Brown Eyed Girl

by Lori Leger

  She forced herself to keep the fear out of her voice as she continued to talk, trying to glean as much information as she could. “It’s not like it was handed to him on a silver platter, Benji. He’s had to work hard for it. That club was his dream and you burnt it down. Isn’t that enough?”

  “Hell no! He would have rebuilt with the insurance money and it would have been bigger and better. People like him keep coming back financially. I have to let him know what it’s like to lose someone he really cares about.” He sent her an evil glare. “I saw the look on his face when he threw Angelique out of the club. You don’t throw away a dish like that over nothing. She was good too, I almost regretted the plan to kill her but it was the golden opportunity to set him up. I don’t know why she never showed up.”

  “She did. She went through the side door and overheard you talking to your girlfriend. Your pregnant girlfriend—you killed your own child.”

  He laughed maniacally. “The hell I did. I know for a fact that my loads are all blanks. Once that bitch said she was pregnant and tried to pawn it off as mine, I knew she’d been screwing around. That was the easiest kill I ever made. Walked up behind her while she was bitching and moaning and snapped her neck like a twig.”

  An icy chill went down Tiffany’s spine at his confession. God, she hoped Red hadn’t heard it. She had no doubt that Red and the officers knew her exact location. Her phone had a built in GPS, and she suspected they were being followed very closely. All she could do was stay alert, and wait for her opportunity to escape.

  They were a few miles from the station when she got the chance she’d been praying for. Just as they crested the overpass that led to one of the busiest intersections of Lafayette, she saw at least a quarter mile of brake lights ahead of them, clear down to the intersection.

  Benji swore when he saw the bottle necked traffic due to the accident at the light. He slammed on his brakes and grabbed the wheel with both hands to avoid hitting the car in front of him.

  Tiffany took a deep breath and gripped the letter opener tightly in her right hand. Channeling every ounce of strength she had, she jabbed the opener just above Benji’s right knee where she knew it would do the most damage. His angry, pain-filled roar resounded throughout the truck a second before he dropped the gun. It hit the truck’s floor board, sliding over to the passenger side. Tiffany lunged for the door and hit the unlock button. She threw it open and slid out, grabbing the pistol in one fluid movement before she hit the pavement running. Thank God she’d worn a pair of athletic shoes and comfortable jeans.

  <><><>

  Panic closed in on Red as he watched Benji’s truck approach the crest of the overpass. They weren’t more than thirty car lengths behind them and the three passengers of the Jeep had been keeping a close eye on the pick-up with binoculars. “Can’t we drive any faster?” he groaned. “We’re about to lose sight of them.” He caught Mike’s reflection in the rearview mirror.

  “Just hold on, Red. He doesn’t know it yet, but the intersection ahead of him is gridlocked because of a wreck. We can use the opportunity to get closer but we’ll have to be careful with all these people around.” Just as he predicted, as soon as the truck disappeared behind the overpass, vehicles behind it began hitting their brake lights. The instant traffic stopped around them, the officers exited their vehicles and began to run up between the lanes of traffic toward the crest.

  Red got out and stood next to Mike and the two accompanying officers. He strained his eyes at something up ahead. “What the hell is that?” He pointed in the direction of the overpass then raised his binoculars to focus on the sight. It only took a second before he realized what he was seeing. “It’s Doc!” Before the other officers could stop him, Red bolted toward Tiffany, who looked like she was trying to break her own personal record for speed. At his approach, he watched as recognition dawned on her, followed by a serious look of relief.

  <><><>

  Benji howled with equal parts of psychopathic rage and pain as he pulled the letter opener out of his knee. I’ll kill that bitch for this. He hobbled out of the truck then pulled his rifle with the scope out from under the seat. He ignored the several people in the cars around him that pulled out their cell phones. They could call all the cops they wanted. By the time they got here it would be finished. He was ready to die to avenge his brother’s death, as long as McAllister’s whore died too.

  He hobbled to the top of the overpass with some difficulty, cursing her the entire time. He switched off the loaded rifle’s safety, and brought it to his shoulder. Just as he focused in on her with his scope, Red reached her. He swore again when he saw Red grab her hand and pull her in front of him as they headed away from him.

  “That’s okay, Red. This son of a bitch is powerful enough to go right through the both of you,” Benji murmured. “Not bad, Bradford…two for the price of one.” He applied smooth and steady pressure on the trigger until the shot was fired.

  <><><>

  Red reached out for Tiffany, pulling her in front of him as they both continued to run back to the Cherokee. They passed at least a half dozen officers situated between vehicles along the way. They’d apparently positioned themselves along the roadway at regular intervals to insure that no passengers exited their cars. As the couple got to the Jeep, Mike yelled at them to get down. The explosion of a single shot fired just before Tiffany and Red collapsed onto the back seat.

  <>

  “Do you have a clear shot, Hobbs?” the chief asked.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Take it.”

  Ken Hobbs fired and watched as Benjamin Bradford crumbled to the ground before getting a shot off. “It’s done.”

  The captain lowered his binoculars. “Good job...let’s go pick him up and see what we can do about this FUBAR of a traffic situation.”

  <>

  Red and Tiffany were back at the police station within twenty minutes after the shooting. As they entered the precinct’s central office, Vivienne threw her arms around Tiffany.

  “Please tell me he didn’t hurt you,” she said hysterically. “Sweetie, you risked your life for me.”

  “I’m fine, Vivienne. Did he hurt you when he knocked you down?” She looked down at Vivienne’s scuffed slacks.

  “I’m fine! I felt so helpless watching him take you away like that.” She began to cry as she placed her hand softly on Tiffany’s curls.

  “Vivienne, I’m fine, really. It’s all over with and he can’t hurt us anymore.”

  “Is he...?”

  Red and Tiffany both nodded.

  “Oh my God,” she said sadly. “I can’t believe something like this could happen to us—to one of my children.”

  Red hugged both women tightly. A movement caught his eye and he grinned. “Mom, where’s dad?” he asked, mischievously.

  Vivienne pushed away from her son. “Your father’s at home, fighting the flu. He wanted to come with me, but he was burning up. I had to sneak out while he was in the bathroom.” She covered her eyes with one hand and groaned. “Oh Lord, he’ll be furious with me. After this, I’ll never be able to win an argument with him again.” She jumped at the sound of her husband’s deep baritone.

  “You didn’t win that one, Vivi...you cheated.”

  Vivi turned to see Pete McAllister’s massive bulk filling the doorway.

  “It just took me awhile to get cleaned up and make it here.”

  Vivienne rushed into her husband’s bear hug.

  “You should have waited for me, hon,” Pete scolded.

  “I know, but you’ve been so sick.” Vivienne touched her husband’s face gently then reached up to feel his forehead. “You’ve still got a fever, Pete.”

  He pulled out a bottle of aspirin and downed two tablets with a cup of water from the cooler. “Satisfied now?”

  Vivienne smiled at him and nodded. “Melissa called me a few minutes ago. She said one of the local networks had a helicopter view out there because of that accident and they pr
eempted regular programming to show the entire thing. She wants a ‘family gathering’ at her place to make sure everyone’s okay. They live in a subdivision across town, Tiffany, but it’s on your way back to I-10.”

  “Let me find out what we need to do before we can leave,” Red said, going off in search of someone in charge. He returned in less than a minute accompanied by an officer. “Doc, you need to give your statement to Officer Tate before we can go.”

  Tiffany held up one finger to the officer. “I need a minute first,” she explained before pulling Red off to the side for a private consult.

  “Hey, McAllister,” she said, placing her hands around the back of his neck and beaming up at him. “You feel like getting married today?”

  “Don’t tease me, Doc. Not after coming so close to losing you.”

  “I’m not. Everything we need to seal the deal is in my car. Think you can find us a judge that can take care of what we need to do to get this done before we leave Lafayette today?”

  “Are you serious? After everything you’ve been through today?”

  She nodded. “I can’t wait to be Mrs. Scott McAllister. Our birth certificates are in the glove compartment of my car...here’s my set of keys,” she said handing him the set. “There’s a Scala design I’m dying to wear and a sexy as hell suit for you with all the trimmings. You think you can handle this?”

  Red beamed at her. “You bet your beautiful ass I can. I know just who to call.” He wrapped her in his arms for a mutually mind blowing kiss as the station erupted in a chorus of ‘atta-boys’, cat calls, and whistles.

  Chapter 16

  Two hours later Red stood before Melissa’s bathroom mirror cursing his tie under his breath. “Come on in,” he said, at the sudden knock on the door.

  Pete McAllister walked inside. “I wanted to let you know Jackson and Giselle made it in. You have everything you need?”

  “Just running out of patience with this damn thing, Dad,” he said, still struggling to get the knot just right.

  Pete turned Red to face him and made the necessary adjustments to the silk tie. He gave it a final pull then stood back and looked proudly at his son. “You look good, Scott. I think you two will be very happy together.”

  Red took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m crazy about her, Pop.”

  “Yeah, we’d have had to be blind not to see that at Thanksgiving…even before that, if you ask your mother.” His face grew suddenly somber. “I uh…I didn’t want to ask this in front of your mother, but…Did Benji die quickly?”

  Red gave his father a brief nod before giving his tie one last check in the mirror. “He died quicker than he deserved, but still not quick enough to keep him from hurting Mom and Tiffany.”

  “God forgive me, but that was a much kinder fate for that son of a bitch than I would have planned for him. Just the thought of him putting his hands on my wife,” Pete said, his jaw working furiously.

  “You know, Doc kept her phone on when she was with him and I heard some of the things he told her.” His jaw tightened as he looked at his father. “I have never felt so helpless in my entire life. I couldn’t have lived with myself if something had happened to her.” He ran a hand nervously through his hair. “I came so damn close to losing her, Pop.”

  Pete put his hand on Red’s shoulder. “We both came close today, son, but they’re still here and we’re going to thank God for them, and not dwell on the rest of it. Just make the best of your lives together.”

  Red nodded. “I plan on it. I don’t know if I’ll always feel this way, but right now, I can’t imagine life without her.”

  “If you’re lucky, you’ll feel that way for the rest of your life. God knows that lady of yours has already found a place in my heart for what she did for Vivi—that says a lot about her character.” He gave his son a hug that ended in a hearty back slap.

  They walked into the hallway just as the door to the master bedroom opened up. Red turned, watched his sisters step aside to reveal his bride to be, who turned in a slow circle as though seeking his approval. His heart filled with a deep seeded pride as he gazed upon the woman he loved wearing the dress he’d chosen for her. Not bad for a guy, McAllister. He stepped forward to admire her graceful beauty, from her waterfall of golden brown curls, to her tasteful touch of make up on an already flawless palette. “You are stunning,” he said, touching the delicate dangling diamonds on her ears. “Do you like them?”

  “No,” she said, smiling. “I love them, as well as the dinner ring. You didn’t have to get something so extravagant, though.”

  “I wanted to.” He offered her his arm. “Are you ready to make this official, beautiful?”

  She fairly glowed as she took his arm. “You bet your sexy butt I am. Is the J.P. here, yet?”

  Red halted mid-stride and turned back to her. “Yeah, but Drake couldn’t make it. He had a two o’clock meeting, and it was too late to cancel. I’m sorry. I know you wanted family here.”

  Tiffany’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “It’s okay, Red. This is my family now, too. ”

  He led her in front of the judge, a friend of Red’s who’d asked to do the honors, and smiled down at his bride to be. “What do you say, Doc? You ready to be a part of this crazy family of mine?”

  “Say yes, Tiffany. We’re extremely annoying but not all that dangerous,” Bailey said.

  “Well, except for Red. There was that period when he was a biter,” Rebecca added.

  “But he’s up on his shots,” Vivienne threw in.

  “I was four!” Red interjected.

  “It’s okay, babe. If you have a relapse I’m up on my shots, too,” Tiffany said, before turning to the judge. “Let’s do this.”

  There, in the living room of his sister’s home, they were married before family and a few good friends. Afterwards, Red’s niece, a budding photographer, coerced them into taking a few commemorative shots to capture the joyous feeling of the day. Like the happy couple feeding each other bites of celebratory pizza…ordered by the groom at the bride’s request. She also threw the bouquet—a handful of knock-out roses from Melissa’s yard, tied together with a white satin ribbon—right at Annie, who promptly let it fall at her feet and refused to pick it up. They even toasted to sparkling white grape juice, because that’s all Melissa could find that didn’t come in a juice box with a plastic straw attached to it. After the stress and strain of the past week, the hilarity of the afternoon was a much welcomed change.

  Tiffany pressed a hand to her growling stomach. “I’m starving,” she said turning toward the multitude of pizza delivery boxes stacked on the table.

  Not wanting to let her go just yet, Red grabbed her for one quick kiss…that ended up with Tiffany bent backward over his arm in a lengthy embrace.

  “Okay, okay!” Bailey said, pulling her new sister in law away from him. “You can let her go for a minute or two. The poor girl’s got to eat sometimes.”

  “Yeah,” someone snorted from the back. “She’ll need her strength for tonight.”

  Hearing the comment, Tiffany turned back to her husband. “Uh…Mr. McAllister…You’d better eat your fill here, because the only room we’ll be doing any cooking in tonight is the bedroom…” she said, giving him a wink.

  Red raised one hand to put a halt to his family’s raucous laughter. “I’m way ahead of you, Mrs. McAllister. That’s why I ordered an extra one…to take with us,” he said, winking back at her.

  Annie walked by snickering in disgust. “God, it’s not bad enough that we have to suffer through mom and dad’s public displays of affection. Now we’ll have to put up with you two.”

  Red gave his youngest sister a smug smile. “Annie, I’ve got two words for you...security cameras,” he said, before he and his bride left her standing there with her face twisted in a curious frown.

  <><><>

  Red closed and locked the door behind him and turned to his new wife, starved for her touch after being separated during the hour long dr
ive home. He pulled her into his arms for a good long kiss before they made their way to the bedroom, leaving a trail of discarded clothing down the hallway.

  They fell into the master bed, making love with a sense of needy recklessness. As Tiffany neared her moment of release, she tried to control her cries but Red grabbed her face in his hands. “Let me hear you, Doc. There’s nobody around for miles.” It was all the encouragement she needed to release the sharp cry she’d been withholding. As soon as she finished, Red groaned loudly with his own release.

  He held her tightly and rolled them both onto his side, waiting for his heart to slow, his breathing to return to normal. They lay facing each other as Tiffany’s emotions got the better of her. He kissed her tears away, speaking in low soothing tones until her tears ended. After a few minutes, she was finally able to speak.

  “I’m so relieved it’s all over.”

  “I know, babe, and so am I.” They lay quietly in each other’s arms, secure in their love for one another, and fell asleep.

  Red waited until Tiffany had stepped into the shower that evening before escaping outside to dial the number his new brother in law had given him. He took a calming breath in preparation to answer.

  “Daniel LeBlanc here,” barked a deep voice.

  “Mr. LeBlanc, this is Scott McAllister. I wonder if you have a few minutes to speak to me, sir.”

  “Scott McAllister. The same man someone tried to set up for arson and murder? The man I just saw on the evening news running to my daughter on an overpass in Lafayette…that Scott McAllister?”

  “Yes sir, the one and the same.”

  “I’d be more upset about this call if my son hadn’t already been singing your praises to me, and why the hell hasn’t Tiffany been answering her phone?”

  “Well, I wasn’t aware Drake had done that, sir, but tell him thanks for me when you see him next. As for Tiffany’s phone, she lost it at some point during the incident.”