by Jae Hood
I shoved the cake in the back of the van and slammed the doors shut. After turning off the lights inside, I locked up.
The driver’s side door was barely open when I felt the first blow.
A large, meaty fist slammed into my right temple, throwing me against the open van door. The action of the blow snapped my head sideways, and the resounding crack of my head against the window caused my vision to go black. Tears sprang to my eyes and my hands fumbled for something, anything, to grab to prevent me from slipping to the dirty ground.
My searching for stability was in vain. Two large hands found their way underneath my arms, hoisting me up on my weakened legs. The dark clouds faded from my vision as I was shoved against the cracked leather seat of the van. Struggling to turn around, I met my attacker face to face.
Levi stood before me, dressed in his police uniform. The gun he’d pointed at Josie rested against his hip. With his fingers dangling near the handcuffs on his belt, he gave me an amused grin.
My breathing picked up, unsure of what he could be reaching for. The pain from being slammed on both sides of my head shot through my brain, feeling like it was caught in a vise.
Levi chuckled. “You dumb bitch. I knew you couldn’t keep away from Tanner Montgomery. Amos asked me to keep an eye on you. Turns out the rumors are true. I’ve got the evidence I need to prove it. I saw you crossing that bridge last night, you know. You, your whore sister, and your pathetic little boyfriends.”
My mouth opened and closed several times as I struggled to deny his accusation, but my mind was hazy and thick, racked with unbearable pain. Black spots drifted in and out of my vision and my stomach rolled in nausea.
A pair of silver handcuffs flashed in the dim alleyway light. “Don’t try to deny it. You’re a Montgomery whore, just like your mother, aren’t you? A pathetic Montgomery whore.”
I prayed I’d pass out because there was no denying what Levi was planning to do to me. There was no strength left in me to fight the monster of a man. He dangled the silver handcuffs on one finger teasingly, menacingly.
Willing myself to be strong, I raised my head, ignoring the tremendous pain. I wobbled on my legs, raising my arms up to defend myself. My ears were ringing and my equilibrium was all out of whack.
“I think I’ll have a little fun with you before I show Amos the video I have of you and your slut sister crossing that bridge.” Grabbing my protesting hands, he clamped the handcuffs tightly around my wrists. “How does that sound, Rue? Would you like to have a little fun first? I’m going to show you what the touch of a real man feels like.”
Adrenaline pumped through my veins. My pulse escalated, sending the ringing in my ears into overdrive. I began beating Levi against his huge chest. He laughed as I dizzily hit and kicked at him. The black spots floated away and my body went into a frenzy. He gripped my wrists, pressing me harshly against the side of the van.
I cried, terrified of what was about to come. “Stop!”
Levi forced his mouth upon mine, shoving his tongue against my clamped lips. I twisted my head back and forth, struggling to draw my face away from his.
With one hand he grasped my cuffed wrists. His other hand descended on my face, cupping my chin in his sweaty fingers. Nails dug into my skin. “Stop fighting me. You won’t win.”
I opened my mouth to scream. Levi took advantage, forcing his tongue inside my mouth while he held my hands down. Pain and humiliation crippled me.
Levi pulled his lips away, probably anticipating the feeling of my teeth ready to sink into his tongue. I took that opportunity to scream, just as he shoved one hand between my legs and groped me.
A familiar voice hissed out Levi’s name. Levi twisted around just as Tanner slammed his fist into the right side of Levi’s jaw. Tanner hit him with such force I heard an audible snapping sound. Levi’s head flung to the side and he hit the van window, just as I had. Blood smeared the glass as Levi’s face slid across the door.
Levi sneered and cursed, drawing his fists together. He threw a punch, which Tanner gracefully dodged, leaning back on his heels. Levi staggered from the force of the swing. Tanner took the opportunity to grasp Levi’s head between his hands, jerking it down while slamming his knee into Levi’s face. With each thrust, Tanner screamed.
“Don’t!”
Slam.
“You!”
Slam.
“Ever!”
Slam.
“Touch!”
Slam.
“Rue!”
Levi groaned. Blood poured from his nose, which was broken and twisted. He swayed but somehow regained his footing and stood at his full height. He towered over Tanner menacingly. Levi threw himself against Tanner, slamming him into the brick wall of the shop.
In a panic, I ran to the back of the van, fumbling around with the handles, cussing the handcuffs still attached to my wrists. My shaky fingers pried the doors open, and I searched the back of the van for something, anything, to help Tanner.
A tire iron lay nearby. I grasped it in my hands, awkwardly tossing it across the alley where the two men scuffled. It hit the brick wall and made a loud clanging sound, drawing both men’s attention.
They scrambled for the heavy tool, but Tanner was quicker, more lithe.
Tanner raised the tire iron and swung. Levi’s body stiffened with terror. Tanner’s scowl twisted into an evil grin as he struck Levi across the right temple. Bone crumbled under the force of the metal. Metallic-smelling blood sprayed from the side of Levi’s head and splashed across my face. His eyes rolled back in his head, his body crumbling to the ground. Blood and brain mattered dripped from the open gash. Horrific screams sounded through the silent night, but they weren’t his. The screams came from me.
My screams faded away into quiet, hysterical sobs. Tanner dropped the tire iron, stooped down, and grasped Levi’s head between his hands. With a strong jerk, he twisted it. A resounding snap filled the dead air, and that was when my body decided I should lose my lunch all over Levi’s limp, unmoving form.
I broke down, turning away from where Levi lay. I spit and shook in horror. A soft touch to the small of my back caused me to whimper in fear. Tanner pulled me into his arms, soothing my sobbing, shaking body with his loving touch.
“It’s okay, baby,” Tanner whispered. “I’ve got you now. Tanner’s got you, okay? Did he hurt you?”
“No.” I pressed my wet face against his hard chest while he stroked my hair. “No, he didn’t hurt me. You followed me.”
“Of course I followed you. Did you really think I’d let you wander off alone? I parked my car and waited. When the shop lights went out and the van didn’t pull out of the alley, I came to check on you.”
“What … what do we do now?” I asked in a quivering voice.
“Get him out of here,” he told me, soft and firm. “I know you’re upset, but we need to get him out of here in case someone heard us. Things will get ugly if Buck shows up.”
Tanner searched Levi’s body, pulling a set of keys from his limp form and using them to release the handcuffs from my wrists. I rubbed the soreness from them while Tanner cleaned the cuffs and keys with the hem of his shirt before returning them to the body.
“Levi attacked me,” I said. “It was self-defense. Maybe the police will believe us.”
“No one will believe us. You know that no one will believe us. Not with Buck Bridges in charge. I’ve got to get rid of this body.”
“I’m going with you. We do this together.”
Tanner slowly nodded. Stepping back, he removed his shirt, wadded it up, and swiped it across my face. Levi’s red blood faded into the black fabric. I grew queasy again but swallowed the bile that threatened to come up. Tanner glanced at the alleyway and pulled open the back doors of the van.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He shoved the cake into the far corner of the van. “I can’t park my car in the alley. Someone might notice me backing in. I’m already taking a chance p
arked down the street. Levi must have snuck down the alley from the back. That’s why I didn’t see him.”
“We’re taking him in my grandmother’s van?” I whispered, aghast.
Half smirking, he tilted his head to the side. “Do you have a better idea?” He was so calm, so casual. My skin crawled in an odd, unfamiliar way.
Tanner dug around in the back of the van and removed a pink blanket someone had left in there. He tossed it over one shoulder and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. I listened as he quietly chatted with someone before shoving the phone back in his pocket and wrapping Levi’s body in the blanket.
I shook myself out of my trance and bent down to help. He tried to shoo me away, but I ignored him. I took a deep breath and drew the blanket over Levi’s swollen face, hiding his fixed, startled eyes.
With my futile assistance, he rolled Levi over in the blanket. “Walk to the end of the alley. Make sure the coast is clear. I’ll get him in the back of the van.”
“Can you pick him up by yourself?”
He shot me a cocky grin. “Can you be any more insulting?”
Unconvinced, I stood and darted to the end of the alley facing the street. “Fine.”
It was well after ten o’clock and the town was dead. There were no cars, no movement, except for a stray dog wandering around looking for some scraps to eat. Tanner hoisted the lumpy pink form almost effortlessly, tossing it over one shoulder and then into the back of the van. He tossed the tire iron in the back as well.
After wiping his hands on his jeans, he quietly closed the double doors of the van and turned to face me.
Our eyes locked. I stood at one end of the alley, my heart pounding in my chest, dried blood smeared across my cheeks. Tanner stood near the van, shirtless, his chest shining beneath the alley light. An indescribable emotion passed between us as we were wrapped up in our unrelenting stare. He’d murdered a man. He’d murdered a man because of me.
The sound of a rumbling engine creeping down the road broke us from our trance. I ran to where Tanner stood, but he’d already jumped in the van.
“Go inside and clean yourself up.” A lone car passed the alley, drifting down the main street, and he slouched, hiding his face. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
I nodded, stumbling to the door and digging the keys from my pocket. Once inside, I scrubbed the blood from my face and arms, ignoring the mirror over the sink until I was satisfied the blood was gone.
The terrified girl staring back at me appeared much younger than eighteen. My fingers pressed tenderly against the side of my head where Levi had shoved me against the van. I hissed in pain. Luckily, most of the damage was well past my hairline. There were no bruises on my face yet, but they would eventually arise. To the casual observer I wouldn’t look any different. Averting my gaze, I dried the excess water from my trembling hands and darted to the front of the shop. A rack of T-shirts stood in one corner, advertising the logo of Nana’s cake shop.
I snatched one from the rack and replaced the bloody one on my body. After grabbing a T-shirt for Tanner as well, I locked up the cake shop. I slid into the van beside Tanner, tossed him the clean shirt, and threw mine on the floor beside his bloody one.
“This is perfect, really.” He pulled the shirt over his naked flesh. “The perfect alibi. You were delivering a cake to the mayor. No one will suspect you know anything about Levi’s disappearance once they arrest me.”
“Arrest you?” I turned the key in the ignition.
“I’m sure Buck and Amos will try to find some way to pin this on me.” Tanner shrugged.
We pulled out of the alley and he slumped lower in his seat, hiding behind the tinted windows of the eighties-style vehicle. Brodie always joked it was a pedophile’s van because it was old, white, and announced sweets on the side. It was not a discrete vehicle.
Tanner crawled into the backseat before I pulled into the mayor’s long driveway lined in black old-fashioned street lamps. A two-story red brick house stood proudly at the top of the hill.
I pulled around the circular drive and hopped out of the van, scurrying to the back to remove the cake before the mayor or his wife realized I was out front. I ignored the large, pink, blood-soaked form in the far corner and grabbed the cake, balancing it in my arms.
“Rue.” A chirpy voice called my name just as I slammed the van door behind me.
Jennifer Jones descended the front steps of the brick monstrosity looking every bit the part of a Southern sophisticate with her high hair, flawless makeup, and fake tan.
“Thank you so much for doing this on short notice,” she said.
I stepped away from the back of the van with the cake clutched in my hands and put on a nonchalant façade. Jennifer wobbled behind me on her ridiculously high heels. She chatted in a friendly tone about her activities the next day as we climbed the steps. I feigned interest, smiling and nodding occasionally.
Mayor Jones greeted me in the foyer with a broad grin. He always seemed to be a genuinely nice man, but he was also on very friendly terms with my uncles, which was a black mark against him, at least in my book.
I made small talk with the mayor and his young wife, using the opportunity to soak up as much time in their home as I could. What better alibi than standing in the mayor’s house, chatting with him and his wife as though there wasn’t a dead man in the back of my grandmother’s van twenty feet from his front door?
“I hope you have a wonderful time at the benefit tomorrow.” I gave Jennifer a polite half-hug. “I’m sorry your cake fell flat, but I know Nana is tickled pink to have your business.”
“Oh, I just love Nana Monroe,” she said, giving me a squeeze before releasing me. “Such a fine Christian woman with a heart of gold.”
I nodded, biting my tongue and fighting the urge to roll my eyes. If it weren’t for the dead man in the driveway, I’d probably have made some sort of snotty remark below my breath, but my mind was slightly preoccupied.
Exiting the house, I gave them both a casual wave. They stood in the doorway and watched me pull myself up into the large van. I fired up the engine and pulled down the long, winding drive and onto the main road. Once we were far from the mayor’s house, Tanner’s head popped up from the backseat and I squeaked in surprise.
“You did good,” he said. “Chance, Bryce, and the girls are meeting us at Miller’s Crossing.”
I steered the van down the old roads under the low-lying branches of the trees hanging overhead. It was obvious the dirt road near the crossing hadn’t been used in a great length of time, and that thought alone made me breathe a sigh of relief.
Miller’s Crossing had been a popular crossing over the river back in the good old days, in a time before the forging of the concrete bridge. The old, wooden bridge hidden in the deep hollows near the Tenn-Tom was inaccessible because of the broken and missing planks of wood that had rotted away over dozens of years.
We pulled up to the failing bridge, where Lucy stood near Chance’s truck, tucked in his arms. Josie leaned against Bryce’s truck with a look of vengeful determination on her face. In her hand was a pair of bolt-cutters, silver with a red handle.
I slipped from the van and quietly closed the door. “What’s that for?”
Josie pushed herself from the truck, shooting me an evil grin. Bryce and Chance exchanged an uneasy smile. She approached the van, passed Tanner, and yanked open the back doors.
Josie sneered, jerking back the pink blanket and grabbing Levi’s stiffening arm. “This, my dear cousin, is revenge and a warning all rolled into one bloody package.”
Josie grasped Levi’s right index finger. I pressed my hands over my ears just as the sound of metal against bone cracked in the still night.
Josie stood triumphant with a bloody finger in her hand. I slowly dropped my hands from my ears, my stomach clenching once more.
“You won’t be needing your trigger finger now.” Josie scowled at the dead man, wrapping his finger up in a red bandana Bry
ce handed her. “Asshole.”
“Why did you do that?” I asked.
“I’m putting it in Amos’ mailbox.” Bryce grinned, taking the bandana from Josie’s bloody hands. “Josie’s idea. He’s not working with a full deck of cards, but it won’t take a rocket scientist to figure out whose finger this is. Let it be a warning to him that he can’t mess with us, or our girls, and get away with it.”
Bryce, Chance, and Tanner pulled Levi’s body from the back of the van. Josie, Lucy, and I followed them through the trees, downhill beside the dilapidated bridge.
The moon hung low in the sky, the moonbeams streaking through the branches, casting a glow on the pink blanket with Levi’s corpse inside. Our feet slid down the steep hill against the fallen leaves and broken twigs.
The boys carried the body beneath the bridge. Josie, Lucy, and I stood silently beside one another. Josie’s hand reached out and grasped mine. Our two hands intertwined, hers slightly red with dried blood. Josie squeezed my hand. I reached out and grasped Lucy’s hand as well, giving it the same firm squeeze. We stared at one another somberly. We were in it together. It was a big old heap of a mess, but it was our mess.
The boys unwrapped Levi’s body. They tossed it into the muddy depths where the rickety wooden beams of the bridge stood in the water. There was a thick splashing sound. A slight ripple of waves traveled against the lightly churning river, ending near our feet.
Red, glowing eyes slid through the murky water. Before long, two more sets joined in. A vicious splash and a thick, flinging, dark tail streaked across the surface. The alligators tore into Levi’s flesh.
The sound of snapping, crushing bones, intermingled with the splashing of river water, would haunt my dreams for years to come.
A strange, childlike drawl broke the silence of the night as Lucy spoke. “One dead, he really bled. Two to go, they’ll die real slow.”
Lucy’s hand went limp in my own before falling from my grasp. Josie and I turned to gaze at her big, black eyes, shining wickedly in the moonlight. A chill shot through me as she greedily watched the alligators consume Levi’s broken body, and I knew.