by Liliana Hart
“Shelly?” Coil asked.
“Yes,” Hank replied.
“Drop it by three or you and she are dead,” Tony ordered.
Hank looked around but saw no choice. He wondered if the bulletproof vest would stop the .45 from close range.
“One…two…”
Hank saw Shelly’s eyes cut to the counter as her bare feet touched the floor.
“Okay,” Hank said. “Dropping my gun.” He said it loudly so Coil and Whitehorse would be aware.
Smith pointed the pistol at Hank, but at least it was no longer pointed at Shelly.
“I never said I wouldn’t shoot you if you dropped it,” Tony snarled.
Quick as a cat, Shelly went dead weight and dropped from Tony’s grasp. She dipped down and spun to the left, and yanked a large knife out of the knife block as she continued her momentum from left to right. As her body came to face the back of Tony, she thrust the knife into him with such force that he dropped his weapon in surprise. It was the same look he died with.
“Wow,” Hank said, “that was impressive.”
She stared at him in shock for a few seconds before she said, “Cop’s wife.”
Coil and Whitehorse pounded down the stairs, and Coil took his wife in his arms, leading her into the living room.
Whitehorse moved out front to greet the arriving officers.
“Holy cow,” Agatha said. “That was amazing.”
Hank turned around and she was looking through the big kitchen window that had been shot to smithereens.
“I thought you promised to stay in the truck?” Hank asked, grinning, but the motion split his lip again and he swore.
“Then I wouldn’t have gotten to see Shelly save the day. She’s definitely going into a book.”
He pulled her close and rested his head on her shoulder.
“Would it hurt too much if I kiss you now?” she asked.
“Probably,” he said, looking at her. “But I don’t mind.”
Agatha found a bruise free place near the corner of his mouth and kissed him softly.
Epilogue
It was a little cloudy, but the forecast called for clearing skies and a sunny afternoon. Rusty Gun was slowly tearing down the remnants of the St. Patrick’s Day parade that went through town the Sunday before. The parade had gone from one end of Main Street to the other and had lasted about fifteen minutes.
Deputy Karl Johnson had helped the town officials with the parade so Coil could stick close to his family. Most of the folks were still unaware of what really went down at Coil’s house, but respected Coil enough to give him and his family their privacy with whatever they were dealing with.
It was Wednesday afternoon, and it was the first time Coil had left his wife and son to visit the sheriff’s office since the incident. Hank was more than happy to grab Agatha to meet him for lunch. Of course, that also gave Hank a chance to show off his new motorcycle skills.
Hank pulled his Harley up to the front of the Bell County Sheriff’s Office building. Agatha waited on the rear saddle until he backed the bike into one of the four parking spaces. Coil stood watching them maneuver the big bike with a smile.
“Looking good on that thing, Hank.”
“Thanks. You know you’re supposed to walk these things backward into a parking spot.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep, that’s what Sully said. Oh, and by the way, he’s doing much better and said to tell you hello.”
Agatha climbed down, “He’s really a sweet old pirate. Except that he won’t stop staring at my boobs.”
“Well, he is an outlaw after all,” Coil said. “Y’all feel like grabbing lunch at the Café?”
“Naw, I’m trying to avoid Penny,” Agatha said. “She’s really giving me the creeps lately. And I can’t say I trust her to serve me food at this point. She’s always in my business a little too much.”
“You’re the famous author, A.C. Riddle. You’re supposed to be pursued by adoring fans,” Hank said.
“That’s the thing. A.C. Riddle is famous. Agatha Harley is not. Penny’s just a little too knowledgeable about me.”
“Can we do the Taco and Waffle instead? My treat.”
Coil and Hank agreed immediately.
As usual, the Café owned the lunchtime crowd, so the Taco and Waffle made for a quiet place to eat and talk. They all knew there was a serious conversation that needed to be had. Coil’s drama at home and his wife’s saving Hank didn’t erase the cloud of suspicion the sheriff had embroiled for himself. His friends deserved nothing less than the truth.
Coil sat his hat on the wooden bench seat next to him. His usually bright green eyes were dull with purple circles beneath them. He still managed to smile, but Hank saw the pain just below the surface. Coil was suffering and Hank knew there were big, life changing decisions to be made. He could only hope the man he knew would make the right ones.
“I guess I might as well cut to the chase,” Coil said. “Tony was obsessed with finding the treasure. It’s why he accepted the undercover assignment. Prior to my becoming a member of the Rattlers as part of my undercover role, I’d never heard of the legend. So Tony had a motive and he had a patsy in me because I was naïve and only wanted to bust bad guys.
“But as we got deeper into the club’s culture, Tony changed. He became Axel, and gathering evidence against the Rattlers to bust them became secondary to him. He was determined to do whatever it took to get that gold. That screwed me because I was stuck basically running without a partner to back me up.
“He started messing around with Shondra Houston, the chapter president’s old lady. Beau was supposed to be the only one who knew where the gold was located. When Beau became suspicious of his wife’s cheating with Tony, he decided to relocate the treasure. That’s when Tony encouraged Shondra to follow him and find out where he hid it. She was supposed to kill him so she and Tony would be together.”
Coil stopped as the waiter approached and they ordered.
“Then what happened?” Agatha asked.
“Well, Shondra did kill him, but she didn’t see the gold when Beau fell backward on it. Beau was what we called back then, a very big boy. That didn’t set well with Tony when she not only failed to find the gold, but also couldn’t remember where she’d shot Beau. Tony tortured her to death. He made it look like a rival gang killing, so most of the Rattlers looked to him for leadership and retaliation. It was a bloody period.”
“Is that when you were ambushed?” Hank asked.
“I thought for all of these years it was a random attack because I was flying the club’s colors, but Tony confessed the last time I spoke with him that it was actually a hit that he’d ordered on me.”
“I’m sorry, buddy,” Hank said.
“I thought he’d stood by me through all these years, when what he was actually doing was making sure I didn’t point the finger back at him. I truly believe if he’d had a chance to take me out in the hospital that he would have. My only saving grace was that Whitehorse, who was also running deep undercover ops, never left my side. He suspected Tony, but couldn’t get close enough to nail him.”
The waiter returned with drinks and their lunch specials.
“You okay, Coil?” Agatha asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine, thanks. This is too many years too late. Don’t know why I’m still getting choked up over it.” He tried to laugh.
“Because you were betrayed by someone you trusted. That hurts no matter how much time has passed,” she explained.
“I guess you’re right. Well, since Tony couldn’t kill me, he decided to silence me by sharing just enough detail to involve me in his crimes. If I stayed silent, I was complicit in what he’d done. If I reported him, I looked foolish because I didn’t know who was killed or even where their bodies were. Either way, I was screwed.
So once my boy, Cody, unearthed Beau, I knew the past was going to collide with the present. And that meant facing my ghosts and Tony. I’m sorry I could
n’t tell you from the start, but there were so many angles being played and others involved that I’d just learned were threats, like Bud Skinner. That’s how powerful the Rattlers are, and why I tried to shield y’all from everything. I figured Tony would get me sooner or later, but at least he would only get me, and not y’all.”
“So what are you going to do now?” Hank asked.
Coil pushed his food around the plate with a fork, and barely sipped his tea. His heavy sighs showed Hank that his friend was in distress over the decisions he had to make.
“I’ve already contacted the Texas Historic Society. They’re making plans to reclaim the gold from my office, and will set up an excavation project to search for more gold where Beau was found. There’s still so much more buried around the state. The big bar I showed y’all came from somewhere completely different than that mosh pit, but old Diego ain’t giving up secrets from the grave. I suspect Tony killed him too.”
“What’s next?” Agatha prodded.
“I had my attorney contact the state’s law enforcement ethics commission to brief them on everything that went down. I’ve agreed to testify, and accept any punishment or recommendations they hand down. Even if it means vacating my position as Sheriff of Bell County.”
Hank could feel Coil’s pain. He was a great sheriff and beloved by most of the folks in the county. It’d be a shame to see him resign, but those were the consequences for actions he took long ago.
“I’m proud of you,” Hank said. “I just wish you’d trusted us earlier to tell us what was going on.” Hank squeezed Coil’s shoulder.
“It wasn’t about trust or not. I wanted to protect y’all and I wasn’t sure how to do it. Oh, and officially, neither of you were ever assigned the case with Beau.”
Hank’s head popped up from his forkful of salad, “What do you mean by that?”
“Law enforcement officials in the course of their duties are not eligible for rewards offered for recovery of property or information leading to an arrest.”
“And?’ Agatha asked with suspicion.
“And y’all are entitled to a reward for recovering that treasure. The State of Texas will proudly chip off some change for what that gold is worth,” Coil said.
Hank shook his head. “No way can we accept that money. I wouldn’t feel right about it.”
“Me neither. Thanks, but we’ll have to decline,” Agatha said.
“Think of it this way, Hank. You’ll never have to work for boss lady again. No more telling you what to do and how to do it.”
“The man does have a point.”
“Now, Henry Davidson, you know darn well you enjoy me telling you what to do,” Agatha said, teasing.
“Oh really? When?” Hank sat up in protest.
“Like when I tell you to kiss me.”
“Sorry, Coil. The boss lady has a point.”
“Maybe y’all can start a non-profit for victims of crime, or stalking survivors,” Coil said on a more serious note.
Agatha’s expression shifted. “Why would you say that, Coil?”
“Agatha, I’ve done this job a long time. I know what happened to you. And while I’m so sorry it did happen, I’m proud to see how you chose to not allow it to define you.”
Agatha nodded soberly. “That’s a good idea. Let’s do it.”
“And no matter what the state’s ethics commission determines,” Hank said, putting his hand on Coil’s arm. “We are and always will be here for you.”
“Friends,” Agatha said, placing her hand on top of Hank’s. “Now let’s eat. I’m starving.”
Sneak Peek Book 5
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“You know Hank, that scar across your nose really looks cool. Gives you some character?”
“You saying I had no character prior to that outlaw biker clocking me in the face with a sawed-off shotgun?” He sat up from Agatha’s couch.
“Oh, no, honey,” Agatha pet his shoulder, “You’re a real character.”
They chuckled and eased back to enjoy the rhythm of an April afternoon shower. Agatha pulled her socked feet onto the couch and tucked them beneath her. Hank stretched his long legs across the refurbished wooden floor until his feet rested beneath the glass coffee table.
“Hey, Aggie, you doing okay with everything that went down last month with the Lone Star Rattlers?”
“My heart says yes, but my head still gets trapped in the reality of seeing violence and death meted out so effortlessly. I guess writing about it and even witnessing the end results of it, have given me a hard edge, but actually being in the middle of it, is a whole other issue.”
“I can understand that. The differences between theory and reality.” Hank added.
Agatha twisted her torso so it directly faced him. She set both hands on his thigh. A slight whiff of an anxious exhale preceded her words. Agatha felt the heaviness in her chest and still debated whether to bring up something that was chewing away at her.
“Yes, Aggie? What’s bothering you?”
“I have to be honest.” She bit at her bottom lip.
It wasn’t like Agatha to whimper or hesitate speaking her head or her heart. She’d not slept since it began, and unless she wanted to spend the next year a complete zombie, she needed to open up to Hank about her struggles.
Hank offered a nervous smile, “Being honest is a good start.”
“I’m having a lot of trouble with the idea of us.” She blurted it out.
“Oh?” Hank whispered.
“I mean, ever since I saw you shoot those two bikers, Ratchet and Butcher, I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it. And then I saw the ease at which you dropped Skinner, and it began to scare me.” She stuttered to get the right words out.
“I’m sorry you had to see all of that. Aggie, it’s a dirty business, but I’ve been the garbage man for decades.”
“I understand that, but trash men don’t wallow in the junk.” She began to get emotional. Her voice quivered, and breathes hitched.
“Wow, that’s pretty insulting, Aggie. You think I enjoy the violence?”
“I don’t think you hate it. Hank, I looked into your soul when Tony Smith held that gun in your face. You didn’t care one way or the other if he pulled the trigger or not. How am I supposed to consider having a future with someone like that?”
And with those words, she wept.
Hank launched up from the couch and stormed across the living room. She held her breath as he opened his mouth to say something. But, he shoved his knuckle in between his teeth and bit down instead. Agatha saw his face assume a purple hue as his chest began to heave deep breathes.
“I, uhm, I.” Hank tried to reply.
“I’m sorry, Hank.”
The big, ex-murder cop grabbed the keys to his house from off of an antique table, and shoved the front screen door open as he marched across the porch and was quickly out of sight.
Agatha curled up on the couch until the shadows of the late afternoon encroached upon her front porch, and eventually into her living room. She didn’t mean for it to come out that way, but she expected Hank to respond differently. Honestly, she wasn’t sure how it was going to come out, but once it began to flow, she couldn’t stop herself.
It was harsh and disrespectful to a man who had only lived his life to serve others.
She fumbled in the dimly lit living room to find the vibrating cell phone. Her heart began to pound. Maybe it was Hank. Maybe they could patch things up before it stewed any longer. There, she found it in between two overstuffed pillows.
“Hello.”
“Hey, girl. What’s going down at the Harley household?”
“Heather?”
“Yep, I’m back.”
“I didn’t know you were gone.” Agatha said un-amused.
“Ha, yeah, I been a bit busy, but that ain’t what’s important. I saw your man raging away from your house earlier like a dang prize bull seeing red.” Heather taunted.
&
nbsp; “Not now, Heather. Can I call you back?”
“No way, sista. I know this game. You got no plan to call me back, and I’m dying to know what’s going down between my favorite power couple.”
Agatha mashed a tear that managed to roll about half way down her cheek. She wasn’t going to fall apart over this man. She’d suffered through enough of Heather’s dramatic moments to understand what an exercise in futility it was to vent.
“Thanks, my friend, but not today. We just had a misunderstanding.” Agatha unfolded herself out on the plush couch.
“Well, if you say so, but if you need me, I’ll be at the Taco and Waffle. Word is, Penny works there on Sunday nights and she likes to slip free drinks with food orders.” Heather whispered into the phone.
Agatha threw her forearm over her head and rolled her eyes.
“Then I’m definitely not going. I’ve had my fill of Penny and her snooping into my business.” Agatha huffed.
“Well, between you and me, I heard she was hustling up to make cash to buy a place once her new beau returns home from the army.”
“Okay, I’ll bite.” Agatha sarcastically replied.
“Word is she met a special forces soldier who is still fighting in the Middle East. They met through the internet, but she’s head over heals in love with her war hero. Don’t know where he’s from. You know, because he’s top secret and all. But, he’s agreed to come to Rusty Gun to be with her.”
“Interesting.”
“Looks like your Hammering Hank Davidson ain’t going to be the only out-of-town hero living here. Maybe they’ll add her man’s statue next to the John Wayne memorial in the middle of town” Heather said with a cutting tone.
“Maybe so. You know, Penny did ask me about buying or renting my house. I thought she was just being nosey.” Agatha mused, “Maybe she has found someone. Good for her.”
“So you up to knocking a few back?” Heather teased her. “I’ve got some juicy news to share with my bestie.”
Agatha sat up from the couch. It wasn’t seven o’clock yet and she hadn’t eaten since her and Hank grilled burgers before noon. Even against her better judgment, she agreed to go.