“Nothing. I’ve got one of my men on their way now, but I’m telling you, Trig, it’s quiet and I trust my technology. Nothing has happened on that property in hours.”
Watching my fucking father and his shithead of a brother through the surveillance video toss Ellie and Quinn into the back of that car like they were nothing more than sacks of potatoes, was almost enough for me to break through my own skin. My Ellie, she gave them a hell of a fight but Quinn was shocked and scared. I called nine-one-one right before dialing Pettit.
“They wouldn’t go to that shitty bar he spends all his time at, too many people there on any given night. The only other place he’s been in the last few days is Logan’s.”
“I’ve got all my men out and a couple are on their way to the bar to ask questions, just in case. I’m a few minutes behind you. What’s this place like?”
I make the turn as fast as I can onto the dark two-lane road. “It’s not big—a couple acres. If I see activity, I’ll park off the road, go in by foot. He’s only about a quarter of a mile off pavement.”
“You prepared?”
I let my fingers flex around my steering wheel in a way I wish it was my fucking father’s neck. “No one knows my father and uncle better than me. Yeah, I’m prepared.”
He pauses a beat before adding, “If you get an eye on them, hang tight. I’ll be there soon to back you up.”
“Not a chance in hell.”
“There could be three of them, maybe more. Wait for me or the police.”
“If Ellie’s there, I’m going in. History is not going to repeat itself tonight. I won’t fucking let it.”
“Shit,” he mutters over my Bluetooth. “At least let me know what you find when you get there.”
“I can tell you now,” I say as I flip off my headlights before I come up to Logan’s property. “Lights are flooding the space in front of the old house. I can’t see any more than that.”
I pull over and kill my engine, grabbing my phone and gun on my way out of the car.
It’s a full moon. I can see my footing clearly in the brush but that’s not what I’m looking at.
“Where are you?” Pettit demands.
I hear men shouting and a woman crying in the background.
Fuck.
I lower my voice to a whisper. “They’re here.”
“Do not go in. I’m calling the police now on my other phone and I’ll be there in less than five.”
Ellie and Quinn are huddling to the side of the standoff and Ellie is slowly inching them backward.
As I stoop in the trees and brush to watch, Logan raises his voice. “I covered for you—that was our deal but I won’t do it again, not that I could if I had the chance. You go off half-cocked, losin’ what little brain you got rattling around in that stupid head of yours, and kidnapped not just one, but two, women. The last time this happened, it was Silvie and I had a murder on my hands—a fuckin’ ugly one, at that. I don’t appreciate you dragging this shit to my land again. I don’t give a damn what you need, you’re not getting it from me. Like I need Kipp Montgomery on my back about his girl.”
“I’ll give ya a cut. My baby, she’s gotta be worth a fuckin’ lot. By the looks of it, way more than this Montgomery bitch that my boy can’t seem to work out of his system. It’s a bonus they were together because I have a score to settle with the blonde.”
My dad notices Ellie creeping away and grabs her. Her scream—spiked with pain and fear—seeps into me.
“Dammit, Ray.” Logan expels.
“I’m going in,” I whisper into the phone.
“Fuck! Wait—” But Pettit is too late. I disconnect the call and move.
34
My Angel
Reach out to grab the ones you love. And never let go.
Ellie
I scream when Ray grabs me, my bruised abdomen feeling the brunt of his violent jerk.
The sheriff reaches behind him, producing a gun, pointing it toward us, and I yelp. “I said this isn’t fucking going down on my property.”
I look to Quinn. “Run!”
Ray doesn’t look the least bit concerned as he stares at the barrel of a gun and lifts his chin at his brother. “Grab her.”
Dustin does, but this time, he picks her up by the waist where she can’t fight back. I try to twist and maneuver out of Ray’s hold, but the more I move, the sharper the pain.
The sheriff adjusts all his weight and takes a step toward us. “I told you, take them and go somewhere else.”
“Are we doin’ this?” Ray drawls. “Are we really fuckin’ doin’ this now? I’ve got phone calls to make and money to collect. You’re bein’ a pain in my ass, Logan.”
“Told you this isn’t happening.” Logan doesn’t lower his gun.
“Let go, you’re hurting me,” I beg.
Ray gives me an annoyed glance. “Oh, I’m gonna hurt you alright. I’m gonna get you back for every minute I spent in prison.”
Sheriff Logan shifts again and grips his gun tighter. “You’re not draggin’ me into this again. Do what you’re gonna do, but do it somewhere else.”
“Come on, Ray. Let’s get on with this shit,” Dustin growls, fighting to keep his hold on Quinn, who’s making him work for it.
Ray jerks me to his side and his other hand yanks at his shirt. I cry out as he produces his own gun.
He doesn’t even take a second to plant his weight, aim, or, hell, give Logan a chance to back off.
Just like that, Ray shoots.
I scream.
He proves he’s a good shot just like his son, because the old sheriff falls straight to the ground with a hole through his forehead.
“Let her go.”
My head whips around but I can’t see him. Tears run down my cheeks, trying but failing to take away the pain and fear.
Ray doesn’t let me go and his actions mirror mine, searching for the shadowed voice we both know so well.
“I’ve got you in my sight and you know I won’t miss. You taught me everything I know and I’m a hell of a lot sharper than you.”
“Trig!” I scream when Ray yanks me, pulling me to his chest and pressing the barrel of his gun painfully to the side of my head.
“You see him, Dustin?” Ray asks his brother.
I can barely see her now, but Quinn has given up the fight and is limp in his arms. “No, but he’s right, Ray. If he’s got a clear sight, you’re a goner.”
“He’s got too much to lose,” Ray says on a laugh and grinds the gun against my temple.
With no other option, I reach into my front pocket while Ray is distracted and Dustin is behind us. Gripping the metal in my hand, I pull it out as I hear Trig rustle in the dark brush like a ghost ready to materialize at any moment.
Ray shifts me slightly and I take advantage. Reaching around, I do my best to harm him with my dull, makeshift blade.
“Fuck,” he spits and drops the gun from my head, pushing me to the ground. When he lifts his shirt, he proves I barely broke skin.
I scramble and Trig steps out from the darkness. I’ve never seen a gun in his hand, but he stands tall and is in command of his weapon, as if it’s an extension of his own limbs. Trig doesn’t take his eyes off his father but steps between Ray and me.
“Stay back, angel.” His shirt is stretched across his wide shoulders and his muscles are taut as he focuses on nothing but his father. “So, you and the good sheriff killed Silvie Montgomery.”
Ray shakes his head. “If I ever loved a woman, it was Silvie. But that bitch could still be a pain in my ass.”
Trig’s shoulders tense at his father’s words—or the words he didn’t say, especially about Faye. I’m only surprised Ray Barrett ever loved anyone.
“Silvie and me were fighting.” Ray goes on, rubbing his abdomen from my lame stabbing attempt. “She’d disappear for months at a time, but always come back. When she turned up the last time, wantin’ to know what I did with the baby she left for me, I thought sh
e was trippin’. I was with Logan and she knew him and me were partners—hell, she bought from us,” Ray shrugs and smirks, “in one way or another. I told her I didn’t believe there was a baby but she insisted there was. She flipped out, came at me, and I had to fight her off. Then she threatened to tell Kipp about me and Logan sellin’ if I didn’t tell her where her baby was. I didn’t think there was a baby, Logan freaked, and in the end, we needed to shut her up.”
“You both killed her,” Trig mutters.
Ray sneers and I realize I’m right. He doesn’t know what love is because he tips his head and goes on. “I guess. She was in bad shape that night, who knows what did her in. But then Logan turned on me and I knew I could be framed for murder. The fucker backed me into a corner and me going down solo for the drug charge was my only out. Looks like old Silvie was tellin’ the truth and your mama took that baby. Who knew?”
“Don’t you dare utter a word about my mother,” Trig warns.
Quinn is breathing heavily as the truth spills out about her, her birth parents, and Faye. When her eyes catch mine, she looks more hopeless than ever.
Trig doesn’t take his eyes off his dad as he warns his uncle. “Let Quinn go, Dustin. You’re barely an accessory. I’ll even vouch for you. Don’t let my father drag you into murder and kidnapping charges. You can easily put it all on him. He’s got four eye-witnesses who just saw him kill a man.”
“Self-defense,” Ray argues with a lazy tip of his head. He lifts his gun, this time aiming it straight at Trig and my heart clenches. He goes on to shake his head and seethe, “Always hated you. Faye turned you against me and my family. Shoulda put the two of you out a long time back. Woulda made my life a lot easier.”
Trig, calm and cool, tips his head. “Yes. You should’ve.”
Then, from a distance, sirens sound at the same time Eli appears from the same shadowed place Trig did. He passes where I’m on the hard ground and has his own weapon drawn and aimed at Dustin as he demands, “Let her go.”
Dustin’s eyes dart back and forth as he fidgets.
“Do not fucking think about it. Let her go and put your hands up,” Eli repeats.
“It’s come down to this, huh?” Ray twangs and narrows his eyes on his son.
“You so much as flinch, I’ll kill you,” Trig says as if he were ordering a cheeseburger at a drive-thru. “Because of you, I lost everything.”
Sirens, a whole chorus of them, parade down the long gravel drive to the dead sheriff’s property before coming to a screeching halt.
“Ray!” Dustin yells. For the first time since he threw us into the trunk earlier tonight, Trig’s father appears agitated.
Police start running toward us through the darkened night and Ray looks back at his brother one more time before settling his eyes on Trig. He shakes his head, dropping his aim from Trig to me. “I’ll kill her myself. You don’t deserve anything.”
I tuck into myself and roll as one lonely gunshot rings through the night.
Quinn screams.
Dustin calls for Ray.
I hear a body hit the gravel.
Eli yells at Dustin.
And me, I try to catch my breath as I feel a hand on the back of my head. It slowly slides down my spine, circles my waist, and rolls me. He gathers me up and pulls me into his arms, pressing my face into his neck. “Fuck, baby. It’s over. It’s finally over.”
“Quinn?” I wince, pain shooting through my abdomen as I try to push away to look for her—my cousin, his sister.
He keeps me where I am. “She’s good. Eli’s with her.”
Finally, I breathe.
He puts his lips to my ear. “Picking up where we left off before he ruined our lives the first time. Like the last ten years never happened.”
I’m not certain, but I think no truer words have ever been spoken.
I burrow into him tighter, or as much as I can with the pain.
He presses his lips to the side of my head. “My angel.”
I am. I’ve always been his. I might look different than I ever have, but I’m better.
And I’m not broken anymore.
35
The Other Side of Hell
You can’t fix stolen time. Move on and your happy will be waiting.
Trig
Kipp Montgomery, leaning over and holding his head in his hands, looks like a cocktail of regret, guilt and anger, shaken and served with a twist of tragedy.
I’ve gotten over my own resentment toward him. It was easy—he doesn’t matter. Not to me. My only focus now is Ellie, Griffin, and our future. The man who did everything he could and succeeded in putting a wedge between us so long ago is insignificant. Will I forget? No fucking way. That shit will stick with me until the day I die.
But he’s Ellie’s father. I can’t deny that nor can I hold it against him for trying to protect his family. I get that. And right now, I even feel sorry for him because that guilt is weighing on him heavier than dead weight—specifically, the sheriff’s betrayal.
The man I’ve had to come to terms with shakes his head as Hattie sits huddled next to him, consoling her husband as he contemplates, “How could I not have seen it? Ron had a hand in Silvie’s death. And he called me his friend.”
I’m anxious to get back to Ellie, who was being seen by the doctor for bruised ribs when I left her. If I could kill my fucking father all over again, I would. I cross my arms and look down at Kipp. “He was working with my dad to distribute—he said it himself in front of Ellie and Quinn. My dad said he fought with Silvie first, but Logan helped. It was both of them. Then Logan didn’t run my dad’s DNA when he was arrested ten years ago—which is protocol—because he knew it would match up to the evidence in your sister’s cold case. I guess my dad going to jail for cooking and distributing meth was a consolation prize for not getting pinned for murder.”
“You couldn’t have known, honey,” Hattie consoles him. “He was the sheriff. Why would you think he could be involved in such a mess or capable of that evil? That man broke bread at my table more times than I can count—none of us suspected.”
Kipp sits up and I see it all in his dark eyes—repentance and shame. “Trusted the wrong man, Trig.” He stands and holds out his hand to me for a second time in a matter of days. “Won’t happen again.”
I take it and his apology. “Your niece, my sister, wants to know her family, but go easy on her and her parents. From what I’ve seen, I think the Montgomerys will be a shock to their systems.”
“Are you calling us overbearing?” Hattie asks, but does it with a small smile playing on her plump face.
I narrow my eyes. “Seeing as how you’ll be my mother-in-law as soon as I can swing it, I would never insinuate that.”
“She’s beautiful,” Kipp says. He and Hattie met Quinn earlier, who was being coddled by Aleron and Tommie after the night’s events went down. They took their daughter home after Quinn made sure Ellie was okay. She was the only one Ellie wanted to see other than me. “Besides her eyes, she’s a spittin’ image of Silvie … before we lost her to her vices.” Kipp shakes his head. “We lost out on knowin’ our niece all these years. I wish Silvie would’ve come to us but she’d cut us out.”
“Don’t do that shit, Kipp. She had the Toussaints and my mom. She looks like she’s had a good life.”
Kipp nods. With that, I’m done. I need to get back to Ellie. I’m not letting anyone in to see her, not now. This time is for her and me.
“We left Griffin with Jen and Eli,” Hattie explains. “She called and already got him back to sleep so he’ll stay there for the night, but I think he’s ready to get back to his mama.” She hesitates and then adds, “And you.”
That’s good because after tonight, I’m anxious to have him back. I’m used to having both him and Ellie close—I’m ready for us to fall into something normal. “I’ll get him first thing in the morning and have Ellie call you. I promise, she’s fine. Shaken up but good. It’s been a long night and she wa
nts to go home.”
Hattie steps forward and wraps her arms around me. “Thank you, Easton. Thank you for saving my baby tonight. And for loving her.”
I return her embrace before making my way through the twisted hallways of the hospital. I leave emergency and trauma and enter another wing that hit me in the gut when we got here tonight. It was such a sucker-punch, I’m surprised my own two feet were able to follow the gurney Ellie was being transferred on. I might’ve been holding her hand tight, but it was really her holding me up in a way that allowed me to fight off the ghouls that have haunted me for years.
I go through the doors of maternity, where they whisked her as soon as she refused an x-ray and every other test they wanted to perform to see what sort of internal damage she had. It was then she might’ve announced to the room—but her eyes were only on me, speaking straight to my fucking soul—that she could be pregnant.
History. It can tear you up and put you back together in a way you’ll never look the same.
Here we are, ten years later, on the other side of hell.
And I feel like I can finally breathe.
I push through her door to find her sitting on the side of the hospital bed, still barefoot in only her cut-off shorts and bra. Her eyes cut to me. If a nurse wasn’t tending to her, you’d never know what she’d been through tonight.
Because there’s nothing but happy shining from her deep blue eyes. It’s the same look she had ten years ago in that old barn when she realized I was nothing but fucking thrilled that we’d made a baby.
I lost that look in her eyes too damn soon—I’ll do everything in my power to protect it this time, in every way possible. She could look at me like that every day for the rest of my life and it wouldn’t be enough.
I go to her. “You okay?”
“She’s great, Daddy,” the nurse answers for her. “She told you, the doc told you, the sonographer told you, and I’ve told you. She and your baby are healthy.”
Broken Halo: The Montgomery Series, Book 2 Page 29