Chapter Thirty #3
“I’ll teach her a lesson, and she won’t forget. A man takes charge, a man rules the house and the woman in it. A man provides and a woman is fucking grateful.”
“You started teaching her a lesson today, with your fists.”
“She deserved a good beating after the trouble she caused me. She put me in that hell after I brought her flowers? She’s coming with me, and she’s going to like it.”
“But she didn’t want to go with you, so you knocked her out, put her in the trunk of the car.”
“She’s lying about that. Typical.”
“Dustin, not only will we find Arden’s DNA in that trunk—blood, hair—we have a witness who saw you. You shot at him. Twice. Missed, twice. You’re a crap shot on top of everything else.”
“So he says. He’s the one she’s been fucking, cheating on me with. Thinks he can drive a big pickup, park it in her driveway.”
Gideon just lifted his eyebrows. “Today’s witness happens to be married, to another man. Are you stating you observed a pickup truck in Arden’s driveway prior to today?”
“Last night, late. I saw it. Cheating on me with some fag? I was going to forgive her.”
“You saw my truck, Dustin. Arden and I live together. We’re engaged. We laugh at you all the time. We’ll be laughing harder now.”
“She’s a whore!” He tried to shout it, yanking on the cuffs. “I should’ve killed you both that night, but I decided to forgive her.”
“After you taught her a lesson or two.”
Over the edge now, Gideon noted. His face bloodred, his eyes wild.
“A few good beatings, she’ll learn. She’ll learn or I’ll choke the life out of her, because I don’t take that shit from anyone, especially not a woman. There’s always another whore to tame. You, you’re a dead man. I’m a goddamn Dubecki, and I can buy and sell you. When my mother finds out—”
“You killed your mother, Dustin.”
He lay, breathing hard, breathing fast. And those eyes ticktocking side to side.
“She can’t help you now, Dustin, because you put your hands around her throat. You squeezed and squeezed and you choked the life out of her. How did it feel?”
“Orgasmic!” He snapped it out as best he could. “She didn’t take care of me like she should have. She didn’t keep our family together. I don’t need her. I can hire the best lawyers. She was a bad mother, a bad mother. I’m not going to prison for killing her. She deserved it.”
“And Hailey Parkinson.”
“I don’t know who that is.”
“She came to the cabin in Colorado.”
“Oh, that one. She pretended to be lost, tried to seduce me even though I told her I was married. Then she acted like she didn’t want it. I gave it to her anyway. I don’t take that crap from a woman.”
“So you strangled her.”
“So what? I’m a man, and I do what the hell I want. I’m done talking to you because I’m going to kill you anyway. I want a lawyer. Now.”
“Good luck with that. We’ll arrange for you to make your phone call.”
He stepped out, where Brill and Venmar waited. “He wants a lawyer.”
“Well, shit.”
“Requested after he confessed.” Gideon tapped his recorder. “To his mother—orgasmic—Hailey Parkinson—so what? Arden, she asked for it. Being legally sane doesn’t mean he’s not batshit.”
“I hear that.” Brill looked at Venmar. “We’d like to hear that interview.”
“I need to get back to the station. You’re welcome to join.”
He didn’t get home until nearly one. He knew there’d been times he’d felt equally if not more exhausted. But he couldn’t remember when or why.
The whole group, gathered in the living room, rose when he came in.
“Pajama party?”
“She wouldn’t go to bed,” Zoey told him. “So—”
“Neither would they,” Arden finished. “You look tired, Chief. Are you hungry, too?”
He shook his head, but crossed over, took the wineglass out of her hand, and drained the contents. “That’ll do it. He confessed, to all of it.”
Arden just sagged. “He confessed.”
“Didn’t take long to bait him into it, though it was a little tough on him, since you broke his jaw.”
“I…”
“And his nose, and his left eardrum. Knocked out a couple teeth.”
Zoey held out a fist. “Fist bump, goddamn it.”
Arden obliged, then dropped down on the sofa. “I never hurt anyone before. It’s…”
“In this case?” Jamie gripped Nick’s hand. “You need to say empowering.”
“That’s the word,” Nick agreed. “You took care of yourself, Arden. And more? Think about it. You stopped him from hurting more people.”
“And he would have. Brownies.” Despite himself, Gideon reached for one.
“A man does what a man wants, and a woman has to fall in line, or pay for it. Always another whore to tame, and so on. They’ll keep him, restrained and under guard, in the hospital for another day.
Then Venmar and Brill will take him back to Columbus to stand trial for his mother. ”
“Venmar and Brill?”
“I haven’t had time to tell you. They got into Washington State earlier today.
They were already heading down here when all hell broke loose.
He can hire all the lawyers he likes, but he’ll go in for matricide, do life.
If he manages to get out before he’s dead, he’ll stand trial for Hailey Parkinson, and then there’s you, Legs. Add the shots he took at Jamie.”
“Then it’s done.”
“It’s done; he’s done. I’ll need your statement, yours, too, Jamie, but we can do that tomorrow.”
“I wrote mine out,” Arden told him. “It helped to write it out.”
“I call this party over. I’m going up to bed.” Zoey gave Arden another hug, then shifted to give one to Gideon.
“We’ll get some sleep, too.” Nick gave Jamie’s hand a squeeze. “Isis is already down in there for the night, so if you don’t mind, we’ll stay till morning.”
“Stay as long as you like.” Arden rose to go to Jamie, kiss both his cheeks. “My hero.”
“Don’t make me cry again, it’s embarrassing. Nick will be gone at dawn—the life of a baker—but I’m making breakfast.” He walked over to Gideon, kissed him on the mouth. “My hero.”
Gideon just shook his head, finished the brownie as Zoey went up, and Jamie went with Nick into the first-floor guest room.
“You really do look tired, Gideon.”
“I had to get it done, had to close it up, do the job. Not just for the job, Arden. For you. I had to do that before I could do this.”
He plucked her off the couch, lifted her off her feet, and held her, just held her, before his mouth found hers.
“I need to hold on a minute. I need it.”
“Good.” She recognized the trembling inside her, and him, as relief, and pressed her face to his shoulder. “That’s good, because so do I.”
“Christ. I’ve never been that scared before. I never want to be that scared again.” He eased her back on her feet, laid a hand on her cheek. “He hurt you.”
“I hurt him more.”
“By Christ, you did. I’m glad of it, even if it meant I couldn’t.”
“Oh, but you did. You hurt him most of all. He confessed. He’s going to prison. And you came for me. You came for me. You were there, right there when I needed you.”
He started to shake his head, but she laid her hands on his cheeks to stop the movement.
“Everything was so sharp and clear when I got out of that trunk, when I hit him. I knew exactly what I had to do—and God, wanted to do. I did it.
“I looked down at him, Gideon, and I wasn’t afraid. I knew I was done being afraid of him. Then it all went blurry and shaky and I couldn’t seem to move. I saw the blood, and him lying there, and I couldn’t move.
“Until you were there. Until I saw you.”
“And I saw you, standing in the rain with a lug wrench in your hand. I got a little shaky myself.”
“You took charge anyway, Chief.” She linked her arms around his neck. “I’m going to marry you.”
“You’d better believe it. Where do you want to go after?”
“After? Oh, honeymoon.” It struck her they stood here, arms around each other, her dog leaning on her leg, and talked of a wedding and honeymoons.
After a nightmare for both of them.
“I don’t know. I actually hadn’t thought through that far ahead.”
“Ever been to Ireland?”
“No. Have you?”
“Yeah. Let’s go there. We’ll stay in a castle.”
“In a castle?”
“They’ve got them.” He ran a hand over her hair. “And you don’t mind the rain.”
“No, I don’t mind the rain.”
“Right now? Let’s go to bed. It’s been a hell of a long day.”
“Text the detectives first. Invite them to breakfast. How’s eight-thirty?”
He looked at her, watched her smile. With a shrug he sent the text.
Hands linked, she walked upstairs with him, the dog at her heels, to end the long day, and start the rest of her life, in the safe and the quiet.