by Vicky Jones
“Time to die, bitch.” Kyle brought his arm back to launch the knife at Shona.
“No!” Chloe yelled, and squeezed the trigger with all her might.
Kyle’s body slammed back into the ground, the bullet lodged in his forehead. The knife in his hand dropped like a stone in the grass beside him.
The air fell silent, the flames continuing to consume the house. Shona had dragged herself off the grass and on all fours over to David to check him over. Returning to her father’s side, Chloe heaved him up into her arms.
“You’re all safe now, Chloe,” Larry whispered into her ear. “That bastard’s gone for good now.” He licked his dry lips. “Listen to me carefully. Put the gun in my hand, now. Do it.”
“Why?” Chloe face puzzled.
“Just do it. We don’t have time. Let me do this one thing for you.”
Chloe placed the gun in Larry’s limp hand. He lifted his arms, aiming the gun at the Kyle’s corpse. He pulled the trigger, the bullet thudding into the body. They sat quiet for a second in shock. Chloe looked at her father.
“They’ll think it was me, they’ll match it to me.” Larry was whispering now. “Just tell the sheriff I shot Kyle. No one will question you.” Larry gently pinched Chloe’s chin and pulled her face close to his own. “Go be with Shona. Be happy together, always. You’re a beautiful family. I love you, Chloe. I’m so sorry. I shoulda been a better father. You deserved it… I’m sorry…for…everything.”
He fell limp in her arms, his bloodied chest no longer moving.
“Daddy, no,” Chloe sobbed, her face buried into his neck.
Chapter 47
The house was an unrecognizable lump of charcoal against the setting sun when the fire service finally arrived. Sheriff Everett sat down next to Chloe on the end of the upturned rowboat at the far end of the yard as they watched the coroner place two black body bags into the back of his truck. At the other side of the yard, Minnie was sitting with David who she’d wrapped up in the blanket the medics had given her. In the back of the ambulance Shona was also wrapped in a blanket, her burned hands bandaged.
“Sheriff, I need to tell you what happened,” Chloe began. Everett shushed her and shook his head.
“It’s pretty clear to me, ma’am. That asshole Chambers tried to kill you in your own home and your father got there first to try to protect you. Chambers then attacked your father. As clear a case of self-defense as I ever saw. That’s the way of it, right?”
“What?” Chloe whispered. Fresh tears of shock and exhaustion trailed down her face.
Everett let out a long breath and set his lips. “You’re probably still in shock, so I’ll assume you agree. Chambers was a piece of work, wasn’t he? Pissed off a lot of people. Creepy son of a bitch too. If you ask me, it’s good riddance to bad rubbish. Your father’s a goddamn hero!” He stood up and offered his hand to help Chloe. “Alright, well, let’s get you all to a hotel for the night.” He left her to attend to Shona and walked over to the two officers who were finishing up their notes on the scene.
“Boss, there’s something here that doesn’t add up. This guy, Kyle Chambers, was shot three times. One in the head, one in the ankle and a third in the torso.”
“And?” Everett said, his hands on his hips.
“Well, sir, it would appear that the bullets came from different angles at different times, so maybe it wasn’t self-defense? The old guy, the one you said shot Mr. Chambers, wasn’t able to move, not with his injuries, and where they said he was when the first shot happened doesn’t make sense with the bullet trajectory, so what does that mean?” The young officer looked perplexed as he scratched his head with the eraser end of his pencil.
“Listen,” Everett said sternly. “It all makes perfect sense to me. We found the gun in the hands of the old guy, right? Write the report how I say to write it, OK?” He fixed his stare intently at the young cop who nodded with obedience.
Chloe walked over to Shona who had climbed out of the back of the ambulance and was talking to Minnie. “Sheriff Everett says he’ll drive us to a hotel for the night,” she announced, wrapping her arms around Shona, who winced.
“Nonsense,” Minnie replied. “You will all stay with me tonight and for as long as you need to.”
“Thank you, Minnie,” Shona said, her voice still croaky from the smoke damage.
Shona took one last look at the smoldering house, then at the body bags in the truck. “Our beautiful home, Chloe. It’s all gone.”
“I know,” Chloe whispered back. “But we have each other. And now, we’re safe.”
Chapter 48
Sitting on the beach the next morning, looking up at the blackened and twisted remains of their once-beautiful beach house, Shona wiped a tear from her eye. Moments later, Chloe sank down next to her with David on her lap.
“Maybe this wasn’t the place for us after all? The town will never accept us now that our secret’s out. Kyle couldn’t keep his mouth shut. We should just finally understand that and go.”
“Go where?” Shona replied, her wet eyelashes intensifying her deep blue-eyed stare.
“San Francisco, maybe? Or Illinois, now they’ve passed that new law.”
“I can’t fight anymore, Chloe. I’m done,” Shona said, burying her head in her hands. “They’ve beaten me.”
“Um…I’m not so sure about that. Look.” Chloe clasped Shona’s hand and pointed to the driveway, where several cars were now pulling up, led by Minnie’s Toyota.
Clamoring off the sand, Chloe, with Shona trudging behind, ran towards Minnie, who had stepped out of her car.
“Minnie? What’s going on? Who are all these people?”
“Well, I got to talking, and well, it turns out that quite a few folks around town were none too happy about two of their own suffering such a tragedy, especially after everything Shona has done for people, with the garage, so…” Minnie smiled and turned to face the men and women walking over towards them. “John here’s gonna oversee the rebuild—”
“The what?” Shona piped up, confused as she looked at a man she recognized from the diner, tipping his cap to them as he walked past and over to the wreckage.
“Hey girl,” Bertie’s familiar drawl sounded behind John. “The old gal mentioned you might need a little bit of help over here, so we all decided to pitch in. Figure you guys needed some muscle, so I brought the others.” She flicked her head towards Dee, Lula, Edie and Alice, who were standing by, armed to the teeth with hammers and nail boxes sticking out of brand new-looking tool belts. They waved, with Dee blowing a kiss towards Bertie. Shona raised her eyebrows.
“Oh yeah. We’re kinda seeing each other now. She’s helping me write letters to the authorities, encouraging me to use my words, not my fists this time, to get people to acknowledge our rights. Never thought I’d ever again find someone to…” She broke off and swallowed.
Sensing her discomfort at showing her feelings, Shona thumped her on the arm. “Put up with your shit?” she said, then grinned.
“Watch it, blondie,” Bertie replied, then grinned also.
“Are they serious? They’re gonna help us rebuild?” Chloe asked, her eyes wide.
“Yes, Chloe,” Minnie replied. “Looks like you’re all gonna have to stick around here a little bit longer.”
Epilogue
Chloe sat on the newly fitted porch swing and breathed in a huge lungful of spring ocean air. Inside the beautiful new house, David was with Shona. He’d been washed, his hair neatly combed, and he was wearing smart blue shorts and a white shirt. Shona was kneeling in front of him, straightening his tie.
“So, how’s your new preschool teacher? I heard she’s real nice,” she asked, looking up at him.
“She’s alright. Not as pretty as Miss Adamson, though. And we don’t have a cookie jar anymore, but I guess Mrs. Bradshaw is OK.”
Shona stroked David’s cheek, sweeping off a little cookie crumb. “All for the best, then,” she said with a smile. She stood up and inspected Da
vid. “So, you know what you have to say when you get outside, don’t you?”
“Yeah. You told me already.”
“OK. I’ll give you a minute or so, then I’ll come out. Here’s the tray. Don’t drop it.” Shona pointed at David.
“I won’t,” David called back, heading out of the door. Three seconds later, there was a crash.
“Every time,” Shona whispered to herself, then smiled.
She found David outside on the freshly painted white veranda staring down at spilled coffee and toast strewn around the planks.
“Uh-oh,” he said, looking up red-faced at Shona.
“What on earth was that noise?” Chloe shouted out from around the corner.
David and Shona looked at each other, their eyes wide. “Go on, go say your line,” Shona prompted as she set about picking up the broken crockery.
David walked up to Chloe, his brow furrowed as, in all the commotion, he’d forgotten the line Shona had given him. After heading back around the corner to Shona, he reappeared in front of Chloe looking a bit more confident this time.
“Can I help you, sir?” Chloe joked, seeing him dressed in his smartest clothes.
“I have an important question to ask you, Momma.” He cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak. “Um… Oh no.” He turned back to the corner. “What was it I had to say again, Shona?”
Closing her eyes and sighing, Shona appeared from around the corner and ruffled David’s hair. “You want something done properly, do it yourself,” she said, acting weary.
Chloe laughed at the little double act playing out in front of her. She noticed Shona was also wearing her best white pants and royal blue shirt, both ironed. Her hair was freshly washed and combed, her skin glowing. “What’s going on with you two stunners?”
“I remember now. Shona’s got something to show you. I had to ask you to come down to the beach, where she was gonna meet you, but I messed it up.” David looked downcast until Shona scooped him up in her arms and threw him on her back. Clinging on to her like a spider monkey, David giggled.
“What have you got to show me?” Chloe’s eyes were full of curiosity.
“Come with me.” Shona took Chloe by the hand and led her down to the beach. In the distance Chloe could just about make out a towel lying on the sand, with a picnic basket and a parasol. As they got closer, she saw Cooper lying on the towel with a red ribbon around his yellow fluffy neck. He stood up and then sat down, his long wet tongue hanging out.
“I wanted to bring you here because it was the place I’d always dreamed that one day I would do this.” She reached down and removed something dangling from Cooper’s silk ribbon.
Chloe gasped as Shona took in a deep breath, then bent down on one knee before her.
“I love you, Chloe. More than I ever thought I’d love anyone. You are my soulmate. My everything. I wanna wake up with you every morning for the rest of my life. And I know we can’t legally do this, but…” She held out a small red velvet box and opened it. Inside was a silver ring. At the center of it was a tiny, perfectly cut pink rose quartz pebble.
Chloe’s eyes brimmed with tears as Shona looked up at her.
“If we could dream for a moment, pretend that it’s possible.” Shona paused, a lump forming in her throat. “Chloe, will you marry me?”
“Yes… Yes.” Chloe sank to her knees and embraced Shona, kissing her with abandon. David squealed and clapped.
They both reached out to grab Cooper and David and sat back on the white sand, listening to the clear Californian ocean lapping against the shore with tears of complete love. Looking up behind them at the bright white beach house glistening in the morning sunlight, they knew in their hearts they were both finally free.
They were finally home.
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Acknowledgments
This book has been a passion project, but we couldn't have done it without all our friends and family supporting and believing in us every step of the way.
Special mention to Sharon Atkinson for being so supportive in the writing group where it all started.
Many thanks to all of our beta readers, and for all the amazing support we’ve received from our Hackney and Jones Facebook group.
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