Warren and Rodman were waiting for Colt to lay his caseload on Sean before they handed Colt and February over to the US Marshalls to take to the safe house. They were antsy too. Visibly so. Time enough had lapsed for Denny to hit town and they wanted this done so they could focus on the hunt.
“You’ll only be gone a day, two tops,” Sean said and Colt nodded, hoping Sean was right.
“Though, in that time, shouldn’t be hard for you to track down our guy,” Colt replied, talking about the stoned out burglar. “He should have gone through his stash by now and is likely looking to score again.”
Sean nodded back at Colt as three phones rang simultaneously and the vibe in the room suddenly went electric.
Colt tensed and his eyes sliced to Sully who was watching him as he leaned toward his phone. Sully didn’t get it to his ear before Colt heard footsteps coming up the stairs, fast.
He swiveled in his chair to see it was Betsy. She took one look at Colt, her face pale, her eyes filled with fear, that weight in Colt’s gut turned solid as an anvil and Betsy said breathlessly, “Shots fired at J&J’s.”
* * * * *
“Quiet,” Denny clipped.
I swallowed, turning around in my seat in the car to look at Melanie. I gave a shake of my head to the obviously petrified Melanie, who’d just been whining, making low keening noises around the gag in her mouth and doing this mainly because she was scared out of her brain.
“Sweetheart,” Denny called, his voice soft and loving and I knew he was talking to me.
I turned my eyes to him, I didn’t want to, but I did.
Light brown hair, good haircut, blue eyes, decent build, probably a couple inches taller than me, he looked like Denny, but a bit older.
And he was covered in blood. Joe-Bob’s blood, Darryl’s blood, maybe even Marty’s blood.
And his blue eyes were wild. I’d never seen eyes like that and they scared me more than the blood, more than what I’d just seen at the bar because I knew he wasn’t done.
I swallowed again and fought back the tears that were stinging the backs of my eyes and the scream that was lodged in my throat.
“You know, even when I was with her,” Denny went on, jerking his head toward the backseat where Melanie was tied up and gagged, “I only wanted you.”
“I know,” I forced out, my voice sounding ragged, thinking it prudent to play his game and trying not to think of much else.
“It’s only ever been you, February,” Denny said.
“I know,” I repeated and closed my eyes tight before I looked back out the front windscreen. Then I swallowed and called, “Alec?” and using Colt’s name to address Denny made me feel like I had acid poured on my tongue.
“Yeah, sweetheart?” Denny answered.
I searched for the courage I needed and pulled it up. “Can we just let her go?”
“Sweetheart.”
“I don’t want her here.”
“Oh,” Denny replied, “I’ll take care of her.”
Melanie squeaked in terror and I closed my eyes tight again.
That’s what I was afraid of.
* * * * *
There was a cruiser, lights still flashing, at the front of J&J’s and more sirens could be heard in the distance when Colt ran toward the front door. Sean and Warren were at his heels, Sully and Rodman not far behind them.
He had his gun in his hand but before he hit the door it flew open and Adam, a uniform, shot out, his hand to the radio at his shoulder, his mouth turned there.
“Officer down, J&J’s Saloon, I repeat, officer down, J&J’s Saloon.”
Adam didn’t even look at Colt as he ran to the trunk of the cruiser to get the first aid kit.
Colt ran into the bar.
Joe-Bob was by the front door, slashed to shit, blood everywhere. Colt didn’t even have to check to know he was dead.
He crushed down the rage that threatened to burn through him and saw Marty five feet away, on his back, covered in blood and looking either dead or, God willing, unconscious. Ellen, Adam’s partner, was on her knees beside him. At one glance Colt saw Marty took at least three bullets into the vest he was luckily wearing. Unfortunately, he also took one in the neck.
“Feb?” Colt asked Ellen, she shook her head, that anvil twisted, scoring against the lining of his gut. “Marty?” Colt went on.
“Breathing,” Ellen replied.
“Morrie?”
“Out back,” Ellen said, holding a bar towel to Marty’s neck and Colt ran to the back.
Darryl was on his ass in the alley, his face gray and pinched with pain, his back to the brick wall of the bar, blood spatters could be seen up his neck. Morrie was crouched beside him, his back to Colt, his body hiding Darryl’s.
“Morrie,” Colt called, Morrie twisted and Colt got a look at his friend and saw he was unharmed. Then he got a look at Darryl and skidded to a halt.
“Fuck!” Colt hissed and pulled his phone out of his back pocket.
“We need to get him to a hospital,” Morrie’s voice was soft and calm but it had an edge.
“Feb?” Colt replied, the phone to his ear and ringing.
“He got her. I’m sorry, boss. I –” Darryl started.
“Quiet, Darryl, just be still,” Morrie hushed him and Colt’s call connected.
“ETA on ambulances at J&J’s?” Colt asked Jo in dispatch but he heard the sirens out front.
“Should be there, Colt,” Jo replied.
“Darryl’s in the back, the alley,” Colt told her, looked over Darryl’s injuries and continued, “been hacked, also, what I can see, been shot.”
“Got it, Colt,” Jo said but Colt was already flipping his phone shut.
He skirted Morrie, went around Darryl’s legs and crouched at Darryl’s other side.
“I need to know which way they went. You see that?” he asked Darryl.
“Right, out the alley,” Darryl answered, his head tipping to the left, telling Colt where he’d last seen the car, his voice as pinched as his face.
“What was he drivin’?” Colt went on.
“White Ford Taurus. Didn’t get a number but it was an Oklahoma plate,” Darryl answered.
Colt put his hand to Darryl’s shoulder as the paramedics came running out the backdoor carrying their kit but he ignored them and said softly to Darryl, “Good.”
“Came in the front but was parked in the back. He got Joe-Bob first,” Darryl continued. “Crazy Joe-Bob went right at him, even though that guy came in swingin’. Then he started shootin’, didn’t hesitate, took down the cop before he even got his gun outta his holster,” Darryl finished as Morrie moved away and the paramedics moved in.
“Just relax, Darryl,” Colt urged.
“I told Feb to run, she did but he ran after her. He shot at me, hit me but I tried –”
“Relax.”
“Lieutenant, move away,” the paramedic ordered and Colt didn’t hesitate, he moved.
By that time Warren and Rodman were in the alley as was Sully and Colt moved to them.
“White Taurus, Oklahoma plates, north out the alley,” Colt said, pointing in the direction Darryl indicated and Warren opened his phone as did Sully.
“I was at Mimi’s,” Morrie whispered. “Feb wanted a latte. I was at Mimi’s gettin’ her a latte.”
“Morrie, hold it together, man,” Colt said.
“I was gettin’ her a fuckin’ latte.”
“Morrie, keep it together.”
Morrie twisted his neck, his hand coming to the collar of his t-shirt and he pulled himself together but his eyes went to Colt’s and he said, “That asshole’s got my sister.”
Colt knew that. He knew it. He felt that knowledge weighing heavy in his gut.
“Melanie,” Darryl said and everyone’s eyes turned to him.
“What?” Colt asked, but it felt like something lethal had hold of his heart.
Darryl blinked then lifted his chin and said, “Feb went with him because he’s als
o got Melanie.”
Then Darryl slid to the side and lost consciousness.
* * * * *
“No, this isn’t right, Alec,” I said as Denny pushed Melanie onto Susie Shepherd’s couch.
He had hold of Susie who was trembling from the top of her blonde head to the tips of her blood red painted toenails. She was trembling because, now that Melanie was on the couch, Denny wasn’t just holding her bicep in his hand, he was also now holding his gun to her head.
“February, do as I said, sweetheart, tie her up,” Denny commanded.
I shook my head. “Please, Alec, let’s just go. You and me, let’s just go.”
Denny leaned forward and shouted, “Tie her, the fuck, up!”
I decided not to push it, moved forward, my eyes locking on Susie’s before I walked around her. I used the rope Denny gave me and pulled her wrists behind her back.
“I don’t know how to tie someone up,” I said, winding the rope around her wrists. “Maybe you can hand me the gun and do it yourself.”
“Quit fuckin’ around, Feb.”
“No really –”
“Quit fuckin’ around!” Denny shouted again, Susie jumped under my hands and Melanie made a terrified noise from the couch. “I wanna get this done and get the fuck outta here.”
“Okay, Alec,” I whispered, scared, clueless, wondering if Colt or Sully or the Feds would ever think in a million years that Denny would take Melanie and me to Susie Shepherd’s house.
I tied Susie up but I didn’t do a good job with it mainly because I wasn’t lying, I didn’t know how to tie someone up. Also, I didn’t want to do a good job.
“Done,” I said, my hand going to Susie’s forearm. I gave her a squeeze there, not knowing what I was saying, just wanting her to have something, to tell her we were all in this together, to tell her I would do what I could.
Denny yanked Susie forward and shoved her to sit on the couch next to Melanie.
I stood there, my mind going a million miles a minute. Should I lunge for the gun? Should I go for the axe he made me carry into the house? If I did, would he shoot me, or Melanie, or Susie?
Time.
I needed time.
“Why?” I asked Denny as he stared at the two terrified women on the couch.
“Gag her,” Denny replied.
“What?” I asked.
“Gag her, Susie, the fuckin’ bitch. Don’t want her talkin’. Don’t want her runnin’ that sick mouth of hers.”
I looked at Susie. She was scared stiff, she didn’t have it in her to speak.
“She won’t talk,” I told him.
Denny looked at me and said calmly, “I don’t want to repeat myself again, sweetheart.”
I shook my head, still trying to buy time for Melanie and Susie and for me. “I don’t have anything to gag her with.”
“Find something. I’m sure she has some fancy-ass scarves somewhere.”
Was he serious? He was going to let me wander the house looking for a scarf?
I shot Susie and Melanie a look then muttered, “Be right back.”
Then I ran from the room.
* * * * *
Colt’s phone rang in his hand, he didn’t even look at the display before he flipped it open and put it to his ear.
“Colton,” he said, his eyes on the gurney with Darryl strapped to it that was being wheeled into the bar, his mind on Feb and Melanie, his gut twisted in knots.
“Alec?”
It was his mother.
Fucking shit.
“Ma, I can’t –”
“A man has Feb,” she said on a rush and Colt felt ice water slide through his veins. “I’m in my car outside a big, fancy house on The Heritage. Street’s called Vine. A man’s got Feb and Melanie. He’s also got a gun. He took them into the house.”
“Vine?” Colt asked but he knew, Denny, that sick fuck, he knew.
“Yeah, Alec, one three eight Vine.”
Jesus, Susie’s house.
He looked at Sully. “He’s taken them to Susie’s.” His eyes went to Warren. “One three eight Vine. The Heritage. Susan Shepherd’s house.”
Warren, Rodman and Sully immediately turned and jogged away. Colt followed them, his strides long, his patience spent, he was fighting a fear that nearly immobilized him and Morrie was at his side.
“Ma, drive away,” he told his mother.
“Feb’s in that house with a man’s got a gun,” his mother told him.
“Drive away. Now.”
“I knew you weren’t safe so I been watchin’ and I saw –”
After forty-four years, Colt finally had something to thank Mary Colton for.
“Drive away, Ma.”
“Alec –”
“Do it. Now.”
She hesitated then whispered, “Don’t you get hurt.”
“Please, Ma, just drive away.”
“All right, Alec,” she said, “I’ll drive away.”
“Ma?” Colt called before he heard her disconnect.
“Yes, son?”
Then Colt said something to his mother he’d never said in his life or at least not saying it and meaning it, “Thanks.”
* * * * *
I went to Susie’s bedroom, straight to the phone by the side of her bed. I dialed 911. I had no idea how much time I had, Denny was crazy and he could do anything.
When I heard the voice in my ear, I whispered over it, my words hurried and hushed.
“This is February Owens, Denny Lowe has me, Melanie Colton and Susie Shepherd at Susie’s house. He also has a gun and an axe. He’s hurt people at J&J’s Saloon. I can’t talk anymore. I’m setting the phone down but not hanging up so you can’t talk either. He can’t hear you. I’m calling again on my cell in a few seconds, don’t let the operator talk when the call comes through. I’m going to keep my cell with me and the line open. That’s it. No more talking.”
Then I set the cordless on its side by the base and shouted, “I don’t know where she keeps her scarves, Alec! Ask Susie where she keeps her scarves!”“Just look around,” Denny shouted back.
I pulled my cell out of my back pocket and didn’t fuck around with scrolling to anyone’s number. I dialed 911 and then yanked my t-shirt out of my jeans and slid the phone in, display down, between my belly and my belt. I pulled the t-shirt back over it and tucked it around the phone.
“Found one!” I shouted my lie, but started searching and luckily found Susie’s scarves in the first drawer I pulled open.
I nabbed one and ran back to the living room, praying he hadn’t started without me but also that the 911 operator would keep quiet.
“You want me to gag her?” I asked loudly the minute I hit the room.
“Yeah, darlin’,” Denny said and I walked direct to Susie, my eyes sliding between her and Melanie, trying to tell them without words it was going to be okay and hoping I wasn’t nonverbally lying.
“What next?” I asked Denny as I gagged Susie.
“Erase,” Denny answered and I straightened and turned to him.
“What?”
“Erase,” Denny repeated, moving toward me, taking me by the arm and pulling me back.
“Erase?” I asked. “What –?”
“Gonna erase everything, Feb. All of yours, all of mine.” He lifted the gun and pointed it at Melanie as I stood and stared at him, frozen stiff with shock. “So we can get back to the way it’s supposed to be, gonna erase it all.”
He was going to shoot Melanie, I knew it, and he wasn’t going to hesitate.
I didn’t think, I just went for the gun but I was too late, he pulled the trigger when my hand hit his wrist and the gun exploded as the noise pounded against my ears and my heart stopped beating.
* * * * *
“He’s got a gun,” Morrie said, sitting beside Colt as Colt drove his truck to Susie’s.
“Yeah,” Colt replied.
“How’d he get a gun?” Morrie asked.
“Don’t know,” Colt
answered.
Morrie was silent, staring out the windshield.
Then he said, “Joe-Bob –”
“Nope, not now, Morrie. Later.”
Morrie was silent again and Colt concentrated on driving, thinking about time, how much had elapsed, what was Denny’s intent, why he’d gone off target. He was supposed to be hunting for Colt, not Susie, not fucking Melanie. Melanie could barely handle giving herself a paper cut. She’d come undone being a hostage. Colt didn’t know what this meant. He didn’t know what it meant for Susie, Melanie or Feb. He didn’t know how much time they had.
“A fuckin’ latte,” Morrie muttered.
“I need you to be cool, Morrie,” Colt told him.
“If I hadn’t –” Morrie started.
“If you hadn’t, you’d be hacked or full of holes too,” Colt told him.
“Better’n scared shitless he’s got my sister.”
Morrie was wrong. If he thought he was right, he just had to ask Jayden Whelan’s wife.
“No, it isn’t, not when you got a wife and two kids at home,” Colt said.
“I was buyin’ a latte, Colt.”
“You were doin’ something your sister wanted you to do. You think Feb’s happy about where Joe-Bob, Darryl and Marty are now? Do you think she’d want that for you? For Dee? For Palmer and Tuesday?” Morrie made a guttural noise and Colt went on. “Focus, Morrie, this ends today and you and me, we don’t need to lose control and fuck it up.”
Morrie paused then blew out a breath before he said, “Yeah.”
“You with me?” Colt asked.
“Yeah.”
Colt turned on Vine and he tried to take his own advice, he tried to keep control, be cool but all he could think was he promised Feb he’d keep her safe and, at that moment, she was far from safe.
* * * * *
“What the fuck you doin’?” Denny shouted but I was staring at the bullet hole in the wall beside where Melanie’s head used to be.
She’d fallen to the side, into Susie who had also leaned away. Both of them were crying behind their gags which worked for me since neither of them were bleeding.
Denny pushed me away and stared at me. I had to think fast, I had to buy time.