Chapter 15
Di silently kicked herself for not being prepared for Bond to arrive. She wasn’t surprised to learn he was dirty, but she was angry with herself for not moving out of the warehouse quicker.
Now it was too late.
She held Ray’s gaze as she lifted her hands, the nose of the weapon pointing toward the ceiling. “Okay, you win. You caught us. But tell me this, Ray. Why in the world are you working with drug dealers?”
Ray snorted. “For the money, why else? No matter how many arrests we make, the drugs keep coming in. I soon realized I was on the wrong side of things. Far better to be rich than to keep beating my head against the wall.” He narrowed his eyes.
“You picked the wrong cop. And I’m not going to tell you again. Toss down your weapon.”
She noticed Ray’s gaze shifted warily between her and Jarek. They had maybe one chance to take him out of the picture. And their success depended largely on the dog, who had stretched out on the floor beside Buck after enjoying the snack she’d given him. Would the dog attack if Ray gave the order?
She wasn’t anxious to find out.
Jarek had set the crowbar on a crate to her left. She subtly shifted that way, hoping to hide the weapon from Ray. “So you’re just greedy, is that it?”
“I’m smart enough to get my piece of the pie,” Bond countered. “Last warning. Ditch your weapon or I’ll shoot.”
“If you shoot us here, someone might report the gunfire.” She was stalling for time but understood Ray was getting impatient.
“Now!” he barked.
“Okay, okay.” She glanced briefly at Jarek to warn him she was about to make her move. “Fine. I’m tossing the gun.”
Her hands were still in the air, so she turned her arm and flipped the weapon over her head in a high arc. As she’d hoped, Bond’s gaze momentarily followed the gun. She swiftly turned and lunged for the crowbar, planning to throw it at Ray with all her strength.
But Jarek had bull-rushed the narcotics cop the moment she’d tossed the gun. The weapon in Ray’s hand discharged as Jarek slammed into him. The momentum carried them forward until they were on the ground, struggling for control over the weapon.
Di raced forward with the crowbar, her gaze searching for the opportunity to use it.
The two men fought for the gun in Ray’s hand, their bodies entangled.
There wasn’t enough space between the two men for her to use the crowbar to her advantage.
The seconds stretched into agonizing minutes as she waited for the moment to strike.
Please, please, please . . .
Suddenly Ray shifted his weight, rolling over so that he was on top of Jarek. Without hesitation, she swung the crowbar down on the back of Ray’s head, striking him with a solid and sickening thud. He grunted and collapsed in a heap.
She locked eyes on Jarek. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Good job.” Jarek was breathless as he stared in surprise at the cop’s weapon sitting in his hand. Then he scrambled back, eyeing the fallen cop. “Stay down or I’ll shoot.”
Bond didn’t move. Was he even breathing? Swallowing hard, Di cautiously approached, fearing she’d killed him. Bending over, she placed her fingers along the side of his neck. Ray had a pulse, but it was faint. Blood matted in his hair where she’d hit him.
Slightly reassured, she straightened. Bond would survive long enough to spend the rest of his life in jail, which was fine with her. She nodded at Jarek. “He has a pulse but needs medical care.”
Jarek let out a heavy sigh. Before he could say anything, Rocco let out a whimpering sound. Alarmed, Di spun to face the dog. He was licking a gash along his side. The bullet Ray had fired must have creased the animal. She dropped the crowbar and headed toward the dog.
“Easy, boy. Good boy, Rocco. Easy now. I gave you a treat, remember?” She braced herself for his attack, but to her surprise, the dog didn’t bare his teeth or lunge toward her.
His dark eyes watched her as she examined the wound.
She was relieved it wasn’t too serious. “You’re going to be okay, boy. Hear me? You’ll be okay.”
To her shock, Rocco licked her hand.
“You’re a good boy,” she murmured. “If I had another peanut butter protein bar, I’d give it to you.”
“Di, you need to find the gun you tossed.” Jarek had Buck’s phone in his hand. “Schnor might be close by.”
She nodded, gave Rocco a reassuring pat, then rose to search for the weapon. Spying it on the floor, she quickly scooped it up.
“Officer requesting backup,” Jarek said into the phone. “Two drug dealers are down with at least one other suspect and possibly others still at large. I need multiple units to respond to three-twenty-one South Broadway, forthwith.”
She frowned as she crossed over to join Jarek. “What do you think? Could Schnor be out there?”
Jarek shook his head. His lip was swollen from the tussle, and it looked as if he’d sustained a bruise near his eye. “If he was out there covering Bond, I’d have thought he’d come in when the gunfire rang out.”
“Makes sense. He’d assume Bond killed one of us and come in to see what was going down.
” She turned to eye Rocco. The dog didn’t seem to pose a threat, even with his injury.
Some dogs became defensive when they’re hurt, but Rocco hadn’t tried to bite her.
Either the treat had worked wonders, or Buck hadn’t completely ruined the dog with his training. Maybe both.
She sighed, hoping the local cops would arrive soon. “I feel bad that Rocco got hurt.”
“Me too, but it could have been worse.” Jarek gestured to where Buck was still stretched out on the floor, wrists cuffed and mouth gagged. Rocco remained at his side. “I was afraid we’d have to shoot him to keep him from attacking us.”
She nodded, as the same concern had plagued her. She’d never hurt an animal in her life and hadn’t wanted to start now. And strangely, she was starting to like Rocco.
The sound of police sirens reached her ears. She turned to Jarek. “We should open the door for them.”
“You take the far side.” Jarek moved toward the edge of the door that was closer to them. “When you’re in position, I’ll lift it. Stay alert, though. We need to be prepared for anything.”
“Understood.” Without wasting a moment, she hurried to the other side of the garage door. Clasping her weapon in two hands, the barrel trained on the door, she waited as Jarek bent and threw the garage door up and out of the way.
She scanned the area outside the warehouse. There was no sign of Lupo or of Jeff Schnor. Still, she didn’t relax until the red and blue swirling lights grew closer, the sirens still wailing loud enough to break eardrums.
The danger was finally over. Buck and Ray wouldn’t hurt anyone again.
The only outstanding issue was what Jarek would do now that he knew the truth about what she’d done. Maybe she hadn’t intended to kill Eddie Ross, but she hadn’t shed a tear over his passing either.
Her mother had always suspected Di had put the sleeping pills in Eddie’s drink, but she hadn’t said anything to the police.
Deep down, she figured her mother didn’t want the truth about the sexual abuse to come out because everyone would know just how badly she’d failed to protect her own daughters.
But her mother had also lamented Eddie’s death, going on and on about the loss of income.
The comments had grated on Di’s nerves to the point she couldn’t take listening to her mother for another second.
Especially when her mother hadn’t even bothered to say happy birthday much less buy a present or even a cupcake.
That’s when she’d grabbed a bag and left home to live on the streets.
The first few weeks had been difficult. More than once she’d almost given in and crawled back home.
She’d attended school, managing to graduate despite her living situation.
Michelle had smuggled her food and money, which had helped.
And it hadn’t taken too long for Di to grow accustomed to living on her own.
Just looking at her mother had made her so angry.
How her mother could have allowed Eddie to sneak into her bedroom at night, she had no idea.
“Di? Are you okay?” Jarek’s voice penetrated her thoughts.
The red and blue flashing lights were blinding now. She had to squelch the urge to run. To hide. To move out of Newburgh to start over someplace new. But she didn’t move. “I’m fine.” Her clipped tone didn’t fool him.
“We need to talk. I hate knowing what you and your sister must have gone through all those years ago.” He took a step toward her, then stopped when the police cruisers pulled up. “We’ll talk,” he said again. “Don’t worry about anything.”
She frowned, uncertain about what he meant by that. Was he going to hold off on arresting her? Maybe. Yet even with the prospect of landing behind bars, a strange relief washed over her. The truth was out. The burden she’d carried for more than half her lifetime had been lifted.
She felt lighter. Oddly free. Which made no sense since she knew full well that she’d likely spend the rest of her life behind bars. Her claustrophobia kicked in as she imagined the prison bars slamming shut, locking her inside.
“Throw down your weapon!” a voice barked.
Di belatedly realized the order was addressed to her.
She slowly bent, dropped the gun, raised her hands, and stepped into the light.
Shying away from the red and blue flashing lights, she looked up at the moon and the stars.
While she’d held the crowbar waiting for the opportunity to use it against Bond, she’d prayed for help.
And God had answered. Maybe she should try praying again, this time for mercy. She could accept that her actions deserved some sort of punishment, but just the thought of spending a prolonged stint behind bars made her break out in a cold sweat.