by Dale Mayer
“Yes, in this case, you’ve got people without a conscience,” she said. “People who are only concerned about their needs and that alone.”
“How does that even happen?” she asked.
“They get away with it once or twice, and then it becomes easy, and they don’t see any other way to live because anything else takes effort, and they’re not into that.”
“It’s all BS,” she murmured.
“In many ways, yes,” Ice said, chuckling. “Still nothing you can do about it at the moment.”
Petra said, “I want to make sure that Cain’s okay. And, yes, Eton too. I’m not leaving this position because this is where Cain told me to be.”
Ice hesitated but said, “If you say so.” Then she quietly added, “What you need to do is get as low and as flat in a hiding spot as you can,” she said, “because, when things start to break, it’ll be all at once, and it’ll be bad.”
“If you say so,” she said.
“Oh, I do,” she murmured. “So hunker down, stay out of the way, and let us work.”
“I wasn’t planning on getting in the way,” she protested.
“Not getting out of there,” she said, “puts you inherently in the way. And I can’t help that at all.”
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll hunker down, but that’s all I’ll do.”
*
Cain pushed open the door ever-so-slightly, and Tristan’s voice got louder. Tristan had walked to the far end of the room. Cain peered through to see just where the man was and caught sight of Eton. He’d been beaten, and one side of his face was swollen and red. But his eyes looked hard and fierce. Tristan was at the far end—staring out the window—barking into the phone at somebody again. Cain gently pushed open the door and crept toward Eton. He crouched beside him and had him loose in seconds. As soon as he was done and started to move, Tristan’s voice washed over him.
“You should have just shot me when you walked in,” he said in an outrage. “What the hell? Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”
“I didn’t care if you noticed or not,” Cain said, standing up, as Eton stood at the same time. He gave his legs and hands a shake, then turned to look at Tristan and said, “I owe you a couple punches.”
“Like that’ll happen,” Tristan said, as he held up the handgun. “Did you guys not see this? Does it look like a toy to you?” But Tristan warily eyed the gun held at Cain’s side.
“It’s not enough to stop us,” Cain said. “You might get one of us, but you sure as hell won’t get us both.”
“What? So it’s okay for you guys to just lose one? How is that okay? I thought you guys were all about looking after each other,” he said, staring at them in shock. “I can’t believe you just walked in here and undid his ties.”
“You were busy,” Cain said, “so I didn’t think to ask.”
At that, Tristan raised the gun and fired, but both men moved out of the way. “This isn’t some game,” he said.
“No, it isn’t,” Cain said. “You came after friends of ours,” he said. “We know all about it.”
“You don’t know jack,” he said.
“We know that you hired Chico to come to the museum and take us down,” he said, “and, of course, he failed by the way.”
“I don’t know anything about that,” Tristan said, “and I don’t hire idiots, but that one I did hire—we all make mistakes sometimes.”
“Well, your biggest mistake was not making sure he’d done the job,” he said, “because here we are.”
“What? Am I supposed to be scared?”
“Not at all,” he said. “I’d rather see you peeing in your pants right about now, but I can understand that the bravado hasn’t quite given way to the reality of your current situation.”
“Did you really think I was here alone?” he asked, almost shocked at the sound of his voice. Then he stopped and said, “Oh, what? Did you take out the old man?” He started to laugh. “That must have been a tough job.”
“Why is that?”
“Well, he’s not quite there you know. They’re a pair and a half, those two. All they do is look around for opportunities to take people out and to steal from them.” He shook his head. “They’ve been doing it for a long time.”
“So I hear,” Cain said. “Good thing Petra isn’t like them.”
“Sweet on her, are you?” He chuckled at that. “That sister was a loser too. The most clingy, needy thing you’ll ever see, and, after she got pregnant the first time, I paid for the abortion, so she would get the hell out of my life, but, man, that didn’t do it. She came back, always whining about how she shouldn’t have gotten rid of her baby and how it had ruined her life and how it was up to me to fix it. What the hell? Am I some kind of magician who could fix her crazy ass?”
“I’m sure you could have done something.”
“Well, she wanted me to get her pregnant again,” he said. “Me or Chico, she didn’t care which. But honestly I couldn’t even be bothered with that. Killing her was an easy answer. I wasn’t planning on ever coming back here. Imagine my surprise when I found out I had to.” He shook his head. “That’s just wrong.”
“Leaving her here was wrong,” Eton said. “And blaming your father for it.”
“Well, there’s another crazy old man. He knew what I’d done. He was the one who helped me get out, locking it from the inside. That’s when he really started hitting the bottle apparently. He never could take the heat.”
“Where, in your case, I suppose it wasn’t about the heat as much as just ignoring what you didn’t want to deal with, huh?”
“The old man wouldn’t live forever. Especially once he started drinking, so whatever,” he said. “It’s not like her body would have gone anywhere.”
“And what about your own sister? Any concern for her in this deal?”
“Shut up about my sister. If she isn’t smart enough to get out, that’s on her.”
“So, you were just happy to let the body rot in that bedroom?”
“No, I would rather hide it somewhere else, but I had to book it just then. I was making plans, but I figured I’d leave it a year or two and then then deal with it.”
“Jesus,” he said.
“Oh, stop the judgment,” Tristan said. “You’ve got no idea what it’s like to live in this whorehouse of a town.”
“No. You’re quite right. I don’t,” Cain said.
“It’s just a shithole,” he said. “They’re all freaking nuts. I mean, you met her aunt and uncle. You saw what they were like.”
“I guess,” he said. “I doubt they’re all like that though.”
“You’d be surprised,” he said. “They’re all just crazy, complete loony tunes.”
“I wonder about that,” Cain said.
“Wonder all you want,” he said. “I don’t owe you any explanations.”
“No, you probably don’t. But, at the same time, it would be nice if we could get an explanation,” Cain said.
“Oh, so you want answers? That’s too damn bad,” he snapped. “It’s my world, not yours. You guys are done for it. I already sent off a message, looking for my backup.”
Cain felt something inside hardening at the thought. Because, of course, he’d left Petra outside. “I don’t think any backup’s coming,” he said. “I heard some shouting downstairs.”
“Yeah, he was told to take out the old guy. I wanted to take out his wife myself though. That aunt is somebody who deserves a personal killing.”
“Same as you,” Cain said, and he walked to the window casually. Tristan glared at him and shouted, “Get the fuck away from the window,” he said.
“Or what? You’ll shoot me? Do you think nobody’ll hear that? Didn’t you see the crowd outside?”
Tristan gave him a startled look and walked to his window, looking carefully around the edge of the curtain and said, “What the—”
“Yeah, they’re all here to see you.”
“They’ve got nothi
ng to see,” he snapped. “What the hell did you guys do?”
“Well, a show like this deserves an audience,” he said. “After all, you’ve got such a loving fan group here.”
“They all fucking hate me,” he said. “Why do you think I refused to come back?”
“Yeah, that’s why you had to sneak in anytime you wanted guns, right? Maybe they have good reasons for hating you,” Eton said. Suddenly Eton was already halfway across the room.
“Oh no, you don’t,” Tristan said, holding up the gun. “You just stop right there.”
“And now we’re back to that ‘or what’ thing,” Eton replied.
“You’re just looking for a bullet, aren’t you? I’m happy to oblige.”
“And that’ll bring everybody in here,” Cain said with a smile. “You see the cops out there too?”
At that, Tristan peered around the window and started to swear. “Jesus Christ,” he said. “Are you fucking nuts? We don’t need them here.”
“Well, after they found the lovely present you left behind in that bedroom, I’m pretty sure they have a difference of opinion on that.”
“It’s not my fault,” he said. “That woman was just a nasty nightmare.”
“Now back to that whole ‘the cops want to talk to you’ thing.”
“Nope, not these cops,” he said, “I arranged for that to be fixed a long time ago.”
“Yeah, but you probably didn’t notice that a lot of changes have been made to the staff, and some other people have come in and taken a closer look at some of your allegiances.”
He turned and glared. “Even if my buddies don’t lie for me,” he said, “they’re still high up enough to make my life easier.”
“Nope, not happening,” Eton said with a smile. “So why don’t you put down the gun and walk out carefully?”
“That’ll never happen,” he vowed.
“Well, I was hoping you might make it easier on yourself, but the cops are here, and they’re just waiting,” Cain said.
“Otherwise you’ll stand up to us,” Eton asked.
Tristan said, “I don’t give a shit.” But he was now more than a little disturbed and getting rattled, trying to engage both of them at once. “I should have just shot you when I caught you in here.”
“Yep, you should have,” Eton said, “but you didn’t because you’re a loser. You just wanted to make sure you got both members of the team.”
“Well, if I don’t get you, somebody else will,” he said. “Failure is not an option in my world.”
“Why is that?” Eton asked.
“Because somebody will take me out,” he said. “I won’t get a chance to stand trial.”
“That’s quite possible. So, what will you do? The cops might protect you, if you can incriminate the next in line.”
“And that’s just asking for a quick death penalty all of my own.”
“But they’ll do that anyway. You just said so,” Eton argued. “So why not see them go down too?”
“Do you know anything about loyalty? Jesus Christ, how do you even survive in this pathetic world of yours? You can’t go anywhere if you keep handing over your bosses.”
“True enough,” Eton said.
“Look, man,” Cain said, “you’ve got about three choices. You can turn that gun on yourself, which I wouldn’t mind,” Cain said in a cheerful voice. “Or you can put down the gun. Or you can try to shoot it out with us,” he said, “but it’s not like we’re not well armed ourselves.” With that, he pulled out his second handgun and handed it to Eton.
Tristan started swearing heavily. “This isn’t some game,” he roared.
“No, it isn’t,” Cain said. “So make up your mind on what your next move will be.” Both men held their guns pointed directly at him.
“You can die right now if you want,” Eton said. “We don’t give a shit.”
Tristan glared at them. He stood straight up, his back to the window, as he turned suddenly and looked out, as if wondering about jumping.
“Well, a jump will probably break both your legs,” Cain said, “maybe even give you a few cracked ribs. Or maybe you’ll end up paralyzed or have a brain injury. Then you can spend the rest of your life with somebody else taking care of you,” he said. “Petra’s aunt might be available.”
Tristan turned, and, when the shot rang out, it didn’t come from a direction anyone expected. But red bloomed across Tristan’s chest, and a look of absolute shock came over his face, as he fell forward.
Instantly Cain raced to the window, keeping out of the line of sight, until he could peer through. A second shot blasted the window frame. He looked out as a truck took off on the far side of the road, and, even from where he stood, Cain saw it had no license plate. He pulled out his phone and quickly contacted Ice. “Black truck running away from the house right now. Looks like a Ford, a two-door SuperCab, raised ever-so-slightly, no license plate. Shooter took Tristan out through the window. He’s gone, taken out by his own guys. Tristan killed Morgan too.”
“We’ll see if we can find it on satellite. A hell of a crowd is outside your place as it is.”
“I saw that. Your doing?”
“I think it might be your girlfriend’s doing,” she said, with a note of humor. “She was trying to figure out what she could do to help and to not get herself in trouble at the same time. I tried to get her out of there, but she insisted that you told her how she had to stay there, and she wasn’t budging for nothing.”
He chuckled. “Well, it’s nice to know she can take orders when it’s important.”
“In my book, she’s a keeper,” Ice said cheerfully. “Don’t screw it up.”
She hung up, but her voice had been loud enough that Eton heard. He looked over, laughed, and said, “Yeah, don’t screw it up.”
Cain shook his head. “God dang it, people. If everybody would stay out of my business, it wouldn’t be so bad,” he muttered. As it was, he opened the window and called down to the cops, telling them to come up. He asked Eton, “You okay to handle this?”
“Yeah, you better go find Petra,” he said. “I’m not exactly sure what the hell she’s up to.”
“Knowing her, I have no clue, but I suspect it’ll be nothing but trouble.”
“Well, now that will be your cross to bear,” he said.
Cain stopped, looked at him, smiled, and said, “You know something about this cross? I’m thinking it’s one I’d be totally happy to bear.”
“You better do something about that blood before you get there.”
At that, he looked at the steadily dripping blood on the floor. When the gunman fired the second shot to back Cain away from the window, flying debris had torn into the back of his hand and up into his arm. Splinters and glass had flown everywhere. While it didn’t appear serious, it was definitely an injury that would require some attention.
At that, he disappeared, heading down to look for Petra. Ducking into a bathroom on the way, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it up to stop the bleeding.
He went out the back, and he stopped on the deck for a long moment, as he searched the area to make sure it was safe. Then he raced to the trees where he’d left her. As soon as he got close, he called out to her. “Petra?”
Her head popped up through the canopy, and she smiled.
“It’s over,” he said, and he opened his arms.
She raced into his arms and hugged him tight. “Oh, my God,” she said, “I was so worried when you didn’t come out. Oh, no!” She gasped, when she saw the now bloody towel around his arm. “What happened?”
“I’m fine,” he said, “and thank you for staying.”
“Ice told me not to. She wanted me to leave, but I wouldn’t.”
“And that brings me to another question. Why did you contact Ice?”
She winced. “Well, I had a little problem, and I didn’t know who else to call,” she said. “My aunt tried to kill me.”
He just stopped and stared.
/> She shrugged. “But I overpowered her,” she said proudly, “and Ice sent somebody to help me.”
“Good,” he said with a big grin. “We actually had teams close by because this was all coming down.”
“Right,” she said.
“And while you were dealing with your aunt, I dealt with your uncle.”
Petra’s eyes widened.
Cain grabbed his phone, called Ice. “The uncle’s tied up under Chico’s bed. Can you tell the team? … Thanks.”
“So, if it’s all over with, can we get the hell out of town now?”
“Maybe,” he said, “but there is still your family.”
“No,” she said, “my family is done and gone. I’ll need a couple days to deal with things and to make final arrangements for my sister and my father. But, as for my aunt and my uncle?” She shook her head. “Not any family of mine.”
“Well, that’ll be a fun trial,” he said. “Chances are you’ll have to come back for that.”
“And that thrills me to no end,” she said sadly. “They killed so many people. We probably have no idea.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. Sometimes you just get people who have absolutely no respect for human life.”
“It’s very sad,” she said, “and I just don’t get it.”
“You don’t have to anymore,” he said, pulling her close.
She looked up at him and smiled. “Remember when you asked if I wanted to stay here or move away? Did you have a particular reason?”
“Let me put it this way,” he said. “I’m heading back to Perth right now to run command central, as we figure out the next step.” He pulled out Tristan’s phone. “This is what I needed from Tristan—his contacts. He was killed, by the way—shot by one of his own men through the window.”
She stared at him in shock. “You still don’t know who’s behind it all?”
“Not yet,” he said, “but that’s coming. And that’s another reason why we’re cleaning this up, then heading back to Perth, depending on what we find in this phone.”
She looked behind his shoulder to see Eton coming down the steps. She smiled up at him. “I’m glad you’re alive,” she said simply. “But, if I were you, I would want to punch Tristan in the face a time or two for that.”
