by Gen Griffin
“Thanks. I need to run a couple of errands. I'll pay you back when I get paid.” She blushed slightly and then pursed her lips.“Unless there's any chance of you letting me stay here and spy on Ian?”
“Nope,” David said. “Too dangerous.”
“You're doing it.”
“I'm a badass.” He winked at her cockily. “You're more like pissed off marshmallow fluff.”
Katie crossed her arms and scowled at him. “I'll remember you said that next time you need to be patched up.”
He grinned wickedly at her. “You don't scare me.”
“I don't scare anyone,” Katie reminded him. “I just want to go home. Except I don't have a home anymore.”
“You can stay with me and Trish if you want to,” David offered. “Y'all are family.”
“We won't be after I divorce Ian. At least, I won't be. I'm divorcing myself out of your family, remember?”
“You'll always be family,” David informed her. “It's Ian who I'm disowning. He didn't exactly try too hard to stop his buddy from shooting me.”
“Speaking of Ian and his buddies...” Cal trailed off purposely as he stared down the road that led back to Frank and Maggie's house.
“You think I need to get back down there?” David asked him.
Cal reached into his pocket and then pulled his hand back out empty. “Today is one of the days when I find myself wondering why I quit smoking.”
“Because you cough up your lungs when you smoke?” David straddled the dirt bike and put up the kickstand. “Go see whether or not Ian broke into the store. I'll stay here and keep an eye on things. Call me if you need me.”
Cal started to walk over to his truck and then stopped halfway between the vehicles. “You remember what else was in that safe, don't you?”
David thought about it for a moment and gave a slow nod. “I swear that shit is cursed.”
Cal almost laughed. “Cursed is a good way to describe it.”
“What's cursed?” Gracie asked.
“That damned jewelry that Grover and Ricky stole back in the 1980s,” Cal explained. “We found Ricky's half of it inside one of the walls of the shop office. Or rather, Addison found it since he was the one who decided to go hunting for it. Wasn't actually that hard to find once he knew what he was looking for. He borrowed a metal detector from my Dad and started running it over the walls. He busted open the sheetrock when it went off and boom, there was a tackle box with a couple hundred grand in gold and diamonds sitting around gathering dust and spiders.”
“I didn't know y'all had found the other half of the jewelry,” Gracie said with a pout.
“Your brother found it,” Cal repeated.
“Is this the same jewelry that Kerry stole out of Trish's house and then pawned?” Katie asked. “The jewelry that got the pawnshop owner killed and wound up putting Kerry in a wheelchair?”
David and Cal both nodded.
“Now Ian's stolen it?” Katie couldn't stop her disbelief from showing on her face.
Cal held up the revolver. “It was in the safe at the hardware store along with thousands of dollars in cash and this gun. I'm going to assume it's probably gone.”
Katie threw her hands up into the air in exasperation. “Well, isn't that just fantastic.”
Cal shrugged. “I figure he'll be dead by Tuesday if he has the same luck as everyone else who has touched that jewelry.”
“I'm not going to get that lucky,” Katie grumbled under her breath.
“I'm not dead yet,” David pointed out.
“You got shot today. I wouldn't be bragging about still being among the living if I were you,” Cal chided him.
At that, David fired up the motorcycle and took off back down towards Ian's parents house. Five minutes later the gas station parking lot was almost empty as Gracie, Cal and Katie all took off in separate directions.
Chapter 35
“We need to get all this shit out of here. Now.” Ian frantically carried another load of stolen goods down the porch steps and threw them into the bed of his truck. He had been burying April Lynne's corpse in tools and stolen electronics for the better part of twenty minutes. Sweat was running down his face and dripping onto his shirt.
“Don't be an idiot.” Joe was holding a fluffy white bath towel to a gash on his forehead. “We can't leave now. It's still daylight out there.”
“You shouldn't have shot at David. Damn, that was stupid. How could you be so stupid?” Ian scurried back up the steps with the intention of grabbing another load of items.
Joe shoved Ian in the chest with one meaty palm. “You just call me stupid?”
“You shot at David.” Ian's eyes were wide with panic as he stumbled. “You have no idea how fucking vindictive he can be. David's dangerous. He'll destroy us just because he can.”
“You shouldn't have let him in the house,” Joe said. “I wouldn't have had to shoot him if you hadn't let him walk straight into the damn dining room. Hell, there's still blood on the fucking walls.”
“I couldn't stop him!”
“Why not?” Joe demanded.
“I-I-I...he...it's David.” Ian gaped at Joe as if he'd never considered the possibility that he could stop David from doing anything.
“He was trespassing. I shot a trespasser,” Joe stated. His blood was staining the towel a deep reddish brown that would never wash out. Ian knew that his mother would miss the towel after he threw it away.
“He wasn't our enemy!” Ian leaned against the wall. “David's not a good guy. He wouldn't have given a shit about the stuff we've stolen.”
“What about April Lynne?” Lowery asked. “Would he have cared about her?”
“No. David hates April Lynne.” Ian stared down at his feet. “He can't stand her. She stole from his precious Pappy. Neither he or Cal want anything to do with her. They'll probably both be glad...” Ian let out an angry, hiccuping sob. “They'll be glad she's dead.”
“I should have killed him,” Joe said. “He's going to cause problems for us. You should have let me kill him.”
“Don't blame me,” Ian whined. “You missed when you shot at him and then he nearly kicked your ass. He would have hurt you if Lowery hadn't grabbed that shotgun.”
“He cheated,” Joe snapped. “He couldn't have gotten the upper hand on me in a fair fight.”
“How was the fight unfair?” Lowery asked. “You had a gun and he didn't.”
“He took the gun,” Joe growled.
“David knows how to fight,” Ian said. “He's always known how to fight.”
“So what?”
Ian didn't know what to say. His chest was tight with panic. “It doesn't matter. We've just got to go. David ain't going to let this go now. He came over here because Addison called him. He'll tell him everything he saw. They'll arrest us.”
“Addison's still got to get a warrant before he can do a damn thing. We have time.” Joe pulled the bloody towel away from his head and then tossed it carelessly into the bed of the S-10. “Why don't you go get some more stuff and get it loaded?”
Ian bobbed his head in agreement and then headed back into the house.
Lowery waited until after the door was closed before he spoke. “I like Ian,” he said. “He's gonna get us arrested.”
“No, he ain't.”
“He's panicking, Joe.” Lowery kicked the porch with his bare, grungy toes. “He's going to get us caught.”
“I have a plan,” said Joe.
Lowery paused. “Do you?”
Joe tentatively ran his tongue across the skin of his split lip as he nodded.
“Do I want to know your plan?”
“You might well not,” Joe told him. “Just trust me. I got a plan.”
Lowery reluctantly nodded. “I hate it. I liked that boy. He ain't real bright, but I liked him.”
“I liked him too,” Joe said. “I just don't like him enough to go to prison for.”
“Me neither,” Lowery agreed.
&
nbsp; Chapter 36
“I just want to know why it wasn't good enough,” Katie said. She had her knees and feet curled up underneath her as she sat on Gracie's new sectional sofa. She had wound up back at Cal and Gracie's after spending a couple of hours aimlessly driving Cal's old truck around Callahan County in an unsuccessful effort to clear her head and gather her thoughts.
She'd gone through half a tank of gas and come to the conclusion that Ian was a waste of oxygen and she was an idiot with poor taste in men.
“Why what wasn't good enough?” Gracie asked as she poured an overly generous shot of whiskey into a glass of coke. Gracie gestured to her glass. “Want one?”
“Our life together,” Katie explained as she waved away the offer of a mixed drink. “Things were going so well and then Ian went and confessed to killing Casey. I still have no idea why he did it. He had to know that he'd lose his job. He had to know how much stress that would put us both under.”
“He's self-destructive,” Gracie said. “He ruined y'alls life together because he wanted to ruin it.”
“Maybe.” Katie picked at a frayed string on the edge of the hoodie's sleeve. “I wish David had let me confront Ian. I want to hear what he has to say for himself.”
“No, you don't.” Gracie picked up a piece of celery from a plate in the middle of the coffee table and dunked it in ranch dressing. “You think you do, but you don't. Ian's excuse is going to be lousy. That's going to piss you off even more than you're already pissed off. You and I both know that he doesn't have a decent excuse for the crap he's pulled.”
“You're probably right,” Katie admitted with a sigh. “Still, it was my marriage and someday I'm going to have to explain to Hannah Mae that I left her Daddy for a valid reason.”
“If Ian doesn't clean his act up real quick then he's going to be in prison and you won't have to explain a thing.”
“True.” Katie plucked up her own piece of celery. “What am I going to do?” She asked no one in particular.
“What do you want to do?” Gracie was stretched out on the couch in a pair of shredded jeans and a clingy black tank top that was entirely inappropriate for the weather outside but fine for inside with the heater running on full blast. Her nearly waist length blonde hair was twisted up in a sloppy, bed-head knot. She made it look good. Gracie always made everything look good. If she hadn't been Katie's best friend, Katie probably would have hated her.
Katie pursed her lips. “I have a problem...”
“You have several problems. Which one are we talking about?”
“Maybe I should make a list.” Katie snatched a pen and a notebook off the coffee table. She recognized Cal's neat, precise handwriting as she flipped through the notes he'd taken in his college classes until she found an empty page.
“My problems are...” Katie sucked on the end of the pen. “Number one, my house burned down. Number two, I'm homeless. Number three, Hannah Mae has no bed, no toys, no clothes and basically nothing. Number four, I'm in the same boat as Hannah Mae. Number five, I can't do anything about it because Ian stole my paycheck and drained our bank account. Number six, Ian has also most likely stolen thousands of dollars from y'all and that makes all this more than a little bit awkward.”
“Does not,” Gracie interrupted her. “You're not accountable for Ian's behaviors. We all know he's not exactly asking your permission before he does things.”
“True.” Katie brushed several strands of hair out of her face. “But where was I?”
“Number seven,” Gracie supplied.
“Number seven, I have no vehicle. David said the truck wasn't worth getting shot over. I kind of agree, but I needed that truck back so I think I might still be mad at him. Number eight...oh hell. I'm just screwed.” Number eight, Katie said in her own mind, I'm in love with the biggest man-whore in the county and seriously considering giving the relationship a chance.
“You can stay here with me and Cal if you want to,” Gracie offered. “I assumed you already knew you were welcome to move in with us. We have a spare bedroom.”
Katie bit her lip and then nodded. “I appreciate the offer. David told me I can stay with them as well.”
“David and Trish's place is walking distance to the Sheriff's Department,” Gracie mused. “You wouldn't need the vehicle quite as badly. Not that Cal and I wouldn't be willing to share ours with you. You know you can always borrow our trucks.”
Katie nodded. “I just hate feeling so needy.”
“Don't worry about it,” Gracie told her. “We've all been in bad spots before. What are friends for?”
Katie didn't have to force her smile. “I do have great friends. I guess I should count my blessings there.”
Gracie grinned at her as her cell phone chimed. “We have the best friends anyone could ask for. Everything is going to work out fine, Katie. You and Hannah Mae will be perfectly fine without Ian. You don't need him when you have us.” She glanced down at the screen of her phone. “Oh boy. Cal wants me to come down to the hardware store and stop him from strangling his Dad. You want to ride along?”
Katie grimaced. “You want me to come watch Cal and his Dad fight?”
“Essentially. We'll need the witnesses later for the police report they'll want to file after Cal kills him.” Gracie put the phone into her back pocket and began hunting around for her car keys. “You coming with me or you staying here?”
“I'd rather watch Cal argue than sit here alone with my own thoughts,” Katie admitted. “Let me get shoes on and we'll head out.”
Chapter 37
“Y'all should have let me fire her when I caught her stealing.” Cal stood in front of his computer and scowled at the blank screen. “She turned off the security cameras before she clocked out on Friday night. Don't even try to tell me its a coincidence.”
“Now Calvin, you don't know-.” Jerry Walker, Cal's father, was sitting in one of the chairs across from the massive wooden desk with his head in his hands. He looked pale and drained. Cal almost felt sorry for him.
“Shut it, Jerry. You and I both know that April Lynne was the only person who had the combination to that safe and a motive to steal from us.” Cal's Pappy, Joshua Walker, leaned on his wooden cane and glared at the empty safe. “Cal tried to warn us and we didn't listen to him.”
“Y'all never listen to me when it comes to April Lynne.” Cal crossed his arms over his chest and glowered at his elders.
“You don't like the girl. You never have ever since Gracie came into your life,” Pappy said. “You fell in love with Gracie and April Lynne was so jealous of her that she hated her. That was it for y'all as cousins. You and April Lynne were friendly enough before Gracie. Not that I don't love Gracie, but it's the damn truth.”
“I've been in love with Gracie since elementary school. Gracie isn't the problem between me and April Lynne. April Lynne is the problem. The greedy bitch isn't likable,” Cal snapped. “She's lazy. She lies. She steals. She backtalks me constantly.”
“She's your blood.”
“I don't care.” Cal threw his hands up in the air. “When are y'all going to start listening to me?”
Pappy grunted. “You can fire her. Does that make you happy?”
“No. She stole more than thirty grand from us. Recovering that money would make me happy.”
“We won't see that money again.” Jerry was staring down at the old white tile floor. “Dad, I told you to put that money in the bank.”
“I don't trust the bank.”
“You can't trust your safe either.”
“My safe was fine.”
“Your granddaughter robbed us blind,” Cal slammed his hands down against the top of the desk. “From now on you use the bank. Understand?”
“You can't make me,” Pappy argued without much enthusiasm.
Cal shot him a glare.
“Fine. Fine. I'll use your damn bank. You win.” Pappy hobbled over to the couch that sat against the far wall.
Cal knew he'd made
a victory, but he wasn't happy with just that one victory. “I want to press charges against April Lynne.”
“Calvin...” Jerry was shaking his head.
“I don't know that you have enough evidence,” Pappy said.
“You don't know that I don't.” Cal carefully picked up the dirty, crumpled piece of paper he'd found on the floor when he'd come into the office. The code to the safe was written on it in April Lynne's handwriting. He displayed it for Pappy's benefit. “I've already called Addison. He's on his way down here to take a report.”
“I figured as much,” Pappy said.
“Y'all better not even try to back out on me,” Cal said. “I can't run this store when y'all sabotage me at every turn. I swear to God, I will quit. I will go work for David until I finish my degree. The two of y'all will be left high and dry trying to remember how to run this place. Neither one of you is remotely computer literate and all of our ordering has to be done online now. The suppliers don't want phone orders or mail-ins anymore.”
“Now now. Don't be overdramatic. I don't think we've sabotaged you,” Jerry said.
“You don't?” Cal narrowed his eyes at his father. “You wouldn't let me fire an employee who I could prove was robbing us blind. You also kept more than thirty thousand dollars in cash in the safe, despite my repeated requests that y'all deposit that money in the bank. Now we're thirty thousand dollars in the hole because the thieving employee stole the money from the safe. Did no one else see this coming?”
Jerry exhaled slowly. “You've made your point.”
“Have I?” Cal asked. “Or are you going to try to talk me out of following through on the charges once she's arrested?”
“I thought you said that Ian was the one who broke into the safe. You told us that David took your gun off of one of Ian's buddies. Not April Lynne.” Jerry pressed the issue.
“Ian's cheating on Katie with April Lynne,” Cal said flatly. “It's not exactly hard to figure out how he got into our safe. April Lynne gave him the combination. I have the damn piece of paper she wrote it on right here.” Cal shook the crumpled sheet of paper at his father.