Mitchell slowly entered the kitchen while continuing to scan the area then uncertainly approached the living room archway. He cautiously entered the dimly lit living room and looked around. Nothing moved. He slowly headed toward the main stairs. Casey emerged from the shadows, slinked across the floor, and entered the dark dining room. Mitchell hesitated, looked back from where he stood near the bottom of the stairs, and scanned the room. Nothing moved. He focused his attention on the stairs and headed up them. Mitchell quietly walked along the upstairs hallway, glancing into each dark room as he passed. He uncertainly peered into the dark, master bedroom. There was a thump. Mitchell removed his gun and fumbled with the light switch. Tucker was naked and standing facing the bedpost. His wrists were handcuffed to the canopy, his ankles were tied to the bottom post, and his sock was stuffed in his mouth. Red lipstick scribbled across his buttocks read, "Vote for Grey". Mitchell hurried toward him while appearing alarmed and removed the sock from his mouth.
Tucker spit several times then glared at Mitchell. “Untie me,” he cried out in mild panic. “She’s in the house!”
Mitchell quickly removed his handcuff keys and unlocked the cuffs on Tucker’s wrists. “You said you could handle her,” he protested with the alarm evident in his voice.
“Are you sure you didn’t see her?” Tucker demanded.
“No, she must have slipped out.” Mitchell removed his knife and cut the ropes binding Tucker’s ankles while avoiding looking at his naked body.
Tucker grabbed his clothing and quickly dressed. “Guard the door,” he ordered.
Mitchell hurried to the bedroom door and watched the hall as Tucker dressed. Casey appeared in the bathroom doorway and somersaulted across the room.
Tucker saw her and suddenly cried out, “There she is!”
Mitchell spun with his gun aimed. Casey was already in front of him, spun into a roundhouse kick, and knocked his gun across the room. Mitchell gasped and ran from the room. Tucker lunged for the gun on the floor. Casey flipped through the air, struck him in the head with her foot, and gracefully landed near the gun as Tucker was thrown onto the bed. He groaned and appeared disoriented. Casey picked up the gun and shook her head with disappointment.
“You’re not even making this sporting,” she scoffed. “I’ll be back to deal with you.”
She darted across the room and disappeared into the hallway.
†
Dina held back her sobs while she half lie frozen against the steering wheel of the vertical car. She again looked at her purse on the dashboard. She had to reach it. She had to get her cell phone. It was her only hope for survival. The Camaro suddenly jolted and the tree creaked loudly. Dina screamed. The large evergreen swayed slightly as the car pulled away from it. She stared out the windshield as the front of the car was pulled backwards and away from the tree. She clutched the steering wheel in both hands as the car was pulled up the ravine. Within seconds, the car was pulled through the mangled, metal railing that resembled torn tinfoil. The driver’s side door was pulled open with a loud creak. As Dina looked at the open door, Ruger stared back at her with fatherly concern.
“Are you alright?”
Dina held back her laugh, clutched her bleeding temple, and slowly shook her head. “Honestly? No.”
Ruger helped her from the car. She leaned heavily on him while holding her head.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I’m guessing you had an accident and ran off the road,” Ruger replied.
Diesel removed the tow cable from the Camaro and returned to Grey’s jeep. Dina stared at Grey’s jeep a moment then looked back at Ruger with alarm.
“No,” she announced firmly. “I was driving Grey’s jeep.”
“We found it abandoned at the tavern with the keys in the ignition,” Diesel informed her as he approached.
Dina remained disoriented then looked at both men. “Someone hit me as I approached Casey’s car!” She was now horrified. “We need to find Casey. I know who’s behind this!”
Chapter Thirty
Mitchell ran down the backstairs, crossed the Remington’s kitchen, and ran for the partially closed door. He threw open the door to reveal Grey, who was out of breath and clinging to the doorframe. Grey looked at Mitchell, appeared surprised to see him, and uncertainly straightened.
“I thought Sheriff Holt was here,” Grey said.
Mitchell was in a state of panic. “Casey’s gone crazy. You’ve got to stop her!”
Grey appeared surprised while staring at him. There was an eerie silence. “Did you do something to her?”
“No--”
A twisted smile suddenly crossed Grey’s face. His look was oddly psychotic. “Did she accuse you of something?”
Mitchell slowly backed away from Grey. He entered the house while grinning in a creepy manner. Mitchell appeared frightened and continued to back up. Casey appeared in the living room archway and casually leaned against it. Mitchell saw her behind him, panicked, and lunged for Grey, the obvious lesser of two evils. Grey spun into a high, roundhouse kick, and struck him in the chest. Mitchell flew backwards and into Casey. She caught him, smiled sweetly, and brushed the dirty footprint from his chest.
“How about you start by telling us what you did with Sheriff Holt?” Casey demanded to know with a look that immediately sent chills through the deputy.
Mitchell was now terrified. In her state of mind, there was no telling what Casey would do. “I didn’t do anything with Vaughn, I swear,” Mitchell cried out. “It was Tucker! He had someone run him off the road. I swear; it wasn’t me!”
Casey looked at Grey. Her expression changed to that of concern. Grey gave her a firm look and a quick nod. Casey resumed her slightly psychotic attitude and forced Mitchell to look her in the eyes.
“Was it Tucker who killed our parents?” Casey demanded to know.
“Yes, it was Tucker,” Mitchell stammered while attempting to keep watch on both. “Tucker did it to keep the mayor in office. Your father was a threat to his position.”
“And what was your part in it?” Grey demanded, causing Mitchell to gasp and look back at him.
“I was supposed to keep an eye on Vaughn at his speed trap, but I fell asleep,” he announced nervously. “I didn’t know he was going to kill anyone, I swear.”
“And the mayor ordered the hit?” Grey asked.
“There wasn’t supposed to be a hit,” Mitchell protested. “It was supposed to be a warning.” He suddenly hesitated. “He said he was just going to rough up Casey and her mother to frighten Brandon. He never said anything about killing anyone.” Mitchell remained tense and looked from Grey to Casey. “That’s why I volunteered to go after Dina the other night. I didn’t want to see anyone else hurt, but then someone jumped me--” He suddenly eyed Casey with an odd realization.
She grinned and shook her head. “Sorry,” she replied. “That wasn’t me. If I came across a man in a mask, I probably would have shot first and asked questions later.”
“If it wasn’t you--” Mitchell gasped softly then looked at Grey.
Grey grinned. “Sure, blame it on the psycho brother,” he teased.
“I knew it!” Casey suddenly announced with a twisted smile. “You were acting a little too innocent. You were behind the Harford boys and the cannon too, weren’t you?”
“We all vent in our own way, sister dear,” Grey replied.
“And here I was blaming Ruger,” she scoffed while hiding her smile. “I’m proud of you.”
A gun was suddenly heard cocking just behind Casey. She tensed to the familiar sound near her head. Mitchell darted away from her, turned to look back, and held his chest. Tucker stood behind Casey with a small, semiautomatic pistol to her head.
“Look what I found in daddy’s nightstand beneath the dirty magazines,” Tucker teased.
Casey remained still as horror crossed her face. She didn’t chance looking back at him but knew it was a gun against her head. “The twenty-two?�
� she asked softly.
“That’s right,” Tucker said with a chuckle.
Casey groaned softly and shut her eyes. She then muttered, “Forgot about that one.”
Grey appeared stunned while staring at her with his mouth hanging open. “Good job, Casey!”
“They know everything, Tucker,” Mitchell informed him and appeared less nervous now.
“Of course they do, thanks to your big mouth,” Tucker snapped. “We’ll continue with the original plan.”
“How do you intend to explain your missing guns?” Casey asked while resuming a little of her earlier confidence.
Tucker suddenly glared at Mitchell. “Cuff Grey to the banister and find our weapons. Check the upstairs bathroom.”
Mitchell removed his handcuffs and kept a safe distance from Grey while subconsciously rubbing his chest. He nodded him to the stairs and tossed him the cuffs.
“Cuff your right wrist to the banister,” Mitchell ordered.
Grey hesitated and eyed Casey. She raised her brows in silent response. Grey frowned then groaned as he cuffed his right wrist to the banister. Mitchell took a wide birth around Grey then darted up the stairs.
“Who ordered the hit on our family?” Grey asked while glaring at Tucker across the kitchen. “Was it the mayor or that bastard Ernest?”
“The same person who stole Casey’s car and ran Vaughn off the road tonight,” Tucker informed him while grinning slyly. “Although an investigation will reveal it was Dina behind the wheel, that is, once they identify her body.”
Casey and Grey exchanged horrified looks. Grey sneered and gave a firm tug on the handcuff attached to the banister. His look was once again psychotic. Abby appeared in the open kitchen doorway and stared at Tucker with a strange look on her face. He looked at her and appeared surprised. A clearly visible cut on the corner of her mouth bled freely.
“Abby?” Tucker gasped. “What are you doing--?”
Vaughn forced Abby into the kitchen while holding his gun to her head. She was obviously frightened by her run-in with him.
“You know, I never hit a woman before,” Vaughn said firmly. He casually looked around the room then eyed Casey. “I wasn’t expecting quite so many people on our date.”
“Yeah, the party got a little out of control,” she muttered while casting a sideways glance at the gun to her own head. “Nice of you to finally join us.”
“Traffic was bad,” he scoffed. “I saw Dina along the road with the ‘auto club’. She seemed fine, but Diesel’s a little pissed about the car.” He then looked at his deputy and best friend. “You never were good at tying loose ends, Tucker. So I figured I’d help you out. You off my girlfriend; I off yours.”
Casey and Grey stared at Vaughn with surprise.
“Really?” Casey gasped. “The mayor’s wife and your deputy?” She managed to eye Tucker partially behind her and suddenly grimaced. “Ewe, you slept with your ex-girlfriend’s mother! That is so nasty.”
“Yeah,” Vaughn announced and smirked. “She was surprisingly talkative after I bounced her head off the steering wheel. She was the driving force behind keeping her husband in office. It seems Lance had no clue what she and Tucker had been doing behind his back--in and out of the bedroom.”
It seemed out of character for Vaughn to assault Mrs. Mayor, but he’d obviously had a rough night.
“When she stumbled upon my accident, something she said earlier about Casey’s teenage crush on me finally registered. Half the town knew I had a thing for Casey many years ago, but only three people knew about her teenage crush on me. Casey, her mother, and Dina. Abby could only have known that if she read Catherine’s journal, which she had stolen from my desk.”
Casey stared at Vaughn with surprise and hostility. “She stole my mother’s journal? When did you intend to tell me it was stolen?”
Vaughn sharply raised his brows at her. “I think we’re getting a little off subject, Casey,” he remarked.
She glared her disapproval. “Fine, but we’ll finish this discussion later.”
“Shut up, both of you!” Tucker appeared enraged while clutching the gun he held to Casey’s head. “You won’t shoot Abby, Vaughn, but you know I’ll do Casey.”
There was a tense moment. Casey stared at Vaughn and knew damned well Tucker was right. There was no way Vaughn would ever shoot Mrs. Mayor without being provoked. Casey showed no emotion while staring at Vaughn.
“Shoot him,” she announced sternly.
Vaughn stared back at her and appeared stunned. “Are you crazy?” he gasped.
“I’m pretty sure she is,” Grey remarked simply while casually leaning against the banister to which he was handcuffed.
“Do it,” Casey said firmly.
“Shut up!” Tucker shouted while clutching her shoulder and dug the barrel of the gun into her temple.
Vaughn tensed but didn’t take the gun from Abby’s head. Casey stared into Vaughn’s eyes from across the kitchen.
“There’s one bullet in the chamber, but the clip is empty,” she quickly informed Vaughn then raised her brows sharply. “Shoot him!”
Tucker suddenly appeared alarmed at the prospect of only having one bullet and aimed the gun at Vaughn. Vaughn shoved Abby aside and shot Tucker in the head as Casey ducked. Tucker’s head snapped back as his gun clicked empty. Abby screamed and bolted toward the garage door just past Grey. Grey suddenly kicked her in the chest, throwing her backward. She roughly hit the floor and didn’t move. There was a loud thump from upstairs. Mitchell tumbled down the stairs, landed roughly at the bottom, and lay unconscious. Ruger casually walked down the steps and assessed the situation in the kitchen.
Vaughn stared at Ruger with surprise. “Where did you come from?”
“From upstairs,” he said innocently while pointing up the steps, “just now.” Ruger casually tossed Grey the handcuff keys.
Diesel entered from the living room with Dina just behind him and looked around. “What did I miss?” he asked then eyed Tucker lying on the floor as blood spilled from his head wound.
Dina saw Tucker and gasped with horror.
Diesel nodded his approval and grinned. “Nice shot.”
While avoiding the spilling blood, Dina ran past Tucker’s lifeless body and toward Grey, who removed the handcuffs. He gathered her into his arms and clung to her while sighing his relief. Vaughn approached the dead man and glared at Casey. She innocently watched him as he picked up the small gun by the barrel.
“Did you know the gun was empty?” he suddenly asked.
Casey casually shrugged, folded her arms across her chest, and maintained an innocent look. “No, I actually thought there was one in the chamber.”
“What former Special Forces keeps a gun with a bullet in the chamber but an empty clip?” Vaughn demanded.
All four looked at him while smirking but none responded. His question was silently answered. Vaughn rolled his eyes and shook his head. He crouched down alongside Tucker and unbuttoned his shirt to expose the bulletproof vest. He lightly ran his finger along the indents in the chest of the vest.
“Three indents,” Vaughn remarked with a soft sigh. “Same vest he wore two years ago.”
“Didn’t do him much good tonight,” Diesel muttered then grinned.
Vaughn stuck his finger in a hole near the side of the vest and glanced at Casey. “I think this was your handy work. Looks like a .357 Magnum. If he hadn’t been wearing, he wouldn’t have gotten up when you shot him.”
“My shot was a little obstructed,” she casually remarked. “If he had stuck his head out though, I would gladly have blown it off.”
Vaughn slowly straightened and allowed his eyes to fall on her attire. He casually walked past her and murmured softly, “I like the outfit.”
Casey grinned and raised her brows lustfully.
Ruger rolled his eyes, turned away, and scoffed, “I’m going to be sick.”
Chapter Thirty-one
One week later. There was
a large crowd standing before the stage at the fairgrounds. Just about the entire town had showed up for what would be the turning point in history of their small town. They had been under a cloud of corruption for decades and finally things were going to be different. Grey stood behind the podium as the crowd cheered and applauded. He proudly looked over the cheering crowd while realizing his father’s dream. Brandon would have been proud of his son.
“As acting mayor, I’m making a promise to end corruption in our town,” Grey announced. He barely got the words out when the crowd cheered wildly.
Ernest was seen off to the side with his three sons. Fred was conspicuously missing. He motioned to his sons and all four walked away.
“And in order to do that,” Grey continued from behind the podium, “we need a strong police department. At this time, I’d like to call to the stage our very own Sheriff Holt, who bravely saved mine and Casey’s life not once but twice now.”
The crowd applauded and cheered as Vaughn made his way onto stage, once again embarrassed by the spotlight. He approached Grey at the podium and shook his hand.
“Mayor Remington,” Vaughn cheerfully announced.
Grey grinned in response. “Our town is going to be in the best of hands,” he announced to the crowd then looked at Vaughn. “Sheriff Holt, would you please introduce our new deputies.”
Vaughn stood behind the podium and looked out to the crowd, who waited anxiously for his announcement. “I’d like the good people of Darwood Falls to meet our new and improved police force,” he announced cheerfully. “Please welcome Deputy Diesel Mann and Deputy Ruger Quinn.”
Ruger and Diesel walked onto stage in their new police uniforms and badges. The crowd applauded wildly. Vaughn walked down the steps as both men soaked in the attention. Casey rode up to the stage on her gray horse and smiled at Vaughn. He grinned, climbed onto the horse behind her, and they rode across the fairgrounds as he clung to her. Grey watched them leave, smiled proudly, and stepped behind the podium.
“Let’s hear it for Sheriff Holt,” Grey announced cheerfully and clapped. “My soon-to-be future brother-in-law.”
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