by Jen Talty
“I know,” JW said.
“And you’re okay with that? You’re going to let her go witness a man’s death?”
Georgia Moon stepped between Luke and JW. She poked Luke in the chest. “My brother doesn’t tell me what to do.”
“But I agree with Luke. You shouldn’t go.” JW let out a long breath.
“Point taken,” she said. “But it doesn’t change my mind.”
“You can’t go. I forbid it,” Luke said.
“Oh, shit,” JW mumbled. “Bad choice of words.”
Her chest tightened, and she could barely see straight. Her blood boiled, and she could actually feel her nostrils flare out like a bull ready to attack. “Just because you love me doesn’t give you the right to control my actions. I’m sorry if you’re bothered by it, but I need to do this for me. Joanie was my best friend. I was there the day she was abducted, and I want to make sure that monster goes straight to hell.”
“You don’t have to watch to know he’s dead. The news will report it,” Luke said.
“Not the same,” Georgia Moon said.
“I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you go with her for moral support?” JW added.
“I can’t. I’m going to visit my uncle.” Luke kicked the ground.
“I really don’t know why you’re so upset,” Georgia Moon said with a soft and caring voice. She didn’t want to fight with Luke and deep down, she knew he only wanted what was best for her. “It’s not like I want to go interview the man or something.”
“She’s got a point,” JW said.
Luke paced in front of the porch while he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What’s really going on here?” she asked. “I can understand why you don’t want me to go, but to make such a big stink about it doesn’t make sense.”
Luke planted his hands on his hips and stared at her with a single tear rolling down his cheek. “Don’t go. I’m begging.”
“You need to tell me why you feel so strongly before I can even entertain the idea of staying home,” she said.
“Please, don’t make me tell you this.”
She reached out to dry his face, but he stepped back. “You’re scaring me,” she said.
“Me too,” JW said. “What’s got you so upset?”
“Nothing I say or do will stop you from going?” Luke asked with a thick voice.
She shook her head.
“Did you ever think that by going, you might meet the boy who helped him kidnap Joanie?” Luke asked.
“You mean his son?” JW asked. “Wasn’t he the one who turned in his father and led the police to her body?”
“He did,” Luke said, holding her gaze.
She stared into his broken eyes. She saw only heartache and sorrow, and that wasn’t the man she’d grown to love. He looked like a lost child who had no hope for a future.
“His name was Liam Hill and his father used him to lure young girls. He’d been doing it for as long as he could remember and until the last four victims, he didn’t know what his father did to the girls. When he figured it out, he tried to run, but his father beat him and then threatened to hurt his little sister. He would do anything to protect his sister.”
Georgia Moon gasped. She covered her mouth with one hand and her stomach with the other. Nausea gripped her gut. A cold prickle skidded across her body, sending a shiver down her spine all the way to her toes.
“How do you know this?” JW asked.
Luke glanced between her and her brother, swiping at his cheeks. “Because I’m Liam Hill. Joey Hill is my father.”
“Fuck,” JW muttered.
Georgia Moon’s stomach lurched to the back of her throat. “You’re not going to visit a dying uncle, are you?”
“My sister and I are going to watch our father be executed.”
“You had no intention of telling me who you really were,” she said. “All these years of visiting Joanie’s grave and me crying on your shoulder about all the unanswered questions and you could have given them to me?”
He had the audacity to nod his head. “You have to understand that by telling you, I’m jeopardizing mine and my sister’s government protection.”
“You mean like the Witness Protection Program?” JW asked.
“The government gave us new identities and placed us with a government couple who adopted us,” Luke said.
“Did they know who you were?” Georgia Moon asked. His answer shouldn’t matter, but it did.
Again, he nodded.
She clutched her chest. “You promised me no more lies.”
“Georgia Moon,” JW started. “That’s not something he could have just—”
“This doesn’t concern you.” She pushed out her hand. “I can’t believe I was foolish enough to think you could ever be anything but a liar and a cheat. Consider the job offer rescinded, and I never want to see you again.” Holding her head high, she turned on her heels and mounted Trixi.
Tears burned her cheeks as she brought her horse to a full gallop. She could hear both Luke and her brother calling after her, but she didn’t dare look over her shoulder. She could forgive Luke for just about everything.
Except this.
“Georgia Moon,” Luke yelled, but he doubted she even heard him under the sound of her horse’s hooves hitting the hard ground. “Fuck. Maybe I should have waited until she saw me at the execution to tell her the truth.”
“This might not be the right time to ask this, but will the entire world end up finding out who you are?” JW asked.
“I hope not.” Luke took his hat off and wiped his brow with his forearm. “The list of witnesses wasn’t shared, and my sister and I would have been brought in through a back door.”
“This is mind-blowing,” JW said, rubbing his temples. “When Georgia Moon turned fifteen, she became obsessed with finding out all she could about Liam Hill.”
“I know. She once showed me her notes.”
“That’s fucked up, you know that, right?”
“When I read her thoughts on Liam, I decided I would leave Buhl, Idaho, but then Robert backed me, and you and I had our rivalry going. I figured if I just stayed clear of Georgia Moon, it would be fine because I was no longer the little boy she blamed for her friend’s death.”
“She never blamed Liam for Joanie’s death. All she ever wanted was to understand why Joanie and not her or some other little girl in the park, among a few other questions.”
“I’ve heard them all,” Luke admitted. “Some of the answers might give her a little peace, but most will either anger her, or just bring her pain. Some I don’t know the answers myself.” Luke scratched the center of his chest. His heart broke into a million pieces. He’d wanted to protect Georgia Moon, not hurt her in ways he could never repair.
And there was no coming back from this disaster.
“Is it okay with you if my sister and I stay until the weekend? That will give me enough time to get my shit in order and figure out where to go from here.”
“I don’t need this shit right before my wedding,” JW mumbled. “Do you love my sister?”
“I do, but she will never forgive me for this one. We both know that.”
“Legally, I suspect you weren’t supposed to tell anyone,” JW stated the obvious. “But I can think of a dozen other reasons why you’d never tell a single soul who your father was. My sister is a reasonable woman. Talk to her. I’m sure she’ll come around.”
“I doubt that.”
“I don’t want you turning down this job. I need you. I bet she went right to Joanie’s gravesite. Go find her and answer her questions to the best of your ability.” JW paused and tilted his head. “You are willing to answer them, correct?”
“Of course I am.”
“Then why are we still standing here staring at each other’s ugly-ass faces? Go find my sister and make her understand.”
“I don’t know how you can just forgive me of everything with the snap of your fingers,” Luke sa
id. “I’ve done some pretty shitty things.”
“I’m not going to argue you that, but at the end of the day, you always do the right thing and thanks to you, Robert Brothers is going to prison. Now, go find my sister before she gets herself so worked up, she spontaneously combusts.”
Luke didn’t hold out much hope, but he would give it his best shot.
It took him all of twenty minutes by horseback to make it to the cemetery. He tied his horse up and inched closer to Georgia Moon.
She sat cross-legged with her cowboy hat covering her face in front of her childhood friend’s grave. She reached out and ran a finger over the jagged cement tombstone and the letters forever etched into the side.
In loving memory of Joanie Malone.
May her positive light continue to shine.
Joanie had been only seven years old when she’d been murdered by Luke’s father, better known as the Crescent Trail Killer.
“I’m so angry and hurt,” Georgia said. “If I had known that Luke had been paid by Robert to ruin my family, I wouldn’t have moved into his house when we purchased it.” There were so many things that hadn’t made sense over the last year, but the second Luke Hannah came back, everything changed. “Then to find out he’s really Liam Hill? I wanted to die a little. I can’t believe he helped his father hide your body.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Luke said, making himself known.
Georgia Moon gasped, and she snapped her gaze to the man standing three feet from her right. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I knew you would be here,” Luke said. “And I needed to talk to you.”
“I’ve got nothing to say to you. You’re not fucking welcome anywhere near me.” She swiped at her cheeks and tugged her hat over her forehead. “Or Joanie.”
“I want to explain.” He took off his hat and sat down next to her. He wasn’t about to walk away. No. He’d fight to be heard. He’d fight for their love.
He had to.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Georgia Moon said. “You’ve been lying to me about your real name since the day I met you.”
“No, I haven’t. My legal name is Luke Hannah.”
“That’s a damned technicality and not what I meant.” She covered her eyes from the sun and glanced at Luke. “If I hadn’t been invited to the execution, would you have ever told me?”
“That’s a fair question,” he said as he picked at the green grass around his feet. “Honestly, no.”
“Why?”
“I’m ashamed of who I am. Of where I came from.”
“And you knew I’d want nothing to do with you.”
“There’s that too, but you deserve to know the truth about me,” Luke said. “And I’m willing to answer all of your questions about Joanie that I can.” He tapped the top of Joanie’s tombstone. “She was the last person my father killed. I was only ten years old. After we came back from the train tracks, I—”
“It’s a little too late for this.” She jumped to her feet, brushing the dirt from her jean overalls. “I know you didn’t kill her, and you were only a small boy. I get you must have been terrified. But that doesn’t change the fact you let me bring you here, and I cried on your shoulder. I even talked about the little boy who turned in his father, but you said nothing. You should have told me.”
“I couldn’t.” He pushed himself to a standing position and tried to take her into his arms, but she took a step back.
“You once told me I was the closest thing you had to a best friend. You could have trusted me with this. I wouldn’t have told anyone.”
“That’s not the point, and you know it. Had I told you, I would have been putting you and your entire family at risk. I couldn’t do that.”
“But you had no problem taking money from Robert and sleeping with Bella all in the name of keeping your secret, which nearly destroyed my brother’s career.” She poked him in the forearm. “I stood by you through all of that.”
“You did. And I’m grateful.”
“Second biggest mistake of my life,” she mumbled. “First one was sleeping with you. I’d appreciate it if you’d get off my ranch.”
“I’m not leaving. JW said the job’s mine if I want it.”
She laughed. “It’s not just up to him.”
“I’m also staying to attend his wedding.”
“For fuck’s sake,” she mumbled. “Just stay as far away from me as possible,” Georgia Moon said. “I don’t want to see you or hear you. Got it.”
“Don’t you want to know—”
“No Luke. Or Liam. Or whatever the fuck you want to call yourself, I don’t want to know.”
Once again, he watched helplessly as she mounted her horse and took off.
Time. She needed some time, and he could give her that.
Chapter 7
Luke paced in the damp, cold prison conference room. The execution was scheduled for ten thirty, which was only an hour away. The warden had arranged for him and his sister to be transported in what would appear to be an inmate transfer. He’d been handed the list of those persons witnessing the execution, noting the only person on the list that he knew had been Georgia Moon.
“Would you please sit down? You’re making me nuts,” Annette said from her perch on the ugliest black vinyl sofa with metal arms Luke had ever seen.
“There were fifteen people who said they were coming to this insanity, and we’re the only two here so far?”
“You know Georgia Moon got on that plane. JW said so himself. So, relax. She’s here, somewhere.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. She shouldn’t have come to this. We shouldn’t have come to this,” he said.
“I’m sort of with you on that. I’m not sure I’ll be able to sit in the room and watch. But I need to be here, in the same building, knowing he’s being put to death.”
“You know he asked to see us.” Luke leaned against the wall and closed his eyes tight. “I’m tempted.”
“What would you say to him?” Annette asked.
“I don’t know.” Luke banged his head against the wall a couple of times. “I wouldn’t mind telling him that he didn’t fuck me up so bad that I haven’t had a good life, only he’s still dicking with my future.”
“I’m going to talk to Georgia Moon when we get back. She might listen to me and be able to give you a second chance.”
“Doubtful, and you know it. Hell, I don’t blame her.” He blinked his eyes open and let out a long breath. “I can’t stay there if she’s going to keep looking at me with loathing and heartache etched in her eyes. I’ve never done anything to deserve her love and everything to destroy it. I don’t need the daily reminder.”
“You didn’t have a choice. You were ten years old, and you knew Daddy was…was…” Annette covered her face and let out a guttural sob. “He was going to do to me what he did to those girls.”
“Shit.” He raced to his sister’s side. “I know I did what I thought would protect us, and no one can fault me for that, and I’m sure she doesn’t. But Georgia Moon will never get past the fact I didn’t trust her with my secret after telling her I not only loved her but would never lie to her again.”
“Oh, Luke. She’s feeling a lot of things right now. Give her time. You’ll see. I promise you, she’ll come around.”
“I know you love it at Whiskey Ranch. And you can take that job without me staying, but—”
“JW’s wedding is in two weeks. Stay for a couple of weeks after that. If she’s still not speaking to you, then we’ll pack up and go somewhere else.”
“I can do that,” he said. “But you have to promise me you won’t push me to stay if Georgia Moon doesn’t come around.” And he knew her well enough to know that his lie had been the deal breaker.
The door to the conference room swung open and in stepped Georgia Moon. She wore black slacks, a black shirt, and she’d pulled her hair back into a long braid at the nape of her neck.
“Mr. Hannah, yo
u said it was okay if she was in here with you,” the guard said.
“It’s fine.”
“I’ve gathered everyone else in the witness room. We will bring you in with the prison staff, so we can situate you in the back corner where no one will really notice you,” the guard said.
“Who do you have us down as being?” Luke had to continue to protect his sister and his nephew and that still meant keeping their identity secret. They needed to die with their father so little Tony had a fighting chance at a future free from all the hell his Father and Grandfather could have caused him.
“You’re both listed as family members of victims,” the guard said. “The press asked if the children of Joey Hill would be attending, and the warden responded with a resounding no. When pressed, the warden said the children of Joey Hill want nothing to do with their father or to be associated with his name in anyway.”
“That is the truth,” Annette mumbled.
“Thank you for everything,” Luke said.
“I’ll be back to get you all when we’re ready. Probably around another half hour at most.”
Georgia Moon glanced over her shoulder. Her body jerked when the door slammed shut.
He resisted the urge to pull her to his chest and hold her tight. He wanted to remove the constant wrinkle in her forehead that all this had caused. He wanted to see her bright eyes filled with love and life again.
It didn’t matter if he would be part of that new beginning or not. All that mattered was that Georgia Moon got the closure she desired.
“How are you holding up?” Annette asked as she rushed to Georgia Moon, giving her a bear hug.
“I’m okay.” Georgia Moon had always been a strong woman, capable of dealing with anything life tossed at her, but right now, he’d never seen her look so weathered before. She had dark circles under her eyes, and she’d lost the spring in her step. “How are you? I heard he asked to see his kids.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Luke said with a growl. “I won’t give him the satisfaction.”
“I’m too terrified to look him in the eye.” Annette inched toward the exit sign. “I need to use the little girl’s room. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”