she’d managed to get a black eye. She didn’t even remember how, and then Zee suggested it was from the concussion of the shot. Sun didn’t think it worked that way, but who was she to argue?
Zee was on mandatory leave pending an investigation into the shooting, but she’d shown up to file her report. Quincy gestured a greeting, his smile a tad awestruck.
Sun understood. Any woman who could take out a target at night, in a highly stressful situation, at fifty yards, and avoid killing her boss deserved a fair amount of respect.
“Get me that file, will you?”
He put his booted feet on his desk and crossed them at the ankles. “Well, now, that’s not really my job, is it?”
She igno
red him and walked to her office.
He put his feet down and jumped up. “Okay! I’m on it, boss!” After a moment, he added, “Which file would that be?”
“The one on the fugitive, Ramses Rojas.”
Anita walked to her office door, her curly blond hair pulled into a messy bun that made her look younger than her thirty-plus years. “There’s a Mrs. Sorenson here to see you.”
Sun groaned. “This again?”
“She has a chicken.”
“Oh.” Sun hopped up to look into the lobby. “She does indeed.”
Quincy handed her the file she’d asked for. “Why does she get to call it a chicken?”
“Did you know that Anita is a fifth-degree black belt in a secret form of martial arts that’s so deadly it’s banned in every country in the world and she can kill you with cheese spread?”
He studied the tiny lady for a solid minute, then walked away.
Anita giggled. “Should I let her back?”
“Yeah, put her in the interview room.”
“Oh, and there’s a Mr. Madrid, too.”
“Wonderful. Put him in the other interview room.”
“We only have the one.”
“Okay, the supply closet, then.”
“You got it.”
But much to Sun’s surprise, they insisted on seeing her together.
Mrs. Sorenson, a sixtysomething with neon-red hair, held on to Puff Daddy like she’d been reunited with the love of her life. Which she very well could have been.
“He was just lost,” she said, laughing nervously.
Mr. Madrid chimed in. “Yeah, and Ida…” He glanced past the giant rooster in her arms. “May I call you Ida?”
She almost blushed. “Of course.”
Sun fought the muscles in her eyes, whose knee-jerk reaction was to roll like a heroin addict mid-high.
“Ida thought I took him, but I would never.”
Honestly, she could hardly look at the man. He was covered in more cuts and bruises than an MMA fighter. It took everything in her not to crack up.
Quincy was not suffering from the same malady. Even though he was in the observation room, she could hear him laughing through the two-way.
She turned around to glare at him, then turned back to what could be a potential problem for a long time to come. They lived across the street from one another and were always arguing. That was not a problem. It was when they filed formal complaints and pressed charges and then suddenly dropped the whole thing a few days, or weeks, later.
A Bad Day for Sunshine--A Novel Page 35