Chapter 19
Nineteen
S itting in his office, feet propped up on his desk, the other deputies gone home for the night, Silas was having second thoughts.
Not about the necessity of killing Joey.
On that score, he was absolutely certain.
But the way he’d done it had left too many loose ends.
It would have been better to stage a murder-suicide—kill Lowey, set the scene to make Joey look guilty, and then stage his suicide.
He was feeling nervous and unsettled. It was a new feeling for him, and he didn’t like it. Killing her and Quentin Darcy would be too suspicious. So, he was stuck. What to do now? What would be the best way to get out of this mess?
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Ciaran Darcy walked into his office. Yeah, he was stuck. Shit. That son of a bitch wouldn’t be here otherwise. Silas glared at him, but the bastard just smiled at him.
“It was a nice touch,” Ciaran said softly.
“What’s that exactly?” Silas demanded, thought he strongly suspected that he already knew.
“Letting yourself into Lowey’s bar, stealing her gun to kill your dipshit cousin, and then replacing it without anyone being the wiser…except her security cameras, of course. ”
The bar had a shitty security system, but he’d known about it.
Cameras were something he hadn’t considered she might have.
Why would she bother? There was nothing in the place worth stealing.
But then again, she was a woman alone, and a woman who knew all too well just how dangerous a man could be.
Why wouldn’t she? But he wasn’t ready to admit it just yet.
“You’re full of shit, Darcy. And if you don’t watch it, I’ll be taking you to court!
Those kinds of accusations aren’t taken lightly. ”
Ciaran laughed. “Still trying to brazen it out…you may be short on brains, Barnes, but you’ve got balls the size of a truck!”
When he’d had Samuel Darcy in town, that would have been enough. “I’ve never liked the Darcys. Doing business with Samuel was a necessary evil in this town, but his high and mighty, holier-than-thou. His children? I despise the very ground they walk on…even the bastard ones like you.”
The Irishman didn’t appear to be the slightest bit fazed by the insult.
He just smiled. “To prevent any further ugliness, I should tell you that the security footage has already been sent to several other people…you do anything to harm Harlow Tate or my brother, and you’ll burn for it.
It doesn’t matter what you do, Barnes. You’re not getting out of this. ”
Silas closed his eyes, let the reality of the situation sink in on him. He was done. Completely done. “Get the hell out, Darcy. Tell your brother he and his little whore are safe.”
Ciaran looked at him quizzically. “You’re just going to let this go quietly?”
Silas considered his options. Suicide was one.
He could try to pin the murder on Harlow Tate and wind up going to prison himself.
He could just put a bullet in his head and call it done.
Or he could try to make a deal with the Darcys one more time.
Reaching beneath his desk, he pulled out the pistol he kept there.
“Lots of murders go unsolved. Joey’s will be one of them…
assuming you’re willing to let the footage vanish. ”
“And if I don’t?” Ciaran asked.
Silas pulled the hammer back on the revolver. “I’m not going to prison. I’ll die first…and if I’m going to die, I’ve got nothing left to lose and nothing to stop me from taking you with me.”
Ciaran nodded. “That’s kind of what I thought you’d say, Silas. That’s why I didn’t come here alone.”
Silas looked up then to see Matt Crawford and two of the state boys standing in the doorway. “Drop your weapon. Silas Barnes, you’re under arrest for the murder of Joseph Barnes,” one of the troopers said .
Silas did the only thing he could in that moment. He put the barrel of the gun under his chin and squeezed the trigger.