“Billy—”
“I even took on an apprentice. I thought you’d appreciate the challenge, but it clearly was too much. You arrested him, but you never had a clue about me.”
Durango’s mind was racing. “You mean Dirk Francis?”
Billy’s smile widened. “He was a fan. He saw me watching that little boutique and told me that he’d stolen their mailing list. He offered it to me if I’d give him an autograph. I gave him more than that.”
He jerked at Gracie’s hair again for no apparent reason. She reached up and wrapped her hands around his wrist, trying to stop the pain. Billy kicked her in the side, causing her body to do a weird sideways move Durango knew had to have been excruciating. She looked over at him, a whimper slipping from between her lips.
“What are you doing, Billy? You’re going to leave bruises.”
Billy’s face lit up. “I am, aren’t I? Sorry about that.” He untangled his fingers from her hair and yanked her to her feet with a hand under her arm. “We should take her downstairs. It’ll be easier down there.”
He pushed her forward. Gracie stumbled, her eyes sharp on Durango’s. He crossed his arms over his chest, watching as Billy came toward him, that gun still trained directly on Gracie. If he body slammed him, it would go off. And he couldn’t be sure it wouldn’t hit her.
It wasn’t worth the chance.
They went downstairs together, Billy pushing Gracie on ahead of them. “We’ll go in the gold room,” he announced, something like glee in his voice. “That one has a nice big bed, the kind she used to like. It’s fitting.”
Durango knew he was talking about Bridgette. She did prefer large beds, the bigger, the better she always said with a little wink. Space to stretch out. Durango could remember more than one occasion when she invited him and Billy to sleep with her while Jackson was out of town. She’d said she didn’t like to be alone.
He shuddered a little at the memory. It hadn’t occurred to him just how wrong all that was until he was older and girls became a larger blip on his personal radar.
“I always imagined what it would be like when you joined me in my hobby, brother,” Billy said. “I wanted to tell you years ago, but you were so involved in your football and your girlfriends, I was afraid you wouldn’t understand. And then you became a cop, and I was so confused, not sure why you would do something like that. But then I realized that you were just learning how to catch someone like me so that you could be sure I wouldn’t be caught. It was a test, those girls in Chicago. And you passed . . . Until you arrested Dirk.”
“Is that why you went after Sarah?”
“I had to keep you occupied, brother. I couldn’t let you find the connection between me and Dirk until you were ready.”
“Until I was ready?”
“Ready to know the truth. I knew you would be eventually.”
“Am I ready now?”
“You brought this one to me, didn’t you?”
Gracie squealed as Billy struck her in the shoulder with the muzzle of the gun. Durango wanted to knock the shit out of him, but as long as he had that gun on her, his hands were tied.
Gracie paused outside the gold room without having to be told which it was or to wait for Billy to open the door. She looked at Durango, fear ripe in those beautiful eyes of hers. He started to shake his head, to give her some sort of signal, but Billy turned at the wrong moment.
“Go on,” he said, jerking the gun toward the door. “Take off your clothes.”
“Is that really necessary?” Durango asked in what he hoped was a disinterested tone.
“Yes.”
Gracie whimpered again, but she walked into the bedroom and slowly began to strip out of the thin blouse and jeans she was wearing. Once again, one of those sexy thongs barely covered her feminine mound; the strings were nearly invisible against her pale skin they were so thin. Billy wasn’t watching, one of a few things Durango could be happy for at that moment.
“What now? You going to strangle her right here in your house?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“What does that mean?”
Billy just laughed. “Do you really think those girls in Chicago are the only ones, Durango? Hell, that’s just the tip of the damn iceberg, as they say.”
“How many others?”
“Dozens. Every bitch who reminded me of Bridgette.”
“But Felicity didn’t look anything like her.”
“No. But her attitude. You didn’t really get to know her the way I did. The woman could be a real bitch when she wanted to be. Thought she could boss me around like I was a child. Hell, she was probably more like Bridgette than any of my other victims.”
“You were sleeping with her.”
“You were sleeping with Hyde. And this one.”
Gracie shivered as she stood in the middle of the room, her arms crossed over her chest. She still wore her bra and panties, but Billy didn’t seem to notice.
“How do you know?”
Billy laughed. “You really are clueless, brother. I know everything about you. I’ve always known everything about you!”
“I never told you about Hyde.”
“You were accused of raping her!”
“But I never discussed that with you.”
Billy shook his head slowly like he was feeling sorry for someone who was particularly slow when it came to mental comprehension. “You didn’t need to. I had bugs in your house. I put one on Hyde, too. It’s easier than you might think.”
“Bugs?”
“Listening devices. Video and sound. Who do you think slipped that story to the internet magazine about you and Jackson? It wasn’t Hyde.”
Durango tensed, remembering the argument he and Donna Hyde were having the night she was murdered. The night he was so rough with her that the police were convinced she’d been raped.
“I heard this one telling you to get over yourself, too. That was pretty entertaining.” Billy walked over and rested a hand on Durango’s shoulder. “You’re my brother. What would it say if I didn’t keep tabs on you, especially when you were having such a hard time? After Kyle died, I thought you were going to sink into a depression you weren’t going to be able to pull yourself out of. But then that detective came on to you, and you were feeling better. But I couldn’t let her take all the credit for it, especially when she was the one trying to prove you’d killed Kyle.” He sighed heavily. “And then this one told you how you were your own worst enemy, and you stopped drinking, stopped going to the bars. I thought, good. You’ll figure it all out now. And you did.”
“Why would you do this, Billy? What did I ever do to you?”
Billy shook his head, a sad look on his face. “You didn’t do anything. You were the perfect brother, teaching me to read, helping me with girls. If not for you, I never would have gotten into acting, never would have had the life I have. You were the best brother ever.”
“Then why?”
He sighed. “I wanted your attention. You met Sarah, and you stopped having time for me. And then . . . Well, you know.”
“No, I don’t.”
Billy turned, eyeing Gracie in a way that would have pissed Durango off under the best of circumstance. But at this moment? It took all the strength he had not to take his top off.
“Jackson was always comparing me to you. Why couldn’t I be more like Durango? Why couldn’t I get good grades like Durango? Why couldn’t I stop fighting and be a good person, like Durango? And her . . .”
“Bridgette?”
“She liked you. She always wanted you to sleep in her bed, always gave you hugs, always wanted to be close to you. When we moved in with you and Jackson, she stopped wanting me. She wanted you.” He sighed again. “Not that it was your fault. She was the one with the problems. But . . . it wasn’t fair.”
“I’m sorry, Billy.”
He turned, his eyes wide as saucers. “No, Durango, don’t do that. You don’t have to apologize! You’re my brother!”
“I am. And I love you, Billy.”
“I know. I’ve always known that. That’s why I want to share this with you. Once you take your first life, you’ll understand how important this is to me. You’ll understand where I’m coming from.” Billy approached him, his arms outstretched. “I took everything from you so that you wouldn’t have an excuse not to do this with me. I want us to be together for the rest of our lives. Dependent on one another. And now that you’re running from the police, you’ll have no choice but to let me help you.”
And then he turned, aimed, and fired at Gracie. Durango cried out, imagining her body crumpled, lifeless on the floor. But she wasn’t there.
“What the fuck?” Billy muttered.
Durango caught a flash out of the corner of his eye, her bare body running through the door. Billy saw it, too, turning to give chase. Durango stuck out a foot and tripped him before running after her. He caught up to her on the stairs, barely reaching her in time to shield her body from a bullet that missed him by inches, slamming into the wall instead.
“Don’t do this, brother!” Billy screamed.
Durango pushed Gracie forward. “Run!”
She pulled away, but Durango stopped, turning with his hands raised. He heard a gasp from Gracie, but then the sound of the backdoor slamming calmed his heart.
He wasn’t going to lose anyone else he cared about.
“Why did you do that?” Billy demanded.
“Because she wasn’t right. She wasn’t anything like Bridgette.” Durango began to walk slowly up the stairs. “She would have broken your pattern. You don’t want to do that, do you?”
Billy smiled softly. “Thank you, brother.”
“What’s family for if not to protect each other?”
Chapter 19
Somewhere in Los Angeles
Gracie ran as fast as she could, her skin prickling with the fear that a bullet would soon smash through it. When she reached the fence at the back of the property, she managed to vault it before landing painfully on the hard concrete of the alley. She wasn’t quite sure what to do next. She was a woman in her underwear standing in the middle of an alley in Beverly Hills. Knocking on doors probably wouldn’t be a good idea, but waving down a car would either get her raped or arrested.
Durango was still in that house, still trapped with that psychopath. She had to get help.
She looked around, walking slowly down the alley with her arms wrapped around her body, wishing for the first time that she hadn’t developed a preference for thong underwear. Her ears strained to hear gun fire, her heart convinced that Billy would just shoot Durango and come after her. He was insane, his actions unpredictable. But then she soothed her fears with the idea that shooting Durango was a predictable behavior. Perhaps, with that argument, he would be safe.
At the end of the alley, she came to a side street that dead ended half a block down. She turned that way because there was a dark sedan parked in the dirt patch behind the last house on the block. Maybe someone would have left the keys in it. Her luck was never that good, but she could always hope. Nothing wrong with wishful thinking.
She approached the car cautiously, making sure it was unoccupied. Much to her surprise, she discovered it was. And then her heart sank.
There were two men in the car. Both had a single bullet hole to the forehead.
He must have caught them by surprise and then moved the car himself. The driver’s seat was empty, the seat pushed back far enough to accommodate a tall man. Just like Billy.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered as she leaned in and searched the passenger’s jacket pockets for a cell phone. Now she knew why there hadn’t been cops posted on Billy’s house. She wondered why someone hadn’t come to see why these guys weren’t checking in. Didn’t someone miss them?
There was no phone on this guy. The one in the back, though, had car keys in his pocket. Not to this car, but it suggested he might have another car nearby. And his jacket was hanging over the back of the seat. She slipped it out, pulled it on. At least she’d get fewer odd looks walking around like this. Wasn’t this a fashion statement a few years ago?
As she suspected, none of the keys on this ring fit this car. Billy had probably taken the keys with him, just like he must have taken their cell phones. There was no radio, either, nothing she could use to call for help. The whole thing was damn useless. They didn’t even have guns.
She turned and ran back up the street, fear allowing her to ignore the pain on her feet. She didn’t go barefoot often anymore. Her feet no longer had the calluses that had allowed her to run wild without her shoes when she was a kid. She ran over rocks and burning asphalt, her only thought on Durango and his last word to her. Run. She thought he was right behind her, but then saw him turn and raise his hands in surrender. He’d stayed behind, but only after he made sure she was safe. What did that mean? Why would he do that?
He wanted to believe his brother was a good man, but Billy stole that from him with the things he’d said up in that bedroom. There couldn’t be any doubt left for Durango that Billy was the one who’d ruined his life, who’d taken Sarah from him. What would he do with that information? Would he try to help his brother, the man he wanted to believe was good deep down inside? Or would he punish him for the crimes that had ruined Durango’s career, that had taken his true love from him?
She wasn’t sure. But she couldn’t let him do something he couldn’t live with.
Gracie ran to the busier street in front of Billy’s house. The street was quiet this late, weekday morning. Almost everyone was at work or at home asleep. A few people were out, cars rushing by too fast for the posted speed limit. No one was interested in stopping for a woman dressed in a man’s suit coat. But she didn’t want them to stop. She was more interested in the car that went with the keys she’d found on that cop.
She pressed the button each time she came to a parked car, the button that would unlock the doors and flash the lights. It took four tries, but she finally found it.
“Didn’t think of that, did you, Billy?”
She climbed behind the wheel of a small SUV and began searching. If Billy didn’t know about this car, he wouldn’t have taken a backup weapon that might be hidden in the glove box, or a burner phone that a cop would use to call his mistress. She didn’t find a phone, but she found a gun.
Progress.
She ejected the clip and was counting the rounds when Billy’s gate opened. A Mercedes, a late-model sedan, pulled through. She just barely caught sight of Durango behind the wheel before she ducked down, moving out of sight so that they wouldn’t see her.
Where were they going?
Her life for a fucking cell phone!
She started the car, her only choice to follow. She couldn’t allow Durango out of her sight. What if he said the wrong thing and Billy lost his temper? She couldn’t let that happen. She’d brought him this far, she couldn’t lose him now.
She needed to end this. Now. Here. Today.
Chapter 20
Los Angeles, California
“If we can’t initiate you into the club with that one, we should find another.”
Durango nodded. “Sure. We could find another girl somewhere.”
“I already know one. She hangs out at Jackson’s all the time, this blond with the same blue eyes Momma had. Her name’s Cindy. She’s been on my list for a while now.”
“Cindy?”
“He didn’t tell you? He’s been seeing her for over a year now.”
Durango shook his head. “You know I don’t talk to Jackson unless I have to.”
Billy smiled, that old charm back. “Some things never change.”
He turned and headed back up the stairs, acting as if he hadn’t just tried to kill someone. There was even something of a bounce in his step.
“How did you know we were here? Jackson said you were in Chicago.”
“I was. But I came back after Felicity. I heard you were arrested for that. I
didn’t think they’d work that quickly just off a glass with a few fingerprints on it. But that Petrovich sure had a hard on for you!”
“A glass?”
“You remember the night you went by to talk to Felicity about Cillian? She poured you a drink, and you left it on the table. After I heard what she said to you, that whole line about you being better at figuring out the plot of a reality show than me, I knew I was going to do away with her, too. So, I bagged the glass and put it away for the right moment.”
“Those are the prints they found?”
“Yeah. Why do you think I was so surprised?” Billy shook his head. “They were all so eager to believe it was you that it didn’t take much to nudge them in that direction.”
Billy stepped into the small bedroom where he slept and grabbed a light jacket out of the closet. He slipped it on, tucking the gun into a deep pocket.
“Ready?”
Durango knew he could take him out now. But he needed to know more. He needed to know what he’d done to Sarah and why. He needed to know what happened in Kyle’s apartment that night. He needed to know why he had to kill Hyde, why he felt the drive to hurt these women who were so close to Durango. He needed details.
He still couldn’t wrap his mind around all of this.
They went down to the garage and climbed into Billy’s new Mercedes. He told Durango to drive, and he didn’t argue. Billy flipped on the radio and sang along with the music as they crossed the few miles between his house and Jackson’s like it was just an ordinary afternoon.
“Sarah loved you.”
Billy sighed heavily. “She loved you. She tolerated me.”
“You were the only one I trusted with her, the only one of you and Jackson I introduced her to.”
“Would you have introduced her to me if I hadn’t met her first that night?” Billy shook his head, answering for him. “You wouldn’t have. You never introduced your girlfriends to me.”
“I introduced Jody Simpson to you.”
Billy nodded slowly. “You did. But she never spoke to you again after that school dance.”
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