by M. S. Parker
He had a point. I sure as hell wouldn’t have thought to check my damn ear. Gingerly, I probed it, but the tech smacked my hand again. I gave him an incredulous look.
“Don’t mess with it.”
Then he marched away and Tuite and Ryan took his place. Ryan looked as grim as I’d ever seen him. I wanted to reassure him that I’d get Carly back safe, that this would be one thing I wouldn’t fuck up. I just couldn’t form the words. Instead, I asked a question.
“Anything more from Ridley?”
“No.” He flicked a look up the hill. “Helicopter pilot caught a glimpse of the car.”
“And?”
He just shook his head. “No and.”
He was lying to me. I didn’t know how I knew it, but I did. I wanted to argue, and I might have, but there was no time. Haley and Carly needed me.
Sick inside, I turned to look up the hill. “What am I doing?” I muttered. “I’m not a fucking cop.”
“No.” Ryan rested a hand on my shoulder. “This guy won’t trust cops. His son’s a cop. He knows how they act, how they work. Just buy us time, Bobby. And don’t be a hero.”
No chance of that since I knew I’d never be the hero of anyone’s story. The best I could hope for was to not be the villain anymore.
Ryan lapsed into silence and Tuite took over. He tapped his ear. “That mic is sensitive. It will pick up any word you say, no matter how quiet. If a mouse farts, it’s going to hear it.”
“I’ll be sure to advise the mice of that then,” I said tightly.
He snorted. “Don’t let him take you out of there. We’re working on putting a tracker on the car he took, but–”
“If he tries to go anywhere, I’ll get into mine,” I said abruptly. “I mean, the car Jake left me. It’s got a lo-jack on it, right Ryan?”
Ryan nodded.
Tuite grunted. “Still. Try to keep him there. It gets dicey anytime people try to move and this is already ugly enough. Don’t let him make it uglier. And like your buddy here is telling you, don’t be a hero.”
I didn’t bother to answer. I was pretty sure everyone had figured out what role I really played here, and it wasn’t the white knight.
Chapter 20
I pulled up in the SUV they’d told me to take. I didn’t know who it belonged to, nor did I care. It was a Chevy and that was about all I knew, only because I hated Chevys. Somebody had been smoking inside it, and the smell of cigarette smoke clinging to the interior made my already aching head feel like it was going to come apart.
Don’t be a hero.
I wasn’t going to be a hero. I was going to do what I did best: cause somebody a lot of pain. I’d done it all too well from an all too young age.
Younger than anyone in the FBI or on the security team realized. Younger than anyone alive knew.
Derrell Mitchell, Jr. hadn’t been the first man I’d killed.
The first man I’d killed had been my father.
I walked in one day after school and found him standing over my mother, who’d been huddled into a ball on the floor, trying to protect her stomach while he kicked her. She was pregnant at the time.
To this day, I still couldn’t remember exactly what happened. I could remember turning and grabbing for something. Anything. The first thing that had come to my hand had been my mama’s iron skillet.
I could still feel it in my hands, gripping it the way I’d gripped a bat.
I hadn’t made a sound, just walked up behind him. He hadn’t heard me until it’d been too late. I’d been already swinging.
And I hadn’t stopped swinging until my mama had dragged herself upright and caught my arm.
Enough, Bobby. Enough. He can’t hurt me no more.
She’d lied, though.
Three days later, after we’d dumped his body in the quarry, after we’d filed a report saying he’d up and left, after we’d answered so many questions, no, sir…we don’t know where he is; yes, sir…he did hit Mama again…Mama had started to bleed. She lost the baby she’d been carrying. She told me on her deathbed that it had been a girl. Even after he was gone, he hurt her again.
The police, I thought, knew, at least part of it. They’d looked at her face, seen the bruises. They’d looked at me, seen something in my eyes. And they’d seen the hospital reports, the filed and dropped assault charges over the years. They hadn’t looked too hard for him. A few months later, we’d left.
I hadn’t been a hero when I’d killed him for hitting my mama. I’d just been a boy who’d hated that old son of a bitch.
It was hate and fear that drove me closer to my house now, just like it had been hate and fear and anger that drove me to pick up that iron skillet and beat my father to death.
This time, though, I wouldn’t lie about whatever happened. I wouldn’t run away. I would do whatever was necessary to make Haley and Carly safe, even if it meant being sent back to prison for the rest of my life.
I hadn’t even made it halfway up the stone path when the door opened. The pit of my stomach dropped out at the sight of the blonde child standing there.
For one moment, so beautiful it almost hurt, all I could see was her. I could see me and Leah there, see that all of the shit we’d gone through had been worth it just to bring this beautiful, perfect child into the world.
And then her lower lip trembled as Derrell Mitchell, Sr. reached out to stroke a hand down her hair. He held a gun in his hand. That gun touched my daughter.
I was going to kill him. Him and Ridley. Consequences be damned.
“Nice to see you decided to join us, Bobby.” He smiled, his lips peeling back to display teeth stained by too much tobacco. His face had whittled down to angles and hollows. He looked like he’d been living on cigarettes and hate and nothing else. When I didn’t say anything, he bent down and spoke to Haley. “You know who that guy is, sweetheart?”
Haley blinked at me and then scowled. “You said I’d see my dad soon.”
He laughed. It was a strong, booming laugh. It sounded wrong coming from his all but desiccated husk. He pointed a finger in my direction. “Girl, that is your dad.”
Her mouth fell open. She blinked, hard and fast, three times. Then she sucked in a breath and jerked up her chin, eyes sparkling. “Okay. So?”
A surge of pride went through me. Not pride for anything she’d gotten from me. No, that was pure nurture. Her real parents had taught her that, and I was proud of her for it.
Mitchell’s eyes narrowed. Then he grabbed her shoulder and jerked her inside by the arm, squeezing tight enough that it had to hurt, but she didn’t make a sound. It took everything I had not to attack him right there.
“Get in here.”
I started toward him.
Before I could clear the door, he jabbed the gun he held at me. It was a Sig P229 and he held it in a rock steady grip.
I stopped in my tracks. I didn’t want to end this before it started.
“Take off your clothes.” The smile on his face stopped at his mouth. His eyes were dead.
“What?” My heart thudded against my chest. I wasn’t scared of him killing me. I was scare that, without the protection, I wouldn’t be able to protect Haley.
“Yeah.” He smiled, displaying his tobacco-enhanced smile once more. “If you’re wired, we’re taking care of it here and now.”
I shot a look past him into the house. “If you think I’m stripping down with that kid watching, then your head isn’t screwed on right.”
His eyes narrowed. Then he waved the gun in a vague gesture. “Shirt. Jeans. Shoes. Jacket. Leave them outside. You can keep your...” He hesitated, looking back into the house. “Your shorts can stay on.”
“Considerate of you,” I said, baring my teeth. My mind was racing, trying to decide if I should attempt to hide the wire or let him see it.
Remembering that I still had a back-up, I decided to take the chance. Once I’d stripped off the sweater and t-shirt, I grabbed the wire and ripped it off, holding it
out for him to see.
His eyes flared hot, and he lunged forward, grabbing it and throwing it down, driving his heel down on the mic until it shattered. “Did you think you could fuck with me like that?”
I held out my hands. “Hey, I’m doing what I’m told. The cops wired me up and told me to get my ass up here. I did what they said so I could get here.” I curled my lip and derisively added, “Not like I can say no, now can I?”
“That’s right.” He glared at me. “You’re just a waste of space, an ex-con. You never should have gotten out of jail to begin with.”
A cold wind whipped across the mountain side and I couldn’t keep from shivering. “Did you bring me up to make me freeze my ass off? If not...” I gestured at the clothes.
He shrugged.
I grabbed them, but as I came inside, he pointed to the fireplace. “Burn them. We’ll see if we can’t find something else for you to wear in front of the kid.”
I was still shivering as I hunkered down by the fire, but I took my time as I fed one thing after another in. That had been what Ryan had said they needed. Time.
Haley sat in a chair nearby, looking small and scared. Her eyes met mine and I wanted to tell her it would be okay. But I didn’t. I couldn’t show any more interest in her than I had to. Not in front of Mitchell. He had to think that she wasn’t as important to me as he’d thought.
“You never knew about your other daddy, did you?” Mitchell asked, sitting down on the table close to her, positioned so he could see us both.
Haley ignored him, so he slammed a fist down on the table. She jumped, her eyes going wide.
“Leave the kid alone,” I said, straightening up from my crouch.
“You don’t get to give the orders here.” Mitchell stayed where he was, smiling up at me.
“You wanted me here. I’m here. Now let her go.” Once Haley was safe, I’d find Carly.
“Let her go? But the fun’s just getting started!” He stood, moving with an uneasy, jerky sort of energy. He spread his arms wide as he spun around the room. “Ridley, bring in our other guest.”
As he turned away, I looked at Haley. She was staring at me. Her lips moved. “Is it...?”
The door on the far side of the room opened, cutting her off, and I felt a small measure of relief. I hated that she had to know at all, hated even more that it had happened this way. Carly came stumbling out, crashing into the doorframe before going to her knees.
“Get her fat ass over here,” Mitchell said.
I wanted to curl my hands around his neck and squeeze. Then Ridley emerged from the darkened room, and my knuckles went white as I made fists. His face was a mask.
“Did you hear me?” Mitchell took a step toward me.
If I hadn’t known Ridley so well, I would have missed the flinch. His voice was caustic, rude as ever when he said, “Give me a break, Mitchell. She’s still fighting off the drugs I had to give her to make her be quiet.”
Drugs.
I’d never enjoyed killing, never did it for pleasure or fun, but I was seriously considering making the two of them suffer before I ended them.
“Well, if you hadn’t let your dick do your thinking for you and brought her along, then it wouldn’t be an issue.” Mitchell gave Carly a look of acute disgust before he turned back to me.
In the next moment, Ridley took Carly’s arm. She tried to jerk away, but she was off-balance. Shit, yes. He had drugged her. I could see it in the overly-clumsy way she moved and as my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see it in her fogged gaze too.
“I wasn’t about to leave her behind,” he said. There was something almost pleading in his eyes when he looked at her, even though his voice stayed cold. “I set all this up to get rid of him. Why would I get him out of the way just to walk away from her?”
“Why would you want her after he touched her?” Mitchell pointed to the couch. “Put her by the kid. I want to see all three of them. In...” He went silent, head cocked.
I heard it in the next moment too, and my gut froze. Cars.
He whirled around, pointing the gun at Haley’s head for a moment before shifting it to Carly. “I told you no cops!”
“I didn’t bring any!” I shouted.
I meant it too. I hadn’t brought any – to the fucking door.
The gun pivoted between the two of them and I knew I couldn’t get to him fast enough to stop him. Couldn’t cover both of them. Ridley shifted, ever so slightly. His eyes moved to Haley and then back to me.
I struggled to breathe. It might kill me, but I knew Carly would understand me choosing Haley over her. I could get to her in time. She was all of two feet away. I could–
“Dad.”
The voice was as loud as a bullhorn and Mitchell froze. He opened his mouth, then closed it.
“Dad, it’s me. It’s...it’s Dale, Dad. I need to talk to you. Don’t do anything stupid now. I’m coming up.”
***
It had been nearly a year since I’d seen Dale and time hadn’t been kind to him.
When he came through the door, he looked at me, at Ridley, then at Carly and the young girl who was still sitting on the chair, clutching at the cushion with fingers that had long since gone white.
When Mitchell looked away from us to his son, I dared to take one small step closer to Haley. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ridley doing the same, moving the smallest itch closer to Carly.
But she was inching closer to me. Shit. I turned my head and glared at her.
Stay, I mouthed. It twisted my heart to do it, but I knew I couldn’t protect them both. I could only hope that what I’d seen in Ridley’s eyes was real, that he would protect Carly.
She narrowed her eyes.
Please.
Her shoulders slumped, but she stopped moving.
“What are you doing here, boy?” Mitchell asked.
Dale spread out his hands. “You’re here and you’re acting crazy. Where else would I be?”
“Crazy!” Mitchell spat on the ground. “I’m doing what should have already been done. I’m making that piece of shit pay. He should pay for what he did and you know it! If you hadn’t been so chickenshit, you would’ve done it yourself!”
“He should pay.” Dale didn’t even look at me as he leaned closer to his dad. “Matter of fact, I heard talk that he’s going back in, Dad. They’re revoking his parole.”
I knew Dale was lying but I had no problem playing along with it.
Mitchell wheeled his head around and stared at me for a second before looking back at his son. He shook his head. “You’re just saying that. They went and got soft on criminals. All this reform bullshit. They let him make a deal and now he’s out here fucking movie stars and getting rich–”
“Dad.” Dale put a hand on his chest. “On my honor. He’s going back in.”
“That’s a damn lie!” I shouted, hoping Mitchell would take my argument as proof.
Dale shot me a dark look. His eyes were full of hate, but I could see a glimmer of something else there. Fear. Fear of losing his father because of this.
“You wish it was, you...” He glanced at the kid and then grimaced. “I can’t say what you are with a kid around. And Dad, come on, she’s a kid. Let me take her out of here. Or let the woman leave with her. You don’t need them.”
Mitchell went to rub at his mouth. “I grabbed the girl because she’s his. You know he had a kid?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I knew.”
“You knew?!” Mitchell grabbed his son’s arm. “All that talk you had about making him suffer, and you knew he had a kid? I had to find out through that son of a bitch!” He jerked a finger back at Ridley.
“She’s just a kid, Dad,” Dale said quietly. He looked at her then. “It doesn’t matter what he did, not when it comes to her. She’s a little girl.”
“She’s his kid!”
Dale stepped between them, cutting off his father’s view of Haley. “She’s not. The woman who gave birth to that
kid dumped him, took off, wouldn’t have anything to do with him. Hell, the little girl won’t even look at him. I bet he doesn’t even know her name. Come on, Dad. Don’t do this. Let’s get the girls out of here. That ditz over there, the little kid. Then we can figure out how to handle Cantrell.”
I never thought I’d be grateful to Dale Mitchell, but I was. I knew he wanted to save his father, not me, but I didn’t care. As long as Haley and Carly were safe, I’d take whatever came next.
“Fine.” Mitchell scowled. “But after that, we’re going to make him pay.”
Dale nodded and I wondered if he was finally going to cross that line from harassment into violence. I didn’t let myself think about it though.
I picked up Haley as Carly got to her feet. If it was the only chance I’d ever have to hold my daughter, I’d make sure I remembered it. I breathed in the scent of her hair – she smelled like bubble gum – and I fought the urge to cuddle her close, keeping the contact as impersonal as I could.
“Take her,” I said, keeping my voice brusque as I pushed her into Carly’s arms.
“I’m not leaving you.” Carly’s voice shook and I could see she was still unsteady, fighting off the effect of the drugs.
“You are.” I practically growled it. Then lower, I whispered, “Please. Get her safe.”
I chanced a glance up the hill, with my eyes only.
She swallowed, then managed a nod, and even a half-smile for me as she lowered Haley to the ground. “You have to walk, honey. I can’t carry you unless we both want to fall down.”
I didn’t think I’d ever loved her more than I did at that moment. And I didn’t dare tell her, either. Better Mitchell think Carly was just some crush or fling. He couldn’t know how much she meant to me.
“Shut the door.”
The cold, hard muzzle of the gun nudged hard against my ribs and I took my time closing the door, keeping my body between him and them, hoping to keep him from seeing even a single strand of blonde hair.
A split second before the door was aligned with the door jam, a hand slammed my face against the solid oak and I tasted blood. It took all my self-control not to spin around and try to beat the shit out of Mitchell.