by Aaron, Celia
“He didn’t make a payment on one of the properties. It only took the Collettis a few days to notice the missing payment. Randall was dumb enough to think he’d have plenty of time before they came looking. He was wrong.”
“So what’s your plan?” Benton cocked his head to the side. “I take it being trapped in a barn with the shooter outside wasn’t on your agenda?”
“No.” The placid façade fell away, the judge’s face wrinkling into a glare. “You led him right to me. How’d you find this place, anyway?”
Unease trickled down my spine like ice water when I realized that we should have had some deputies out here by now. Where were they? I tightened my grip on the gun. “Letty left us a clue.”
“That bitch gummed up the works from day one.” He snarled, putting more force into his words than I thought he had. Perhaps he wasn’t as frail as he’d been leading everyone to believe.
“It’s over. There’s nowhere for you to run. Put your hands on your head and get on your knees.”
“I’m afraid I can’t.” He shook his head.
“Get on your knees!” I took another step toward him.
“Going to jail for murder isn’t high on my bucket list.”
“Murder?” Benton moved to my right, his shotgun up.
The judge laughed. My hackles rose.
“The Lagners. You didn’t figure that one out? Didn’t think decrepit old Brad Ingles had it in him?”
“Show me your hands. Now!”
“All right.” He raised his left hand, his right hand obscured by the thick support beam he’d been leaning against.
“Both of them!” My finger danced along the edge of the trigger.
He raised the other, and the thump of blood in my ears lessened a bit.
“Now get on the ground.”
“It’ll take me a minute.” He leaned to the side and bent one knee, half of him hidden behind the post.
“Don’t!” I aimed for his head.
He shot me a sly look. “I’m doing what you said.”
I gave him one more chance. “Stop!”
He didn’t take it.
A shot cracked through the barn, and Judge Ingles fell forward, a pistol clattering from his hand and onto the concrete.
“What the—” Benton tackled me before I could finish my thought as two more shots boomed nearby.
We crawled to the desk and pressed our backs against it as slow footsteps echoed around the barn.
“You two don’t have to die,” the man with the light eyes called. “I’m here for the cash. Nothing else. Just let me take what’s ours, and you’ll never see me again.”
Benton started to swing the shotgun around the desk. I grabbed the barrel and held him still. The shooter would pick us off the second we showed ourselves.
“How can I be sure you won’t come back?”
Benton’s eyes widened as he gave me an incredulous look.
“I got no reason. Our business here is concluded.” He was circling to our left.
“So if we give you the cash, you’ll let us go?” I sent up a silent prayer.
Benton shook his head vehemently.
“Sure thing.” He’d almost cleared the desk.
With a shove, I threw myself away from the desk and rolled, firing all the while.
The shooter dove while firing back at me. White heat seared through my upper arm. I couldn’t stop my scream as I emptied my magazine.
Benton cut from the other side of the desk, the boom of his shotgun filling the enclosed space.
I crawled into the nearest stall as blood seeped through my coat. Dropping my gun, I clutched the wound, applying pressure as scorching agony ripped through me.
Three more booms and pumps from the shotgun, then a click. Benton was out of shells. Scuffling footsteps, and then he dropped down next to me, his hands going to my arm.
“Did we get him?”
“I don’t know.” His eyes grew grave as he stared at my arm. “It’s bad. I need to stop the bleeding. Where the fuck is Porter?” He shucked his jacket off, then yanked at the hem of his button-down, ripping off a strip of fabric.
“Make sure he’s down.” Spots swam in my vision. Shock. “Make sure we got him.”
“Let me tie this first.” He wrapped the fabric around my arm just below my shoulder and tied it off.
“That’s sweet.” The man with the light eyes walked around the end of the stall, bloody spots marring his shirt and pants. Benton had pegged him with buckshot, but not enough to stop him. A bigger wound bled from his shoulder, and he had a limp. “Taking care of your girl. Real sweet.”
“Let her go.” Benton held up his bloodied hands. “She has a kid at home, okay? A little girl. Her name is—”
“Shut the fuck up.” He pointed the pistol at my head. “You know that’s not the way this is going to end. But I have one little question first.” He dropped to his haunches, the gun still pointed between my eyes. “Who else knows?”
“Knows what?” Benton asked.
The man tsked. “You want me to make her hurt? I can.” He aimed at my leg.
“Wait!” Benton put his hand over my knee, as if it could stop a bullet.
“Ready to talk?”
“Yes.”
“Who knows?”
“Ah, well—”
“Don’t tell him shit.” I stared up into the cold eyes that had seen more death and violence than I could even imagine. “Do your worst, asshole.”
He seemed taken aback, then nodded appreciatively. “Damn. You’ve got a set of brass balls, lady. I’ll give you that.”
“Just do it.” I didn’t drop my gaze. I refused to be cowed by this murderous piece of shit.
“Spare her—”
“I’ll send your kid your regards.” He returned his aim to my face, his finger on the trigger.
Benton took my hand in his.
A single shot. An end. A fall into darkness.
33
Benton
I draped myself over Arabella as the man with the light eyes staggered and fell face down. He landed just inches from us. I reached over and yanked his gun from his hand so hard that I may have broken one of his fingers. Not that he minded—a mushy pulp on his temple oozed blood.
“Arabella?” A deep voice came from the front of the barn.
“Chief?”
“You okay?” He hurried up, his pistol still in his hand.
“Yeah.”
“No.” I pointed to her arm. “She’s been shot.”
His bushy eyebrows lowered as he knelt and peered at the wound. “Damn.”
“I’ll be okay.”
His mustache twitched as he surveyed the dead man. “He had that coming and then some.”
“Where’s Porter and the rest of them?” I needed to get Arabella to a hospital, and fast.
“On the way.” He stood and huffed a grunt. “Why didn’t you shoot this guy before I got here?”
“I’m out.” Arabella frowned. “And shot.”
“I emptied the shotgun. That guy was like the Terminator.”
“Terminated all right.” Chief Garvey toed his body. “He have a gun on him?”
“Yeah.” I held it up.
“Go ahead and hand it over. Evidence.”
I reached up, but Arabella rested her hand on my forearm. “Chief?” The question in her voice seemed more loaded than the pistol in my hand.
His mustache twitched again. “Don’t make this hard.”
“What?” I tightened my grip on the pistol.
Chief Garvey pointed his gun at Arabella.
“The fuck are you doing?” My voice rose.
“What I have to. Now hand over the gun.”
I glanced at Arabella.
“Just do it.” She stared straight ahead, ignoring the barrel pointed at her.
“Listen to her, son.” Chief Garvey held out his meaty palm.
“Give it to him.” She turned to me, her skin pale.
I swallowed hard, then handed the gun to Chief Garvey.
“Smart choice.” He stuffed it in the back of his pants, and moved his aim to me. “Now your phones.”
Benton handed his over.
“Arabella?” The Chief held out his hand.
“Mine is still in the car wreck.”
He dropped my phone to the floor and smashed it with his boot, then pulled his cell from his pocket and hit a speed dial button. It rang as he stared at Arabella, an almost remorseful look in his weary eyes. No answering ring sounded from her pockets. He stowed his phone.
“Told you.” She shrugged, then groaned.
“Don’t move, Arabella. You’ll just make it hurt more.” He pointed at me. “You are going to load those boxes into my cruiser. Don’t try anything, or I’ll have to shoot you. I don’t want to, but I will.”
“You knew all along, didn’t you?” The pain in Arabella’s voice was like a gut punch.
Even Chief Garvey’s eyes softened a little. “I didn’t know the particulars, no. But I knew there was a lot of money changing hands in the county. Seemed best for me to put my head down and ignore it. Which is what I did. Until Lina.” His mouth tightened. “Until they hurt her. And then I began to figure things out. I suspected Letty all along, but I didn’t have proof. Not until Lina woke up. It’s a shame Letty got off so easy.” He motioned the pistol at me. “Come on. Get to work.”
I stood and walked toward the boxes.
“Cruiser’s just outside the door behind the truck. Try anything, and I’ll shoot Arabella.”
“You lied to me.” Her voice broke. “This whole time, you’ve been lying.”
I hefted a couple of boxes and walked them to the cruiser, setting them in the backseat. I quietly tried to open the front door to get to the radio, but he’d locked it. Shit.
“—had to.” He coughed. “All these things were already in motion. If I’d told you the truth, you would have gone after the Collettis’ man. He would have shot you dead the second he found out you’d made him. Don’t you see? I did this to protect you.”
“Protect me?” She spat. “You taking off with all this cash was to protect me?”
“I’m taking Lina far away from here. Somewhere she can recover, and we can live in peace. An early retirement.”
“You left a trail of bodies in your wake just so you could retire?”
I kept listening as I loaded boxes and wished for Porter to show up with a line of deputies behind him.
“It’s not like that, and you know it! I’ve worked my ass off for this town. I gave my years. And what did these assholes go and do? They invited a goddamn crime syndicate to turn this place into a money laundromat!” His voice shook. “They got what they deserved. All of them!”
“And the Lagners?”
His voice quieted. “Collateral damage.”
I loaded the last of the boxes in the cruiser and returned to Arabella.
“You’ll get caught.” I sank by her side and took her hand in mine. Her skin was too cold and covered in a clammy sweat. Grabbing my coat, I wrapped it around her.
“By the time I get Lina and hit the highway, that idiot brother of yours won’t even have his thumb out of his ass.”
“What are you going to do with Benton and me?” Acid coated her words. “Kill us too?”
“No.” He shook his head. “You know I couldn’t.” He dropped his aim. “I love you and Vivi.” He gestured toward me. “But I’d kill him, so don’t try to be a hero.”
“Please don’t do this.” A tear leaked from her eye as she stared up at him.
“I have to.” He backed away. “Stay put. They’ll get out here eventually.”
Anger crested inside me. “She could bleed out—”
“She won’t. She’s tougher than you think.” He backed away, his gun still pointed at us. A few moments later, his engine roared to life, and he took off, leaving us behind in the cold barn.
“Porter will be here soon.” I scooted Arabella between my legs and wrapped my arms around her, clasping my fingers together against her ribs. “I’ll keep you warm till then.”
“He was like a father.” She snorted a rueful laugh. “So no wonder he took off.”
“He loved you.”
“He just pointed a gun at my head.” She sniffed.
“There’s no way he would have pulled that trigger.”
“Then why did you help him?”
“Because he would have shot me as soon as look at me.” I kissed her forehead. God, she was cold. Too cold.
“True.” She snuggled closer, but groaned when she moved her arm.
“It’s going to be okay.” I tucked her head under my chin.
“Cold.”
“I know.” I eyed the blood still seeping from the wound in her arm. Something icy slithered around in my heart, and I pushed the dark feeling away. “You’re going to be fine.”
The sound of the Chief’s engine had long since faded when another low hum met my ears. “Do you hear that?”
“Mmm.”
“Arabella.” I gently pulled her away from me. Her head lolled forward. The icy slither intensified, wrapping my heart in frigid barbed wire. “Hey!”
Her head popped up and her eyes fluttered open, but they were unfocused. “Yeah?”
“Stay awake.” I brought her back against my chest, and let out a relieved breath.
“I thought I was awake.”
“Someone’s coming.”
“Someone else who wants to kill us?”
“Surely someone in this damn county wants to see us make it another day, right?”
“Doesn’t seem like it.” Her breathing turned shallow.
“Shh.”
The engine grew louder, and someone skidded to a stop outside the barn. Boots crunched on splintered wood. I tensed, probably gripping Arabella too tightly, but she didn’t protest.
“Benton?”
“Porter!” I’d never been more relieved to hear his voice.
“Where are you?”
“Back here, first stall. Arabella’s been shot. We have to get her to the hospital!”
“Shot?” He hurried into view, then peered at first Judge Ingle’s body then the man with the light eyes. “Holy shit.”
“Porter, focus! Help me get her up.”
He dashed over and held onto Arabella as I scooted her out of my embrace, then stood. When he moved to pick her up, I leaned over. “I got her.”
“I’ll drive.” He rushed out the door.
When I got outside, the back door was already open and he was in the front seat talking into his radio.
I slid in, gingerly holding Arabella on my lap, then closed the door.
“What the hell happened? Chief Garvey rode up, said he didn’t see the shooter, everything was fine, and that you two were going to walk out to the road.”
“Then why did you come?”
He glanced in the rearview mirror as he drove away from the barn. “You know I’ve never been too good at following instructions.”
“Thank god.” I pulled Arabella tight against me, but she still groaned when Porter went too fast over the bumpy terrain.
“Sorry, Arabella.”
“Just go.” I hated for her to hurt more, but the faster we got to the hospital the better. “Blast the heat.”
“I am.” He jabbed his finger into the up arrow a few more times, just to be sure. “Now tell me what the hell happened.”
I recounted the story as his deputies blew past us toward the barn, their lights flashing. When we hit Route 9, he floored it, siren blaring. He radioed for a paramedic intercept outside Azalea and sent Logan over to the hospital to guard Lina. Chief Garvey had quickly become the most wanted man in the county.
“That’s—wouldn’t let—call in the state police.” Arabella mumbled against my chest.
“What?” I stroked her hair.
“He wouldn’t let me call the state police in to help. That’s why. He knew. He’d bee
n planning to take the money.” Her voice was thinner than a piano wire, and her lips had faded to the same pale shade as her skin.
Panic gripped my heart and squeezed. “Porter, faster!”
“I’m going as fast as I can without killing us all!”
“Benton?”
“Yes? I’m here.”
“I can’t feel you.”
“I’m holding you in my—” My voice caught on the last word, and I couldn’t continue.
“Take care of Vivi.”
“We both will, okay?” My eyes burned.
“Please. Mom is too sick.” Her labored breath slowed her words.
“I’ll love her like my own. But I’ll do it with you at my side.” A lump formed in my throat, and my vision hazed as I stared down at her.
A faint smile twisted the corner of her lips. “Sounds like…you love a girl … from Razor Row.”
“I do.” I kissed her clammy forehead. “Please stay. I’ll even move to Razor Row if my comeuppance will make you happy.”
“It would.” She opened her eyes for only a moment, her green irises still striking even in the shadowy car. “Promise me. Viv.” Her eyelids fluttered closed, shutting me off from her.
“I promise.” I clutched her to me, my heart breaking as hers slowed.
34
Benton
The doors remained closed as I paced back and forth in front of them. There’d been no word ever since we’d arrived at the emergency room. The triage nurse had taken one look at Arabella and rushed her away toward surgery and a waiting doctor.
Porter had left to chase the chief. After grabbing the cash, Garvey had stolen an ambulance and his daughter, hitting the road out of town before we’d made it to the hospital. Every law enforcement officer in Mississippi was on the lookout for him.
Logan pushed through the doors at the other end of the hall and hurried toward me with a pronounced limp. “I knew you’d get her hurt or killed!” His hands curled into fists.
He was right. I leaned against the wall, waiting for his onslaught, not even bothering to defend myself. She could die because of me. Because I wasn’t strong enough to keep her safe.
Logan stopped right in front of me, his face drawn, ire oozing from every pore. When he met my gaze, it seemed like some of the steam left him, as if something in my eyes gave him pause.