by CJ Lyons
They hesitated, staring up at Poppy for his approval. She shoved the Glock into his ear, hard. “Tell them to do it.”
He cut a glare her way but nodded his head. The Reapers scowled at her, letting her know exactly how this was going to play out once they had Poppy clear and safe, but they lowered their weapons and cleared a path to the helicopter.
“Good. Everyone, don’t move.” She marched Poppy to the side of the porch, giving Paul and Lena room to come out, Bernie between them, his arms over their shoulders as they helped him down the steps. They’d just taken two steps into the crowd when a figure appeared between the Reapers and the helicopter. He raised his pistol, aiming at Bernie.
Weasel. Caitlyn raised her own weapon. Poppy used the movement to plow into her, knocking her gun to the floor. She scrambled away from him just as a shot rang out. Lena threw herself in front of Bernie, who was down.
The crowd went wild, Reapers reaching for their weapons, two of them jumping onto the porch to get to Poppy just as Goose barreled out of the door, knocking Poppy back down again, covering his leader with his body.
Nice touch, Caitlyn thought as she pulled her ASP from her pocket and with a couple of well-placed swings made her way to Lena and Bernie. She couldn’t see Paul. Lena stood her ground, despite the fact that Weasel was advancing on her, along with several Reapers who had lined up on either side of him.
Help came from an unexpected direction. A blur of motion caught Caitlyn’s eye as the leopard flew over the heads of the Reapers and landed beside Bernie. The cat stood over Bernie, in between Caitlyn and Lena, as if protecting him. A few of the Reapers ran, straight into the arms of the SWAT team advancing from behind them, but Weasel and his men rushed forward, screaming obscenities.
Caitlyn swung her ASP, trying to buy the few seconds it would take for the SWAT guys to get in and clear the crowd. With the wind, they wouldn’t be using tear gas, but given that Weasel was the only one who seemed interested in using a gun, they probably wouldn’t have to. The rest of the Reapers were in a blood frenzy, using their bare fists to take on the leopard.
The leopard did more than hold its own; of course it had more than fists to fight with. The Reapers quickly fell back, leaving Weasel holding his pistol, aiming right at Lena. Before Caitlyn could push the girl out of his way, the leopard leapt through the air.
Weasel fired. The leopard pulled back its paw and batted his head so hard Weasel dropped to the ground. The leopard pounced, striking him one more time. Then there was a tiny pouf of noise. A dart whizzed through the air and into the leopard’s flank.
The leopard looked over its shoulder as if disappointed in the humans who interfered with its dinner, then dropped.
Caitlyn turned her attention to the civilians first. “Are you okay?” she asked Lena, checking her for wounds.
“I’m fine. He didn’t hit me.” Lena flung herself beside Bernie. “Bernie, Bernie?”
“We need a medic over here,” Caitlyn called to the SWAT team. One of them separated himself from where they had the Reapers lying prone on the ground, searching and restraining them, and joined them.
“No sign of a gunshot wound,” he said. “But he’s burning up. In shock.”
Paul appeared, his face covered with dirt and grass. “I’m a doctor. He needs a hospital. Can we use that helicopter?”
“We’ve got our own on the way now that the scene is secure.”
While they made arrangements to transport Bernie, Caitlyn watched as Poppy was led away by sheriff’s deputies dressed in camouflage tactical gear, differentiating them from the state police SWAT unit dressed in black. Another deputy escorted Goose. She made eye contact and gave him a wink, but he had to stay in character and merely scowled at her, although his shoulders rocked with laughter.
The two SWAT leaders approached her. “Thanks for giving us the heads-up on the wild animals,” the state police leader told her. “We have an animal control team on the way to deal with the others.”
“You were amazing,” the news cameraman gushed as he ran over to film them. “The way you and the leopard fought together, like you were totally in sync. This is going to win me an Emmy, big-time.”
One of the deputies ushered him away. The two SWAT leaders turned back to her. “Seriously, good work,” the sheriff’s department leader said. “No way we could have handled that many Reapers without casualties.”
“No one was hurt?”
“Only Lionel Underwood. Looks like the leopard broke his neck.”
Weasel was dead. Somehow she just couldn’t feel too bad about that. Except to hope it didn’t get the leopard in trouble.
“Using the news crew to stall for time and pacify them was brilliant, even if it wasn’t exactly SOP,” the statie added. “I liked how you stayed one step ahead of them. You knew that without a clear leader they might get out of control, so you took charge, manipulated them every step of the way.” He shook his head. “Twenty-three armed men, and you took them down with no civilian losses.”
“Couldn’t have done it without you guys,” Caitlyn told them, trying to sound like she’d planned any of this instead of making it up as she went along. “I think the news crew is waiting to talk with you.”
“Don’t you want to tell your side of things?” the deputy asked, obviously surprised the FBI wouldn’t be taking all the credit for the night’s success.
“No, thanks. I’ll just catch a ride with one of your guys and give my statement.”
“Pleasure working with you, ma’am.”
She shook their hands, her own starting to tremble with fatigue and the ebb tide of adrenaline leaving her system. “Thanks.”
* * *
Was there anything more humiliating than having your mother pick you up from the police station where you’d been questioned most of the night? Caitlyn couldn’t think of anything—especially as Jessalyn acted exactly like she had when Caitlyn was fifteen and got caught joyriding.
“What am I going to do with you?” she announced to the world. “You could have been killed. Again.”
Caitlyn ignored the smiles of the law enforcement officers crowded into the tiny sheriff’s station. All men and all enjoying her discomfort. Where were the colleagues who five minutes ago had been treating her like a hero and congratulating her on taking care of business without getting anyone—especially any law enforcement officers—shot?
“I’m fine, Mom. Drop me off at the lodge and I’ll pick up my car.”
“You’ll do no such thing. You’re coming home with me.”
The station doors closed behind them and Caitlyn took advantage of the relative privacy to face Jessalyn. “No. Either take me to the lodge or take me home. To McSwain Mountain.”
Jessalyn turned pale. “To our old house? Why do you want to go there?”
“There’s something I need to get. Something Dad left for me.”
Jessalyn thrust the keys to her Jaguar into Caitlyn’s hand. “Fine. Go where you want. Are you leaving me here or can a mother accompany her own daughter after her daughter almost got herself killed?”
Caitlyn sighed. She hadn’t slept in two days and was in no mood to deal with Jessalyn. “Get in.”
“Let me just call Jimmy, let him know you’re okay.” While Caitlyn got into the driver’s seat and adjusted the mirrors, Jessalyn stood outside on her phone. Jimmy was probably home in bed, warm and unworried. Why should he worry? Right now she had nothing to tie him to Eli or Tommy’s murders except speculation. If there was any trail, it would only lead to Poppy, she was certain.
Sooner or later she’d have to figure out what to do about Jimmy. She couldn’t start an investigation into him, but maybe Sheriff Markle could. Or even Goose if there was any evidence Jimmy knew about the money laundering. As it was, she wasn’t even sure if they could get him for fraud on the original casino land deal. After all, he hadn’t bought or sold the land under false pretenses—he’d only arranged for its development. It would be up to the tribe t
o compensate the freedmen, pay any damages.
Hell, the way the legal system got so tangled, Jimmy might not have even broken any laws. The thought made her feel beyond exhausted.
Jessalyn hopped into the car and they headed over the mountain. Home.
When they arrived, Caitlyn was surprised to see lights on in the house and a black SUV in the drive. She had to shake off a feeling that her dad was waiting for her, the house looked so warm and welcoming, exactly the way she remembered it.
“Jimmy’s kept it up,” Jessalyn said. “Just in case.”
They got out of the car. Caitlyn stared at the old farmhouse, at the porch where she’d spent so many happy hours, at the stairs she and Vonnie used to race each other up and down. Wind from the mountain made the hemlocks lining the drive weave back and forth as if beckoning her. If she tried hard she swore she could hear her dad’s laughter escaping the shadows.
Her phone rang. Boone. “Go on,” she told Jessalyn. “I’ll be right there.” She was afraid to move since she miraculously had a wavering half bar of cell reception. “Tierney here. You’re up early.”
“Who says I ever went to bed?” Boone answered in his usual endearing way. “Got that call you wanted. Final call from Eli Hale went to a cell number registered to a casino.”
“Let me guess, the VistaView?”
“Yep. The voice is a man’s but we won’t be able to trace ownership.”
“Can you play it for me?”
“Sure. Hang on a sec.”
Caitlyn huddled against the rapidly cooling car, praying that the gods of cell reception kept favoring her. Although a small part of her hoped the call vanished into the night—that way she wouldn’t need to be the one to arrest her uncle.
“Here you go,” Boone said. Then a woman’s voice came over the line. “This is the operator at Butner Federal Correctional Institute. An inmate named”—there was a pause while Eli supplied his name—“would like to place a collect call to this number. Will you accept the call and the charges?”
A man’s voice answered. “Yes. I’ll accept.”
It was Jimmy. Shit.
She squeezed her eyes shut as Eli Hale spoke from beyond the grave. “It’s me. Just wanted to let you know my girl knows nothing. She’s just tracing her roots. Wants to find her family, that’s all. Do you understand?”
“Of course. No problem. We’ll make sure she’s well taken care of.”
Then the click of a receiver hanging up.
Boone came back on the line. “Get what you need?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I did.”
Caitlyn hung up and climbed the stairs slowly, feet dragging as if she were eighty-five instead of thirty-five. When she crossed the threshold into the front room, Jessalyn was nowhere to be seen, but Jimmy sat in her father’s favorite recliner, legs sprawled out in front of him, sucking on a fat cigar.
“Stand up, you’re under arrest.” Her tone was as low as her mood. But somehow there was no surprise. It was as if, all her life, she’d been waiting for this moment. The final betrayal.
“Under arrest?” Jimmy looked surprised. “For what?”
“For arranging the murder of Eli Hale. Since he was in federal custody, it’s federal jurisdiction. Get up, hands where I can see them.”
“Goddamn it girl, you are just as stubborn as your father.” Jimmy took a drag on his cigar before looking at Caitlyn again. “Don’t tell me I’m going to have to kill you, too.”
Caitlyn’s hand went to her weapon. Not drawing it, but ready. “I’m going to call for backup, we’ll go down to the sheriff’s station, and then you’re going to tell me everything.”
He laughed. The sound was anything but funny as it echoed through the empty room. Nothing like the laughter she remembered in this house.
“I’ll tell you everything. And you’re going to leave like a good little girl and keep that big mouth of yours shut. Forever.” Then he smiled. “Maybe this isn’t a bad thing. Having a fed on board might come in handy. I’ll ask Poppy, see what he says. But I warn you, girl. He doesn’t like you much. Not after you got him arrested last night. Might prefer a dead fed.”
“He’s out?”
“Of course. He’ll never go to trial, not in this county. After all, it’s all he-says, she-says evidence. No one was hurt and no one can say anyone broke any law except Weasel and he’s not talking, now is he?”
She was so tired of this bullshit. Dealing with FBI politics was so much easier. “Put the cigar down and keep your hands where I can see them.” Inside she shook like a leaf caught in a blizzard, but she managed to keep her voice steady.
He took one more drag on his cigar then complied with a dramatic flourish. “Jessalyn,” he shouted. “You want to get the hell in here, talk some sense into your girl?”
Caitlyn stepped back so she could cover both the hallway and Jimmy, hand still resting on her weapon. She would draw if she had to—but she prayed it didn’t come to that. Her mother entered the room, gliding across the oak floors like a beauty queen, not a hitch in her step, hands in her coat pockets, holding it open as if it were an opera cape.
“Caitlyn, I told you not to get involved in this.”
“He as good as admitted to killing Dad.” Damn, there was a quiver in her voice at the end there. She sucked in her breath, focused on Jimmy. “Mom, I need you to call the sheriff. Tell them a federal agent needs backup.”
“She’ll do no such thing,” Jimmy said.
“Mom—”
Jessalyn ignored her, instead waltzed past Jimmy, for one heart-stopping second crossing Caitlyn’s line of fire. Caitlyn braced herself, drawing her weapon against the possibility that Jimmy would take his sister hostage. If he did, what would she do?
But he didn’t. He simply lounged in his chair like he owned the world while Jessalyn stepped to the wall and yanked out the phone cord. Surprise flooded over Caitlyn in a wave of ice that made her skin crawl.
“You knew,” she gasped. “You knew he shot Dad.”
“I didn’t shoot your father,” Jimmy said.
Caitlyn whirled on him, weapon aimed. He was unarmed, a civilian, but at that moment she didn’t care. Heat burned through her and for a moment all she could see was her father lying in his own blood, just a few feet away from where Jimmy sat now. “Shut up! You killed him. You killed my daddy.”
The muzzle of the gun shook. She drew in a breath and steadied her aim. “Tell me everything. Now.”
He didn’t bother to hide his amusement or disdain. “Sure thing, Ging. But you’re not going to like it.”
“Just tell her, Jimmy,” her mother urged. He glanced at her and she nodded, the slightest bob of her chin, a queen granting a royal boon. “It’s time she decided for herself. Family or not.”
What the hell was she talking about? The Glock felt heavier than it ever had.
“Your father had a choice,” Jimmy began. “He could have chosen family. Instead he chose to place us all in danger. He could have chosen to protect you and your mom, to ensure your future. Instead he chose—well, I never really understood what he was choosing. That’s why I was there that day, arguing with him.”
“You killed my father.” Words so bitter cold they made her heart skip a beat then race to catch up.
“No.” Her mom. Defending her brother. “Your father made his choice. He abandoned us, Caitlyn. He’d rather see us dead than compromise his so-called honor.”
“You think Poppy’s a mean SOB now,” Jimmy added. “You should have known him back then. I lost track of all the people gone missing around him. And the only thing they had in common was that they’d gotten on the wrong side of Poppy and his club.”
“You mean your club. You run the Reapers as Poppy’s silent partner. Hell, you gave them your only son as collateral. Poor Bernie has no idea he’s not a prospect, he’s a freaking hostage.”
Jimmy didn’t waste time denying the facts. “At least I know how to keep my family safe. Not to mention prosperous.”
Money. It always came down to money with Jimmy. His idea of protecting his family was really protecting himself and his financial interests. That’s why he had Tommy Shadwick killed. He didn’t want the tribe to find the original Freedmen Pact and move the casino away from the land Jimmy owned in Evergreen and made a fortune developing after the VistaView was built. Greed. The bane of the McSwain family.
She glanced at Jessalyn. Looked hard at her mother. Jessalyn stood straight, no trace of guilt or remorse.
“Dad didn’t betray us,” Caitlyn said slowly, the words tasting metallic and bitter. “He was doing the right thing, doing his job, keeping an innocent man from going to jail.”
“He betrayed me. Betrayed you. Would have taken your mother from you. Didn’t even have to think twice about it.”
“You knew? About what Jimmy was doing?”
“I kept his books. Who do you think came up with the money-laundering scheme in the first place?” Jessalyn sidled closer. “If Sean had arrested us, there’s no way the Reapers would have trusted us not to talk. They would have killed us all—you as well. Sean, too. By doing his job he was condemning us all.”
“No,” Caitlyn protested, the barrage of hidden truths exploding around her like land mines. “No. Dad would have protected us. He would have saved us.”
Jessalyn raised a hand. For a split second as their eyes locked Caitlyn thought her mother was going to slap her. “Your father betrayed us. He didn’t care if the Reapers killed us all.”
Caitlyn stepped back. Wished her mother had hit her; it would have hurt less. Because now she saw the final truth, the truth that sliced so deep she could barely breathe. “You. You killed him.”
Jimmy’s laughter pealed through the room once more. “Oh, this is priceless. Jess, you do realize that you’ve just given your daughter the same dilemma her father faced? Honor, duty, or family? Which will you betray, Ginger?”
Caitlyn swiveled her attention from Jessalyn back to Jimmy. Jimmy wasn’t just laughing, he’d pulled a gun, a small 9mm semiautomatic. Aimed at her.