Chapter 22
Chelsea couldn’t believe all Tiger’s threats.
She wanted to scream in outrage at everything he had done and the people he had hurt, and yet she also knew that he wouldn’t give a crap.
As far as Tiger was concerned, he clearly had the right to do whatever he wanted, and everybody else could go to hell.
Men like that were everywhere. Yet she sure didn’t want them in her life.
But then John Peacock probably didn’t want Tiger around either.
She wanted to say something to Tiger, but she didn’t dare let him know where her position was.
If he found out, it would just trigger Joel into doing something foolhardy to save her.
When she heard the sirens, then noted the gunman move away, she moved down the tree.
Then she caught sight of Joel and Tiger, heading right toward each other.
With a gasp, she quickly scooched down the last of the tree, landing softly on the grass below.
She raced to come up behind the two men, who even now were about to run right into each other.
Suddenly there they were, the two of them, face-to-face.
The gunman lifted his gun arm, pointing at Joel. “Look at that,” he declared. “Just perfect. Because now I have a hostage.”
Joel smiled at him. “Not exactly your scene, is it, Tiger?”
“What the hell do you know?”
“You think people aren’t here looking for you? Do you think everybody, including the military, isn’t looking for you now?” Joel sneered. “Your buddy, John Peacock, he wrote down all your kills—at least the ones he knew about—though he acknowledged he might not have known about all of them.”
“Well, he didn’t know about all of them,” Tiger declared. “I used to do some for money, but I knew he would never agree to that.”
“He didn’t agree to any of it, and you know that perfectly well.”
Tiger shrugged. “I don’t give a shit what he agreed with, and he didn’t say nothing to nobody. He knew better.”
“Because you threatened to kill his son?”
“Yeah, and I still might,” he declared, “particularly if you tell me that’s what he did.”
Joel laughed, but there was no humor in his gaze. Joel continued to smile at him and asked, “Did you kill John?”
“No, I didn’t kill him,” he snapped, “but you’re making me wish I had.”
Joel shrugged. “Well, you missed that opportunity because he was pretty damn sick.”
“He was, but he wanted to go out into the brush. He wanted to die out in nature instead of in a hospital bed with all those damn machines. So, when he was cleared for hospice, that was it. I would take him, my final ride, my final gift for him. When we got out there, it was all about getting him out into the brush and just staying there.”
*
Tiger shook his head. “He didn’t have more than a day, and, honest to God, … he looked pretty shitty. I mean, we’re talking really shitty,” he repeated, with a headshake. “I don’t ever want to get that old because that was just plain ugly.”
Joel didn’t say anything. Joel’s version of just plain ugly obviously didn’t match up with Tiger’s because there was only ugly here, and it was all Tiger.
“I don’t even know who you are,” Tiger shared, as he kept a close watch on Joel. “And I don’t give a shit either,” he muttered, glaring at him. “But you need to get the fuck out of my way.”
“Nope, not happening.”
When the gun immediately pointed at his face, Joel just smiled.
As much as he hated what Chelsea was about to do, he could easily see her creeping up behind Tiger.
With this guy’s hearing as bad as it was, it just might be her saving grace.
What needed to happen was something along this line that would give them that little bit of an edge that they so desperately needed.
Tiger just glared at him, the gun still pointed at his face, and asked, “Why the hell are you smiling?”
“Why not?” he asked. “You’ve killed so many people, why do you give a shit?”
“I don’t. I don’t give a shit at all,” he yelled, “and particularly not for assholes like you.”
“Oh, I am an asshole now?”
“Yes, you are an asshole,” he confirmed, “and you’re just like all the rest of the assholes who made our lives miserable in the military.”
“I didn’t exactly come out of the military whole either,” he noted, with a headshake.
He replied in a mocking tone, “Like I give a shit.”
“No, you don’t give a shit about anybody,” Joel declared, followed by a nod. “I got that already. That’s just who you are. You don’t give a crap, and that’s okay. I mean, you be you. That’ll save all of us a lot of trouble.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Well, you heard the sirens, and you know people have arrived, just for you, right?”
Tiger shook his head. “You had nobody to call,” he argued, sneering at him. “Those lies are just you trying to save your ass.”
“Maybe,” Joel acknowledged. “And saving asses might be a good thing right about now, but I sure don’t want to save yours.”
Tiger sneered. “Nobody needs to save mine,” he snapped.
“Maybe not, yet you’re likely to get a whole lot more than you expected.”
“Not happening,” he declared, with a laugh. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”
Just then came shouts of men coming their way.
Joel watched Tiger, now looking nervously from side to side, and then in an unexpected move, he lifted the handgun and spun, finally sensing Chelsea behind him.
But he didn’t get a chance to raise his gun arm because Joel lunged at him, taking his gun arm down and dragging the older man to the ground with him, as the gun went off.
Immediately Chelsea screamed for help, and the men came running.
But Joel’s hands were more than occupied because nothing was more dangerous than a cornered snake, and right now, that’s exactly what he had. Tiger was also more than desperate, and just when Joel thought he had the upper hand, Tiger suddenly flipped him.
And there was that grin on his face as he muttered, “Ha, you think you’re some smartass, huh? You’re not a smartass.” He sneered. “And I ain’t fucking fooling around with you.” And that was when he made the next mistake. “I’ll take that female for myself,” he told him.
As he leaned forward, still sneering at Joel, Tiger was ready to flip him back over, when a branch came out of nowhere and slammed into the older man’s head, dropping Tiger to the ground.
Joel immediately hopped up, kicked the gun away, flipped the man over, and pulled his arms behind him, now sitting on him.
Joel looked over at Chelsea, still standing there with the branch in her hand, her chest heaving as she frowned at him.
She cried out, “Is he dead? Oh my God. Is he dead?”
“No, I don’t think he’s dead,” he shared. “I wouldn’t worry about that. You didn’t kill him.”
She looked over at him and said, “I want to kill him. I want to make sure that he can never again do what he did to anybody else.”
Joel nodded but didn’t get a chance to say anything because suddenly they were surrounded by a dozen men.
Timber took one look, tossed his rifle over his shoulder, and muttered, “Well, damn.”
Joel nodded. “You’re not kidding. Damn is right.”
“Are you okay?”
“I am. Chelsea’s the one who broke the branch over Tiger’s head though.”
Timber looked over at her and grinned. “Feels damn good to get some payback, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t know about payback,” she muttered, her voice shaky. “I’m afraid I killed him.”
Timber shook his head. “I doubt it.”
Richard stepped forward and leaned down, took one look, checking over the gunman and announced, “No, he’s not dead … unfortunately.”
“I didn’t want to be the one to kill him,” she muttered.
“And you shouldn’t have to,” Richard stated. He pulled out handcuffs, quickly slipped them over Tiger’s hands, and added, “Honest to God, you can say goodbye to him because, once the military picks him up, he’ll disappear, and you won’t have a clue where he went or when.”
“I don’t care,” she replied, staring at him. “I just want him gone.”
Tiger groaned; then he tried to roll over and couldn’t. He lifted his head, looked around, saw Joel, and frowned.
“Yeah, you never really understood women, did you?” Joel asked, as he picked up the branch and showed it to Tiger. “You can thank Chelsea for the headache.”
He immediately tried to spin around, then looked up at Chelsea, spitting mad.
She grinned at him. “Yeah, that’s for all the other people you took out without a damn thought,” she declared, glaring at him. “And for thinking that you could take me out too.”
“You’re nothing special,” he yelled, with a nudge of his chin.
“Just another trollop, another piece of ass who nobody gives a shit about.” He was spitting mad.
“Even this guy, he’ll dump you pretty damn soon, and you’ll be sitting there, wallowing around with a pregnancy you can’t do anything about,” he told her, with a sneer.
She stared at him for a long moment, then laughed. “Is that what your mama did to you?” she asked. “Was she a single mom, and she just left you because she couldn’t handle it? Maybe that’s why you’re so broken inside. It all has to do with your mama.”
He went to lunge for her, but he was still too low to the ground. With everybody around him too, he couldn’t get a foothold, so was immediately jolted back down again. He didn’t say anything more, but his chest heaved, and he was so furious. He was looking for any avenue to get back at her.
Richard grabbed him, stood him up on his feet, then looked over at the two of them and stated, “We’ll need your statements.”
She groaned.
Richard grumbled, “Yeah, no need to be testy with me. You know the drill. We need statements,” he repeated, pointing a finger from her to Joel, “and fast.”
“I thought the military was coming?” Chelsea noted, confused.
“They are.”
At that, Tiger turned to the cop, and Richard nodded.
“Yeah, we know exactly who you are, and we know exactly … Well no,” he corrected. “We don’t know exactly all the shit you’ve done, but we know a lot of it, and I’m pretty sure the military will have a very long look at your history.”
“I’ll get free. I always do,” he stated calmly.
“Not this time, buddy.”
And then came another voice from the woods around them. Tiger turned to see two suited men walking toward him.
“Well, there you are, Tiger, or shall we call you Simon Macaulay? We want to have a talk with you.”
“I don’t give a shit,” he yelled. “I’m no longer active military. You can’t touch me.”
The man in charge smiled and nodded. “No, no you aren’t, and it really won’t matter because we are not military. Yet we are taking you into custody.”
“You might be taking custody of Tiger,” Richard interrupted, “but we want to make sure this guy never gets loose.” The look the other men gave him was something that sent shivers up everybody’s spines.
“Don’t you worry,” replied the suited man in charge.
“This man will never be loose again. We have a lot of cases and a lot of people who were hurt by this guy. A lot of families lost their loved ones, and a lot of assholes may have paid him to take out other people,” he shared.
“So don’t you worry. He’s coming with us. ”
Chelsea stepped forward. “And what assurance do we have that you’ll retain custody of him and not just release him down the road because he’s holding your mother hostage or something?”
He stared at her in surprise but not without respect. “That’s a very good call.” He looked among the authorities and called out, “Is there anybody we can contact who would reassure you?”
Timber looked at him and said, “Badger.”
“Badger?” He frowned.
“Yeah, Badger,” Timber repeated. “We don’t release anybody unless we’re sure that Badger has okayed it.”
He frowned, then looked at his partner, who nodded. Then he asked, “Are you talking about Kat and Badger?”
“Yeah, we’re talking about Kat and Badger,” Timber confirmed.
He stepped away. “Just a minute.” He made a couple phone calls while everybody just stood around awkwardly.
Richard looked over at Timber. “You really think Badger’s got that kind of pull?”
Timber nodded. “If he doesn’t, he knows a lot of people who have that kind of pull,” he shared.
It was another ten minutes before Timber’s phone rang.
He pulled it out. “Badger, what’s up?” As he listened for a bit, he replied, “I haven’t been shown any IDs yet.
” Both men pulled out their IDs, and he read off their names and numbers for Badger.
After a few more minutes on the phone, Timber declared, “Good enough.” He turned to the two suits and added, “Go ahead, but, if anything happens to him on the way, we know who took him.”
“Not to worry,” replied one man. “If it were up to me, he would have an accident on the way because my sister was someone he took out a long time ago.”
“Why?” Timber wanted to know.
“Apparently she wouldn’t go out on a date with him.”
At that, Chelsea snorted. “She clearly had good taste, but apparently this wimp can’t handle rejection, especially from women. He’s got issues with his mama.”
Tiger turned and tried to lunge at her again, but the one man just slugged him. Tiger took the blow and sagged but remained on his feet.
“And that is just one of many coming your way,” he told Tiger. Then as a group they all moved toward the parking lot, nobody wanting to see this guy go free anytime soon.
Joel walked up to Chelsea, put his arm around her, and they just stood here as the two men added extra restraints to Tiger’s legs, putting a black sack over his head, before loading him up.
“Why all of that?” Chelsea asked Joel.
“To help him with disassociation, so he can’t pick and choose a special moment to make a move and try to take them out,” Joel explained. “It probably won’t matter in this case, but you never know.”
“What are the chances of his coming back again?”
One of the two suited men turned to her and replied, “Zero. You will never see this man again.”
Such a note of finality filled his tone that she nodded, then watched as the unmarked vehicle pulled out and disappeared.
Richard turned to her and asked, “You do realize that this means there’s nobody to prosecute?”
She stared at him for a long moment, then nodded. “I’m okay with that, as long as that asshole never comes back around again,” she added. “I am totally okay to not have to deal with yet another prosecution case.”
“Good,” he muttered. “Now maybe you can just go to work like normal people and not get into trouble.”
She laughed. “I would love to. I would absolutely love to.” She looked over at Joel and smiled. “We got lunch, and we got to walk around, but we sure didn’t get the peace and quiet we were looking for.”
“No, we didn’t,” he agreed, “but, right about now, I just want to go home.”
She smiled, wrapped her arms around him, and nodded. “Home sounds perfect.”