Chapter Thirty-Two
KNOX
It didn't take me long to get the rest of my things together. So far, we hadn't been interrupted by an invasion of Black Rock cruisers with their lights flashing. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad one.
I met Lily on the stairs, taking a massive duffel from her hands before it pulled her off balance and she tumbled to the bottom.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Bringing the bags down.”
“I'll get the bags. Is everything together upstairs?”
“In a big pile in the middle of my bedroom. My stuff, Adam's stuff, a few boxes of things I don't need right away, but I don't want to leave in the house. I need to pack a bag from the mudroom—shoes, jackets, stuff like that, but otherwise, we're ready to load up.”
“Got it.” I found everything neatly organized in Lily's bedroom. A few trips, and I had the back of the SUV loaded. Adam dogged my heels, asking question after question, most of which I couldn't answer. Fortunately, he was easy to divert with little tasks, happy to help me carry odds and ends.
Lily left another over-stuffed duffel by the back door, this one filled with whatever she wanted from the mudroom.
I found her in the kitchen cobbling together lunch from leftovers and food that would spoil before the end of the week.
Adam complained about the odd mix of food on his plate until Lily gave him what I thought of as 'Mom Eye', and he shut up.
The shrill of the perimeter alarm cut through the house as Lily was clearing the table. She jumped, a plate sliding from her fingers to shatter on the floor. I circled the table to lift her clear of the sharp slivers of ceramic surrounding her bare feet.
A shadow passed by the window at the front door. Behind me, Adam raced for the front door, calling out, “Deputy Dave.”
“Adam, don't!” I yelled.
The driveway alert hadn't sounded. If he was here on official business, he would have come in his cruiser. I set Lily on her feet, away from the remains of the broken plate, and sprinted for the front door.
Adam was already swinging it open.
He froze for a split second, stumbling back as he saw Dave's normally affable face contorted with rage and desperation. The deputy lunged for Adam, his fingers closing over the shoulder of Adam's t-shirt.
His gut overriding his brain, Adam was already scuttling back, away from the door. Dave's desperate grasp came up short. Adam bolted for Lily, barreling into her arms. She stopped only a few feet away, her eyes wide and fixed on the man she'd thought was her friend.
Dave held a Taser in my direction, waving it threateningly. I would have laughed if I hadn't known that would push him over the edge. A Taser? He’d have to fill out paperwork if he discharged his service weapon, but seriously. A Taser?
Then again, his weapon was on his hip. He was an asshole, but he wasn't completely incompetent. As long as he had that gun on his hip, he was a danger.
Ignoring me when he saw I wasn't going to approach, he focused on Lily, all pretense at friendship wiped away. “Give me the box, Lily. I'm tired of this bullshit. Trey owes me. He said it was mine. Give it to me, and I'll go.”
“Were you working with Trey?” Lily took a step out from behind me, confusion and betrayal nudging her guard down. I shot out an arm to block her approach.
Dave sneered. “Yeah, I was working with Trey.
You're such a fucking idiot. So much shit he did right under your nose, and you never thought to ask about any of it, did you? Just make your pot roast, read books to your dumbass kid and never wonder where all that money was coming from. Did you ever ask Trey what he was doing on those business trips? Who he was fucking when he stopped fucking you?”
Dave's wild eyes flicked to Adam and back to Lily. “I know you don't have proof that he's yours. Give me the box or I'll call social services and you'll lose the only thing you care about.”
Adam was oblivious to the threat, but Lily turned to stone, her eyes blank with panic. I was going to fucking kill this guy. I stepped in front of her, blocking him from her view. “What box, Morris?”
“The fucking Russian box, you asshole. I know it's worth millions. Trey said it was mine. Hand it over and I'll walk away.”
“It's not here,” I said. “I've torn this house apart. I found the receipt but no box. You're out of luck.”
“It can't be gone,” Dave cried, desperation drawing his voice into a whine. “It was in his office. What the fuck did you do with it, you bitch? I've been looking for months.”
I didn't give Lily a chance to respond. “She didn't do anything with it. It's gone.”
“Then give me cash. I know he left you flush. He owes me.”
“Lily doesn't have any cash in the house.” Technically I wasn't lying. The strongbox with the twenty grand was safely packed in the SUV. I wouldn't risk Lily and Adam over twenty grand, but that wasn't the kind of money Dave Morris was looking for.
“Then let's go the to the bank,” Dave shot back, his greed short-circuiting his brain.
“How do you expect to pull that off?” I asked conversationally. “You going to hold the gun on her in front of the teller?”
“She can write me a check.” He was grasping at straws. Whatever he'd done for Trey, he hadn't been using his brains.
“That's going to leave a hell of a paper trail. You're out of options, Morris. Turn around and leave.”
Dave lurched forward, lunging at me but not getting close enough to strike. His control was disintegrating, falling to dust as his frustration grew.
This was his endgame. He wasn't going to walk away without getting what he wanted.
I could feel Adam behind me, squirming against Lily. I turned to close my hand around his upper arm, holding him still. Lily pushed him further behind me, edging to the side, out of my protection. I couldn't shield them from Dave if they wouldn't stay fucking still.
“Dave,” she said, “I don't know what Trey did with the box, but there's stuff in the house. Artwork. I have a little jewelry. It's not worth what the box was, but you can have it. I don't care. Whatever Trey owed you, it doesn't have anything to do with me.”
“It has everything to do with you, you fucking bitch. He was supposed to leave it all to me. I've been his friend his entire life. You're just some cunt he picked up at college to piss off his parents.”
A wounded sound from Lily at the harsh epithet. Adam pulled from my grip, going for his mother. I shoved him further behind me, moving both of us a step too far from Dave and Lily.
In slow motion, I watched as Dave shot out an arm to grab her. She was still too far away, his fingers skating over her shoulder, closing around a chunk of her hair. He yanked, dragging Lily off her feet.
Everything went red at her scream of pain.
Diving to the side, I pulled her out of his reach, shoving both her and Adam behind me. “Garage. Now.”
I heard more than saw Lily grab Adam and take off down the hall. I was on Dave before he could get his bearings, throwing punch after punch.
I was done with this fucker.
Done with his crude comments about Lily.
Done with his entitlement.
Done with this little man thinking he could threaten my woman. My boy.
Just. Fucking. Done.
Deputy Dave Morris wanted to be a player, but he was about to leave the stage.
I pulled back to take a good look at the blood streaming from his nose and mouth. His dazed eyes met mine in disbelief, lips closing and opening, sounds choppy.
“—oo 'an't. 'oo 'an't.”
“I can, and I did, motherfucker.” I snagged the cuffs from his belt and secured his hands behind his back before tossing him over my shoulder. Deputy Dave might press charges this time, but we wouldn't be here.
I jogged through the woods, dumping Dave in the dirt beneath the pine trees and refastened the cuffs behind his back.
“One last thing,” I said, “Lily's house is wired, inside and out.
I guarantee you that you won't spot all of the cameras.
If I catch you breaking in again, I won't call the state police, I'll call Andrei Tsepov.
He doesn't like loose ends, and right now, he can't afford a fuckwad local cop drawing attention to his business. Got me?”
I saw the exact moment he understood, the impotent rage in his eyes dissolving into abject terror. Yeah, he got me.
I left him there, handcuffed to the tree. Dave was no genius, but he wasn't a complete idiot. He'd figure out a way to get free. It didn't matter. He wouldn't be found on Lily's property, and we'd be long gone.
Jogging back to the house, I cleaned up his blood from the floor, packing away the paper towels to dispose of on the road.
A quick shower, change of clothes, and I tossed the last of my gear into the SUV. Lily was waiting in the passenger seat, a wet towel pressed to her temple. Adam babbled nonstop, filled with worried questions she couldn't answer.
At the sight of me, he fell silent. I slid into the driver's seat and reached over to nudge Lily's hand from her temple. My gut turned at the raw patch of skin, bleeding sluggishly. It was tiny, not bigger than a dime, but that didn't matter.
It was Lily, my Lily, and she got hurt under my watch. I leaned in closer, pressing my forehead to hers. “I'm so sorry, baby. That shouldn't have happened.”
“It's not your fault, Knox. I should have stayed behind you. I wasn't thinking.”
“You okay?”
“It stings, that's all. Where's Dave?”
I sat back, fastened my seatbelt and hit the garage door remote. As we pulled out, I sent Lily a wink.
“Handcuffed to a tree in the woods two houses over. I don't think he'll be bothering you anymore.” Tossing her my phone, I said, “Set the alarm, Lil. We're hitting the road.”