by Destiny Ford
I watched in stunned silence. This was a completely different girl than the Piper I’d talked to a couple of weeks ago. This girl had lost her mind.
“Did you see my messages on the sheet metal plant?” Her eyes were wide, curious. “I wanted people coming to the funeral to know Chelsea deserved to die. And last night I was so excited for you to come see me, for us to finally be together, that I left you a heart. Did you see it?”
Shawn nodded slowly, carefully. “Thank you for the notes and for taking care of Chelsea for me.”
“I didn’t mind.” Piper shifted her weight from one foot to the other like she was dancing. I crouched down lower so she wouldn’t see me if she looked my way. “When you met with her and she told you she was going to keep the baby, you were so upset. After you messaged me about it, I knew Chelsea wouldn’t listen and I had to help you. At first I just wanted to talk to Chelsea, so I called her and told her to come back to Branson Falls. I said she’d be safe here and I could help her raise the baby. But I lied. I just did it to get her back to Branson so I could tell her what a bitch I thought she was to her face. But when she got here, she had your stupid kid with her.”
Shawn’s face froze like someone had slapped him. “Piper, what happened to the baby?”
Piper frowned and didn’t answer his question. She opted to continue telling her story instead. “We fought about how she’d treated you. She knew you didn’t want her baby, Shawn, but she decided to keep it anyway. It was wrong. But if it was our baby, you would have wanted it. I know you would have.” Even in the dark I could see her expression and knew she expected Shawn to agree.
“Of course I would have, Piper.”
Piper gave Shawn the kind of smile usually reserved for people who are deliriously happy—and maybe Piper was. She jumped up and down in place, unconcerned about the loaded gun in her hands. “I knew it! I knew you loved me best. That’s why I had to talk to her. To tell her to leave us alone. I knew we could be happy, but you would never have been happy with Chelsea and that brat.”
“It’s good you talked to Chelsea, Piper. But if you just asked her to come here and talk, how did she die?”
Piper wrinkled her nose. “We yelled for a long time and started hitting each other. It was raining. She slipped and hit her head on a rock.” Piper was making circles in the gravel now with the toe of her foot. “She was bleeding a lot and I knew she was dead. I rolled her body into the lake so it would look like she drowned. It was an accident that she fell and died, but I’m not sorry she’s gone because now we finally have a chance!”
Shawn was clearly upset at hearing the details of Chelsea’s death. He was having a difficult time keeping the emotion off his face. Piper looked at Shawn for a few seconds, noticing his distress. Her lips fell into a tight line. “Why didn’t you see how perfect we were for each other earlier? Why wasn’t it me having your baby?”
Shawn came out of his trance. “Piper, you know it was an accident, right? Chelsea didn’t get pregnant on purpose.”
Her expression suddenly turned fierce. “You’re so stupid. Chelsea would have done anything to keep you from me.”
Shawn’s face shifted into a bloodless and stunned expression. “What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you think it was strange that as soon as we started dating, Chelsea suddenly wanted you back? And you fell for it. You went right back to her and within a couple of weeks, Chelsea was pregnant.” Piper stared at him as the hard lines of anger became visible around her eyes and lips. “I thought we would finally get to be together. That you would realize you loved me as much as I loved you.” Piper scowled. “You didn’t though. You didn’t care.”
“Of course I did!” Shawn said. “I cared about you both!”
I fought the urge to hit my forehead against the truck. Shawn bringing up his feelings for Chelsea was not a good idea at the moment. You don’t antagonize the person with the gun.
“That doesn’t matter!” Piper yelled. “You didn’t treat me the same way you treated Chelsea at all!” She held up her wrist, pointing to Chelsea’s bracelet. “You never gave me any jewelry. You didn’t care enough about me to even think about it. But Chelsea was different. You loved her. You never felt that way about me.” She stopped and I could see her face pale and her arms start to shake as the realization dawned on her. “You still don’t!”
Piper was getting more unstable. In an effort to try and calm her down, Shawn put his hands up in a peace offering gesture—it didn’t help. “You used me!” Piper yelled. “You used me so you’d have someone to screw until Chelsea came back!” Her eyes narrowed in anger as the awareness kept hitting her harder. “After everything I did for you! Did you know people thought you killed Chelsea? They were asking so many questions about her boyfriend. I made sure no one could find out who you were. I even snuck into Chelsea’s bedroom to take all the photos of you and your truck, and when I couldn’t find some of them, I broke into a house and stole the pictures from the reporter who had them.”
She was shaking, her face red. “I did everything for you, and you didn’t care!” she screamed. I knew if the gun was loaded, it wouldn’t be long before she emptied it in the direction of Shawn Wallace. She lifted the gun up and took aim, her arms unsteady. “I hate you! I hate you more than I hated Chelsea!” As she said it, Piper cocked the gun.
I rushed Piper right as she fired. I hit her hard as the shot went off and Piper fell to the ground, the gun dropping out of her hand. Stunned, Piper took a fleeting moment to focus on my face before she grabbed me around the waist and started hitting me. We rolled on the gravel, me trying to keep Piper from getting to the gun, and Piper doing a pretty good impression of a UFC fighter. I wasn’t sure if Shawn had been hit or not. The only thing I knew was that Piper seemed to have demons in her eyes and they were directed at me.
“You!” she yelled. “Why are you here? Why did you have to start asking questions?” She punched me in the face with her fist. I put my arm up to try and block her from doing it again. You’d think I could take a petite eighteen-year-old down—apparently not.
“If you’d have left things alone, everyone would have just thought it was an accident,” she said between punches.
I fought back, trying to move her arms away from my neck where she was holding me down and strangling me at the same time. I moved my eyes, attempting to see where we had rolled to during our fight and if the gun was anywhere close, but I couldn’t find it. Piper sat on top of my stomach, still holding my neck as I struggled to breathe. She leaned forward, her eyes on fire. “I didn’t kill Chelsea, but I’m going to kill you.”
Piper started to grab for something above my head. When she got a hold of it she gripped it tight, bringing it up until the gun was pointed straight at my chest, only inches away.
I stopped fighting her and put my hands up. I gulped in a breath, coughing a few times before I could find the voice to talk again. “Piper, I never wanted to get you in trouble. I was just trying to find out what happened to Chelsea.”
“Now you know,” she sneered. “I hope it was worth it.” She raised her left arm to help steady the gun she was holding with her right hand, and I knew I didn’t have much time.
With as much force as I could muster, I lifted my fist, punching Piper in the throat. She wavered momentarily, trying to catch her breath. It was long enough for me to wrench the gun from her hands and throw her off me. She landed with a thud.
I looked around and saw Shawn Wallace slumped down on the ground against the rock. I couldn’t tell how badly he’d been hurt. Piper curled into a fetal position on the gravel, sobbing again. I held the gun in both hands, pointing it at Piper while I took some deep breaths. I had no intention of using it, but it helped to know the gun was in my control. As I stood there trying to get over the shock, a voice came from behind me.
“Guess we should have done the target practice after all.”
I kept watching Piper, but saw Hawke move next to me out of the corner o
f my eye. He was carrying a gun that he tucked into the back waistband of his pants before he gently took Piper’s gun from my hands and put his arms around my waist, holding me tight. I’m the type of person who can handle intense situations without a lot of drama, but wrestling a bi-polar teenager with a gun was crazier than anything I’d ever done before. I stayed in Hawke’s arms and gave myself a minute to stop shaking. Finally, I said, “Teaching me to shoot would be a good idea.”
Hawke looked me over. “You’re a mess.”
“Thanks. I’ve had a busy night.”
Hawke nodded. “Yeah, I heard about Amber Kane.”
That made me move my gaze from the sobbing girl on the gravel. “How the hell did you hear about that already? It only happened, what, thirty minutes ago?”
“I told you, Kitty Kate, I know everything about you.”
“Is that how you knew I’d gone to Emerald Lake too?”
He nodded.
“You were a little slow,” I said. “Next time you think I might be putting myself in mortal danger, maybe you should show up faster.”
Hawke grinned, squeezing me. “Noted.”
I stayed in his arms for about thirty seconds more before I pulled away and looked at Shawn’s body lying in front of the rock. “I need to check on Shawn,” I said, walking forward.
“No,” Hawke said, pulling me to one of the picnic tables and sitting me down. “You’re in shock, let me check on him.”
I didn’t argue and watched as Hawke moved toward Shawn. I could hear the muffled sounds of their conversation. Shawn started to sit up, leaning against the rock as Hawke looked him over thoroughly, making sure he was okay. When Hawke seemed satisfied Shawn wasn’t going to die, he came back to me. I noticed the sound of sirens—and they seemed to be getting louder.
“It looks like the bullet just grazed him,” Hawke said. He took notice of my arm, rolling my sleeve up to examine my wound. “Looks like you were grazed too.”
I stared at the blood and torn skin like it was a mirage. The adrenaline was still coursing through me and I didn’t feel the pain. “I hit Piper as she fired the gun. I must have gotten in the way.” I shook my head in disbelief. “I worked freelance for three years in some of the biggest cities in the world and never got shot at.”
Hawke smiled slightly and put his hand on the small of my back.
With Hawke’s touch grounding me, I glanced at Piper’s huddled form. She wasn’t restrained and might go nuts again any second, but with Hawke there I wasn’t worried anymore. I had one thought as I lifted my eyes to meet his. “The pink and black bracelet Piper is wearing was Chelsea’s. Make sure Julia Bradford gets it back,” I mumbled as the cop cars and ambulances came to a stop in the park, their lights blazing in swirls of red and blue.
Annie, the paramedic, gently pushed me toward the ambulance. “I need to check your arm,” she said. As I climbed in the back of the ambulance, I couldn’t help thinking maybe my dad had been wrong. Maybe I did get some of my mom’s disaster genes.
I winced as Annie rubbed some disinfectant on my arm. “The good news is you were just grazed,” she said as she inspected my bicep. “I don’t think you’ll even need stitches.” She glanced up at my face. “But you’ll want to put some ice on that eye or you’ll have a bruise ten shades of black by tomorrow.”
I nodded my assent and turned my attention to the back of the ambulance, looking for something to concentrate on that wasn’t blood—I don’t do well with blood.
The back doors of the ambulance were open. I could see Drake standing near Hawke, talking to some police officers. Hawke stood with a wide stance, arms folded across his chest, a no-nonsense look on his face. He seemed completely at ease, like he’d done this sort of thing a thousand times before. Drake was holding his right elbow with his left hand and had his right hand balled in a fist under his chin. I wasn’t sure whether he was giving or getting information, but he looked intense. Spence and Drake had both shown up with the police. I wasn’t sure why they had come, or how they knew I was involved, but here they were.
Annie must have noticed where my attention was directed. “Drake’s attractive—if you like that tall, dark, and handsome thing—but he’s a player. Hawke is smoking hot, but everyone thinks he’s some sort of assassin . . . might make it risky to sleep with him. Still, he has that dangerous mystery appeal.”
I raised an eyebrow and looked back at her. “So those rumors are still going around? I was hoping someone had been caught buying beer and my love life was old news.”
She shook her head, her lips turning up in a smile. “Wishful thinking.”
I sighed.
“They both have an excellent ass though. If that was the only criteria, I’d have no advice to give.”
I grinned. I thought Annie was Mormon, but she used the actual swear, not the imitation: bum. “Better not let your bishop hear you say that. You’ll get called in for a meeting.”
She laughed. “It wouldn’t be the first time.” She applied something that made me wince. “I’m pretty laid back. I even read romance novels.”
I widened my eyes, surprised. Annie wasn’t from Branson originally, but her husband, Cory, was. They’d moved back here a few years ago. Talking with her reminded me of conversations with my friends in college. I missed those days, and missed having someone to vent to and get advice from.
“Who’s your favorite romance novel hero?” I asked.
“I have too many to count,” she answered without missing a beat.
I grinned. “I think we’re going to be good friends.”
Spence appeared around the back of the doors. “Hi,” he said with a big smile. He climbed into the ambulance.
I smiled back. “Hi.”
He sat on the stretcher next to me. “Are you all right?”
I nodded. “I’ll be okay. I’ll have a black eye from the fight, but Annie here says I don’t even need stitches for my arm.” We both glanced at Annie and she smiled in agreement. I turned my attention back to Spence to avoid the blood. “Where did you and Drake come from tonight?”
Spence tightened his lips. “You won’t like the answer.”
I decided to hazard a glance at the arm Annie was still working on. “Then you better tell me fast while I’m still a little incapacitated.”
“We followed you through the tracking device on your Jeep.”
“You what?” I yelled. I jerked so much that Annie had to start bandaging my wound all over again.
“Drake said he told you he was going to install it.”
I thought back to our argument a couple of days ago. “Yeah, he told me, but I thought it was an empty threat and he was just being an overbearing jerk.”
Spence winced. “Guess it wasn’t,” he said. “He was worried about you. He even talked to me about it. Your job was the reason Drake was concerned. Since I’m your boss—and friend—he thought we should discuss it.”
It took a minute to process the information since I was still stuck thinking about the tracking device and Drake. “Wait a minute. He talked to you about this before he did it? That’s what the meeting in your office at the Tribune was about?”
“Yes.”
“Since when are you and Drake buddies?”
“Well, we’re both your fake boyfriends,” he said, joking. Annie raised an eyebrow at the news, and smiled. “We wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t try to keep you alive.”
Right. I wondered how long Spence and I would be able to keep up this flirting charade. My actual love-life was complicated enough.
“I can’t believe you collaborated with Drake to track me!”
Spence leaned away from me a little, though it was pointless since he wasn’t out of slugging range. “Drake and I both agreed it would be good to know where you were—given the circumstances.”
“Dammit, Spence! Why didn’t you just tell me you were concerned and ask me if it was okay?”
“Drake did tell you, you just didn’t believe h
im. We didn’t elaborate on the plan because we knew you wouldn’t see it our way.”
I fought the urge to yell at both of them. “Who are you two? My parents?”
“We were worried about you,” Spence said. “Drake saw you running off after you talked to the kids at the park. They told him you’d been asking about Piper and Shawn. He checked the tracking device and found your Jeep at the lake. After what you told him about Shawn during the fireworks, he thought you might need reinforcements and called the cops.”
“Yeah, my hunch was wrong,” I said. “Shawn wasn’t involved in Chelsea’s death.”
“I know, I heard. But if you hadn’t shown up, he’d probably be dead.”
I shrugged, not knowing what to say.
Spence stared at the scuffed white floor of the ambulance for several seconds before he looked up at me. “I’m glad it was just your arm . . . and your eye.” He paused. “It could have been a lot worse.”
“I know,” I agreed. “I think we should talk about giving me hazard pay.”
Spence smiled.
Annie finished wrapping the bandage around my arm. “Change the dressing twice a day.” She handed me some ointment. “Put this on before you re-bandage it. Also, take a few days off and get some rest.”
“Thanks, Annie.”
“No problem,” she said with another cheery smile.
Spence got up, holding my forearm to help me out of the ambulance. Drake noticed me and said something to the officer he was talking to, and then walked in my direction taking long strides. At first he looked upset, but when he stopped in front of me he rocked back on his heels and grinned. “You know, you don’t have to get shot to get out of an argument with Amber Kane.”
I looked from Drake to Spence. “Yeah, she told me she’d had some visitors warning her not to talk about me anymore.”
Drake and Spence looked at each other like they were surprised. They each must have thought they were the only ones to talk to her. I didn’t tell them Hawke had also joined the “threaten Amber” party. Drake shifted his attention back to me. “I’m glad you’re going to be all right,” he said.
