by Lexi Blake
There was a hitch to Mabel’s voice. “I don’t have to tell anyone.”
Her sweet friend was so scared. It was right there in that tremor she heard.
Armie. She needed to get to the therapy gym and get Armie. She wasn’t sure how many people were in the back. She would bet both of the Petrie brothers were there, but she was sure they had cousins somewhere. Everyone who lived in the bayou seemed to have labyrinthine family trees, and they backed each other up.
She started to turn, but she was too late. Mabel stumbled through the hallway, her lip bloody and a gun at her back. It was held by Bobby Petrie. Bobby’s brother was with him, and he immediately pointed his pistol at her.
“Don’t you fucking move.”
For a moment she was back in that room, the door barricaded and blood on the floor. She could smell the coppery scent, taste the blood in her mouth because she’d bitten her lip to stop from screaming, could hear the choked sound of her friend trying to breathe despite the fact that her lungs didn’t work anymore.
She was here again, but this time she had so much more to lose. She wouldn’t see Armie or Noelle again if she died. This time she wouldn’t simply die. She would lose the life she longed for. Why had she walked away? Why hadn’t she told Armie that he wasn’t ever allowed to leave her again, that they could fight but they couldn’t be apart because they were supposed to be together? Come what may.
God, it was worse when she had so much to lose.
The danger was real, but she wasn’t in the same place. She had to remember that. She was in Papillon, and she had to deal with this because she wasn’t going to lose Mabel.
“Lila, I thought you were gone.” Mabel held her hands up as Bobby moved in behind her, wrapping his arm around her throat. The gun was against her temple.
There would be no coming back from that shot. There wouldn’t be time to fix Mabel if he pulled the trigger.
“We thought you were both gone,” Bobby said. “The clinic is supposed to be closed this time of night. You close at six today. It’s seven thirty. You should both be at home.”
“I stayed to do the inventory on the exam rooms so you didn’t have to do it in the morning,” Mabel explained. “But I turned out the lights. They thought we were closed. I didn’t hear them until I came out to pack up and go home.”
“It’s going to be okay. Bobby, I need you to stay calm. You can still get out of this.” Each word was a struggle, the desire to scream profound, but it wouldn’t help her. Rage wasn’t her friend at this point. That could come later. For now she had to stay calm. “You haven’t hurt anyone yet.”
She was so happy she’d left Peanut with Remy today. Peanut would have barked and tried to protect Mabel, but Remy had convinced her to let the dog go fishing with him and his friends.
Donnie Petrie was dressed in all black despite the heat of the evening. She would bet he’d come in the back way. It was secured, but a desperate man could find a way around most locks. “Get on your knees. If you even think about moving, I’ll fire. I can set this whole thing up to look like a burglary.”
She had to stay calm. “You need to think this through. You kill the two of us and there’s no going back from that. Like I said, you haven’t hurt anyone yet.”
That gun didn’t move and she held her hands up, but she wasn’t getting on her knees until she absolutely had to.
“No, but you two have,” Bobby said. His words came out slurred, and now she noticed his eyes were red. “You two have managed to ruin my life. I want to know where Carrie is. I let that first bitch go, but I’m not doing it again. I’m not going to be the laughingstock of this town.”
“Shut up, Bobby.” Donny’s stare remained firmly locked on her.
“I don’t think anyone is laughing at you.” She looked at Mabel, who was tense but calm.
“I am certainly not laughing, young man. I don’t think anything about this is funny, and if you hold me here much longer, I’m going to miss dinner and tonight is taco night. I love taco night.” Mabel’s voice trembled slightly, but it was obvious she wasn’t about to break.
He shook his head and everything about his manner seemed sloppy. She would bet he’d been drinking most of the day. “You know what I’m talking about. Everyone thinks I abuse my wife, and it’s all because of the two of you.”
“No, I think it’s because you hurt her,” Lila said slowly. “I’ve got records of all her injuries. You only got away with it for this long because Doc Hamet didn’t want to be bothered.”
He sneered her way. “Doc knew when to keep to his own business.”
“Mabel was Doc’s nurse, too. She didn’t have anything to do with the sheriff arresting you. It was my call to go to him. Why don’t you let her go and we can talk about this?” If Mabel was safe, her options would open up. If she was the one he was holding, she might have some moves to get herself out. It would be risky, but anything was better than watching another friend die.
Bobby obviously didn’t want to listen. “There’s nothing to talk about. I want to know where my wife is. You take me to her and I’ll let you live. I don’t have anything to lose and if I’m going down, I would love to take the two of you with me.”
This was the real Bobby Petrie. The other one was nothing but a mask. What had set him off? He’d seemed so calm these weeks. Since he’d been arrested that first time he’d laid low, staying out on his island and showing up for his court dates.
“You have a lot to lose,” she pointed out. “Think about your family.”
Donny huffed. “This is all about family. Carrie sent paperwork today filing for divorce. We’re not stupid. Momma made her sign some papers so she wouldn’t be able to take part of our boat and the business like the other one did, but that uppity lawyer she got in New Orleans thinks she can get around it.”
“Carrie’s lawyer is going to try to break the prenup because of the abuse she suffered?” It seemed like therapy had empowered Carrie in ways Lila hadn’t imagined.
“Yes. We’re going to have to fight her. We lost the first time and had to pay. How was I supposed to know my first wife would get a lawyer?” Bobby complained.
“How about you stick to hookers from now on, asshole,” Donny shot back. “Momma won’t deal with this again. You know what she’s going to do if we don’t handle this properly.”
“Then I think you should talk to your momma,” Mabel replied.
Bobby’s arm tightened again. “It’s Carrie’s greed that needs to be dealt with. She needs to understand that she’s not getting anything more out of me. I did her a favor when I married her. She was nothing. No man was going to look at that skinny bitch. No one wanted her until I did. She doesn’t get to take everything away from me.”
“You couldn’t expect her to stay with you.” She needed to talk him down. He might sober up a bit and realize what he was doing. He’d been careful before. He’d obviously not wanted to get into more trouble. Maybe if he realized how bad this could get, he would calm down. There was still time. “You hurt her.”
His face contorted. “I didn’t mean to. She wouldn’t listen. I’m no worse than my daddy was. And I never hurt her when she didn’t need it. It wasn’t my fault. She was a bad wife and now I hear she’s going to file the paperwork soon and she’s going to testify against me. She’s determined to ruin my whole family.”
“We’re not going to let that happen,” Donny vowed. “She doesn’t get to hurt my family that way.”
“I think they want to get rid of the records,” Mabel managed to say.
Yes, she got that.
“You’re the one who burned down my house?” She needed to keep him talking because she had zero doubt that Armie would show up after the session was over.
“I thought maybe it would convince you that you didn’t belong here.” Donny started to stalk toward her. “We don’t need som
e uppity city girl coming in here and telling us how to do things. And it wasn’t that hard. That house went up real easy. It was a beautiful sight.”
And he’d gotten away with it. The trouble was he wouldn’t get away with this one. They weren’t thinking straight, and she had to wonder if she pointed out all the fallacies in their plan if they wouldn’t kill her just because she got them angry.
Donny came into her space, his dark eyes roaming across her body in a way that made her stomach turn. “Not that you aren’t a pretty lady. Too bad you feel the need to come in and judge everyone else.”
Yes, she totally judged assholes who beat their wives. She forced herself to stand still because while Bobby was a pathetic piece of crap, Donny was a predator. He was the truly dangerous one and he was close, that pistol at the ready.
“What do you think you’re getting out of this?” Mabel seemed to be trying to go for reason. “Bobby, you have to know that the sheriff is in love with Lila. You kill her and he won’t stop looking for you. For what it’s worth, neither will my husband. Oh, Dale will come after you in a scooter, but he’s surprisingly mean.”
Armie would be here soon. How long would it take to finish up the session? How much would Noelle want to do? A spark of terror ran through her.
God, would Armie show up with Noelle? Panic threatened. She couldn’t put Noelle in the line of fire.
“I’ll take you to Carrie. You should talk to her. Maybe you can work this out.” She wouldn’t, but she would do anything to draw this man away from a place where he could potentially hurt Noelle. If it had simply been Armie she was worried about, she would have settled in and let him do his job, but if Noelle was with him . . .
Mabel’s eyes went wide. “But, Lila . . .”
Bobby’s arm relaxed slightly and his face had softened. “You know where Carrie is? She didn’t just run? I knew you probably gave her some money and helped her out, but I didn’t know you took her somewhere.”
He was the weak link. He still wanted to find his wife. Bobby likely thought he was in love with her. His love would be the death of her if he had his way, but she would manipulate those feelings if it meant getting them out of here before putting Noelle on the line.
“I know exactly where she is.” She had him. If she played her cards right, she might be able to get them all out of this building. “I dropped her off. I can talk to her, get her to meet with you. This doesn’t have to end badly.”
When she got him to the car, she would try to figure a way out. The last thing she would do was take him to New Orleans. Armie would see her car was still here. He would see that the back door of the clinic had been jimmied and investigate. He would find the gasoline and make the right connections. God, she hoped the car they were in had GPS he could track.
He would find her. He wouldn’t stop until he found her because that man loved her. She was back in the place where she was fighting for her life, but this time she knew the man who loved her would be by her side. Not physically, of course, but his heart would be with her.
He would be out there and all she needed to do was survive long enough for him to find her.
“I would like to see her,” Bobby said gravely. “I need to apologize to her for that last night. She made me mad.”
“I’m sure she wants to apologize to you, too.” She was close to convincing him.
“Lila, what are you doing?” Mabel asked.
She shook her head vigorously. “We can’t fight them. Maybe we made a mistake. I can take him to her. I know she wants to see him.”
Her heart was racing because they could be here at any moment. Armie would never be able to handle something else happening to Noelle.
“Come on,” she said. “She’s in a safe house. It won’t take us long to get there, but we should go now. The sheriff is on his way.”
Donny frowned his brother’s way. “Tell me you’re not this stupid.”
“It’s not stupid to want my wife back,” Bobby argued.
Donny shook his head. “It’s stupid to think this woman is telling you the truth.” He stood in front of her. “I didn’t want to do this, but we’ve got no choice now. We’ll leave them here and let the fire do its work. Don’t worry. We’ve got an excellent alibi, and I’m sure you’ve pissed off plenty of people. Time to go night-night.”
She started to back away, but he was too quick. He caught her arm and then brought the pistol down on her head. She heard Mabel shouting as the world went dark.
She prayed for one more moment with Armie. Just one where she could tell him she loved him.
* * *
• • •
Armie jogged down the block, needing so badly to see her. He hoped she hadn’t run. Not that it would matter. He would find her tonight and make things right between them. There was no way he was letting Rene get his rich, pretty hands on her. Lila was his and he would make sure she understood that tonight.
When he thought about it, his best bet might be getting on his knees and groveling. No man in the world would ever love her the way he would. He was all in, and as far as he was concerned, they could throw away the condoms and she didn’t need to take another pill. They weren’t getting any younger and he wanted to see her with a baby in her arms. Their baby. Their dumbass boy or super-smart girl with her momma’s smile.
He wanted that life with her but he knew he was going to have to convince her. She would think he was grateful for what she’d done for Noelle. It was probably running through that brilliant brain of hers right this second. He was about to cross the street when the door to Dixie’s café opened and Dixie walked out, frowning.
“Hey, Sheriff. Are you going into the clinic?” Dixie asked. “Mabel closed it up over an hour ago. She mentioned she had a little cleaning up to do, but she was supposed to pick up her to-go order twenty minutes ago. It’s not like Mabel to be late taking Dale his supper. He called looking for her because she’s not answering her cell. I called the clinic line and it went to voice mail.”
It was supposed to go to either Lila’s cell or Mabel’s, unless neither of them was picking up. He glanced over and the lights were all off. “I’ll go check. Lila only left the therapy gym about fifteen minutes ago. She might be trying to avoid me, so I’m hoping she didn’t hop in her car and drive off.”
“I haven’t seen her car. She parks around back, but she drives by to get out to Guidry’s. I could have missed her, but I don’t think so. It’s been slow.” Dixie started to walk across the street. “Something’s wrong. I can feel it.”
He didn’t like the fact that no one was answering the clinic line. He jogged ahead of Dixie and looked through the glass doors.
And immediately took a step back because a fine cloud of smoke was rising from behind the reception desk. He tried to get the door to slide open, but it was locked down and he didn’t have a key card. The glass was thick, far too thick for him to break without some serious equipment. It would take too long to get through that door. Panic started to bubble up inside him. The front reception area was dark with the exception of a glow coming from behind the desk, faint at first and then the whole thing caught fire.
“Call the fire department, Dixie.” He was already starting around the back. It was a simpler lock and he should be able to get through it. “Then call the station house and watch for my daughter. If you can, call Tanya and get her to hold Noelle there. Tell her to lock everything down.”
Because he had no idea who was in there or who would come out.
God, now he prayed Lila had gotten straight into her car and ran as fast as she could from him. He would do just about anything if she wasn’t in that clinic. He hadn’t seen her, but he couldn’t see much from his vantage beyond the reception desk. Though it was getting easier to see in the dark clinic because the fire was growing, glowing with ghostly light.
Dixie nodded. “I’ll get Roxie he
re as soon as I can. Be careful.”
The station house was just around the block. Roxie and Major were both on duty. They wouldn’t bother with a car. They would come running, but he couldn’t wait.
Dixie raced back to the café and Armie pulled his sidearm. The reception desk hadn’t set itself on fire, and Lila wouldn’t have done it. Now he knew the arson inspector was wrong. Her house had been purposefully set on fire. There was no question about it.
“I don’t see why we had to do that.” The words were in a harsh whisper, but Armie could hear it plainly because the night was quiet around them.
Fucking Bobby Petrie. He should have found a way to keep him in jail. He should have protected her better.
If she was dead, he wasn’t sure what he would do. He might lie beside her and let the fire take him. God, she couldn’t be dead.
He forced the terror down and clung to the side of the building, stepping as lightly as he could. Every bit of training locked in, holding the fear at bay and allowing him to go cold.
“Listen here, little brother. I did what I had to do for the sake of our family.” That had to be Donny Petrie.
“But she was going to take me to Carrie,” Bobby insisted with a nasally whine.
“She was lying. Carrie isn’t coming back, and you need to man up or we’re going to lose half our damn boat. Now we need to get out of here. Those two bitches will die from smoke inhalation and we’ll have an alibi. No one’s seen us since we went out on the boat this morning. We get back to the boat and bring her in and head into Guidry’s. I want her own brother-in-law to have to testify we were out on the water all day long.”
That was not going to happen.
He couldn’t wait for Roxie or Major. Lila was inside and it sounded like she’d been alive when they’d started that fire. He couldn’t waste a single second. He came out from behind the wall and rounded on the Petrie brothers, getting them both in his sights in an instant.
“Put your hands up. Now.”
The world seemed to slow down, everything stopping in an instant. This was when he had to make the decision. He took in both men. Bobby’s eyes went wide, his shock obvious. But Donny didn’t hesitate. He pointed his gun and fired.
