“You plan to kill both of us?” Onyx asked in amusement.
It was as if Cheyenne had almost forgotten about Onyx and suddenly realized that Onyx had worked herself closer than Cheyenne remembered. Pointing the gun back and forth at them she stepped back to give her more room. “I’ll kill you both and take the babies. No one knows I’m here with the babies. I’ll just say I arrived late and I don’t know what happened. They’ll think Joanie was stupid and left the babies here alone.” She cackled crazily. “There are no more witnesses and once I get the inheritance to raise these stupid brats, I’ll dump them somewhere and get what was mine all along.”
“Oh really?” Parker asked in disbelief. “You really think one bullet is going to stop me from breaking your neck?”
“My gun is fully loaded. If I have to use more, I will. I have no qualms in hurting you, Parker. I have no problem hurting anyone,” she said bravely as if to tell Onyx to back the fuck up.
“Well neither do I,” Onyx said. “And I’m really getting tired of Parker’s talk it out strategy so I’m getting ready to kick your ass.” She started to take off her Trench and roll up her sleeve.
“You step over here, bitch and I’ll shoot you in the eye!” Cheyenne threatened. “You’ll be– “
One of Onyx’s blades whizzed striking Cheyenne in the arm making her instantly drop the gun, but before Cheyenne had a chance to react, the tip of Onyx’s boot made contact with Cheyenne’s chin kicking so hard she flipped back and crashed upside down against the door falling like a rag doll.
Parker was sure Onyx had killed Cheyenne from the way she had flown across the room.
Going over to Cheyenne’s body, he checked her pulse and at the same time she groaned in pain. “She’s not dead,” he said with relief.
“Not yet,” Onyx said, pushing Parker out the way with one hand and grabbing Cheyenne by the front of her clothes to raise her up on her feet to strike the last deadly blow to her neck.
“Stop Onyx!” Parker ordered.
She was inches away from sending a deadly blow into Cheyenne’s neck and she froze. “You can keep the money,” she sneered. “Just let me kill her.”
“No, Onyx. I want justice for her.”
Onyx let her body dropped against the floor reluctantly and turned around glaring her vehemence at him. “You really are weak shit, Parker Mills.”
“I don’t have a killer instinct when it comes to women, Onyx.” He went back over to the babies in the crib and looked down at the little girl. “Matter of fact, I’m going to really lose my heart all the way now.”
“To that baby?”
“No. She had my heart before she even arrived. I was speaking about Charisse.”
Onyx only shook her head rolling her eyes as if to say out loud, “Pathetic.”
Chapter 49
After Onyx tied up her wrists and ankles, they moved Cheyenne’s body away from the door just as she started to come to slowly. There was a knock on the door and Parker was shocked again since it wasn’t the police.
“Move the fuck out the way, Parker,” Jaelen sneered knocking a pathway into the room as he and the pilot carried Joanie’s heavy body into the room and laid her by the fire. “Onyx, come look at this. She’s been bleeding heavily and a lot of this is frozen.”
Onyx reached in the inside of her Mackintosh to pull out a first aid kit before going over to the fireplace where they had placed Joanie to warm up. Cheyenne was realizing what was going on as Onyx was cleaning out and stitching up Joanie.
“Get some water for her,” she ordered Jaelen.
“Whatever she’s told you, she’s lying,” Cheyenne said.
“What do you think she’s told us?” Parker asked.
Cheyenne looked over at Joanie who was starting to come to as well. “She probably blamed me for everything, but she thought of everything Parker and she blackmailed me into agreeing to all of this.”
Joanie winced and then gasped in horror as she realized what Onyx was doing.
“Be still,” Onyx ordered.
“Owww!” Joanie complained, after drinking some water from Jaelen, as Onyx stitched the wound carefully.
“Is it bad?” Parker asked. “Can she talk?”
“There’s nothing wrong with her mouth,” Onyx said.
Joanie looked terrified looking up at Parker and then she looked around the room. “H-How’d I get here?”
“What is the last thing you remember?” Parker asked.
“She doesn’t remember anything!” Cheyenne sneered.
Joanie was lying down completely and couldn’t see that Cheyenne had maneuvered to sitting up. “I-I don’t,” she said docilely. “OWWWW!”
Onyx had pulled extra hard on the stitch. “Usually I can do this with no pain at all, but if you want, I can show you pain you would never believe, Joanie. If you’re scared of her, then you’re going to be terrified of me.”
“Shut your fat mouth, Joanie!” Cheyenne yelled.
Onyx huffed and looked over at the pilot. “Give me your sock off your foot so I can shove it in her mouth,” she ordered the pilot.
Parker immediately shook his head at the pilot and then dismissed him. “There’s another room in the cabin over there you can warm up in.”
“Joanie put me up to everything!” Cheyenne screamed as the pilot left. “You’ve got to believe me, Parker. You can’t believe her. Joanie thought of the plan to kill our father. Joanie thought of the plan to steal the money because she needed to pay for her mother’s care. Do you deny that Joanie?”
Reluctantly, Joanie admitted, “Yes, it was me.”
Onyx finished and then looked seriously down at Joanie. In a very quiet voice, she said, “I spoke to your mother before she died, Joanie. I was the last to speak to her.”
Joanie’s eyes welled up with tears.
“She hated herself for not forgiving you, Joanie. She hated herself for losing so much time holding on to her feelings of failure and not spending time with you.”
“I told you, Parker!” Cheyenne said knowingly. “She is out to destroy everything and she won’t stop until we’re all dead. Tell him that Joanie. Parker will understand and he’ll make sure they take care of you in jail.”
“Cheyenne, why are you lying?” Joanie cried struggling to sit up.
“Because I’m not going to let you destroy Parker and my chance to raise a family! You know I’d do anything.”
“You should lay down,” Parker ordered Joanie. “The police will be here soon. They’ll straighten all this out.”
“I have the evidence,” Cheyenne said. “Check my jacket, Parker. Joanie knows how to use the computer. She helped initiate the electronic transfer. You can check the phone calls to see it was from her phone.”
“I was doing that for you. Just like I killed for you. I killed the nurse for you. I got the information to get to Chyna for you. I tortured your sister for you.” All the while Joanie had rolled over and was dragging herself around to Cheyenne on her side. “T-Tell the truth.”
“You’ll tear your stitches,” Parker said wanting Joanie alive for the police.
“I DON’T CARE! I DIDN’T DO IT!” Joanie screamed. “Tell him the truth, Cheyenne.”
“I’m telling the truth!” Cheyenne said triumphantly.
“NO! You never tell the truth! You didn’t tell the truth about my mother! You lied to me! And you never told the truth about the money you got from my father.” She scooped up the gun Cheyenne had dropped earlier and had made it around to look at Cheyenne. Aiming the gun at Cheyenne, she said threateningly, “You better tell them the truth for once in your greedy selfish life, Cheyenne Sheridan.”
Parker stepped toward Joanie’s pitiful face filled with tears and she aimed the gun at him. “Don’t do this, Joanie.”
“You don’t know me, Parker. I’ll kill you, I swear,” she hissed. “All my life, I thought she was right. I thought if I listened to her, I would get one step closer to being beautiful or normal or even
having what I wanted the most – a sister. But she only used me. She only took and took until now I have nothing more to give. I won’t let her put all this on me and I’m going to get her to tell the truth or I’m going to kill her. Stay back.”
No one was near her, but he knew Onyx could flick a blade and disable her.
Looking over at her, he ordered Onyx, “Stop her!”
Onyx crossed her arms over her chest and changed all her weight to one hip. “You didn’t pay me for that.”
Brazenly, Cheyenne said, “She won’t kill me, Parker,” she said knowingly. “She’s weak. She can’t think for herself unless you offer her a fucking Twinkie.”
“You thought wrong, bitch,” Joanie sneered and fired the gun at Cheyenne’s leg. The bullet tore through the flesh and Cheyenne howled in pain.
The pilot came back out the room to see what was going on, but Jaelen stopped him from going any further and staying out the way as well.
Parker stepped forward again, but Joanie aimed the gun at him.
“Stay the fuck back, Parker,” she warned. “I’ve killed for her more than you know. More than I’d want anyone to know and I can do it well. I may be fat, but my aim is good.” Returning her attention back to Cheyenne, she said, “Shut your howling, Cheyenne and start talking.”
Parker looked at Onyx for help, but she only shrugged and said simply, “It’s only a flesh wound.”
“You Bitch! YOU FUCKING FAT BITCH!” Cheyenne screamed and howled between each word. “Parker, please help.”
“I think you better start telling the truth,” Onyx said pulling out an emery board.
“You’re going to pay!” Cheyenne hissed at Joanie.
“I was doomed the moment I met you, Cheyenne,” Joanie said weakly. “For once in your life, do something to help someone other than your sorry self. I’ve been the only friend to you because deep inside you know you are a horrible person. Just like my mother said.” She sobbed pitifully. “But through it all, you have been a sister to me – even if it was a horrible sister, but at least you were there. I love you, Cheyenne. I love you!”
Cheyenne’s eyes filled with real tears. Looking down at her leg, she winced in pain and then looked back at Joanie. “Y-You are …pathetic, Joanie.”
The room was quiet and Joanie looked truly hurt by her words.
“You were t-the easiest to manipulate.” Cheyenne smiled as the tears poured down her face. “I-I used you. I used you until y-you had no soul left.” She moaned distressingly. “Fuck! If I had wanted to kill off everyone that first time, you would have done it, wouldn’t you? You’d have tortured them just like you tortured Chyna for me huh?”
Joanie sobbed pitiably.
“You want to know why I cry?” Cheyenne asked. “Because the gig is up, I guess huh? What did Charisse do to you? What the fuck does that bitch do to people to make them better? Do you know how hard it is to corrupt someone?” She had the nerve to sound amused. “But she just swoops in and thinks she can clean anything up. Well, I’m glad I drove her crazy. I’m glad I made her try to kill herself and I’m glad I made you take her out to no where and put a bullet in her head.”
Parker wasn’t focusing on getting the gun away from Cheyenne anymore. “You ordered Joanie to kill her?”
“Yes! Just like I ordered this stupid fat bitch to kill everyone else,” she said jubilantly and cackled. “Waive some fucking food under her nose and she’ll kill for you.”
“Anyone got a Twinkie?” Onyx asked quietly.
Everyone ignored that comment.
Cheyenne continued shamelessly hissing at Joanie, “You didn’t want a sister. You wanted someone to accept you as you were and listen to your stupid crying about your dirty old man and your careless mother and your stupid brothers who thought you were dumb as shit. They were right, Joanie. Everything they said about you was right. You are dumb as shit, but you came up with good ideas. Ideas so evil and got me what I wanted that I had to use you. I had to make you think this was the right thing. No matter what you say or even what they hear, it won’t matter. You’ll get on the stand and take the blame. Because you know you need me. You need me to take care of you. You can’t function on your own. But even if you hadn’t met me, you’d still be a stupid fat– “
The bullet struck the side of her head knocking her unconscious instantly and Parker’s eyes registered the strike before his ears heard the explosion from the gun.
The gun dropped from Joanie's swollen fingers to the ground along with a small blade from Onyx that had hit Joanie’s wrist.
Parker looked over to Onyx with question and she shrugged nonchalantly.
"I'm the only one who is allowed to kill around here," she said jealousy.
Joanie gripped her bleeding wrist and wailed in misery as guilty shame washed over her. “I don’t need you,” Joanie said quietly and then screamed, “YOU HEAR ME IN HELL, CHEYENNE!” Lying on the floor, she wailed loudly pulling the gun to her head.
Parker ran and kicked the gun from her hands and then knelt down to hold her. Joanie sobbed so hard it shook even him.
Onyx’s text message alert went off and she read the message.
“I’m sorry, Parker. I’m so sorry, but Cheyenne was wrong and right about me. I am weak and stupid, but I couldn’t kill her.”
“Kill whom?” he asked.
She looked up at him regretfully. “She was still alive when I left her, but she was dying on her own. She was hemorrhaging out.”
He practically dropped her to run out the house.
“Damn it!” Onyx said. “Go catch him before he gets his ass lost in the woods. Mandingo said he found tracks and was following them.”
** *
Charisse’s legs had finally given out and she stumbled in a deep snow bank. All around her was white. The baby fussed, but had stopped crying when she had put her finger in its mouth.
It was after she had put her finger in her mouth to clean it thoroughly, spitting out the nasty blood and fluid on it and then using the snow as an extra washing despite the cold.
There was no real determination to know how long she had walked, but it had to be a long way from the thick trees because now she was in a vast clearing and nothing was around her for about twenty to thirty feet. Even when she tried to get up, her legs would not budge. They were completely numb as was the rest of her body. It felt as if the one arm holding the baby was completely frozen around her body.
‘Dear God, I know I never prayed before but I know I’ve read the Bible once in my life and I know you protect children and fools. I’m begging you right now to come through and help my baby. I don’t care about myself. I just want my baby to live because it’s not fair he didn’t get a chance. Please Lord. Please.”
It was a sorrowful prayer, but she didn’t know whom else to turn to. Tucking her face all the way in her clothes until she could see the baby she marveled with the last of her weakening vision to see him. She wanted to remember this face before she died.
Her lips trembled as she spoke to him. “I-I’ll call you, J-Jonas. Jonas Sheridan Mills. You’ll be stronger than my d-daddy and me.” Her cold lips kissed his amazingly still warm cheek. He fussed a little at the cold and sucked more on the finger very content and very happy just to be near her.
“Don’t worry, Jonas,” she said trembling all over as the cold started to envelope her body. “God won’t let you die. He protects children and fools.”
He didn’t seem the least bit worried at all.
She couldn’t keep her eyes opened any longer and soon she fell in a deep sleep knowing that she wouldn’t see the light of day anymore, but at least she had gotten a chance to see her son and that would be the closest she would come to seeing Parker’s face.
She didn’t want to die, but she knew this day had to come soon. Her foolish selfish sins of the past had finally broken her down. Her body had taken its toll and her life was over with. The feeling of weightlessness gripped her, which was something different. She�
�s never felt that as she had died. Maybe dizziness or nausea, but never a feeling of being carried and she was so exhausted that she couldn't open her eyes.
No one could have found her that quickly.
Maybe the Lord had sent down an angel. 'My prayers worked Jonas. You'll be saved for sure!"
The thought of this made her very happy, so much that she was able to partially open her eyes and then grimaced.
'Were seraphims supposed to look so ugly?'
***
At the same time Parker was walking outside, the local sheriff department was puling up and after identifying himself he instructed them to get inside to receive more information from Onyx.
“Get inside Parker," Jaelen said. "It's a fucking blizzard and we found Joanie's car well over twenty miles away."
"Then I’ll get the pilot to take me out there again and look for Mandingo's tracks."
"It's already an inch of snow. By the time you get out there it's going to be several more inches and you'll be lost."
"Dammit Jaelen I love her! I want to be with her and I don't give a fuck about how you could care less about her and I don't care how she feels about me. If it takes the rest of my life I'm going to make her know three reasons to live - me and those two babies."
"Fine. I'll go get the pilot," Jaelen said with reluctance but with a glint of amusement in his cinnamon eyes.
Parker walked quickly to the helicopter and the pilot shortly followed, a little shaken up but able to get them up in the air as quickly as possible.
The pilot landed near the ditch where Joanie's car had fallen in. The Sheriff department was familiar with Parker and one of them called him over while they were looking in the car since they had just gotten it out of the ditch. From the mess in the backseat that looked very familiar to the mess on the couch, it looked as if Charisse had not stopped bleeding from the last birth and his heart lurched in pain.
"No woman could have lived through that. I wouldn't have wished that pain on my worst enemies," the sheriff commented.
His Substitute Wife... My Sister Book Two Page 25