by Jae Hood
“What is this?” I whispered. “I don’t understand.”
“Your father, my brother, Tanner Sr., and I were in the midst of negotiations between our families,” Graham said. “Jeb and Amos had some sort of falling-out with one another. Tanner Sr. knew the details but took them to his grave before I could learn the truth about why Jeb turned against Amos.
“That photo was taken two days before my brother was murdered. The night he died was the night we were to finalize our negotiations. Tanner Sr. went to meet Jeb, but never returned. I was unable to attend the meeting and my brother died. If only I’d been there, maybe I could have saved him. I’ve lived with the guilt of that all these years.”
“Where were you?” I asked. “Where were you when your brother was murdered?”
“Mobile, Alabama.” Graham sighed. “Meeting with an associate of mine. An important shipment arrived that I had to be present for. Normally I don’t leave a paper trail when I’m out of town on business, but by the grace of God, I used a credit card at a gas station in Gulfport. The store also had me on camera. I’m sure my brother’s death would have been pinned on me by Buck Bridges. He was supposedly on patrol that night, making his rounds on the outskirts of town. He claimed he heard a gunshot and went to check things out. That’s when he found my brother’s body. I’m sure I narrowly escaped death myself that night. Buck and your uncles have been after me for years.”
“So you believe my father was involved as well?” I asked, disgusted. “You think he was faking the negotiations to lure the two of you to your deaths?”
“No, I don’t believe your father was involved.” Graham’s frown was grim. “I do believe your Uncle Amos and Buck Bridges were involved. I think Amos found out about our secret negotiations and took matters into his own hands.”
The truth weighed heavily on my heart as Graham appraised me, contemplating the guilty expression on my face. Tanner shifted under me, taking my hands. There was a colossal part of me that speculated it was all a trap: inviting me to dine with them, showing me nothing but acceptance, Tanner’s undying devotion to me since the age of twelve. If it was a trick, I was falling for it. Guilt had weighed me down for years, making me bitter and weary.
“If I knew the truth about your brother’s murder, would you tell me the truth about my father’s?” I asked, studying his passive face.
Tanner’s slightly callused hands stilled against my arms. His breathing and the steady strum of his heart against my back picked up speed. He may never trust me enough to divulge certain aspects of his life, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t try to earn his trust in other ways.
“My sources say Amos murdered your father,” Graham said in a low voice, not waiting for me to confess his brother’s murderer before confessing my father’s. “I have no evidence of this. It’s just hearsay, really. I wasn’t involved. In fact, the night of your father’s murder, I was being held in a Louisiana jail for questioning in the disappearance of a man. Now, that man I did murder, but that’s a body that’ll never be found. The alligators in Louisiana swamps rarely leave any evidence.”
Graham’s assumption that Amos was involved in my father’s murder should have shocked me. Amos was my flesh and blood, after all. But I’d witnessed Amos’ evilness first-hand. Nothing Amos did surprised me anymore, even if it involved killing his own brother.
Graham’s own murder confession, however, sent shivers throughout my body and caused goose bumps to cover my arms. He professed he trusted no one, but he gave me that tidbit of information to prove something. How dangerous he really was? Or to bribe me into confessing who his brother’s murderer was? Whatever it was, it worked.
“Amos told me, in confidence at my father’s funeral, that he murdered Tanner’s father,” I whispered. “That’s all I have … no evidence. I just have the words of an evil man who confided in his twelve-year-old niece.”
“This doesn’t surprise me.” Graham shot Tanner a look of acknowledgement. “Tanner and I have believed Amos to be the perpetrator in Tanner Sr.’s death since the beginning. It’s a shame you have no other evidence, no other way to prove he’s the killer.”
“There must be a way to prove it was Amos who killed our fathers,” Tanner said. “But how?”
“We need allies,” Graham replied. “How do you feel about that, Rue? Would you like to join forces with us and gather other allies in your family? Is there any part of Jeb Monroe lingering inside you?”
I thought of Lucy, Josie, Olivia, Brodie, and Peyton. The boys would be harder to convince, but Josie and Lucy’s attraction to the Montgomery boys might work in my favor.
I made another resolution, then and there. It was a decision which would, yet again, change the course of my life forever.
“Yes. I think I know exactly how to gain allies.”
Graham smiled a slow, twisted smile as he puffed on the cigar. Smoke rolled from his lips, billowing around his head. “Good girl.”
Tanner dropped me off just before midnight. He stopped at the end of the driveway, right where he’d picked me up earlier that night.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and allowed him to pull me flush against his body. The hard planes of his chest and abdomen pressed against the softness of mine. I moaned into his mouth as our tongues met. Some small part of me screamed I was kissing the devil, and eventually he’d drag me to hell.
It was too late to back out. A plan had already been hatched as we’d traveled from Birchwood back to Mayhaw, and it wouldn’t be long before it was set into motion.
Chapter 12
The days following Graham’s speculation of my father’s killer were some of the worst days of my life. Jittery and nervous, I stewed over the fact that my father had possibly died by the hands of my uncle, my own flesh and blood.
I had yet to approach Lucy and Josie. As evil as Amos was, I doubted they would immediately accept the accusation from our family’s archenemy. Sometimes stubborn pride overshadowed good old common sense. We’d all been taught to not trust the Montgomery clan. To deny something, anything, ingrained since birth was never easy, no matter the situation. That was especially true when your own family fed you false ideas and information.
Memories of my father and Amos hunting and fishing together looped through my brain. There never was a hint of discord between them. Had Amos found out about my father’s secret alliance with the Montgomerys? Why did my father form an alliance with the Montgomerys to begin with? Did Amos murder him because of the alliance, or for some other reason?
Then the same old questions returned. What was in that safe? Why was Nana so adamant I hide it and reveal its whereabouts to no one?
A new question arose as well. Was there something in Nana’s safe that would point out the true identity of my father’s killer?
I shook that idea off. It was doubtful a mother would allow a man who had murdered her son to roam free.
Then I put myself in Nana’s shoes. What if I had a child who had murdered another child? What if I were the mother of a cold-blooded monster? Would I protect the sins of my son to save myself from losing him, just as I’d lost his brother? Would I take that drastic step to prevent losing my child to a lifetime in prison?
Nana’s words echoed in my head. “Strength is nothing without courage,” she’d said.
At the time I thought she was referring to her long-lost love. Now I wasn’t so sure. There was only one way to answer my questions. I needed to speak to my grandmother.
When I voiced my questions to Tanner on the phone, his response was simple. “There’s only one way to find out. Ask her. If the two of you are as close as I think you are, you’ll be able to tell if she’s lying or not.”
The heat on this Friday in late June was record-breaking. It reached well over one hundred degrees most days. Josie, Lucy, and Nana were as ill as hornets because of the uncomfortable temperatures. Lucy and Josie planned a trip for the three of us to Baxton Lake the next day.
As evening arrived, I
hemmed Nana in a corner to question her. Literally. Nana was in her office pilfering through her desk when I shut the door behind me.
Shoving her small glasses up her nose, she backed away from the desk, throwing her hands up as I stomped in her direction. I hadn’t slept well in days, plagued by nightmares of Amos murdering my father and of Nana watching from afar. Not only was I physically exhausted, but mentally as well.
I pointed my finger at her chest and she thumped into the wall. “What’s in the safe, Nana?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She huffed, shuffling her way around me. “All I asked you to do is hide it until I’m dead and gone. That hasn’t happened just yet, but if you’re lucky, it won’t be much longer.”
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. “Quit throwing a pity party, trying to make me feel sorry for you so I’ll drop the subject.”
Nana pretended to ignore me. Red-hot heat shot up my neck and flooded my face as she calmly stacked some papers on her desk.
Temper getting the best of me, I snapped. “Tell me, Nana, does that safe have anything to do with the fact that Uncle Amos killed my daddy?”
Nana paused for a moment. The papers shook as her fingers trembled and she paled a bit. The slightly sagging flesh of her neck bobbed as she swallowed.
Then she brushed it away, as though it were nothing. She returned to her task of paper stacking. Her red-painted lips thinned into a sullen line. She shoved the papers into a desk drawer and started for the office door, still ignoring me.
“Nana!”
I followed her to the back door. She practically slammed it in my face, leaving the building. Fighting against my anger, I chose to stay inside and let her be. There was something about my father’s murder in that safe, and I prayed it was cold, hard evidence to prove Amos’ guilt once and for all.
I needed to unearth the safe, but once it was above ground I’d need help getting into it. I prayed Tanner would hold some sort of solution. He was the only thing holding me together—Tanner and our plan.
The plan Tanner and I had devised was broken into stages. The first stage was one Tanner had surprisingly suggested. It was brutal honesty: telling Lucy and Josie all the things I’d learned from Graham. I also planned on telling them about Nana and that damned safe.
The second part of the plan involved forcing Chance, Lucy, Josie, and Bryce together with the two of us as mediators of sorts. Tanner was hopeful their attractions to one another would eventually fuse us all into one solid machine, working together to destroy the lifelong battle between our two families.
Tanner and I decided it’d be best to throw everyone together once the girls were in better spirits. Our lake trip would be the perfect opportunity. They’d undoubtedly be high and mellow.
“I’m hotter than a two-dollar whore on the Fourth of July,” Josie said the next day as we packed my Jeep.
I laughed. “Didn’t you have sex with Lanson Channey in the bed of his pickup truck at the Fourth of July party last year?”
Josie glared at me, gumming her lips to hide her smile. Silky hair piled on top of her head, she donned the same messy knot Lucy and I wore. We all put on the same large black shades and zero makeup, aside from waterproof mascara. It was the only time I went out in public without my face on.
“Once you jump in the water you won’t be so hot,” Lucy said.
Josie grunted in response and shoved a large cooler in the back of the Jeep, which was stuffed to the gills with towels, beach bags, and, of course, Lucy’s faded bright pink beach umbrella.
Barely smoking before we left earned me a suspicious frown from my sister and cousin. I blamed it on driving and they seemed to buy it. The truth was, I didn’t want to be wasted when I told them about Amos murdering my father.
We hit the road wearing our swimsuits, shorts, and tank tops, singing along to the music as it battled against the sound of the wind. Lucy threw her hands in the air, hollering out the song. Blue lights flashed in the rearview mirror with the sway of my sister’s arms. A muttered curse escaped my lips. The speedometer told me what I suspected. I wasn’t even a mile over the speed limit.
What the …
Josie cursed below her breath, fumbling around for the seatbelt. Lucy was pallid, but she followed Josie’s example, snapping her seatbelt in place around her tiny waist.
I slowed down and guided the Jeep to the shoulder of the road. My heart churned erratically in my chest. I wasn’t worried about speeding. My inspection sticker and tag were both up to date. I didn’t fail to use a turn signal. None of that concerned me.
What did concern me were my slightly dilated pupils, hidden behind my shades, and the gram of potent weed shoved in Lucy’s cut-offs.
“What the hell did we do?” Josie’s lips barely moved. Gravel on the side of the highway crunched under the officer’s boots.
“Nothing,” I replied. “I have a feeling this has nothing to do with my driving.”
Levi Bridges appeared beside me. He didn’t look much different than he had the night at the train station. Levi was tall and beefy, with thick bands of muscle bulging against his dark uniform. His hair was cropped short and as black as the devil’s heart.
Levi leaned on my Jeep, grinning down at me. “Well, if it isn’t the Monroe girls.”
“Is there a reason you pulled us over?” I asked, not one for bullshit niceties. “You’re not a highway patrol. You’re a city cop. Do you have jurisdiction to stop vehicles on a state highway?”
“Why, Rue, I’m hurt.” Levi straightened up, pressing his hand over his heart. “Is that how you greet an old friend you haven’t seen in years?”
The dimples on his cheeks deepened with my frown, and I was momentarily reminded of Brodie. I’d think him a handsome guy if I weren’t so wary of him. Levi’s head tilted toward Josie who sat deaf and dumb in the backseat trying not to draw attention to herself, which only drew attention to herself.
“Why so quiet, Josie?” Levi smirked. “You holding or something?”
Josie raised an eyebrow. “What if I was? Are you gonna do something about it? You can’t search me for no reason.”
“Actually, I can if the vehicle has evidence of something illegal. I’m sure I wouldn’t have to look very hard to find a seed here or there. I also have plenty of jurisdiction in this area. Technically you’re still in city limits.
“But,” he continued, pulling his glasses from his face and placing them on top of his head, “if I wanted to frisk someone, it wouldn’t be you, Josie.”
Levi licked his lips and gave me a suggestive smile. Josie’s animosity for him penetrated all the way through my backseat. It rolled off her in heated, wretched waves.
“What’s the deal, Levi?” I asked, growing tired of his games. “Are you playing good cop or bad cop?”
“Since you’re playing tough girl, I think I’ll play bad cop,” he replied with a sinister smile. “Step out of the vehicle, Rue.”
My heart jumped in my throat and I clutched the steering wheel. Lucy gasped beside me, and Josie let out a low curse.
“No,” I said. “I’m not leaving this vehicle. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Levi didn’t respond. He let out a low chuckle and reached for the door handle as my heart sped up. I grabbed the door, trying to hold it shut, but I was no match for his strength. The door flew open as my fingers left the hot frame. Cars whipped by us, passengers staring out the window, but no one stopped. No one had reason to believe the man in the policeman’s uniform was nothing but a crooked cop, just like his father.
Levi grabbed my arm with his meaty hand, jerking me from the Jeep. My flip-flops fell off as he dragged me across the scorching hot pavement and onto the gravel on the side of the road. My feet protested from the heat and jagged edges of the rocks. Levi shoved me against the flaming-hot hood of the Jeep.
“You jerk,” I hollered, wincing.
Josie and Lucy scrambled to get out of the Jeep, but I yelled at them to stop. T
hey froze. If Levi wanted to play dirty cop, he could do it without my family’s involvement.
Josie stood tall in the Jeep, flinging her shades in the seat beside her. “I’m calling Amos. I’m telling him what you’re doing. He’ll have your head for this.”
“Go ahead.” Levi laughed, running his fingers against the pockets of my shorts, causing me to shudder. “Maybe I’ll tell him something too.
“Would you like that, Rue?” he whispered. “Would you like for Amos to find out how you’ve been sneaking around with Tanner Montgomery?”
I stiffened beneath his fingers as they brushed against the sliver of exposed skin above my shorts. If Amos found out about Tanner and me, our entire plan would fall apart. We’d both be dead, and our fathers’ killer would remain as free as the wind.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “But you better get your dick-beaters off me.”
“Don’t you touch her. Don’t you dare touch her!” Josie screamed, jumping from the back of the vehicle. She landed swiftly on her feet, crouching slightly, looking like a lithe panther ready to attack.
As easy as breathing, Levi removed one hand from my body and pulled the gun from the holster resting against his hip. Josie made one step and stopped as Levi raised the gun, pointing it directly at her face.
“Make one move and I’ll shoot you,” he said, eerily calm. “I’ve got enough coke in my back pocket to send you to prison for a long time. They’ll believe a cop’s story before they believe some coke whore.”
Josie’s jaw jutted forward and her fists clenched.
Levi snickered, leaning in to whisper. “I’ve been watching you for a while now, Rue.” His lips brushed the shell of my ear, sending shudders of revulsion throughout my body. “I’ve got eyes and ears all over this town. Deny it all you want, but I know you’re seeing Tanner Montgomery.”
“What do you want, Levi?” I asked. “Why are you doing this?”