Dead End (Peri Jean Mace Ghost Thrillers Book 8)

by Catie Rhodes

  “I mean get the fuck out,” he yelled back. “You’re with the Six Guns, and I don’t want my establishment shot up.”

  I came around Hannah’s side. “We’re just looking for Tub. Where is he?”

  Bullfrog’s face went blank. “He don’t want to see you. You’re going to get him killed, you keep on.”

  I relaxed a little. Tubby was here. He wasn’t dead. If Cecil was with him, he was okay too. Dillon and Mysti hurried inside, both breathing hard as though they’d been running.

  Bullfrog groaned. “What is this, ladies night? All you wore-out bitches, get the fuck out.”

  I took a closer look around the bar and realized there wasn’t a legitimate customer in the place. Every man here worked for Tubby, and they were all armed. One man had a deer rifle propped against his leg. Another held a tire iron. They were ready for action.

  “Who you calling a wore-out bitch, you flabby old slug?” Dillon advanced on Bullfrog, too busy flying off the handle to see what was going on.

  Bullfrog reached into his back pocket, where I knew he had something deadly, probably a knife. And I knew he’d use it because I’d watched him kill someone a lifetime ago.

  The hag snapped to full attention. I wanted to kick it in the ass. Exhaustion worked its way through my bones. Fatigue settled in and made itself at home. All I wanted to do right then was walk out of Bullfrog's and forget all these people and their problems. Instead, I got my hand up like I was an ace sorceress and raced at Bullfrog, shouting, “Pull a weapon, and I promise I’ll melt your brains.”

  The sound of a dozen pistols having their hammers pulled back filled the room. Someone pumped a shotgun. Cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck.

  Bullfrog’s puffy face turned even paler, and his piggy eyes widened as much as they could. He held up both hands. “Y’all stand down. She means it.”

  So he knew about me. Good. A mean kind of joy, one the hag loved, spread through me. I got closer to Bullfrog. “Tell me where Tub is. Now.”

  Bullfrog reached again for his weapon. My skin tightened. I didn’t want to be stabbed, not today. Wade wasn’t around to heal me. Hell, he might never be around again. I dug deep, finding the shining thread of the mantle and latching onto it. A sheen of magic dropped over my vision. I saw through Bullfrog, saw the tar of evil inside him. I pulled on the magic a little more, trying to force it to my fingertips. Even if all I could do was give him a little shock, it would be enough.

  “What the Sam Hill is going on down here?” Tubby rushed into the room and slid to a stop. His mouth dropped open, and he looked like he’d seen a ghost. Then he launched himself at me, laughing, and wrapped his skinny arms around me. He clutched me to him and planted a gross, wet kiss on my mouth. He let go of me and hugged Mysti. She flinched but managed to pat his back. He even hugged Dillon and Hannah. Tubby was so happy he was almost crying. He poked Bullfrog in one fleshy arm. “Why didn’t you let me know they was here?”

  “You said they was probably dead.” Bullfrog crossed his arms over his beer belly.

  “But you see that they ain’t dead.” Tubby waved one arm at us. Bullfrog shrugged. Tubby gusted out a sigh and turned to me. “Cecil thinks y’all are dead. Get on upstairs and show him you’re fine.”

  Oh no. Cecil had a heart condition. What if he’d had a heart attack? I ran for the back storeroom and raced up the stairs, the others’ footsteps thundering behind me. Worst case scenarios had my stomach roiling and ready to purge by the time I got to the door and twisted the knob. It was locked. I slammed my shoulder into the wood, ignoring how much it hurt. Tubby pushed the key into my hand. I unlocked the door and shoved it open.

  Cecil sat in the recliner staring at the wall. He slowly turned to see who it was. He frowned at me, blinking rapidly, and stood. He kept his distance from us. Then it hit me he may have thought us dead. Cecil could sometimes see ghosts just like me. His power had faded over the years of bad health, but he had his moments.

  “It’s me.” I rushed at him. “We beat them. Killed all but one.” We embraced.

  Dillon's arms went around us. “I’m so sorry, Papaw. We tried to call you, but it went straight to voicemail. Why didn't you answer?”

  A tear streaked down Cecil’s face, and he wiped at it. “My phone’s dead. Forgot my charger. Tubman lost his phone in the alley. Nobody’s found it yet. Neither of us know your numbers by heart.”

  I stepped out of the group hug. “How’d you and Tub make it out of Silver Dreams?” The Six Guns had snuck up on us, cornered us like the predators they were.

  “Jadine called to warn me.” Cecil smiled, proud of his adopted daughter. “She said for me and Tubby to get out. Some bad men were headed our way.”

  “’Bout that same time, I got a call from my inside man in the Six Guns telling me about the same thing.” Tubby grinned at the look on my face. “Come on, Peri Jean. I got people ever’where. Including inside the Six Gun Revolutionaries Motorcycle Club. How you think I ain’t dead right now?” He giggled. “My man said some Six Guns was on the way to kill you women, and King and the others was coming to rescue Corman and kill Cecil and me. We barely had time to get out before they came in. I just panicked is all.” A flush crept out of Tubby’s collar.

  “Tubby picked me up and carried me most of the way here.” Cecil looked none too happy about this development. “That’s when he lost his phone.”

  I nodded and glanced around the tiny studio. No signs of Corman. My muscles clenched, and the urge to scream fought for control. The hag lapped up all the negative feelings and keened for more. I tried to speak, to ask the question whose answer I didn’t want to hear, but I couldn’t form words. Sharp gasps came out instead. Colored dots appeared in front of my eyes. I leaned over and grabbed my knees.

  Tubby came closer. “What is it?”

  “Corman,” I whispered.

  Tubby’s smile dropped. He shook his head. “The Six Guns took him. He’s gone.”

  That meant Wade was gone too. Forever. I sat down hard on the floor, unable to hold myself upright any longer. Tears slipped down my face. Understanding dawned on Tubby’s face.

  “Aw shit. Wade.” His shoulders dropped, and his face turned red. He’d missed an angle. “I didn’t think about him. All I thought about was you. If you’re dead, that’s both my best friends from childhood.” He swallowed hard. “I wad’nt ready for that.”

  Tubby’s mention of Chase poured more coals onto the fire of misery burning in me. I put my hands over my face and cried, long howling sobs. I curled into the fetal position on the dirty floor and let the sobs rip out of me. The hag sucked on my sorrow, drawing out more emotional poison to ache in my chest.

  “Wade and Chase are probably happier dead,” it told me. “All the times you’ve cheated death, you’ve cheated yourself of peace.”

  The hag’s reasoning was laughable, but I had toughed it out all I could for one day. Its words hit home and burrowed. No wonder this thing had hurt Hannah so much. Before the hag attached itself to me, I’d never seen my death as a positive occurrence. But now I did. I sobbed harder, holding my stomach.

  “Your death wish will always be waiting to surface. End it now and never feel the despair again.” The hag laughed.

  The idea of listening to another second from this otherworldly asshole infuriated me. But I was tired. Just so tired. Little by little I got my crying under control. Tubby handed me a paper towel. I used it to wipe my face, picked myself up off the nasty floor, and sat in the straight-backed chair Tubby usually used, not even caring how filthy it was. My eyes stung with more tears. Wade couldn’t be dead. Not while we had unfinished business. But King Tolliver played for keeps. No other course of action made sense.

  “The Six Guns took Corman, and they’ve got the tape. Wade is likely dead. What do we want to do?” I sat hunched over. The weight of it all was just too heavy to make myself sit up straight.

  Hannah came closer but still kept her distance from me. “We can’t let
King get away with this. We attack.”

  I liked the idea, but it could have just been the hag’s influence. The Six Guns outnumbered us, and they were tougher. The attempt would probably kill us. The hag would love that. “What do you think, Papaw?”

  Cecil and I stared at each other, the way we did when there was a decision to make. When he spoke, his words were slow and deliberate. “I say we walk away while we can.”

  I put my hands over my face and began to moan. Sour disappointment coursed through me, but I knew he was right.

  He softened his voice even more. “Jesse is my blood, just like you, Peri Jean. I want to see him out of prison just as much as you. And Wade Hill risked his life to help our family just weeks ago. Leaving him to die feels like a betrayal. But you’re responsible for the people of Sanctuary, sweetheart. You have to go back to them.” He locked his dark eyes on mine. It was one of his better intimidation techniques because it made me feel about as big and tough as a bug.

  The hag started up. “Go fight the Six Guns. Go out in a blaze of glory and take as many as you can with you.”

  This was the first time the hag’s ramblings made good sense. Did that mean it was driving me crazy? I rocked back and forth, seeking some kind of comfort. This had gotten so big and ugly. I felt like I was drowning in the deep end and had no idea how to stop it or to minimize the damage.

  “You can’t just let this go. You have to do something.” Hannah came nearer.

  Before I could formulate an answer, my phone buzzed with a text message. I picked it up and saw King’s name. He’d sent a video. The face in the freeze frame belonged to Wade. My thumb hovered over the play button, but I was scared of what I’d see. Tubby crowded close, studied the screen, and hit the play button.

  Wade wheezed like he’d been running, and he grunted after every breath. “Peri Jean? That you?”

  The camera spun around to show me King’s ugly mug. He grinned. “Surely you ain’t chickening out like a little bitch. Wade’s still alive. Don’t you wanna come get him? I’ve named my price. Bring cash to the compound.” The screen went black. I let the instrument slip from my grasp and drop to the floor.

  That damn invoice. I didn’t even have that kind money. But if I did, I’d shove it down King Tolliver’s throat and set it on fire. Maybe I’d substitute some used toilet paper. I grabbed my phone and prepared to tell King just that. Tubby snatched it and held it out of my reach.

  I leapt off my chair and ran into the squalid little room where Tubby crashed with his skanks. I collapsed onto the bed and put my hands over my face. My already raw throat ached with the need to cry some more, but I wouldn’t let it come. I lay there with my jaw clenched and my chest shaking.

  17

  Footsteps entered the room, and the door closed. I took my hands off my face, expecting Cecil. He’d comfort me, tell me walking away was the mature decision. Instead I found Tubby leaning against the door, skinny arms crossed over his chest. “I can put fresh sheets on the bed, you wanna rest. Or get you some food.”

  I shook my head. “I want to kill King, but Cecil’s right. They’ll mow us down like tall weeds.” I got a whiff of my own fear sweat and grimaced.

  “My men’s at your disposal. That’ll even things up a bit.” He lit one of his nasty unfiltered cigarettes.

  “They’re tweakers.” I massaged the back of my neck, but the stress headache I’d had since I’d rolled into Gaslight City a day ago didn’t budge.

  “And that makes them think they’re invincible. They’ll take chances you and I won’t.” Tubby dug in a beat-up nightstand and found an ashtray.

  “You can’t tell me you think Hannah’s solution is the right one. She’s off the rails.” I lit a cigarette.

  “She’s right but for the wrong reasons. Just ’cuz we walk away don’t mean it’s over. King and the Guns’ll hunt us down and shoot us like fish in a barrel.” Tubby watched me through the haze of cigarette smoke we’d generated.

  I thought about what he’d said. Death didn’t scare me. The shadow side the hag had scratched open had indeed been the true me, the one who secretly hated her life and wouldn’t mind leaving it behind. What scared me was seeing people I loved die. Tubby was right about one thing. King was going to come for them whether I went to fight him tonight or not.

  “We go tonight, at least I’ll go down fighting.” I leaned back against the dirty wall, hollowness spreading through me.

  Tubby leaned against the wall next to me. “One last stand?”

  I nodded my agreement. He held his fist out. We bumped.

  Tubby pinched out his cigarette butt and dropped it into the ashtray. “Let’s plan this thing. They’re at the compound, expecting you. What do you do?” He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against a greasy mark on the wall. It must have been a regular spot for him.

  My mind was a roiling mass of darkness. I took deep breaths and tried to focus. An idea floated out of the void. “What about a distraction? Just like when we went to get Hannah, only using my talents?” If I was going to die tonight, I might as well pull out all the stops.

  Someone tapped on the door. “Who is it?” I yelled.

  Mysti and Dillon stepped inside the room, both of them fidgeting so much it looked like they were trying to tap dance. Finally Dillon couldn't stand it anymore. “Are you really going to stand down?”

  “No. But you can go back to Finn. Take Cecil with you.” I nodded at Mysti. “You go back to Griff and Brad.”

  Mysti shook her head. “I’m helping.”

  She had her chin stuck out like she was going to war. Too tired to argue with her, I explained the only plan I had, which used the only talent I had. Mysti began to smile. She put her phone to her ear and turned her back. Dillon got out her phone and did the same.

  Tubby smoked, squinting at the smudged wall near the door. “Your plan’s good. It’ll make ’em run. But if I was King, I’d leave my men to fight and hopefully kill you while I waited with a select crew in a safer place.”

  Tubby had a point. A bunch of outlaws could definitely outfight me, some grifters, and Tubby’s meth head army. “We could split up.”

  Tubby didn’t give me a chance to say anything else. “But where on that fifty acres would King go to hide?”

  I blew smoke rings to quiet my mind. The answer came. “Get Hannah. She’ll know any additional places on the compound where King might hide.”

  Mysti, off the phone by now, spoke up. “She’s downstairs taking shots with Tubby’s…friends.”

  Tubby snatched my phone, called the bar, and told Bullfrog to send Hannah up.

  Hannah came in pulling her fingers, the effects of her drinking session non-existent. She’d redone the makeup she cried off on the way home from Tyler and looked a tiny bit like her old self with her expensive clothes and diamonds winking at her earlobes.

  “Sit down.” I motioned at a cracked vinyl and rusted aluminum chair. Hannah did what I said.

  “Is there anywhere else on the compound or nearby King might go for safety? You were there a good bit, right?” I had about a pack’s worth of cigarettes jamming the ashtray but I lit another.

  “Can I have one of those?” Hannah reached out without waiting for an answer.

  I got up, gave her a cigarette, and lit it for her. Her smoking now was almost funny after how much she’d hated me doing it. I kept my feelings to myself.

  Hannah inhaled deeply and turned a little green when the nicotine hit her. “Yeah. There’s an old cabin with no electricity right in the middle of the property.” She set her cigarette down in the ashtray.

  I gave her a scrap of paper and a pen. “Draw a map to it.”

  She shook her head. “I want to show you where it is.” She shoved the paper back at me.

  “We’re probably going to die.” Finally speaking the thought I’d been having on loop felt surreal.

  Her face reddened, and that slow burning fire came back in her eyes. “I’m ready.”

  My
hate for Michael Gage and Nash Redmond raged. If I could have gone back in time, both of them would have died slower, screaming for mercy that never came. Hannah watched me. We exchanged a small nod. I’d been trying to get on the same page as her since I’d rolled into town. It had taken a mutual death wish brought on by the hag’s asshole ministrations to do it.

  “While I’m creating a distraction, you’ll take Tubby and Bullfrog to the cabin. You’re going to be alone with them.” I had to give her the out if she wanted it.

  “I’ll do it.” She nodded and left the room without a word.

  Mysti and Dillon had been whispering in the corner. Now they came to hover near the bed.

  Mysti spoke first. “Griff and Brad are on the way.”

  “Tell ’em not to come. Too dangerous.” I glanced at Tubby for support, but he just shrugged.

  Mysti turned on her authority voice, the one she used to win arguments. “No. They want to help Wade.” She made a sour expression. “I do too. He’s a good man, even if we don’t do things the same way.”

  I issued my own line in the sand. “You can only stay until after the distraction is in motion.” Mysti shook her head. I held up my hand. “Save it. Go home if you can’t do what I say.”

  She flushed but nodded.

  Dillon shoved her phone in her pocket and sat on the edge of the bed. “Finn’s staying with the kids, but some of the men from Sanctuary are coming to help the family. They’re only a couple of hours away.”

  I shook my head and started to refuse. She held up one hand. “They’ve finally accepted you as a leader. You’ll insult them.”

  A wave of fatigue rolled over me. I had to sleep. Otherwise I wouldn't be doing any magic tonight, and we'd lose most of our advantage. My eyes fluttered. Tubby stood and ushered them all outside.

  “Wait a minute. You need to help me decide what to tell Cecil,” I slurred.

  “Rest,” he said. “I’ll talk to him and do everything else that needs doing.” He shut the door with a soft click.

  Just staying upright was difficult, but I twisted on the bed until I could see myself in the cheap, full-length mirror Tubby or someone had hung. The hag rested on my shoulder, bigger than ever. We stared at each other.