Hit List

by Darcia Helle

  Graham attempted to spit on Vinnie but Vinnie was quicker with the towel. He stuffed it back in Graham’s mouth, wedging it tighter than necessary. “Barbaric,” he said. Then he dragged the chair with Graham on it into the far corner of the kitchen, away from the windows and doors. He said, “He’s staying right there.”

  “You’re going to leave him tied up like that?” Lucianna asked.

  Vinnie gave her a look. She lifted her brows but neither she nor Ian said anything further.

  ***

  Lucianna, Vinnie, and Ian waited in silence for what felt like hours but amounted to about five minutes. Vinnie’s phone rang and he snatched it quickly. “Talk,” he said.

  Vinnie listened, frowning, then said, “Do your best to keep from being seen. And watch yourself. She is apparently a good shot.”

  “What is it?” Lucianna asked.

  “Teddy found Sara’s car in the parking lot of a convenience store a few blocks from here. She was not inside or anywhere to be seen. Teddy inquired and was told by one of the employees that, while out back taking a cigarette break, he’d seen a blonde girl taking off into the woods behind the store.”

  “Shit!” Ian said. He ran his hands through his hair, bounced on his toes. “Those woods lead right to my backyard.”

  “We’re aware of that,” Vinnie said.

  “Sara knew she was being watched?” Lucianna asked.

  “Possibly, though not by us,” Vinnie replied. “Teddy is invisible when he wishes to be. I tend to believe she is just the paranoid sort. Distributing your hit list to all those included may give one reason to be cautious.”

  He dialed a number while saying, “Turn the lights off. And, Lucianna, you may want your gun my dear.”

  Lucianna groaned, muttered, “I hate that damn thing,” and went to retrieve it from her coat pocket.

  Vinnie got Jack on the phone and filled him in, telling him to be cautious and that the girl would most likely approach from the back. He said, “I want you to concentrate on the house more than anything. We’ll handle the girl. What I want most from you is to ensure that the McCormick woman is safe.”

  Ian smiled at that, felt a trust he hadn’t had before and hadn’t expected. Lucianna returned, gun in hand, and said, “I let Ben know that Sara’s on her way here.”

  Graham wiggled and squirmed. Muffled groans came from beneath the dishtowel. They all ignored him.

  Ian said, “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared down the hall.

  Vinnie said, “You watch yourself.” He gave Lucianna a stern look and kissed her cheek. Then, “I’ll cover the back here. Watch the front for me, in case she chooses that route.”

  Ian was suddenly at Lucianna’s side as she made her way toward the front windows, sticking close to the wall. She said, “Go back with your mom, Ian. Keep her safe.”

  “Ben and Greg are in there,” Ian said. “I know this is your job. But I’m sure as hell not about to sit back and watch.”

  “There’s nothing you can do,” Lucianna said. “You don’t have a weapon and this could get dangerous.”

  Ian held up a 9mm. “I keep this locked in a safe in my closet. I used to target shoot a lot.”

  Lucianna held his eyes for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. But please be careful. Don’t use that unless you absolutely have to.”

  He kissed her softly on the lips. “You be careful too,” he said.

  Chapter 60

  Glass shattered in the back of the house. Lucianna sprinted toward the sound, Ian right behind her. She made it into the kitchen in time to see Vinnie running out the French doors, instantly swallowed by the darkness. A man lay in a heap on the floor, surrounded by broken glass. He moaned, lifting himself out of the mess, and turned to face them.

  “Dad?” Ian said.

  Cameron brushed bits of glass from his clothes. Blood dripped from a gash on his cheek. He said, “Hello Ian. Hell of a way to get reacquainted.”

  Lucianna edged toward the door. Her uncle had disappeared into the woods. She said, “What happened?”

  “Sara was trying to get in,” Cameron said. “I grabbed her and we both wound up coming through the window.”

  Lucianna flew out the door, doing her best to follow the sounds in the woods. Jack came across the yard and raced past her. The moonlight offered enough of a glow for her to follow the shadows. The pop of a gunshot was followed by a high-pitched female screech. Lucianna pumped her legs harder and wished she’d taken up jogging rather than yoga.

  A minute later she came upon the scene. Vinnie was leaning against a tree, breathing heavy but otherwise fine. Teddy was lifting Sara off the ground. She was fighting him, doing her best to bite and kick. She grabbed his tie, yanked it hard. He squeezed her wrist. She yelped and let go.

  While Teddy continued struggling to contain Sara without hurting her, Jack was on the ground with his knee lodged against a man’s throat. Lucianna stepped closer. She said, “Sam?”

  Sam gasped. Jack looked up and said, “You know him?”

  “Yes. They were together?”

  “He just sort of appeared,” Jack said. He lifted his knee, moved off to the side enough to allow Sam to speak.

  Vinnie said, “He was chasing the girl. I passed him on the path.”

  Sam gave Lucianna a sheepish smile. His voice was like sandpaper when he said, “I’m not cut out for this kinda stuff.”

  “You came with Cameron?” Lucianna asked.

  “Yeah,” Sam replied. “He okay?”

  “He’s cut but fine.” To Jack, Lucianna said, “You can let him up. He’s on our side. I think.”

  Jack looked to Vinnie, who offered a faint smile, then he stood up and offered Sam a hand. Teddy continued to struggle with Sara. He now had her pinned to the ground in an almost gentle fashion. She wiggled and squirmed and thrashed her head from side to side in an attempt to bite his hands.

  Teddy turned his attention over to them, said, “Oh my.”

  “Yes,” Vinnie said. “I suppose we should help.”

  “You gentlemen having yourselves a good time over there?” Teddy called.

  Jack pulled a pair of handcuffs from his belt. He knelt beside them and said, “This is a predicament, isn’t it?”

  Sara turned to Jack, said, “You son of a bitch!” and spit at him.

  “Yes,” Teddy said. “A predicament it is.”

  Vinnie removed his tie, squatted by her feet and pulled them together. To Jack he said, “Hold her legs down for me, please.”

  As Vinnie tied Sara’s feet together, Teddy said, “I had her. None of this should have happened. I was about to grab her when some maniac sneaks up behind me and knocks me in the head with a baseball bat. A baseball bat! I mean, honestly. Was that necessary?”

  “I’m afraid I am that maniac,” Cameron said.

  He and Ian jogged over. Ian went straight to Lucianna and pulled her into his arms. “You’re okay?” he said.

  “I’m fine,” Lucianna said.

  “We heard a gunshot,” Ian said. He glanced around. “Everyone’s all right?”

  “That was Sara,” Vinnie said. He finished tying Sara’s feet together with his necktie. “Her gun discharged when I tackled her.”

  Teddy forced Sara onto her stomach and Jack snapped the cuffs on her wrists. She yelled, “You all suck!”

  Cameron stared down at her, his eyes filling up with tears. Blood oozed down his cheek and dripped off his chin. He took a step toward her, then changed his mind and shuffled in place.

  Teddy looked Cameron up and down. “So who are you?”

  Cameron’s lips twitched. “Cameron McCormick.”

  Teddy nodded. “Ahh. So, Cameron, why did you feel the need to slam my head with a baseball bat?”

  Cameron touched his cheek. The blood smeared into a red blotch. He said, “Sorry about that. I didn’t know you were here to help Corinne.”

  “Fucking evil bastard!” Sara screamed. “This is all your fault!”

  Cameron
glanced her way, then moved to lean against a tree. He turned his back to them and retching noises soon followed.

  Lucianna said, “We should get back to the house.”

  Ian darted a glance in Sara’s direction. He said, “What are we going to do with her?”

  Vinnie patted Ian on the back as he walked past. “Let’s go,” he said. “We’ve still got work to do.”

  Teddy picked Sara up. She squirmed and protested as he flung her over his shoulder and carried her along the path.

  Chapter 61

  Corinne stood on the deck with the others, waiting. They had heard only the one gunshot. Then silence. Too much silence.

  Holly had been huddled in the far corner, all by herself, since they’d come outside. She refused to speak to anyone. Wouldn’t even look up when they spoke to her. Even Greg had tried but she had brushed him away.

  Corinne acknowledged a small amount of sympathy for Holly. Yet Holly had done her part to create this mess they were in and it was hard to feel too badly for someone like that. What was the saying? You reap what you sow.

  Ben and Greg were speaking quietly. And the other man remained in the kitchen, tied in the chair with the towel stuffed in his mouth. She continued to stare off into the woods, willing them to come home safely.

  Strange to remember so much at once. Like a floodgate had opened on her memories. Now she felt weak, mentally incapable, because she hadn’t been able to deal with it all before. Greg had told her that wasn’t so. He’d told her a lot of things, like how strong she really was and how her mind had done what it needed to in order to cope at the time. She appreciated the effort. But she still felt weak. If she’d been able to deal with the information from the start…

  She couldn’t think about that. Couldn’t consider what might be happening out there in the darkness. Instead she thought of Ian, of all he must have been through and done for her during these past few months. She found herself smiling, realizing that her relationship with Cameron had been worth all the hardships. After all, he had given her an amazing son.

  Greg’s hand rested lightly on Corinne’s back. He followed her gaze out to the woods and said, “They’re okay. They’ll be back soon.”

  She nodded, watched the trees move with the wind, and prayed that he was right.

  ***

  Ian held Lucianna’s hand as they picked their way through the trees. His father walked behind them, along with Sam. The two spoke quietly but Ian couldn’t make out the words. He had yet to process the fact that his father was here with him. For now he chose not to allow his thoughts to linger there.

  Teddy moved along ahead of them with Sara dangling over his shoulder. She wiggled and spouted her hatred of them and the world. Teddy stopped, set her on the ground, and said, “That is it, young lady. If you try and bite my shoulder one more time, I will be forced to remove your teeth.”

  She stared at him defiantly, teetering on feet that were bound together. Jack turned and said, “Do you need assistance?”

  Teddy picked Sara up, grunted a no, and they all moved forward again.

  Keeping his voice low, Ian said to Lucianna, “What’s going to happen to her now?”

  “I don’t know,” Lucianna said. “She killed some people. In my opinion, she did the world a favor getting rid of them. Still…”

  “We need to call the police.”

  “We should. But then there’s the little problem of a detective we have tied up in your kitchen. And the other one. Sterling.”

  “Yeah,” Ian said on a sigh. “What do we do about them?”

  “I’m not sure yet. We have no evidence that Graham did anything wrong. And if we turn Ben in, which we should, his daughter will be in for a lot of hurt along the way.”

  “Not a good scenario.”

  “No,” Lucianna agreed. “It’s not.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “We keep walking. And we figure it out along the way.”

  ***

  Corinne ran down the back steps and wrapped her arms around Ian. “Thank God you’re okay,” she said.

  “We’re all fine,” Ian said.

  Corinne turned her attention to Lucianna, pulling her into an embrace. “Thank you,” she said. “For everything you’ve done. You’re amazing.”

  Lucianna returned the hug, feeling her eyes well up but blinking the tears away before they could spill over. Corinne stepped back and cast a glance at Teddy as he carried Sara up the steps to the deck. “Poor girl,” she said.

  They all moved onto the deck. Lucianna realized that she was shivering. Most of them were not wearing coats and the temperature had dropped to around thirty-five degrees. Ian said, “Let’s get inside.”

  Holly remained in the corner of the deck, huddled up, not looking at anyone. Lucianna motioned in her direction. “Shouldn’t we do something?” she said.

  Ian shrugged. “Let her stay there if she wants.”

  “Ian…”

  Cameron stepped beside them. “Maybe I should talk to her?” he said. “I don’t know if that would make things worse. I’d like to try, though.”

  Ian turned away. His jaw muscles clenched tight with the tension. Lucianna turned to Cameron and said, “Go ahead and try.”

  Lucianna followed Ian inside. Teddy slid a chair away from the pile of broken glass and set Sara down. She slumped, wiggled, pulled at the cuffs on her wrists.

  Ian frowned at the mess and the rush of cold air pouring in from the broken window. “We should go in the living room,” he said. “I need to board that up.”

  Sara turned, looked past Ian. Her mouth formed a smile while her eyes narrowed. The effect was that of a vulture finding its prey. “Hello Peter,” she said. “I see they’ve got you all tied up too.”

  Graham’s eyes gleamed with a cold hatred. Lucianna said, “You know him?”

  Sara made a sort of snorting noise. “Peter helped educate me.”

  “Care to explain that?” Lucianna said.

  Sara wiggled, leaned forward, stared hard at Graham. “Peter. I never found out his last name. Didn’t know anything about him. Otherwise he’d have been right at the top of my hit list.”

  Lucianna squatted by Sara. “Why is that, Sara?” she asked.

  Sara laughed. The sound held no humor. “Roger Chapman, my daddy, gave me lots of, shall we say, exposure to stuff when I was young. All sorts of porn. Oh he was a gem. But he couldn’t get it up for a kid.” She laughed again, an empty sound. “So Peter here, he became my teacher. Took my virginity. Acted like he was doing me a favor. Taught me to fuck. Taught me how to please a man. Got me all ready for the endless stream of guys that paraded through my bedroom till I got the chance to run.”

  No one said a word. Cameron had stepped inside. He stood in the doorway, his face slick with sweat. His jaw hung open, his eyes didn’t blink.

  Sara shook her head, moving her long blonde hair out of her eyes. “Peter did it for a few other girls, too,” she said. “My so-called sisters. He also taught us how to put on a show. He said we’d know when we did it right when we could make him cum just by watching us.” Another hollow laugh. “Lots of practice sessions. Took us a few weeks but we got it right.” She winked at Graham. “Ain’t that so, Peter?”

  Jack had moved close to Graham. His fingers flexed in and out of tight fists. Ben stared at his partner, his face fixed in an expression of horror. Time did that funny trick when everything slows to a crawl and you think you should be able to react but you can’t. From the deck, just outside the broken window, Holly began screaming. Her eyes were fixed on Graham. Her body shook. Teddy and Vinnie stepped forward, moving toward Graham. Jack’s fists tightened, he turned, took a step closer.

  Corinne moved toward Sara, tears streaming down her face. Greg stepped beside her, a psychiatrist’s mask keeping his emotions from bubbling over. Sam moved backward, covered his mouth and closed his eyes. Lucianna turned, found Ian in forward motion toward Graham, his eyes blazing with fury. She saw it all while
time eased to a standstill.

  Then the shot echoed and time sped up. Two more shots. Sounding like firecrackers. Pop-pop. A red splotch on Graham’s chest. Blood seeping in a circle. Another splotch on his shoulder, pushing him backward. He teetered in the chair. One more shot, dead center of his forehead, splattering red chunks against the wall behind him like a gruesome abstract painting.

  Chapter 62

  Cameron let the gun fall to the floor. It clattered, rocked, finally stilled. Holly had stopped screaming. No sound, no movement. Then suddenly a wholehearted laugh from Sara. “Way to go, daddy!” she exclaimed.

  Cameron turned and fled across the deck, bent over the railing, and vomited. Jack said, “I would have broken his neck. Much easier on the clean-up.”

  Greg ushered Corinne out of the room. He motioned to Sara, “We should bring her to the living room.”

  Teddy nodded, bent and lifted her, chair and all. Greg stepped out on the deck and called to Holly. He returned with her leaning against him, pale and shaking, and he led her into the living room to sit by the fire.

  Cameron reappeared and said, “You can call the cops now. I’m ready to go.”

  “Well,” Vinnie said. He looked from Cameron to Graham’s splattered brains. “I suppose we should do that.”

  With a shaky voice, Ben said, “I’ll take care of it. I have my own redemption coming.” He reached for the phone on the wall.

  Lucianna said, “Ben, wait.” She looked at Graham, shivered, looked away. “Okay, so you were a real shit. You know that. But I don’t think you’re that same person.”

  Ben shook his head, muttered, “No. I’m not.”

  “And most of all,” Lucianna said, “your daughter shouldn’t suffer for this mess. Graham’s dead, so you don’t have to worry about him. The only other people that know Sara has a twin are the bunch of us. If Cameron and Holly are willing to keep that to themselves, I think it would be best for everyone. I especially don’t think that Sara should know.”