“For how long? Long enough for one of Bryce’s thugs to find her? And what if the worst does happen? What if both you and I end up dead? Ava will be stranded there, completely alone. What happens to her then?”
Ava had run out of money without procuring anything from the claw machine and made her way back to the table as Donny let out a defeated sigh.
“What’s going on?” Ava could tell the adults were having a serious discussion and wanted in on it.
Abby explained that she was going after Bryce, and that Ava would stay with Donny, who would protect her.
“What are you going to do, Momma?”
“I’m going to make sure he leaves us alone, for good.”
“How?”
Abby shook her head, “You let me worry about that.”
“Mom. I’m not stupid. You have a gun. You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?”
“Shhh... keep your voice down.”
“Well, you are, aren’t you? How else are you going to make him leave us alone forever?”
Abby stared at Ava before finally answering with a quiet, “Yes.”
Ava’s face turned pale. “What if... you know... what if something happens to you?”
“It won’t, sweetie, I’ll be fine. It’s going to be fast, and I’ll meet up with you real quick.”
Ava looked at Donny. “What do you think?”
He was surprised at her frank tone. Abby knew what he thought, but he also felt like he needed to be strong for Ava’s sake. “I think your mom is right. She’ll be back with us before the sun comes up, right?” He looked toward Abby and smiled.
“Right,” Abby agreed.
The three were quiet for a few minutes, each digesting the gravity of the conversation until Ava broke the silence.
“Momma, remember you said how Bryce tried to kill me when I was a baby?”
Abby nodded her head, remembering that night many years ago. Had Donny not busted into the room to tear him away, he probably would have killed both of them.
“And Momma, remember when he tried to strangle me when I told him to stop hitting you, and we hide in my room?”
Abby remembered that day, too. He picked up the little girl by her neck until Abby fought him off and locked herself away with Ava. She nodded.
“I remember how he used to hit you all the time, Momma. I used to cry in my room when I heard you fighting. I remember when he shot you in front of Auntie Sarah’s house after he shot Eric. Remember?”
Abby’s eyes spilled a few tears over the memories as she nodded her head. “Yes, Ava, honey. I remember all of those things.”
Ava’s eyes met Abby’s with a cold look beyond her years. “Then make sure he’s dead this time so he can’t hurt us ever again.”
Abby smiled. That’s my girl.
The three of them checked into a small motel behind the truck stop. Abby double-checked her weapons before kissing Ava goodbye. “You be good, OK? I’ll be back soon.”
Ava nodded her head.
Abby turned to Donny and pulled him close enough to whisper in his ear, “You still have your gun, right?”
Donny shook his head no. “It must have fallen out in the fire.”
Abby discreetly slid her .45 from its holster and into his hand. “Just in case.”
He nodded.
“Wait no longer than sunrise, OK? If I’m not back, assume the worst. Get out of town and call the number I gave you. Swear it.”
He just stared back into her eyes, motionless.
“Swear it, Donny.”
He gave just the slightest nod of his head.
“OK,” Abby said. “I’ll be back.”
“Wait!” Ava called out as her mother turned to leave. “Don’t forget to kiss Donny goodbye, too!”
Abby shook her head and smiled before placing a soft kiss on his cheek and whispering, “Thank you,” as she slipped out the door. Donny locked the knob, then slid the deadbolt in place, still kicking himself that he wasn’t with her when she needed him most.
23
BRYCE POURED himself a straight vodka over ice and grabbed a bag of pretzels from the cabinet to snack on as he looked out the back kitchen window toward Lake Erie just beyond.
The boat had a full tank of gas, a couple of lengths of chain and padlocks, and two thick body bags. The key was in the ignition, ready to go. He had dumped bodies out there before. He would go out about twenty miles in the dark to dump them in one of the deeper parts of the lake. Figuring it would take him at least a couple hours to get the bodies from the wreckage of Buena Sera, he was hoping to be back in from the water before sunrise, but he wasn’t too concerned if he wasn’t. Anyone who saw him would just assume he was out for some early morning fishing.
He checked the time to see that it was just after midnight. He figured he should wait about an hour before heading back to the restaurant. By then the firemen should be cleared out, and he could start searching for the bodies in the wreckage.
Bodies in the wreckage... Bryce was practically giddy with excitement that Abby was finally dead. He would drive to Chicago tomorrow to report the news personally to Rosso and maybe ask about coming back to the city. With Abby out of the way and the restaurant gone, he didn’t have much reason to stay here.
He was still a little off-put that his men had been picked up by the police and he hadn’t been able to get in touch with Monte and Rosso. He was feeling a little spooked about it. Maybe the city isn’t the direction to go? He put that thought from his head, though. He needed to get some answers, and that was the obvious place to start.
* * *
Abby drove by Bryce’s house to get her bearings. It was a nice place built with lots of stone and wood, almost to look like a rustic cabin, but it was at least a four-bedroom home in the neighborhood of 2500 square feet. In the dark, it was hard to tell, but the front appeared nicely landscaped. It was set back from the road, probably on an acre and a half or so, and bordered on each side by a wooded area to separate it from the neighboring lots.
She continued down the street past a black sedan on the side of the road. Abby had passed a newly constructed home with a for sale sign about a quarter mile back, and intended to circle around, park the car there, and return on foot.
* * *
Leaning back in his seat, Vines watched the driver from a distance. She was staring at Bryce’s house as she drove by. Before she looked ahead again, he bent down to conceal himself.
Was that just Abby?
It had to be. So she’s not dead. Matt had briefed him on what he was able to gather from restaurant employees and customers. A woman fitting Abby’s description came in and set the place ablaze, but no one saw her come out. Bryce told the fire chief that he saw her go out the back door, but no one else did, and the police had turned up nothing.
Vines had coupled that information with his men having watched Bryce make at least four trips to his boat carrying cinderblocks. He assumed Abby was actually dead in the restaurant and Bryce was going to be doing a burial at sea for her later tonight. Vines intended to let Bryce bring the body back before making a move, catching him red-handed.
That would just be the tip of the iceberg. They’d get him on money laundering, racketeering, the whole nine yards. And with so many of Rosso’s family dead, they didn’t even have to offer him a deal. There were almost no names for him to give up.
With Abby alive, it appeared there would be no body to recover, but having her in the flesh would do just fine, too. She had obviously gone to the restaurant with the intention of killing him, so it was safe to assume she was here at Bryce’s home for the same purpose.
He checked in with his two men, Matt, and Jeff, on their earpieces. “Abby’s alive. Repeat, Abby’s alive. I just saw her drive by.”
“Copy that.” Came Matt’s voice. “Awaiting further instruction.”
Vines mulled things over. She was here to kill Bryce, though she’s the one that Vines would prefer to see dead. Having laid waste
to the Rosso compound, and thus his plans for glory, he had a special hate for this woman he had never met.
Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone.
“Hold your positions. No one moves. Let’s see how this plays out,” he instructed.
Vines planned to take Bryce down one way or another tonight. If they let him kill Abby first, that would satisfy Vines’ need for revenge. A clear-cut murder charge would stick better than the laundering and racketeering, too. More than anything, Vines thought about the headlines that the story would generate, and he would be right in the middle of it.
He checked back in. “Boys, Abby is no doubt here to kill Bryce. Unless you live under a rock, I’m sure you know why.”
“Should we move in?” Matt’s voice sounded eager for action. He and his partner had been holding their positions in the wooded areas bordering Bryce’s home for the past hour. One in front, one in the back.
“No, we’re not moving in yet.”
“Why not, sir? Based on what you’ve said, we have enough to take both of them in.”
But if we snatch them now, the bitch doesn’t wind up dead, son.
Vines thought a moment. He wanted to choose his words carefully. “If we move in now, we only get Haydenson. Wait for Abby to make a move. What we have here are two people who faked their deaths and are capable of going on the run. Let’s get them both tonight so we don’t spend months chasing them again. Now hold your positions and let’s watch this play out. As soon as one of you has eyes on her, call it in, and we’ll converge. I don’t know which direction she’ll be coming from, but she’ll probably be on foot. Is that clear?”
“As a bell, sir.”
Vines realized the two ex-lovers wouldn’t wait more than a second to start shooting. While either one dead would make for great headlines and a great ending to his career, Bryce was the bigger legal fish, and he would prefer to see to it that he lived through the night. Sure, Abby was a star, but after what she did at the Rosso compound, she would probably be hailed as a hero. A bigger hero than Vines, and his name and notoriety would be lost in the story.
No, I have to make sure Bryce lives through this so I can hang him out to dry for Abby’s murder. I’ll be the man who brought her killer to justice.
* * *
Abby emerged from the wooded area on the left side of Bryce’s home about a hundred feet from the back deck overlooking the lake.
It must be a spectacular view at sunrise, she thought.
She stayed right at the edge of the tree line, where she was sure she wouldn’t be seen on this dark night. The full moon had shone bright thirty minutes ago when she drove by, but clouds obscured it now. She slid her night vision monocular from her belt to get a better lay of the land.
There was a good-sized wooden deck off the back of the house, and it appeared there was a hot tub at the base. Otherwise, the yard was mostly a green lawn running down to the lake, with the exception of a few decorative trees here and there. At the lake, the green expanse of the lawn abruptly ended at a short stone wall. A small set of stairs went over the wall to a dock where a boat sat uncovered.
Putting the monocular down, she looked into the well-lit kitchen where Bryce was snacking on something and tossing back the end of a drink.
Abby smiled.
Enjoy your last meal.
* * *
Matt’s voice broke the silent communication channel, startling Vines. “Sir, I’ve got her.”
“Where?” Vines held his hand to his earpiece as if it would help him hear better.
“She’s on the west side of the property, at the edge of the woods, about one hundred feet from the main house.”
“Good,” Vines said as he emerged from his car. “Where exactly are you?”
“East side. The target is clear across the property, probably three hundred feet from my position,” Matt whispered. “I’m halfway between the main house and the water, about ten feet from the tree line.”
“Alright, I’ll be there in just a minute. Hold your position.”
Jeff was on the west side like Abby, but was watching the front yard. Vines intended to leave him in front for now. He didn’t need another officer complicating things. “Jeff, get back to the car and keep an eye on the front of the house.”
“Sir?”
“You heard me. Move!”
Vines jogged to the wooded area and carefully made his way through the trees as quickly and silently as he could. When he was close enough, he pulled a small set of night-vision binoculars from his interior pocket and made a full sweep of the back yard.
There she is.
Abby would have been impossible to pick out with the naked eye, barely five feet tall and dressed in black from head to toe at the edge of the trees.
Vines looked to his right and saw Matt about thirty feet away, eyes on Abby. A shadow moved across the light that was spilling onto the deck through the sliding doors off the kitchen. Vines looked over the binoculars into the well-lit room to see Bryce checking his watch, looking impatient.
Looking back to Abby, he saw that she was standing about ten feet out into the yard just behind a short, decorative tree. It appeared as though she was going to go for the house, and Bryce didn’t appear to have any clue she was back there. Vines didn’t want her to surprise Bryce. If she got the drop on him, the wrong person would end up dead.
“She’s on the move sir,” Matt whispered.
“I see that. I’m on your nine o’clock, about thirty feet.”
They both saw her pull a gun from the small of her back and check the magazine.
“I don’t think this is a friendly visit, Agent Vines. What’s the call, sir?”
“Hold your position.”
Vines looked around at his feet for something he could use. She had already dispatched every other prize Vines could have hung above his mantel—he wasn’t about to let her take the most valuable one of all. Had he not had the baggage of two other officers with him, he would have just taken her out himself, but there was no way around that now.
* * *
Abby surveyed the area between the tree and the back of the house. About one hundred feet of open lawn. She would have to cross this significant expanse to get to the back of the house. Once there, she would have a clear shot at Bryce through the sliding glass door. She intended to use three bullets to take him out: one to break the glass, the second to hit Bryce, and the third for insurance. With the full moon still behind the clouds and the bright lights in the kitchen, the interior glass would act as a mirror and he would never see her.
She thought it was a shame that she wouldn’t be able to look him in the eyes as she pulled the trigger. She wanted the satisfaction of seeing the life drain from his body. She wanted him to know who brought death to his door.
Maybe if I aim for the chest he’ll live long enough to see me step through the shattered door and put another bullet in his head. I promised Ava I’d make sure he’s dead, and this time, I will.
That cold thought chilled her.
She pulled her .22 from the small of her back and checked the magazine and the chamber one last time.
Abby said a silent prayer to steel herself, and then set off at a sprint toward the back of the house.
She only made it about halfway when she was stopped dead in her tracks by a loud crash as the glass of the rear sliding door shattered in front of her.
Abby froze.
* * *
What the fuck?
Bryce grabbed his gun and hit the switch next to the sliding doors, flooding the back yard with light. In a second, he saw Abby standing in the middle of the lawn, no more than fifty feet from the back of the house.
The shock wore off instantaneously as he ran toward her, gun raised.
* * *
Abby had been in this same situation many times before. Charge and fight, or turn and run? It wasn’t even a decision. Her feet pounded the lawn as she raced toward Bryce, firing her .22.
She
cursed herself for not having much experience hitting a moving target that shoots back. She hit the ground and rolled as he fired in her direction. He didn’t appear to be aiming as much as trying to buy time, and he leaped behind the hot tub for a moment.
Abby stood.
“Get out here and fight like a man, you piece of shit!”
Nothing.
She emptied her magazine into the hot tub, sending wood trim and water everywhere.
As her weapon clicked, Bryce jumped from his hidden position and fired a few rounds at Abby as she dove behind the stairs.
“You think you’re tough?” he yelled at her. “You come to my house and think you can take me?” His own weapon clicked as he fired his last bullet.
The thick clouds parted to reveal the bright full moon as Abby stepped from behind the stairs and glared at him. “I do.”
He chuckled, a bit uncomfortably.
“You think that’s funny?”
She sprinted toward him, quickly closing the distance as she ripped her knife from its sheath and went for blood.
24
“STAND DOWN!” Vines said harshly as he grabbed Matt by the back of his shirt and pulled him back.
“But sir!”
Jeff’s voice came over their earpieces. “Did I hear shots fired?”
“Yes,” Vines replied. “We’re fine. Hold positions.”
“I think I should call this in, sir.”
“Like hell you will!”
After a moment of silence, the voice came again, “Matt, what do you think?”
Vines stared hard into his apprentice’s eyes and shook his head, almost pleading. “We got this. I need this one, Matt. Come on.”
Matt nodded. “We’re OK. Stand down.”
* * *
Bryce had begun to charge at Abby, but froze as she lunged through the air, knife raised to slash at his neck. He ducked, raising his forearm to shield himself from the blow. The seven-inch steel blade sliced through his coat and skin like a hot knife through butter, and he screamed as he twisted away and held tight to his arm as Abby rolled away.
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