Chapter 27
Rogue
We get back to the ranch, and instead of parking in the driveway we take a narrow track around to a long, metal building. Jett jumps out before Owen shuts the motor off. He stalks around to the back and lowers the tailgate.
The rest of us get out as well.
Storm grasps at Violet. Despite the scowl etched on his face he talks to her carefully. “You need to give them room to get him out of the truck, Violet. We need to check you out too. Let me help you down.”
Eyes wet she stares him down defiantly. Eventually she runs a tremoring, blood-stained hand through her disheveled hair and exhales. She puts her hand in his.
Ignoring the blood covering her T-shirt and jeans, he grasps her waist with his other hand and lifts her out of the truck bed. Putting her on her feet, he keeps hold of her while they wait for Owen and West to carry Dawson from the truck.
We all follow them inside.
It’s a huge building with a long chute down the middle of one side that has a gate to the outside on both ends. And on the other it’s partitioned into several boxed areas. The final area consists of clean, metal workbenches, a storage area, and water access.
“Lay him down over here.” Owen directs them to place Dawson on one of the benches while he rifles through the storage shelves and pulls out a first aid kit and other supplies West will need.
West is washing his hands with the antibacterial soap at the sink and ordering Owen around. “We’re going to need tubing for the blood transfusion. Saline. Scissors. We need to strip him out of his shirt.”
“Summer, you should go up to the house. Get cleaned up.” Owen hands West scissors. “You’ve been through enough.”
West cuts away Dawson’s shirt and starts to examine him.
“I’m not going anywhere.” She plants her feet and juts out her chin as West checks Dawon’s shoulder for a bullet first and then his abdomen.
“Turn him,” West orders, ending the stare off between Owen and Summer.
Owen helps put Dawson on his side so West can check for an exit wound. Dawson makes awful, agonized noises the whole time.
The pain on his face makes me queasy. But not as much as the blood squelching from the wound in his abdomen. It runs across his torso and pools on the table.
Damn. The room sways.
“Where the hell is it?” West mutters frantically to himself.
“Storm, get over here,” Owen says.
“Don’t know why I should save his fucking life,” he grumbles as he moves to wash up.
“Because he helped save mine,” Summer says.
“Doesn’t mean I have to like him,” Storm says. “As far as I’m concerned, he chose his side.”
It feels like there should be more to it. Not that he shouldn’t be angry the idiot chose to believe his brother. But surely what he did tonight has to go a long way to easing ruffled feathers.
“Found it,” West says. “Looks like the bullet went through.”
“Hallelujah,” Owen says.
There’s a clatter and Violet collapses. Both Hearts look like they’re about to abandon the patient for the florist.
“We don’t have time for this,” West says sounding clinical and detached. “Owen, clean the wounds. Jett, wash both your arms past the elbow. Rogue…”
“What?” There’s blood everywhere. All over West and Dawson and the table. On Owen’s hands. On Storm’s shirt. Summer’s dress is covered in it. Violet is covered in it.
I don’t feel so good.
“The florist. Get over there and check on her.” He frowns at me briefly before he continues examining the wound.
“Right.” I force myself back into my body. So everything is covered in blood. None of it is Ivy’s. We’re not in Narnia. And Violet wasn’t wounded… At least she hadn’t seemed to be. Although she did just crack her head pretty hard on the concrete when she fell.
I search her quickly for signs that any of the blood covering her body and clothes is hers, but other than bruises and a few scratches she’s in one piece.
“Think she fainted.” I elevate her feet and wait for her to wake.
Rebel and Summer approach.
Summer sits down next to Violet and hovers over her as her eyes begin to open. “Are you okay, Violet?”
“He needs me.” Violet pushes up onto her elbows and grimaces. “Dawson—"
“He’s okay. You’re okay. We’re all safe now.” Glancing up at me, Summer shrugs while trying to press Violet back down. We’re missing something, because it seems like these two are close. Right now, that doesn’t matter. “It’s over. Rest.”
“Duke is dead.” She hangs her head. Then reaches up to gingerly touch the back of it. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“Anything you want to,” Summer says. “He’s no longer a threat to you.”
“I needed him,” she mumbles to herself as she sits up all the way. “I needed him to tell me what he knew. I’m so screwed. This means I killed Owen’s goat for nothing.”
Woah. Did I hear her right?
Rebel has the exact same expression I do. Fucking what?
Summer turns rigid. She glances at Owen who is pre-occupied with helping West. He doesn’t seem to have heard her, but then we weren’t meant to hear her either. Leaning in, she says quietly, “You killed Stains?”
Violet’s tears come thick and fast. Her gaze shoots up to meet Summer’s. She claps her hand over her mouth. The “no” she utters is mournful.
Did she, or didn’t she? Are we about to cross one of our problems off our list or not? “Violet—"
“Please don’t hate me,” Violet wails. “I didn’t want to—”
“Hush.” Summer grabs her leg and shakes her. “Owen is looking our way.”
Owen is indeed staring at the four of us, his brow furrowed while he tosses bloody rags into a bin.
Good. She killed his goat. “Shouldn’t he be?”
“I didn’t want to,” Violet lowers her voice as she appeals to Summer. “You have to believe me.”
Summer stands. She holds her hand out to the other woman as she glances at Rebel and then me. “I think Violet could use some fresh air, don’t you?”
“Good idea.” Rebel leads the way to the far corner of the shed where a musty wall of hay bales are stored.
“Okay explain.” Summer tells Violet when we’re sure we won’t be overheard. “You killed Stains.”
“I did. But I promise I didn’t want to hurt Owen or Ernie. Or any of you. I had no choice. You must believe me.”
“Why, Violet?” Summer asks. It’s probably best that she questions Violet. The other woman seems willing to open up to her in a way she might not for Rebel and me. “Why do that?”
“Duke swore black and blue he didn’t know anything about the goat,” Rebel reminds Summer.
“Violet?” Summer takes her hand, supporting the other woman despite her confession.
“He didn’t. He only sent the card. He made me deliver it with the flowers that morning. I had no choice. I needed him to believe I was loyal. I wanted to warn you, but it was too important to screw up.”
“So who…” Summer’s nose wrinkles “…told you to kill the goat?”
“It was Kyle who ordered me to do it. I had no choice. He said he would kill me if I didn’t do what he wanted. And that I had to keep it from Duke. He had his own agenda… I’m not sure what. All I know is he was talking with a woman on the phone… feeding her the information he made me give him.”
Could she mean Nicole? Is the person who ran us off the road… who ran Ro off the road… and ordered the roses… the damn sheriff? Fuck me sideways.
Rebel’s brows shoot up. It has to be, doesn’t it?
“What was the woman on the phone’s name?” Summer asks.
“I—I don’t know. He didn’t call her anything when they spoke. But she was in charge. I could tell that much.”
“What else did he make you do?” Summer asks.
“Did you run us off the road last night?” I demand. “Did he?”
“It wasn’t me. I don’t know if he did.” She trembles.
“He forced me to spy on you all. I tried not to tell him anything, but he…” she rubs at one of her bruises and winces.
“Most of these are from him. Not Duke. Not that Duke wouldn’t…
but these were Kyle’s work. I begged him not to make me kill the goat.
I didn’t want to hurt the poor animal. But I had no choice. I had to imagine I was killing Duke…”
“That explains the frenzy of it,” Rebel says. “Agent Lane said he suspected there was a lot of emotion driving it.”
She covers her mouth as more sobs wrack her body. The memory must be awful because she turns away when she gags hard enough to bring up the contents of her stomach. “I didn’t want to do it. What I did… poor Stains. Kyle laughed when it was over.”
Summer reaches out and pats her back.
The turmoil in the killing along with the slashed throat is why we’d suspected Dizzy so readily. Especially after seeing what she did to Alec. That and where West found the weapon. “You planted the knife in Dizzy’s cabin.”
“No.” She looks horrified. “Kyle took it. He said he needed to make sure it ended up in the right place. I had no idea that was going to be in the bride’s sister’s cabin.”
“Nicole must have wanted to sow distrust between the sisters,” Rebel says.
He could be right. Nicole already knew about Alec when we got there. Who knows when she got that information. She’s well connected and so is Robert Hawthorne. They could have been aware prior to the news breaking.
Even if she hadn’t been aware of his death yesterday, she was aware that the sisters had formed a relationship, and she was already planning trouble for Ivy.
Who’s to say that isn’t a string she would have pulled.
“Either way, Dizzy didn't kill Stains. That's a huge relief.
And at least we have some answers to work with. "
“You knew what they were like. Why not run? Why not come to my brothers. They would have kept you safe,” Summer says to Violet. “Why protect them?”