“I’m going to help Nessa,” Leo said, and the rock-hard conviction in his voice penetrated her shock. Leo was right. Nessa had been shot, but she may still be alive. They might be able to save her if they could get past Reinhardt. They had to try.
“But how can we get close enough without him seeing us? He might panic and start shooting.”
Eden surveyed the dark parking lot. How could they get to Reinhardt undetected? Her eyes were drawn to the far building. A light pole showed a handful of cars parked outside. Did that mean people were in there? Did they have Hope?
Just then Leo started the car. The soft purr of the engine was inaudible under the wind of the storm. Eden felt the car begin to glide forward, and she heard Sage protest from the backseat. The fear in the young woman’s voice was palpable, but Eden didn’t look back.
She had to stay focused on what lay ahead. Leo was inching directly toward Reinhardt, who was still standing over Nessa’s body. They wouldn’t be able to remain undetected for long.
“When we get closer, I’ll turn on the lights and scare Reinhardt away so that we can get to Nessa,” he said, the hitch in his breathing the only outward sign that he was aware his plan may not work.
“But what if he isn’t scared away?” Eden asked. “What if he charges straight at us? What will we do then?”
Leo patted the gun. “That’s what this is for. If he won’t get out of the way, then I’ll have to use this.”
Eden recoiled, turning her eyes away. She had always disliked guns and refused to let her father have one in the house when she was growing up. But that dislike had turned to pure terror the night Mercy and Preston had died, and the sight and sound of a gun, even in movies or on television, now had the power to incite a tidal wave of anxiety inside her.
Eden looked through the windshield at the gun in Reinhardt’s hand. He throat tightened and her chest squeezed. Was this how it would end for her, too? Would she be killed by a rage-driven man wielding a gun, just as Mercy had been killed? Preston’s hate-filled face loomed in her memory, and she felt the rage ignite inside her just as it had when she’d seen him standing over Mercy’s prone body.
“Okay, I’m going to switch on the high beams,” Leo said, talking in a low voice, as if Reinhardt may hear them.
But before he could move his hand to the console, they heard police sirens begin to wail in the dark, and then, only moments later, a gunshot sounded from within the motel’s rear building.
Reinhardt must have also heard the sirens and then the gunshot. He froze, first looking toward the interstate, where blue and red flashing lights could be seen in the distance, and then turning toward the motel, where the shot had been fired.
As he hesitated, illuminated by the harsh light above him, Nessa raised an arm off the ground and pointed it up at Reinhardt. He didn’t look down, and he didn’t see her pull the trigger. His head jerked back, and a burst of blood filled the night and sprayed down on Nessa like crimson rain.
✽ ✽ ✽
Eden’s scream reverberated inside the car. She squeezed her eyes shut and put her head on the dashboard, rocking back and forth.
“This isn’t happening,” she murmured. “This isn’t real.”
Eden raised her head and stared out the window is disbelief. Reinhardt had fallen next to Nessa; he lay face down in a puddle of water and blood. There would be no saving him, but Nessa was moving, her head turning to face Reinhardt.
Leo shoved the gun back in the glove compartment. He opened the car door and ran forward, the high beams acting like a spotlight on the bodies of the two fallen detectives. As he bent over Nessa, Eden opened the door to follow him and caught movement out of the corner of her eye.
A man in a dark hoodie had exited one of the motel rooms. The overhead light in the corridor was dim, but she could see that the man was carrying a backpack and seemed to be pulling someone behind him. Her heart stopped as she recognized Hope’s slender frame and long, brown hair. The man pushed Hope toward a silver sedan parked under a flickering light post.
Without thinking, Eden splashed around the back of the car and jumped into the driver’s seat. She shifted the gear into drive and pressed her foot down hard on the gas pedal as she steered the car toward the grassy median that separated the front and rear parking lots.
She didn’t have time to drive around and find the back entrance. She had one last chance to save Hope. As the front tires bumped up and over the concrete curb that bordered the grass, Eden saw a police car race into the lot behind her.
“Good, they’ll help Leo and Nessa,” Eden said.
She wasn’t sure if she was speaking to Sage or to herself. But she wasn’t stopping, whatever happened. Either she’d get to Hope on time, or she’d die trying.
“I think that’s Vinny,” Sage said from the backseat. She sounded dazed. “He…he took Hope.”
Maybe she’s in shock, too, Eden thought. I think we all are.
Ahead of her the man in the hoodie jerked his head around as the headlights started bumping toward him over the grass. He shoved Hope’s head down and thrust her into the backseat before jumping into the driver’s seat and slamming the door. The car roared to life and squealed backwards just as the BMW jolted down onto the concrete of the rear lot.
Eden followed the taillights of the silver car as it pulled out onto a deserted road lined on both sides by thick, untamed underbrush and battered palm trees. She didn’t know where the road might lead, and as she looked again in her rearview mirror, she saw that no one was following her. It was up to her to save Hope now.
Eden kept her foot smashed on the gas, determined not to lose sight of the silver car. Vinny would have to stop at some point, and when he did, she’d be right behind him.
She glanced toward the glove compartment, picturing the dangerous gleam of the gun inside. Her stomach churned at the thought of picking it up and pointing it at Vinny.
Will I have the courage to use it if I do catch up with them? she wondered, bumping over a deep pothole and struggling to keep control of the car on the uneven road. She had worked so hard to save lives during the last four years, desperate for redemption. Would redemption come at the end of gun?
A long, deep horn shattered the night, igniting a spark of terror in Eden’s chest. It was the horn from an approaching train. They must be heading toward the train tracks that bisected the city, delineating what was considered the east side and west side of Willow Bay.
If Vinny made it past the train tracks, he’d quickly reach the on-ramp to the interstate, and from there could head up north toward Tampa, or southeast to Miami. Either way, he and Hope would soon disappear into the stormy night, and she may never see her niece again.
Eden strained to see the road, the dark clouds and rain making it difficult to see more than a few feet ahead of her. She had to stay focused on Vinny’s taillights. But the BMW’s wheels found another deep pothole and Eden bounced up with the impact. She struggled to regain her balance, her foot instinctively lifting up and off the gas pedal as the car jerked forward.
The silver car was pulling away, hurtling down the pitted asphalt with dangerous speed, taking several sharp bends without slowing down. Vinny was driving like he had nothing to lose, and Eden feared she wouldn’t be able to catch up to him before he wrecked the car, perhaps killing Hope in the process.
The dark road had no street lights, and it was only the growing rumble ahead that let her know the train was getting closer. As she rounded a bend, she saw the blinking lights of the railroad crossing. The deafening horn sounded again, and the intense headlight of the train raced toward the crossing at high speed, but the silver car plowed ahead.
“Oh my god,” Sage whispered from the backseat. “He’s going to try to beat the train.”
Eden watched in horror as the silver car approached the red and white barriers. Her breath caught in her throat as she fought the instinct to turn away from the impending crash. She had to keep her eyes on the tracks ahea
d. On the spot where Hope would either die, or would pass from her view, perhaps forever.
The silver car burst through the old wooden barriers, cracking them into pieces as it flew over the tracks only seconds before the big train roared through. Eden skidded to a stop and jumped out of the car. Her knees buckled under her as she watched the endless line of freight cars rattle past.
As the last freight car came into view, Eden turned frightened eyes to the far side of the track. Would it make sense to climb back in the car and continue the chase? How would she know which way they’d gone?
It took a minute for Eden to register what she was seeing. The silver car sat at an angle about fifty yards away, the front driver’s side tire flat. Flashing red and blue lights lit up a semicircle of police cars and barricades that blocked the street ahead. Eden gasped as she saw a policeman with a shotgun crouched behind the barricade. Another policeman with a megaphone stood behind a cruiser.
“Exit the vehicle with your hands up!” the officer with the megaphone commanded, his voice vibrating through the night. The man with the shotgun took careful aim.
“Wait! My niece is in that car!” Eden screamed, but her voice was obliterated by the rain.
She climbed back into the BMW and put the car into gear, keeping the headlights off and ignoring Sage’s pleas to know what was going on. She drove the car across the now empty tracks, following angry black skid marks that led toward the silver car.
The officer with the megaphone turned toward the BMW and waved his arms, gesturing for Eden to turn back.
“Stop now! Turn around!” the officer yelled into the megaphone, and Eden saw the shotgun swing in her direction.
She took a deep breath and continued to roll slowly toward the stranded car, stopping only a few yards away. Leaning over to the glove compartment, she opened the latch and looked at the gun nestled inside. With trembling hands, Eden picked up the gun. The shape and weight of it felt familiar in her grasp as she prepared to open the door. She was going to save Hope.
Chapter Forty-Four
Vinny looked in his rearview mirror and watched the last railcar thunder out of view. He wondered what it would be like to be on the train, headed somewhere far away from the dead-end town he’d grown up in.
Would I have been somebody? he wondered, looking at his eyes in the mirror, now bare without his glasses.
If my mother had lived, and if we’d made it out of this town? Would things have been different?
He met Hope’s wide, blue eyes in the mirror. They were kind eyes. Not the cruel eyes he’d seen so often in the many girls that had rejected or ignored him his whole life. He hadn’t been good-looking like Trevor, and he hadn’t been witty or smart.
When girls looked at him they either saw a loser or a nobody. Or, if they were more perceptive, they saw something disturbing, something damaged, that hid just below the surface.
A voice roared through the night, demanding they exit the car, but Vinny chose not to hear. They wouldn’t approach the car yet, not with Hope as his hostage. They’d try to talk him into surrendering. He still had a little time.
“What are you going to do?” Hope asked. He could tell from the slight tremor in her voice that she was scared, but she was also calm. Almost resigned.
“I’m going to save you, just like I promised,” Vinny said, picking up the little gun that lay on the passenger’s seat next to him. “You and I are moving on to a better place.”
He glanced back, assuring himself that she was still tied up, although the makeshift gag had fallen off in the dash to the car.
The voice on the megaphone yelled out again, telling him to stop and turn around. They must be able to see him in the car. Must be able to see he had turned to talk to Hope. Would they take a shot at him? He sunk lower in his seat.
“Where are we going? The police are waiting up there for us,” Hope said, fixing her gaze on the flashing lights in the distance.
“They’ll stop us if we try to leave.”
“The police can’t stop us…not where we’re going.” Vinny cocked the gun. “I’m done with this town. I’m finally leaving. Should have left years ago.”
“But…what about me? What are you going to do with me?” Hope’s voice finally broke, and she swallowed hard.
“I’m going to take you with me. Can’t leave you here with the kind of men that run the place.” Vinny looked back at her with narrow eyes.
“You do know about this town, right? That some of the cops run the operation at that old motel?”
Hope shook her head, her eyes filling with tears.
“They just want to make a buck off the girls. They sell drugs and girls to men who come into town off the interstate. It’s disgusting.” Vinny hit the steering wheel with his fist. “Men like that ruin everything.”
He thought of the father he never knew. His mother had never admitted who he was, but Vinny suspected his father was just another user. Someone who had taken what he’d wanted and left them behind.
Vinny saw Hope’s eyes flick to the rear window, and then glance back at him. Her breathing had quickened, and her pupils seemed to dilate as he watched. She’d seen something.
He strained to see through the rain-spattered glass and glimpsed blonde hair moving toward the rear of the car. Eden Winthrop hadn’t given up the chase after all. A surge of anger filled him, making his head throb with the pressure.
That nosy bitch is the reason you’re in this mess, the cold voice in his head told him. If she hadn’t gotten involved, you wouldn’t be trapped here like an animal waiting to die. She’s ruined everything.
“And it’s not just the men in this town who ruin everything,” Vinny said, turning his eyes to the side mirror, waiting for Eden to come up beside the car. “The women are just as bad.”
Hope sat up straighter, as if on alert. “Which women?”
“My mother, for one. She chose drugs over her own son. Abandoned me so she could get high.”
Vinny tightened his fingers around the gun, knowing Hope was trying to distract him, but unable to resist responding.
“And my foster mother? She only cared about Trevor. Pretty much ignored me as long as the checks from the state kept coming.”
“I’m sorry for you,” Hope said, clearing her throat. “I know how it feels to lose your mother. My little brother and I lost both our parents a few years ago. My dad killed my mom.”
Vinny frowned and looked over at Hope. Was she lying to get his sympathy? Did she think he’d let her go now, just because she had some sob story? No, she had a brother and an aunt who loved her. She had a whole police force ready to kill to get her back. What did he have? Nothing, that’s what.
Resentment boiled over as he saw Eden creep around the corner of the car and head toward the door. He lifted the gun and held it by his shoulder, waiting for Eden to draw nearer.
“Drop your weapon!” the policeman with the megaphone yelled. “Get on the ground!”
“Please, Vinny,” Hope begged from the backseat, tears in her voice. “Put down the gun before you get hurt. It doesn’t have to end this way. I’ll tell them you were only trying to help me. Only trying to get me away from those bad men.”
Vinny paused, considering the idea that he could somehow escape the mess he was in. Maybe he could even come out of this a hero. Win an award instead of a trip to the gas chamber.
He pictured his mother’s thin, plain face in the dim light of one of the many generic motel rooms they’d stayed in as she struggled to make ends meet. At bedtime she would read from the only book available, the Bible that could always be found in a drawer by the bed. He liked the parable about the Good Samaritan: at the end she always told him he was destined to do good deeds and save people in need.
All thoughts of his mother vanished when Eden’s face appeared in the window beside him, the big gun in her hand aimed at the glass. He dismissed any chance of convincing the enraged woman beside him that he’d been trying to protect her niece.
So, I’m not going to be a hero, he thought, but if I’m going down, I’m taking her with me.
He put his hand on the doorknob, preparing to smash open the door and knock Eden off balance. Once she was on the ground he’d put a bullet into her nosy brain.
Let the cops shoot me, what does it matter?
Just as he pulled the handle, he felt the belt loop around his neck and tighten as his head was forced back against the headrest. He dropped the gun and grabbed at the belt with both hands; his eyes scanned to the rearview mirror, and he saw Hope’s blue eyes pinned on his in fierce triumph, her teeth bared from the exertion of holding the belt in place as he struggled.
His mind reeled in panic. How had she gotten her hands free? Would he be strangled to death by his own belt?
Eden wrenched the car door open. Vinny writhed in the driver’s seat, unarmed and unable to get free from the belt wrapped around his throat. He stared into blazing green eyes. They were filled with the same murderous fury that he had seen before in his own reflection. He felt the car start to spin and let his arms fall to his side before the world went dark.
✽ ✽ ✽
When Vinny opened his eyes, a burly man in a rain-soaked shirt and tie was leaning in the door, cuffing his hands and reading him his rights.
“He need an ambulance, Detective Jankowski?” a uniformed officer called over, and the big detective shook his head. “No, I’ll drive him over to the station and book him. It’ll be a pleasure.”
Vinny’s throat burned, and it was hard to swallow. He wanted to turn his head to see if Hope was still in the backseat, but his neck muscles hurt too much. He groaned as Jankowski pulled him out of the car and hoisted him onto his feet.
As Vinny hobbled toward an awaiting police car, he saw Sage Parker sitting in the back of another police cruiser. She looked straight ahead as the car pulled away.
Jankowski pushed his head down and into the back of the cruiser. Vinny looked out the back window and saw Eden Winthrop standing beside a muddy BMW. She had her arm around Hope, who was wrapped in a navy-blue blanket. They watched as the police car pulled away.
The River Girls Page 27