by Vicky Jones
“Shona, give me your arms,” Larry ordered, reaching out for her. But just as she did so, the towering figure of Kyle appeared behind her. He stood motionless, like he had risen from the dead, his bloodshot eyes murderous in his soot-covered face.
“Shona, quick!” Chloe screamed.
As Shona launched her body through the window towards Larry’s outstretched arms, Kyle shot out his hand and clamped it around her shoulder.
“You’re coming to hell with me, bitch,” he growled in her ear as Shona grabbed desperately for anything to stop her from being dragged backwards again.
Struggling to breathe through smoke and through the struggle that ensued, Larry held on to her hands as long as his depleting strength could manage it, but he lost his grip and she disappeared into the dark smoke again.
“No,” Chloe sobbed uncontrollably. She would have thrown herself through the window into the fire if Larry hadn’t wrapped his arms around her.
“No, Chloe. Go sit with the boy, comfort him. I’m going around the back to find a way in.”
Wiping the blood he’d coughed up on his shirt sleeve, Larry staggered off along the veranda and around the back of the house. There, he found Kyle lying on the ground. Shona was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is she, you bastard?” Larry growled, crouching down next to him and grabbing him by his jacket lapels. Shaking him until he came to, Larry repeated his question.
Kyle raised a limp arm. “In there. The bitch can burn.”
Larry threw him back down to the ground after punching him square in the face. He took in the biggest breath his failing lungs could manage and raced into the house, seconds later recoiling as a huge wall of flames pinned him back against the bannisters. While he waited for it to clear, he looked through the destroyed front door frame at Chloe outside, his heart breaking with regret at all the things he hadn’t had the chance to say.
“I’ll get her back for you. I promise,” he whispered to himself, then disappeared into the smoke.
An almighty crunch echoed through the air. Chloe watched in horror as the roof of their beautiful beach house completely gave way. She ran around to the back of the house, most of which still stood intact.
“Please. Please. Just a few seconds more,” she begged.
As she heard a splintering sound, Chloe’s eyes were drawn up to the center of the roof where she saw it had started to sag. Time seemed to stand still, all sounds around her muffled, but the inevitable happened moments later. As the roof collapsed inward, a huge plume of fire, smoke and dust flew up. It was hopeless. Sinking to the ground in agony, Chloe screamed Shona’s name over and over again.
“Momma, Momma!” David appeared by her side, pulling on her arm to get her off the ground. Cooper barked and nudged her until she came to her senses.
“Baby, why are you out of the truck? I told you to stay in the truck,” Chloe barked at David.
“I wanted to help. Where’s Shona?” David’s question made Chloe break out into fresh sobs. She grabbed hold of him and hugged him tight.
“Baby, I’m so sorry. Shona’s gone. I couldn’t save her.”
David looked over her shoulder and pointed. “No, but Grandpa did.”
Chloe turned around to see the back door wide open and her father staggering towards them carrying Shona’s motionless body.
“Shona!” Chloe cried, running over to catch her father before he slumped to the ground, his energy all but gone. He dropped to his knees and laid Shona as gently as he could on the ground. She wasn’t breathing.
“Come on, baby, please. Wake up.” Chloe shook her and breathed into her mouth over and over again until finally Shona coughed and rolled into her arms. She opened her eyes, the blueness of them contrasted starkly with the red rawness of the whites.
“David. Where’s…?” Shona croaked.
“Shhhh… It’s OK, it’s OK. Don’t try to talk. David’s safe, thanks to you. You saved him.” Chloe stroked her hair to fully rouse her. Shona lifted her head to see David sitting with Cooper at the far end of the yard next to the little fishing boat.
“Thank God,” Shona breathed before sitting up and wrapping herself in the safety of Chloe’s arms.
“Get down,” Larry cried out and pushed them both back down to the ground. Before Shona and Chloe realized what was happening, a bullet had whizzed through the air and struck Larry on the right side of his chest, sending him crashing to the ground next to them with blood seeping out onto his blue shirt. Chloe looked over to where the shot had come from and saw Kyle drop the gun, almost dead himself. She watched as he staggered forward a few steps and collapsed. His usually neat hair was a matted mess, his handsome face grimy from the smoke.
“You bastard, Kyle!” Chloe screamed, jumping up and running over to him. She kicked the gun he had just fired out of his hand. It landed with a thud in the grass five feet away. He grabbed her ankle as she leaped to retrieve the gun.
“Oh no you don’t. Come here,” Kyle growled.
Crawling her way along towards them, inch by inch, Shona kept her eyes fixed on Chloe and Kyle wrestling on the ground. Chloe’s fingertips were agonizingly close to reaching the gun and with one swift kick to his groin she managed to free her ankle from his cloying grip. Standing tall, gun in hand, Chloe aimed it down to him.
“No, Chloe, don’t. He’s not worth it, he’s not worth it,” Shona spluttered before coughing up a globule of blood.
“You won’t shoot that thing. You don’t know how to,” Kyle mocked, his stare piercing.
Looking once at Shona out of the corner of her eye, then at her father who wasn’t moving, Chloe returned her attention to Kyle.
Without flinching, Chloe cocked the gun and fired into his ankle. He let out a screech of agony, then smirked. “Go on then, do it. Finish me off. And when they prove you killed me, you’ll go away for a long, long time. David won’t have a mother or a father, and Shona won’t have you either. I win. Do it. Go on, I dare you to fucking do it.” He rolled over, his resolve melting into blistering pain as he clutched his shattered ankle.
Still aiming the gun at Kyle, Chloe paced backwards over to her father. After kneeling down next to him, she began to sob, her free hand trying to staunch the flow of blood from his chest. “Don’t leave me now. Please. We’ve got so much to still talk over.” Chloe’s face screwed up with the agony of losing her father right in front of her.
Larry opened his weary eyes and looked up at his daughter, a sad smile on his ashen face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a movement that made him push Chloe back. Kyle had reached into his inside pocket and taken out a knife. He rolled on to his other side, and aimed towards Shona instead, who was almost lifeless and only feet away, but it was too far for Chloe to reach her in time.
“Time to die, bitch.” Kyle brought his arm back to launch the knife at Shona.
“No!” Chloe yelled, and squeezed the trigger with all her might.
Kyle’s body slammed back into the ground, the bullet lodged in his forehead. The knife in his hand dropped like a stone in the grass beside him.
The air fell silent, the flames continuing to consume the house. Shona had dragged herself off the grass and on all fours over to David to check him over. Returning to her father’s side, Chloe heaved him up into her arms.
“You’re all safe now, Chloe,” Larry whispered into her ear. “That bastard’s gone for good now.” He licked his dry lips. “Listen to me carefully. Put the gun in my hand, now. Do it.”
“Why?” Chloe face puzzled.
“Just do it. We don’t have time. Let me do this one thing for you.”
Chloe placed the gun in Larry’s limp hand. He lifted his arms, aiming the gun at the Kyle’s corpse. He pulled the trigger, the bullet thudding into the body. They sat quiet for a second in shock. Chloe looked at her father.
“They’ll think it was me, they’ll match it to me.” Larry was whispering now. “Just tell the sheriff I shot Kyle. No one will question you.” L
arry gently pinched Chloe’s chin and pulled her face close to his own. “Go be with Shona. Be happy together, always. You’re a beautiful family. I love you, Chloe. I’m so sorry. I shoulda been a better father. You deserved it… I’m sorry…for…everything.”
He fell limp in her arms, his bloodied chest no longer moving.
“Daddy, no,” Chloe sobbed, her face buried into his neck.
Chapter 47
The house was an unrecognizable lump of charcoal against the setting sun when the fire service finally arrived. Sheriff Everett sat down next to Chloe on the end of the upturned rowboat at the far end of the yard as they watched the coroner place two black body bags into the back of his truck. At the other side of the yard, Minnie was sitting with David who she’d wrapped up in the blanket the medics had given her. In the back of the ambulance Shona was also wrapped in a blanket, her burned hands bandaged.
“Sheriff, I need to tell you what happened,” Chloe began. Everett shushed her and shook his head.
“It’s pretty clear to me, ma’am. That asshole Chambers tried to kill you in your own home and your father got there first to try to protect you. Chambers then attacked your father. As clear a case of self-defense as I ever saw. That’s the way of it, right?”
“What?” Chloe whispered. Fresh tears of shock and exhaustion trailed down her face.
Everett let out a long breath and set his lips. “You’re probably still in shock, so I’ll assume you agree. Chambers was a piece of work, wasn’t he? Pissed off a lot of people. Creepy son of a bitch too. If you ask me, it’s good riddance to bad rubbish. Your father’s a goddamn hero!” He stood up and offered his hand to help Chloe. “Alright, well, let’s get you all to a hotel for the night.” He left her to attend to Shona and walked over to the two officers who were finishing up their notes on the scene.
“Boss, there’s something here that doesn’t add up. This guy, Kyle Chambers, was shot three times. One in the head, one in the ankle and a third in the torso.”
“And?” Everett said, his hands on his hips.
“Well, sir, it would appear that the bullets came from different angles at different times, so maybe it wasn’t self-defense? The old guy, the one you said shot Mr. Chambers, wasn’t able to move, not with his injuries, and where they said he was when the first shot happened doesn’t make sense with the bullet trajectory, so what does that mean?” The young officer looked perplexed as he scratched his head with the eraser end of his pencil.
“Listen,” Everett said sternly. “It all makes perfect sense to me. We found the gun in the hands of the old guy, right? Write the report how I say to write it, OK?” He fixed his stare intently at the young cop who nodded with obedience.
Chloe walked over to Shona who had climbed out of the back of the ambulance and was talking to Minnie. “Sheriff Everett says he’ll drive us to a hotel for the night,” she announced, wrapping her arms around Shona, who winced.
“Nonsense,” Minnie replied. “You will all stay with me tonight and for as long as you need to.”
“Thank you, Minnie,” Shona said, her voice still croaky from the smoke damage.
Shona took one last look at the smoldering house, then at the body bags in the truck. “Our beautiful home, Chloe. It’s all gone.”
“I know,” Chloe whispered back. “But we have each other. And now, we’re safe.”
Chapter 48
Sitting on the beach the next morning, looking up at the blackened and twisted remains of their once-beautiful beach house, Shona wiped a tear from her eye. Moments later, Chloe sank down next to her with David on her lap.
“Maybe this wasn’t the place for us after all? The town will never accept us now that our secret’s out. Kyle couldn’t keep his mouth shut. We should just finally understand that and go.”
“Go where?” Shona replied, her wet eyelashes intensifying her deep blue-eyed stare.
“San Francisco, maybe? Or Illinois, now they’ve passed that new law.”
“I can’t fight anymore, Chloe. I’m done,” Shona said, burying her head in her hands. “They’ve beaten me.”
“Um…I’m not so sure about that. Look.” Chloe clasped Shona’s hand and pointed to the driveway, where several cars were now pulling up, led by Minnie’s Toyota.
Clamoring off the sand, Chloe, with Shona trudging behind, ran towards Minnie, who had stepped out of her car.
“Minnie? What’s going on? Who are all these people?”
“Well, I got to talking, and well, it turns out that quite a few folks around town were none too happy about two of their own suffering such a tragedy, especially after everything Shona has done for people, with the garage, so…” Minnie smiled and turned to face the men and women walking over towards them. “John here’s gonna oversee the rebuild—”
“The what?” Shona piped up, confused as she looked at a man she recognized from the diner, tipping his cap to them as he walked past and over to the wreckage.
“Hey girl,” Bertie’s familiar drawl sounded behind John. “The old gal mentioned you might need a little bit of help over here, so we all decided to pitch in. Figure you guys needed some muscle, so I brought the others.” She flicked her head towards Dee, Lula, Edie and Alice, who were standing by, armed to the teeth with hammers and nail boxes sticking out of brand new-looking tool belts. They waved, with Dee blowing a kiss towards Bertie. Shona raised her eyebrows.
“Oh yeah. We’re kinda seeing each other now. She’s helping me write letters to the authorities, encouraging me to use my words, not my fists this time, to get people to acknowledge our rights. Never thought I’d ever again find someone to…” She broke off and swallowed.
Sensing her discomfort at showing her feelings, Shona thumped her on the arm. “Put up with your shit?” she said, then grinned.
“Watch it, blondie,” Bertie replied, then grinned also.
“Are they serious? They’re gonna help us rebuild?” Chloe asked, her eyes wide.
“Yes, Chloe,” Minnie replied. “Looks like you’re all gonna have to stick around here a little bit longer.”
Epilogue
Chloe sat on the newly fitted porch swing and breathed in a huge lungful of spring ocean air. Inside the beautiful new house, David was with Shona. He’d been washed, his hair neatly combed, and he was wearing smart blue shorts and a white shirt. Shona was kneeling in front of him, straightening his tie.
“So, how’s your new preschool teacher? I heard she’s real nice,” she asked, looking up at him.
“She’s alright. Not as pretty as Miss Adamson, though. And we don’t have a cookie jar anymore, but I guess Mrs. Bradshaw is OK.”
Shona stroked David’s cheek, sweeping off a little cookie crumb. “All for the best, then,” she said with a smile. She stood up and inspected David. “So, you know what you have to say when you get outside, don’t you?”
“Yeah. You told me already.”
“OK. I’ll give you a minute or so, then I’ll come out. Here’s the tray. Don’t drop it.” Shona pointed at David.
“I won’t,” David called back, heading out of the door. Three seconds later, there was a crash.
“Every time,” Shona whispered to herself, then smiled.
She found David outside on the freshly painted white veranda staring down at spilled coffee and toast strewn around the planks.
“Uh-oh,” he said, looking up red-faced at Shona.
“What on earth was that noise?” Chloe shouted out from around the corner.
David and Shona looked at each other, their eyes wide. “Go on, go say your line,” Shona prompted as she set about picking up the broken crockery.
David walked up to Chloe, his brow furrowed as, in all the commotion, he’d forgotten the line Shona had given him. After heading back around the corner to Shona, he reappeared in front of Chloe looking a bit more confident this time.
“Can I help you, sir?” Chloe joked, seeing him dressed in his smartest clothes.
“I have an important
question to ask you, Momma.” He cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak. “Um… Oh no.” He turned back to the corner. “What was it I had to say again, Shona?”
Closing her eyes and sighing, Shona appeared from around the corner and ruffled David’s hair. “You want something done properly, do it yourself,” she said, acting weary.
Chloe laughed at the little double act playing out in front of her. She noticed Shona was also wearing her best white pants and royal blue shirt, both ironed. Her hair was freshly washed and combed, her skin glowing. “What’s going on with you two stunners?”
“I remember now. Shona’s got something to show you. I had to ask you to come down to the beach, where she was gonna meet you, but I messed it up.” David looked downcast until Shona scooped him up in her arms and threw him on her back. Clinging on to her like a spider monkey, David giggled.
“What have you got to show me?” Chloe’s eyes were full of curiosity.
“Come with me.” Shona took Chloe by the hand and led her down to the beach. In the distance Chloe could just about make out a towel lying on the sand, with a picnic basket and a parasol. As they got closer, she saw Cooper lying on the towel with a red ribbon around his yellow fluffy neck. He stood up and then sat down, his long wet tongue hanging out.
“I wanted to bring you here because it was the place I’d always dreamed that one day I would do this.” She reached down and removed something dangling from Cooper’s silk ribbon.
Chloe gasped as Shona took in a deep breath, then bent down on one knee before her.
“I love you, Chloe. More than I ever thought I’d love anyone. You are my soulmate. My everything. I wanna wake up with you every morning for the rest of my life. And I know we can’t legally do this, but…” She held out a small red velvet box and opened it. Inside was a silver ring. At the center of it was a tiny, perfectly cut pink rose quartz pebble.
