by Jamie Begley
“You promised to take me to buy a new pair of shoes.”
“I changed my mind. We can do it next weekend.”
“Dad!” Logan yelled, pushing on his shoulder to get him up.
Dustin rolled over, tickling his son. “Are you raising your voice to me?” he teased as Logan nearly fell off the bed to get away. Playfully pulling him farther onto the bed, he resumed the tickling.
“I give!” Logan said on a giggle, still trying to get away.
Dustin stopped, falling back on the bed. “Let that be a lesson to you. Don’t wake up your dad on a Saturday. It’s the only day I get to sleep late.”
Logan sat up cross-legged on the bottom of his bed, not trusting him to resume the tickling. “You sleep on Sundays, too.”
“Yeah, but I feel guilty about it because Holly tries to get me to go to church.”
“Why don’t you go? I like going to church. It’s better than going to school.”
“Hopefully, next week you like them both the same.”
“But why don’t you go?”
“Because I’m too old to go to school with you.” Dustin nudged Logan over so he could get out of bed.
“I meant church.”
Dustin dodged the pillow that Logan threw at him, throwing it back at him lightly.
“I have to keep Greer company. He’s a big scaredy cat at being left alone. He needs me to protect him.”
An object hit on the back of his head from the doorway behind him. Dustin turned to see Greer standing there, holding Rosie.
Pretending to look over his shoulder, Greer turned back to him. “You better hurry, because the person who threw that took off running out of the house.”
Dustin was tempted to throw the teething ring back at the smug bastard. Only the fact that he was holding his child saved him.
Holly, walking past the doorway, was smart enough to scoop her daughter away from Greer.
“Greer?” Dustin gave him an anticipatory smirk.
“What?” he snapped, giving Holly a disgruntled look.
“Run.”
“You want another beer before I go to bed?” Greer asked, coming out of the kitchen.
“No thanks. I’m good.” Dustin raised his feet onto the coffee table now that Holly had gone to bed. “You heading to bed?”
“After I take a shower.”
Dustin turned around on the couch, his arm going to the back. “Knox didn’t call today?”
“No. Why would he call? It’s not like we’re friends.” He snorted.
“Just curious.” Dustin shrugged back around to watch the television.
“If you want to know if anyone died, just spit it out.”
Dustin sighed. He had never been able to pull the wool over Greer’s eyes.
“I’ve been having dreams.”
“No shit. Any idea who bit the dust?”
“No. I would have sworn whoever it was died last night.” He was dreading going to bed if they hadn’t. He was afraid he wouldn’t live through another night like he had the night before.
Greer sat down on the arm of the couch next to him. “Tate said he hasn’t heard the death bells.”
“He told you I asked?” Dustin picked up his bottle of beer, avoiding Greer’s gaze.
“Yes. I knew you were having dreams again. Kind of hard not to with you walking around the house in the middle of the night.”
“I didn’t want to worry you,” he explained.
“You wanted me to regain my strength and knew we couldn’t do anything anyway.”
“That, too.”
“Anything else I should know?”
“No.”
“Then I reckon I’m going to take my shower,” he said ironically, getting off the couch. “If I hear anything from Knox, I’ll tell you.”
“Thanks.”
Dreading going to bed, Dustin flicked the channels to find a movie. Selecting one, he became engrossed in it and was about to spread out on the couch when he heard a faint scream.
Straightening, he tilted his head to listen, thinking he was wrong.
He started to lie down again, only to bolt up at another scream. He hastily turned the volume down on the television, getting to his feet.
Hearing it again, he ran to the door, grabbing the rifle hanging on the wall and expertly unlocking it to take it from the shelf.
“Greer!” he yelled out before going outside to listen for where the terrified scream had come from.
Running outside, he made it to the bottom of the steps when Greer ran out naked. He hadn’t even bothered to wrap a towel around him, but he had taken the time to grab his shotgun.
“What’s wrong?”
“I heard a woman screaming.” Dustin strained to listen. Hearing it again, he left the steps, unable to determine where the screams were coming from. “Where do you think it’s coming from? I can’t tell.”
“I don’t hear anything. Give me your phone. I’ll call Tate.”
“I left it on the coffee table.” Dustin took another step forward, even though he wasn’t sure which direction to listen to.
“Fuck.” Greer ran inside as Holly was about to come out.
“What’s—”
“Get you and Logan’s asses back inside. Lock yourselves in the bedroom with Rosie.”
Dustin turned only long enough to make sure Holly followed Greer’s order before taking a step to the side, trying to hear if the screams were closer in that direction.
“Tate and Sutton are on their way. Did it stop?”
“No. Can’t you hear it?”
“I don’t hear a fucking thing.” Greer moved to stand closer to him, cocking his head to the side and listening.
“There! Hear it?”
Greer shook his head, looking at him strangely. “No.”
“Then you’re deaf as a board, because she’s screaming her lungs out!”
Highlights shone on them as Tate pulled his truck into the driveway. He got out, carrying his rifle, before going to the other side of the truck to help Sutton down.
“Go inside,” Tate told his wife, going with her to the door and closing it before coming to him and Greer.
“What’s going on?”
“Dustin heard screams,” Greer told him. Both their faces took on laser sharp focus as they scanned the dark shadows of the woods.
Dustin walked in the other direction toward the chicken coop, still trying to find the direction of the screams.
“I don’t hear anything.” Tate walked farther toward the trees in the front yard.
“Me either.” Greer strategically posted himself to watch the other side of the yard.
“How can you not hear it?” The screams were filled with terror and hopelessness. “Where are you?” he called out.
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder. Jerking around, Dustin saw Tate staring at him in concern.
“Dustin, no one’s there.”
“I hear it!” he screamed. “She’s afraid. We have to find her.”
“We can’t find her because she ain’t here.” Greer began to look at him just as Tate was. “Did you fall asleep on the couch and just dreamed about someone screaming?”
“Not unless we’re all three having the same dream.” Dustin jerked away from Tate’s hand.
“I’m wide awake. How about you, Greer?”
It was everything he could do not to shoot Greer in his foot when his brother pinched himself.
“I’m wide awake. How about you?” Greer reached out to pinch Tate before he saw what he was about to do.
“Get your hairy ass away from me. I’m awake,” Tate groused, shoving Greer away with the butt of his rifle.
Dustin pinched the bridge of his nose. “Stop talking and listen. She’s there. She’s close by.”
“I imagine she is. She’s in your fucking head,” Greer said, pinching him.
“Don’t do it,” Tate warned when Dustin took a swing at Greer. “Let’s get inside”—Tate stepped between them
when Dustin would have lunged toward Greer after he stepped out of reach—“before we end up shooting each other. No one is outside but us.”
Dustin reluctantly went back inside, hearing the screams turn into a soft crying.
Going to the couch, he sat down, putting his head in his hands. “I’m losing my mind.”
“You want me to fix it?” Greer jokingly reached for his hair.
Dustin threw one of the couch pillows at him, not letting Greer touch him. “Go put some clothes on before you have to heal your own damn self,” he threatened.
“Jeez, I’m just trying to take your mind off what’s going on in that chicken head of yours.”
“When I need your help, I’ll ask for it,” he snarled. The heart-wrenching sobs had him wanting to go back outside. Only knowing it was useless kept him on the couch.
Tate sat down next to him when Greer went into the bathroom. “That ever happen before?”
“Never. I don’t understand.”
Tate shook his head at him. “We’ve never been able to understand our gifts. Why would this be any different? You still hear screaming?”
“She’s crying now.”
“You sure it’s a woman? Maybe you hear a woman who you’re close to. Who are you dating? We could call and check; make sure she’s okay.”
“I haven’t been dating anyone. I’ve been too busy working. The last woman I went out with was Carly when she won the auction, and I only went out with her one time.”
“Dustin, it wasn’t your fault that Lindy became involved with Brett.”
“If she hadn’t been so mad at me and Greer, she wouldn’t have let Brett sneak into the wedding.”
“She was a jealous bitch who didn’t care who was hurt.” Tate laid his arm around Dustin’s shoulders. “Killing has never been easy for you—”
“You think I feel sorry that I killed her?” Dustin looked at his brother as if he was crazy, then closed his eyes and shook his head. “She shot Holly when she was holding Logan. That bitch deserves to rot in Hell, and I’m glad I put her and Brett there. Do I regret getting drunk and telling Lindy that I was going to put her in an apartment? To my dying day, because it nearly cost Logan and Holly their lives. I learned two things: never drink enough that I don’t know what the hell I’m saying and that I have bad taste in women. I should have learnt that lesson from Sam, but at least I didn’t knock Lindy up before I killed her.”
“Samantha was an accident,” Holly said, coming from behind the couch to wrap her arms around his neck.
“Where’s Logan?” Anguished that his son could have heard him and Tate talking had him looking toward the hallway where only Sutton and Greer had been listening.
“I put him back to bed.”
“Thank God. He’s going to find out sooner or later, but I want to wait until he’s older.”
“Dustin, you should tell him before he finds out. It’s only a matter of time before someone tells him.”
“I will … When he asks me how his mother died, I’m going to tell him the truth.”
Holly and he had discussed how Sam had died numerous times. Dustin didn’t think he could handle it if Logan started hating him.
“When you’re ready, we’ll do it together. You don’t have to do it alone.” Holly gave him a quick kiss on his cheek before removing her arms. Then she gave him an encouraging smile. “Rosie’s awake and hungry. Good night, everyone.”
“You ready, Tate?”
“You need me to stay?” Tate asked at Sutton’s question.
“I’m good. I’m sorry I kept everyone from going to bed,” Dustin apologized.
Sutton took Holly’s place, giving him a hard hug. “We weren’t ready for bed anyway. We were sharing a carton of ice cream. And I agree with Holly, you should tell him. Logan is a very loving, bright child who will understand better than you give him credit for. He takes after his father.” Giving him a sisterly kiss, she then took Tate’s hand as he came around the couch.
Greer locked the door after they left, then gave him a hard glare when he caught Dustin staring at him. “What?”
“Why are you wearing Holly’s robe?”
“Because I have a feminine side.”
Seeing the cunning look as Greer walked toward him, Dustin braced himself.
“You need a kiss from me, too?”
“Bro, kidding around or not, you try to kiss me, I’m going to hurt you.”
Laughing like a loon, Greer retreated. “It was all there was in the bathroom. I didn’t think Tate or Sutton would have appreciated me going to the bedroom for my clothes.”
“I’m dreading going to bed so bad.”
Greer’s expression became somber. “You think you’re going to have another nightmare?”
“I know I am. How could I not? I don’t know which is worse: seeing you naked or wearing the robe.”
“Could be worse.”
Dustin tore his eyes away from Greer’s hairy legs that Holly’s robe only covered to mid-thigh.
“The robe could be black and cover me from head to toe.”
Dustin had described his nightmares too many times to both his brothers not to know that Greer was trying to plant a seed of doubt in his mind that he was the shadowy figure of his nightmares.
Greer was a pure nut when he was in the mood to joke around. Ninety percent of the time, Greer was trying to lessen the tension of his dreams. The other ten percent was him being an ass.
6
Monday
“Do I have to go to school?”
“Um … yes. Let’s be positive. You could have a great day.” Dustin tried to cheer his son up as he rolled his car forward to let Logan out at the school entrance.
“That’s not going to happen,” he said sullenly while unbuckling his seatbelt.
“You never know. It could turn out to be the best day of your life.”
“If it’s not, will you homeschool me?”
Dustin looked over the back seat, taking the time to talk to Logan despite the honking horns behind him. “No, I promise if you don’t, I won’t stop until you’re just as exited to go to school as church.”
“Okay,” he said disbelievingly as he opened the car door. “Who’s picking me up after school? You or Holly?”
“I’ll be here with bells on.” Dustin waved to Logan as he closed the door.
Driving to his office, he felt wide awake after sleeping most of the weekend away. When he had finally gone to bed after the crying stopped in his head, he fell asleep immediately and had slept until nearly noon. Holly had texted after church, asking if Logan could go home with Noah and Chance and stay until after dinner. He’d agreed. Then, after eating a bowl of cereal, he went back to bed and hadn’t woken until Logan came home. Spending the rest of the evening with him until bedtime, he had gone back to his own bedroom and had no problem slipping into a dreamless sleep.
Now he felt refreshed and ready to take on the world, except he was still waiting to find out about the death he dreamed about. That the person was dead, he had no doubt. His nightmare had stopped on Friday night. Deep down, he knew the beating had been too severe for anyone to live through—the last two dreamless nights had proven that.
What still freaked him out, though, were the screams he had heard Saturday night. He had never experienced anything like it and damn sure didn’t want to repeat it.
Regretting not eating breakfast at home, Dustin looked at his watch. He didn’t have an appointment until ten, so he had more than enough time to swing by the diner and still have the opportunity to get some work done before meeting Willa.
After parking, Dustin was walking toward the diner’s entrance when he saw Greer’s truck at the police station across the street. He looked farther down the opposite street and saw parents dropping their children off at the daycare.
Holding the door open for a couple coming in behind him, he saw Greer walking out of the station and going toward the daycare. Though Rosie wasn’t even there yet, Gre
er was already going there to give his instructions. Dustin didn’t know how Jessie put up with him. If it weren’t for Holly, he was sure Jessie would have already handed him his ass on a platter.
The restaurant was filled with customers. Scanning the available options, unless he wanted to wait for a table to open, he went to the counter, taking one of the swinging chairs.
“Morning, Dustin. What can I get for you?”
“Morning, Carly. I’ll take a couple of eggs and a pumpkin muffin.” Returning her flirty smile with an impassive one, he took out his cell phone to scroll through his calendar, not wanting to be drawn into a conversation with the overfriendly waitress.
“You want some coffee?”
“No thanks. Just some orange juice.”
“I’ll put your order in. If you need anything, just yell.”
Dustin nodded, not looking up from his phone and not relaxing until Carly moved away after getting his juice. He didn’t put his phone away until his food arrived. Luckily, the restaurant was too busy for Carly to spend much time chatting with him. The woman was nice, but she was a little too nice to all the men in town, especially The Last Riders.
Sam had had him walking a tightrope to keep her happy, yet she’d still cheated on him. Greer had made a fool of himself with Diane before he married Holly. He didn’t need or want a woman in his life now. It was already full with Logan, his family, and work. He didn’t need icing on his cake. It would have been nice to have, but if it wasn’t there, he wasn’t going to go on a search for it.
Finishing his breakfast, Dustin got in line to pay at the cash register. Looking out the plate glass window, he saw Greer now standing outside the yellow daycare, talking to Bliss. He could tell she was upset from where he was. Knox was approaching the two.
Taking out his wallet, he took out a twenty and moved ahead of the others in line.
“This will take care of my bill. Keep the change.” Laying the money and the ticket on the counter, he left to see what had Bliss so agitated that she must have called Knox. Had Jessie gone over the deep end and had thrown Greer out of the daycare? From Holly’s face as she got out of her car to drop Rosie off, she was just as concerned that Greer had done something.