I had not heard him approach. I screwed up. I should have pressed Allison harder right away to use her phone and maybe even her car. But I let my caring for her, caring that she think well of me, cloud my judgment. That error was going to cost me my life.
“Jeff?” Allison said in surprise. “You’re supposed to be in bed in the hospital. What are you doing here?”
“I was tired of being cooped up there. And it looks like I came just in time before Parker lied his way back into our lives.”
He stood on the concrete pad at the bottom of the steps. Even though it was dark, I could see him quite clearly since he was standing in the rectangle of light flooding from the lit kitchen. His left shoulder was heavily bandaged, and that arm was in a sling. He also seemed a bit unsteady on his feet. But the pistol gripped in his right hand was still menacing. It pointed at me.
“Jeff,” Allison said calmly. “Nathan has a very different story to tell than what I’ve heard from everyone else. Please tell me what’s going on.” Allison was calmly challenging what she’d been told.
“What’s going on is that Parker is a liar. He’s a worthless drifter just like I told you. He took my gun. He shot me and killed Enid.” He turned his attention back to me. “Parker. Put your hands up.”
I needed to stall, to say something in defense of myself. I had no hope that it would convince Jeff to tell any part of the truth, let alone the whole truth. But any slight admission might help to further win over Allison. She was the only ally now that would keep me alive. Inside, she must be torn apart. Her brother or the drifter. I didn’t like my chances.
But in stalling, there was the danger that Jeff would have help on the way to take me down. Yet Jeff really couldn’t afford to have Lieutenant Matthew Gates and company come into town. Even if they didn’t come in their Hummers all dressed in their camouflage outfits, they would be conspicuous. Just like me, they were outsiders. Easy to spot. And a gang of them coming noisily into town at night would wake people and draw attention.
I noted that lights had already come on in the adjacent house. All this late-night conversation was waking the neighbors. Too many witnesses. Jeff seemed to realize that also. I hoped that a neighbor would call the Sheriff about us disturbing the peace. I hoped the Sheriff would come because I now had doubts that he was involved in Gates’ scheme. Jeff was wounded. If he had the Sheriff as an ally, he would not have come alone. They both would be here. So I needed to stall. I stayed seated.
I didn’t want to accuse Jeff of wrongdoing because that might anger him. But I saw no other choice. I had to keep Jeff talking. “Jeff, you know that’s not how it happened. I don’t know who killed Enid. You know it wasn’t me. I was knocked unconscious and imprisoned by your friends in the valley.”
“Parker, you are such a bad liar. You shot us and just drove away. Now put your hands up.”
Even though I didn’t put my hands up, Jeff couldn’t shoot me. I wasn’t threatening him, and I was unarmed. He couldn’t just shoot me in front of his sister. That would not end well for him.
“It must be hard for you, Jeff, taking orders from that short lieutenant. For a little guy, he certainly has a big ego to feed. Does he stand on his tip toes and point with his stubby fingers when he tells you what to do?”
Jeff stood there unmoving, but there was a slight change in his expression, a nervous twitch in his jaw. I had hit a sore spot. It had been a shot in the dark, but Jeff must be taking orders from someone. It had to be Gates. Gates was not going to take orders from anyone. That was out of character for someone with his large ego. The whole thing was his operation. He boasted about his operation.
And Jeff also seemed to be someone who liked to be in control. So taking orders from Gates had to be intolerable. Being tall, towering over others, intimidating them with his size. Like he tried to intimidate me. It was so out of character when Allison had given him what for. He had cowered to her, his sister. He permitted that because he must have seen it as a way to lure me in. But having to bow down to Gates had to be insufferable for him. He did it only because, like all the others, he was chasing the big prize: millions of dollars. There was no loyalty. It was all about the money.
“Is the lieutenant the one who ordered you to kill Enid? And what about Joseph Custer? Did you kill him, too?”
“Joseph is dead?” Allison asked with disbelief.
“Yes,” I said. “And the maid from the motel and Ranger Pine’s wife. They’re all buried in Spring Valley.”
“Shut up, Parker,” Jeff spat. The twitch now rippled faster along his jaw line. “Now put your hands up or I’ll shoot you where you sit.”
“Can you shoot an unarmed man in front of your sister? Did he order you to do that too, Errand Boy?”
He clenched his teeth and nervously worked his fingers on the gun’s grip. I hoped that Allison saw this. I did, though, put my hands on top of my head in surrender. He surely wouldn’t shoot me with Allison there, but I wasn’t taking any chance. At the same time, I had to push him harder. Jeff was clearly affected by the mention of Gates. I didn’t know where they intersected in the past, but they clearly had joined forces.
“It must have really pissed you off when Matthew Gates made lieutenant, and you were still just a county patrol officer.”
“Matthew Gates?” Allison asked in surprise. “You knew him in college, didn’t you, Jeff?” Then she turned to me. “Nathan, where did you meet Matthew Gates?”
I had struck pay dirt. I should have mentioned Gates’ name at the start. I could sense that I was winning Allison over, a little bit at a time. But it had to be tearing her apart inside, not knowing whom to really believe. Believing me meant suspecting her brother to be a monster. That would be unthinkable. And even if she chose to believe me, she might still hate me for revealing that dark side of Jeff. Yet I sensed she was beginning to doubt him.
“Jeff?” Allison persisted.
“He’s making stuff up to confuse us,” Jeff said defensively.
“What happens when Gates decides he doesn’t need you any more?” I pressed. “Shoot you like he did all those dead Afghans in the valley?”
“Shut up, Parker!” Jeff roared.
I could see a few neighbors peering out of their back doors in our direction. Only their heads poked out, as if to check if it was OK before venturing further.
“Get up and turn around.” As he gestured with an upward movement of his gun, I hesitated, then slowly stood up.
“Jeff,” Allison said hesitantly. “Is what Nathan says true? What about these opium plants?” she asked, holding out the samples I had given her.
“Oh, come on, Allison,” Jeff groaned. “He’s a killer and a liar. He’ll say anything to get out of this mess.” Then, taking another step up toward the porch, he bellowed to me, “I said, turn around.”
“Jeff, if you’re taking Nathan to jail, then I’m going along, too,” she insisted.
Forcefully he said, “You don’t need to be there.”
“But I want to go,” she protested. “I have to know what’s going on.”
“You can visit later after I get him locked up,” he stated firmly.
“Jeff. What are these opium poppies doing in Willow Run?” she demanded, tossing the plants at his feet.
“Stay out of it, Allison,” he barked.
“Jeff….” she started.
“Shut up!” Jeff roared, glaring at her with fierce dark eyes. Now doubt was painted all over her face, dark doubt about her brother.
He was furious and fed up with being challenged by his little sister. But I could see the anger boiling within her, the stern look, the flushed face, and the piercing eyes. She didn’t like being trivialized. Her face turned the color of her flaming hair, though she kept her seething inside as Jeff stared back. His glare held her in check.
Then turning his attention back to me, Jeff took one more step up toward the porc
h and ordered, “Parker, this is your last warning. Turn around and keep your hands on your head.”
Jeff stepped up onto the edge of the porch as he gave me the orders, so the gun was less than six feet from me. He steadied it with his good right arm, but it still bobbed as he breathed hard from the tension and the exertion. With a badly wounded left shoulder, he probably didn’t have much stamina for this confrontation.
I had little doubt about my prospects. I was alive at his moment only because Allison was here. He had to get me away from this witness. Then he could claim he shot me when I tried to escape. I knew what I had to do.
I turned deliberately, taking small slow steps, inching closer to him until I could feel the barrel of his weapon touching my back. He now had a problem. In order to handcuff me, he needed to put away his gun, since he only had one useable hand. Or he could have Allison handcuff me, while he held the gun. But I didn’t think that Allison would cooperate. She was still quietly seething. He hesitated, and then I felt the pressure of the gun barrel leave my back. I heard the metallic rattle of the handcuffs and knew that he was reaching for them. At that moment, there was no weapon pointing at me.
I bent my knees slightly and pushed backward with all the strength in my legs. On level ground, even in his weakened condition, Jeff could have simply put one foot back, stopping my backward flop with his larger size and strength. But since he was at the edge of the porch with nothing behind him but open air, he went flying with me toward the ground below.
“Jeff! Nathan!” Allison cried in alarm.
I bent my right elbow and jabbed it backward into his gut. We landed with a thud on the concrete pad at the bottom of the steps, with me on top. Jeff let out a loud burst of air as my elbow dug into him. I twisted counterclockwise and swung my left elbow up into his lower jaw. There was a loud crack of teeth smashing into teeth, and Jeff let out a low groan.
I scrambled to my feet, looking for the gun. I couldn’t find it. I turned to run, but his right hand put a vice grip lock on my ankle. I twisted in a complete circle and broke free from his grasp as I staggered away from him. Then I could see the glint of light on metal. The gun was under his right leg, and he was reaching for it.
“Run, Allison!” I yelled up to her. She froze for a moment, seeming to decide which one of us to trust. The brother she had known all her life, or the new guy who had only brought turmoil into her life. She dashed down the steps toward me. I reeled backward, not sure if she was coming to me or coming at me again with her fist.
She grabbed my hand but still seemed unsure what to do next. I pulled her toward the street. The roar of Jeff’s gun tore through the night, ripping a hole in the corner of the house where we had just been. Two more shots followed.
The sleeping occupants in all the houses nearby awoke. Lights came on, dogs barked, and figures appeared at windows and doors. The neighbors were all awake now. Someone would surely call the Sheriff.