I am a single digit away from dialing out and connecting with Dustin. I stop with my finger hovering over the final number as I look up.
"Well?" Steven presses.
"If you must know, I'm about to call the Deputy US Marshal assigned to my case."
His eyes flick around. "Him? Ha, that's a waste of time."
"Why?" I ask, keeping my gaze locked onto his. Something about this has got him rattled. I get the overwhelming feeling I need to find out.
Steven draws the final portion of smoke from his cigarette and blows it out into the night. He drops the butt and stomps it flat.
I don't look away. He's trying to make me falter and stumble, but I can see it in his eyes. Dustin is the last person he'd ever want me to talk to. He knows the US Marshal will save me from him and his daughter.
"We'll see," I say as I go to press the button.
"You don't understand," Toni interrupts.
I shift my aim to her without thinking. "Understand what? You're both trying to mess with me. That's all you've done since you showed up on my doorstep. I'm calling Dustin and that's that."
Steven makes his move and snatches the gun from the trunk. The world around me slows down as I turn the revolver toward him. But he is too fast. Our aims meet in the middle as one. We both have our weapons locked in on each other's head, fingers on triggers, ready to end the discussion.
Chapter 56
I can't hear a thing. Not the slight breeze rolling in from the desert. Not the city in the distance. Not even the sound of my staggered breathing. I focus my senses on Steven pointing his pistol on me, ready to fire, as I do the same to him.
Neither of us says a word, letting our weapons do the talking. We both have clear shots of one another and are waiting for someone to squeeze off a single round to resolve the night.
"Wait," Toni says, butting in on our discussion of sorts. "No one shoot. It doesn't have to end this way."
"It's obvious this is what she wants!" Steven yells. "Just get out of here."
"I'm not going anywhere," Toni says.
There's no fear in her voice. Her words don't wobble and crack the way mine would if I could utter a single sound right now.
"Dammit, Toni. Listen to me. This is between the two of us. Take my keys and go before anything happens."
"No. I'm not losing you as well. Hasn't she taken enough from our family?"
I want to respond, but I can't shift my eyes from Steven to Toni. If I even blink for more than a split second, he will kill me.
"It won't come to that, will it Marie?" Steven asks.
I don't answer straight away, trying to determine how serious he is. "What are you getting at?"
"I'm not getting at anything. I just think we both need to put our guns down before either of us does something we regret. Wouldn't you agree?"
I dart my eyes left and right between each of his pupils trying to discern what he's up to. This has to be a trick. I have to remember the lies these two have fed me from the start. I know in my heart I can't trust a word that comes out either of their mouths, so I say nothing.
"Come on," Toni says. "Is this what you want?"
Her words draw me into a memory as I think about the question when it was posed to me almost five years ago.
I was sitting inside an interrogation room, having spent the last ten-plus hours being grilled by two detectives over the gas station shooting and robbery. One of the men stood over me from the side while the other sat across from me on the table.
"Is this what you want?" the one standing over me asked, his breath heavy with coffee.
It was a dumb question. Who would hope to find themselves about to go to prison for ever after, having accidentally shot a boy during a robbery gone wrong?
"Just tell us everything you know about Zachary Sanchez and we can talk about a deal. Maybe get your jail time cut down to something more reasonable."
I shook my head, unable to process the information being thrown at me. I'd foolishly waived my right to have a lawyer present, not being able to think straight when asked the question. They wanted me to give up everything I knew about Zach. How could I do such a thing?
We were both arrested when the police found us hiding away in a cheap motel room. A team of heavily armed police came crashing into our room and had us both restrained on the ground in less than a minute. The detectives strolled in once the dust had settled and read us our rights. The next thing I realized, we'd been hauled in to a police station and got separated into different interrogation rooms.
"You obviously know him well. Tell me what kind of person he is," the detective across from me pressed.
I focused all my efforts on not revealing the list of terrible things I knew about Zach. He tried to save me from getting arrested and gave me money to flee. But I couldn't leave his side and begged him to help me. We were headed for the border into Mexico, but never made it that far. I don't know how, but the police tracked us down.
"He's not messing around here," the other man said. Their faces were a partial blur in my memory. I wasn't all there in that moment. Shock had set in and taken hold of my ability to think straight.
"Right now, we've got you for attempted murder, fleeing the scene of a crime, attempted armed robbery, and whatever else we can dream up to throw at you. You'll be lucky to see the light of day after we're done."
"Unless," the first detective says, drawing out the word to grab my attention. "Unless you tell us what we want to hear. Tell us about Zach. We can see he pulled you out of the gas station. Tell me why a career criminal would risk putting his face on camera just to save someone like you?" His finger tapped on the glass of a laptop screen, showing me CCTV footage of my blundered robbery. It was a surreal moment.
I tried to speak, to say anything to shut out the two men in suits, but the door to the interrogation room burst open. My head snapped to the precinct outside of the ever-shrinking space to see yet another man in a suit enter. Was this a third officer sent in to break me?
The man flashed his credentials. "Deputy US Marshal Dustin Taylor. I'll be taking over this case from here."
One man rose from the square table faster than I'd seen him move all day. "Bullshit. This is our case. You can't just come in here and—"
The second detective grabbed his partner and pulled him back. "Ease down. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Can I see your paperwork, Deputy?"
"It's all here," Dustin said handing over a fistful of documents while he kept his eyes locked onto mine.
We all waited as the detective read through the file. He shook his head several times until his shoulders dropped. "You can't be serious?"
"Afraid so. Now if you fellas don't mind, I'd like you to shut off that recording and leave the room."
The two detectives complied with mutters under their breaths along with a few choice cuss words. Within a minute, they were gone as if the long day we'd spent together never happened.
Dustin sat down opposite me and dumped his wad of files on the metal table. He methodically pulled out printouts of the CCTV footage showing a grainy close-up of Zach.
"What’s this? I already told the other two all I will say about Zach."
"I don't think you did. And the problem comes down to my colleagues out there not asking you the right questions."
I scrunched my brow. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"It's simple. I'm here with a different kind of offer. One you can't refuse."
And he was right. It was too good a deal to walk away from. Dustin was like a guardian angel who appeared from nowhere to save me from a life of hell on the inside. I only wish I had the courage back then to decline his offer to testify against Zach. I wouldn't have been here now facing off with the father of the boy I'd shot.
"Well? Is this what you want?" Toni asks again. "Is this the answer?"
Her desperate question pulls me back into the present. I let my eyes shift to Toni's while my pistol stays locked onto Steven. She sees me
and asks her question again by leaning toward me with her hands outstretched. "Well?"
"Of course this isn't what I wanted. No one ever would..." I feel myself trail off, unable to finish my thought. The arm holding my weapon up shakes, itching to be lower down.
"Then why don't you both put the guns away at the same time? No one else needs to die, do they."
I try to gauge Steven's reaction as Toni's unanswered question hangs in the air between us all. He doesn't lower his weapon and neither do I.
"Please. It doesn't have to be this way," she calls out. "We can work this out. Dad?"
Steven's eyes dart toward his daughter. He stares at her for too long and lets out an audible huff into the night. His arm sinks. I follow suit, matching his slow speed.
Toni doesn't hide her delight as we both hang our pistols at our sides. "Thank you. This is the right thing to do. We can talk this out."
I keep the pistol out. Steven does the same. Toni might be ready to declare peace between us, but we don't trust each other. How can we? The only thing we all do well is lie to one another.
"Now what?" Steven asks his daughter.
"We talk."
"Talk?" he asks.
"I'm serious. We talk it out. No threats."
"And then what? Part ways? Forget the whole thing?"
Toni takes in a deep breath. It's clear she's wrestling with some heavy thoughts. "Maybe it's for the best. Maybe we should never have come here."
He shakes his head, ready to argue, but Toni places her hand on his wrist before he raises his pistol back up. He relaxes his shoulders, but I can still feel his hatred beaming out for me.
"This isn't what any of us want, is it, Marie," Toni says.
I stare at her while Steven looks away defeated. I'm safe for now, only because she's around to keep him at bay. But what happens when she can no longer keep him under control? "This isn't what I wanted," I say, holding her gaze. "But maybe it's what needs to happen." I raise my pistol at Steven. Neither of them has time to react as I close my eyes and squeeze the trigger.
The gun in my hand rings out a bullet into the night.
Chapter 57
I never wanted things to go this way, but the past I tried so hard to hide away from is determined to make me pay for my mistakes. Steven Price will never stop pursuing me until I've suffered as much as humanly possible. What choice did I have but to put a stop to him?
The smoking revolver hangs limp in my hand as I hold my eyes shut. I don't want to open them and face reality, but I need to see what I've done. When I take a peek, I see a bewildered Steven staring at me, eyes wide. I missed.
The gun lowers when I realize I tried to kill him. How could I have considered such a thing? The revolver falls free from my fingers into gravity's control. My hands and body shake as I back away from a frozen Steven and Toni.
"I didn't mean to..." I utter, unsure what I'm saying. But my legs take over and turn me around. I run. Away from them both. Away from the pistol before I do something else.
"Stop!" Steven yells. "Come back here."
I can't stop though. I don't know where I'm going, but no amount of words will slow me down.
Reaching the other side of the road, I cut through an open lot. Dust and rocks kick up with every stride taken as I glance over my shoulder to see Steven charge after me. Toni isn't far behind.
I have no clue where to run to, but I have one move left to play. The cell stays clutched in my grip. I managed to hold on to it while the revolver fell out of my hand. The phone is more valuable given who I can make a call to.
Dustin's number runs through my mind, each digit cemented in my long-term memory. I've waited all night to place this call. The US Marshal is the only person who can save me from this father-daughter duo.
Steven yells out again as I reenter Dustin's cell number into the phone. I stumble before the last two digits spill out of my brain and into the device. My legs keep me upright, stopping me from kissing the gravel.
"Marie!" Steven yells.
He's gaining on me. I focus on what I need to do and finish dialing. As I tap the call button, I pick up the pace to put some distance between us.
I cross out from the empty lot into the next road as the cell connects and rings. I take another peek back as I bring the phone to my ear to see Toni rocket past her father.
Her legs pump harder than mine ever could as she barrels down on me. If I don't lose her somehow, I'll never be able to talk with Dustin and escape this hell.
I spot a narrow lane and charge toward it. But instead of running down the straight pathway where Toni can catch me, I jump a fence into someone's backyard.
Landing with a thud, I continue on and hear Dustin's cell ring out to an answering service. "Dammit!" I yell, loud enough to wake an oversize American Pit Bull Terrier. The alert beast, bares its teeth, stopping me where I stand. Toni doesn't follow over the barricade.
With no other choice, I run for a nearby gate as fast as I can. The upset animal follows quicker than Toni and barks at me. I bash through the chain-link door and slam it shut as the dog crashes into the rusty metal. Fangs and spit snap out toward my face as I use my full body to hold the door closed.
An angry voice yells out to the backyard from the occupant of the house, causing Toni and Steven to back away before they receive the blame for creating a disturbance.
"Shut the hell up, Daisy," the man yells. "Get your butt over here."
The dog, conflicted, snaps its attention between me and its master. I don't make a sound or move a muscle, praying the dog obeys its owner.
With a low growl followed by a whimper, Daisy gives in to the command and leaves me at the gate. I let out a thankful sigh and close my eyes for a moment. When I open them, I turn away, focus ahead, and run.
I rush out the front of the person's property I had just trespassed on and scan the area left and right. Toni and Steven are nowhere to be found, so I sprint along the road. The headlights from a car in the distance grab my attention. Fortunately, the vehicle turns away before it reaches me. I let out a sigh of relief and duck behind a half wall that separates the residential properties with an industrial section.
With a slight feeling of safety in my hands, I redial Dustin. His cell rings again, telling me his device is at least on. "Come on, come on. Pick up the phone. You promised you'd always be there for me. No matter what."
Voicemail again. I contemplate leaving a message but Toni's voice in the distance silences me and urges me to creep further down and elsewhere from the road. If they spot me now, I'm done for. I've all but used up my energy.
I press my body as hard as I can into the wall while squatting low with my breath held. Toni and Steven sail past without seeing me hiding there. I exhale the second they're far enough away and slide down to the ground. I have to get a hold of Dustin. If he doesn't answer this time, I'll have no choice but to call the police instead.
My finger taps the button again and to redial Dustin's number. It rings as before. One ring. Two rings. "Come on." Three rings. Four rings. "Pick up, pick up, pick up." Five rings. Six. I'm ready to give up when he finally answers.
"Hello?"
I try to talk, but I'm unsure why Dustin didn't answer with a more official string of words. My throat closes up, wondering if I've called the wrong number. Could I have misremembered it?
"Hello? Who’s this? I can hear you there."
"Dustin," I blurt out, knowing his voice. Relief washes over me as I realize I'm one step closer to being saved. "It’s Marie. Marie Williams. I need your help, right now."
Silence meets my words as I back up further down the wall. The structure transitions into a lane that connects out to a road at the other side. I wait in agony for Dustin to respond on the other end. "Dustin? Are you there?" I’m aware of the desperation in my voice. I don't care though. I need him now more than ever.
"I'm here, Marie."
"Oh, thank God. You have to help me. Tommy Price. His family has found
me. They kidnapped me and held me hostage for hours, making me confess to the whole thing. They've gone crazy. Please I'm—"
"Marie," he says.
I freeze with uncertainty.
"Slow down. Tell me everything."
I nod despite him not being able to see me. "Okay. I'll start from the beginning..." And I do. I pace around the lane, feeling the world spin into some level of order as I fill him in on the brief version of my hell. "They infiltrated my home. They knew it all. Who I was, my real name, my weaknesses. God, even things I only shared with Zach." I stop pacing when I realize I'm at the end of the lane near a patch of road again.
"Where are you now?" Dustin asks.
"Somewhere close to an industrial zone outside the city. I got away, but they're sweeping through the streets to locate me. I need your help, please. What should I do?"
Dustin doesn't answer. He instead breathes down the line. "There's only one thing you can do."
"What is it? Tell me. I'll do anything."
"Let them find you, Marie."
"What?"
"You heard me. I said let them find you."
"Why would I do that? Do you know something?"
"Do I know something?" he asks with a snicker in his voice. "I know who you are, Marie. I know what you did to their little boy, and it's pained me for five years to think I had to protect you of all people just to put some piece of shit criminal away for life who would have eventually ended up inside at some point."
"No," I utter, feeling the blood drain from my face. "You—"
"Yes, Marie. I told the Prices everything. They know who you are. They came to me having learned it was either you or Rose Melton who had killed their Tommy. Something snapped when I stared into their eyes. I don't know what it was, but I could no longer protect someone who didn't deserve to be alive while the remains of a family suffered."
I stumble backward and feel the edge of the road. "You swore you'd never betray me. You're a US Marshal."
"Not anymore. I'd already given my notice when the Prices made contact. I'm retiring early. No longer will I have to keep scum like you safe, Marie."
He’s At Your Door Page 19