Chapter 45 - Dean
Dean
Ileft Henry at our designated safe house and returned to Deer Lake with Weston.
“You remember what to tell your family?” I asked.
“One minute. No more.” He hugged himself from the passenger seat. “Are you sure they’ll take us?”
If I offered sufficient payment. “I’m sure they will,” I promised. “Get your family and let me do the rest.”
We drove to Weston’s family, where I waited outside as he delivered the message. Weston saved his family and deserved to take the credit. He emerged with his family in less than a minute.
Unfamiliar nerves twisted my stomach as we approached Chance’s land. “Stay inside. Each of you.” I turned off the ignition and stepped outside, both hands in the air.
Ian stood on his porch, shotgun aimed at my chest. He’d use it if I provoked him.
“I need a favor,” I said.
“I’m more inclined to shoot you than help you. We go back a long way. You know I don’t do favors.”
“Then let me owe you one. Weston, get out here.”
He left the truck to stand beside me, without fear for once. His bravery had been with him all along; Weston just didn’t recognize it.
“If he’s seen in Deer Lake again, he and his family are dead,” I said.
Ian lowered his shotgun a hair. “What’s your name, boy?” He looked past me to the girls huddled in the front seat.
“Weston Foster. My mom and little sisters are with me.”
I added the kicker. “Everything in the truck behind me is yours if you take them. Food, medicine, and ammunition.” I packed the vehicle with items most likely to interest Ian. “And when you’re ready to collect the favor, I’ll pay it back.”
Ian rested the butt of his shotgun on the porch floor. “Foster, huh? There’s another one of you inside my house, beaten up real bad. He stumbled upon the men who robbed West Lake. Would you happen to know him?”
I rolled my eyes at the joyful reunion.
“Do we have a deal?” I asked.
“They can stay for the winter,” Ian said. “That truck, and everything inside it, is mine. We’ll consider it a down payment, and I’ll collect the rest later.”
“Deal.”
Time to warn Bill and find Lily.
I sprinted back to Deer Lake as the snow fell.
The small room had an abandoned feel. The sleeping bag waited in its familiar place, folded and shoved against the wall. I swiped a few items and snuck back outside to avoid the patrolling deputies. The frigid night air and stale sweat sent a shiver through my body.
City Hall first.
Bill Sutton was in the sheriff’s office, the two of them sharing a bottle of whisky and laughing.
Sutton’s empty office offered no clues. Knocking on each house looking for her wasn’t an option, either.
The clock in my head ticked, counting down the seconds until zero hour.
I tapped my fingers on the desk, matching its rhythm, and breathed, willing my heart to slow.
Rose. The two women had grown close over the past several weeks, and I doubted she was involved in her father’s conspiracy.
At worst, she pretended not to see the obvious.
I left a note on Bill’s desk, unable to think of another option. Either he noticed it, or it brought our doom.
Back. At store.
As always, two guards stood watch, so I entered through the same upstairs window as before and found Rose alone in her room. Dammit. If Lily wasn’t with her friend, I didn’t know where else to look.
Rose jumped from her place on the bed. “Dean? How did you get up here? No one is allowed up here.”
Like that ever stopped me. “Where’s my wife?”
“I don’t know,” she said without meeting my eyes.
I pitied her. If Lily were here, she’d urge compassion for her friend. “I’d stay in this room if I were you. Lily cares about you. She considers you a friend. Don’t force me to be the one who changes that.”
Rose’s mouth fell open.
I left her to check downstairs. Scuffles and muffled voices carried from the store before a familiar feminine voice yelled out.
A gun fired, and my adrenaline flowed.
The familiar stink of gunpowder hit me first—sulfur and metal.
Lily lay on the manager’s office floor with Julian’s body covering hers. I shoved him off, noting the early signs of a shiner on her right eye. Crimson stained her tan coat. “Hey, I’m here. It’s me. You’re safe, sweetheart. He’s gone.”
I picked the gun off the floor as the guards ran through the door. The first dropped with a single bullet, so I fired again. Click. Wonderful. I tossed the weapon, exchanging it for my familiar knife.
The remaining guard stared at his partner on the floor. “You won’t get away with this.”
“Okay.”
He grappled with his holster, nervous hands sliding off the leather. “There’s a warrant for your arrest.”
Lily’s panicked voice broke in. “They’ll get you. It’s a plot. I did it. It was me. Take me.” She raised both arms, surrendering.
“Touch her, and you die slow,” I said, and lunged.
I knocked him off balance as we fell to the floor, where he flailed under me as I wrapped both hands around his exposed neck and squeezed. My blood danced in my veins. Arms flew as he grabbed my fingers, pulling a couple off. It didn’t work.
His grappling stopped. I smiled down at the marks on his neck and his swollen, red eyes. “You knew she was in here and you did nothing.”
Lily cried. Her hands flailed in an uncoordinated motion. “You’ll get caught.”
“Maybe someday. Not now.” I rose and kicked the body. She wasn’t wrong. We were in the middle of Deer Lake, with two shots fired. We’d have visitors soon. I also had no vehicle, only a knife for a weapon, and a woman in shock. “It’s time to go.”
Lily wrapped both arms around herself and rocked in place. “I knew you weren’t dead. He said you were dead, but I didn’t believe him. I killed him. Julian.”
Lily didn’t fight me as I dragged her to her feet.
Her pants sagged on her thighs, so I pulled them up rather than demand answers.
“You saved yourself, like you once saved me. Never apologize for that.” I brushed a kiss across her lips, knowing she deserved more.
She’d be safe if I’d stayed like she begged me to do.
Lily stood in a trance, staring through me as she took off her coat. “It’s filthy.”
I removed mine, pulling her arms through the sleeves and zipping the front. “Take it. You need to stay warm. There’s a storm outside, and we have a long journey ahead of us. It’ll protect you from the worst of it.” I should have killed Julian myself. “I’m proud of you.”
Her eyes snapped to mine. “Dean.”
I grazed her cheek. “Right here with you.”
“I think Julian planned to kill his uncle. The robberies were him. He did it all. West Lake, too.”
“I know.” At last, Julian and I agreed about his useless uncle. “We’ll take care of it later. My only concern right now is you. You aren’t turning yourself in, and neither am I. We’re leaving.”
“My father.”
As if he heard us, Bill Sutton stumbled through the office door. His skin paled as he took in the scene. “I was close when I heard the shots. You don’t have long.”
“It’s time to go, sweetheart,” I said.
Lily didn’t move. “Dad.”
We had seconds. I spoke in a rush, one word stumbling over another.
“Henry is waiting for you at my old house. We were wrong. It’s Julian.
” Bill’s eye fell to the body on the floor.
“She killed him, so I’m taking her from here.
The sheriff is what he appears to be. Security-obsessed and ruthless. Henry knows the rest.”
“I’ll find him. You take care of my daughter for me.”
“No.” Lily frantically shook her head. “You’re coming with us.”
“It’s too late for that,” Bill said, and picked up the knife I’d dropped. “If I leave, people starve. You were right, Lily. About all of it. For all his faults, Eric loved his nephew. He won’t take this well.”
“Blame me for everything,” I suggested. “Tell them I killed Julian out of jealousy. Tell the sheriff he was right about me.”
“He needs to believe this is real.” Bill picked up the knife and handed it to me. “You know where to stick that thing?”
Lily wailed. “No, you can’t.”
Sweat beaded on my forehead. My legs trembled. “Are you sure?”
“Save my daughter, and I’ll keep my promise to you. I trust you to take her. Don’t tell me where you go.” Bill shut his eyes. “Try not to kill me.” He held his breath.
“It’ll hurt, but you’ll live.” I aimed for his right shoulder. “You’ll see us again, I promise.”
“Just do it,” he ordered.
So I did.