by Jamie Begley
The man didn’t lose it until he mentioned the church. Then he went berserk.
Dustin was no fool. He knew if Dixon had gone over the rails to try to kill one woman and rape another to protect his reputation, the thought of him being faced with humiliation would send him over another one.
He tried to slam Dustin’s head back into the roof of the car, but Dustin was another eruption of rage. The difference this time was, Dixon wasn’t dealing with two women who were afraid for their lives.
Dustin brought his knee up, hitting Dixon in the groin. The crazed man didn’t sink to his knees the way any other would have done. No, he was too far gone.
Dustin felt for Miranda and Jessie for having to witness the maniacal rage that was confronting him now.
Dixon staggered back a step. Then, regaining his balance, he sprang at him. Dustin was waiting. Raising his arm, he punched Dixon in the face. Again, Dixon fell back a step then came back at him.
The madder he became, the less pain he felt. Dustin had fought enough in his lifetime to know the rush adrenaline could give during a fight.
When he sprang at him again, Dustin threw him back enough so he could move away from the car and had enough time to slam the car door. He had just shut it when Dixon lunged. Dustin grabbed him, throwing him over the car’s hood, watching in satisfaction as the son of a bitch slid down the hood to lie on the gravel.
Walking to the front of the car, Dustin saw him using the bumper to help himself up. Before he could stand, though, Dustin moved behind him and used the front of his expensive car to lift him to his feet, only to pound him into the hood over and over until he saw Dixon go limp. Then, using all of his strength, Dustin threw him over the hood again, and watched him fly over the side.
Dustin moved to the side, seeing him lying by the wheel. “You crazy bastard, you’re not even any fun to beat the hell out of.”
Dixon crawled backward on his elbows, blood coming out of the corner of his mouth and his nose.
“I plan to get a lot more satisfaction from you than that. You owe Miranda and Jessie more than that. A woman lost her life. Her son lost his mother, and Jackson lost the woman he loved. Another woman lost her trust and sense of well-being that her family had instilled in her for your own demented reason. I can beat it into you until your dead, but it’s never going to give them the satisfaction they deserve.” Dustin reached behind him, taking the gun out to point it at him.
“Go ahead and kill me. I want you to.”
Dustin was disgusted when Dixon started praying.
Raising the gun above his head, Dustin fired off a shot.
Dixon jumped, lifting his eyes to his.
“The only thing on God’s green earth that is going to give them any satisfaction isn’t something I can give them. Only Knox can do that. Miranda might not be able to see you face the justice you deserve, but the others will.”
As his words trailed off, the crunch of the gravel under tires could be heard as police cars drove up the driveway.
Dustin kept his gun at his side as Knox got out of his squad car and the state police officers ran toward Dixon.
Dustin held out his gun to Knox, giving it to him.
“It’s a good thing I sent Greer to Jamestown to keep him from knowing what you were doing. He would have shot him about five minutes into Dixon confessing. Tate’s spitting mad that you didn’t tell him what you were up to. Two of the troopers are keeping him at his house.”
“I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t trust myself. Even after I called Shade an hour before Dixon arrived, I didn’t know if I’d go through with the plan I told Shade.”
“You can turn your phone off. The police will keep recording until you do.”
Dustin took his phone out, disconnecting the call he had made to Knox, which he had linked to the state police.
“You were going to kill him,” Knox stated when saw him put his phone in his jacket.
“Yes.” Dustin watched as Dixon was handcuffed and put in the back of a squad car.
“Why’d you change your mind?”
“Jessie. I could have killed him and hid his body in the mountains, but she’d still wonder who it was, and I wasn’t going to have her live the rest of her life that way.”
“You’re a better man than me.” Knox nodded to him. “Now, I need you to come to the station and make a signed statement. You know the whole Hayes clan is going to be gunning for you, don’t you? Want me to see if I can get you in the witness protection program? You could get a name change, and I could set you up in a place like Tahiti. I’ve been there. It’s beautiful and, better yet, there aren’t any Hayeses.”
“No thanks.”
“Why not?”
“Number one, my mountain is the most beautiful place on earth. Don’t need a long plane ride to figure that out. Number two, Tahiti might not have any Hayeses, but it doesn’t have any Porters either. And number three, Jessie gets sunburned too easily. I’d never talk her into it.”
Knox laughed, shaking his head. “Come on, at least I can protect you for a couple of hours while you make your statement.”
They walked past the state trooper car that had Dixon Wells in the back seat. Dustin could see he was banging his head on the metal cage that protected the trooper in front.
“I’m going to have them put him on a suicide watch,” Knox said, giving the man a look of utter loathing. “He’s already working that insanity defense.”
Dustin couldn’t bear to watch the way Dixon was acting, but for a different reason. “That shithole isn’t acting. He’s as crazy as a suicidal squirrel.”
“What in the fuck is that?”
“You don’t know what the hell a suicidal squirrel is?” Dustin stopped walking to stare at Knox in pity.
“No.”
“See the electric pole there?” Dustin pointed to the pole behind the barn that led the electric cables to the house.
“Yes.”
“The next time Tate and I have a crop that isn’t worth selling, I’ll tell Tate to invite you over. We have a big fire to destroy it. The little fuckers go crazy, running all over the place. That’s why we have a back-up generator, because when they run up the pole, we lose power every time. Greer buys a case of Bud and sits on the front porch, watching them commit—”
“Suicide,” Knox finished for him. The sheriff laughed so hard he had to wipe his tears away. “Do me a favor. The next time you want to burn weed that isn’t up to your standards, call me.”
“You want to come and watch?”
“No, my brothers and I will take it off your hands. We’re not as particular as you. The worst weed the Porters could produce is still better than the rest being sold in Kentucky. I’ll even pay full price for it.”
“No thanks.”
“Why not?”
Dustin gave a snort, giving him another pitying look. “Tate’ll call. It’ll be a while. He only screws up every three or four years.”
“A Porter turning down cold, hard cash just to see squirrels get killed? I don’t believe it.” Knox snorted back at him.
“You’ll see. It’s like the fucking Fourth of July when those fuckers run up that pole.”
“I still don’t care. I have my ace in the hole to get that weed.” Knox opened the passenger side door for him to get inside.
“What? You going to do a raid?”
“No, I don’t want to confiscate it. The brothers and I will smoke it.”
“Then you ain’t got a chance in hell of getting that weed.”
“I’ve got more than a chance. I’ll offer to buy it from Greer,” Knox said, shutting him inside the car.
Damn, Tate would be furious at him for mentioning the bad weed. Knox was right, though; if Greer was offered cold, hard cash versus watching suicidal squirrels, cash would win every time.
32
“I need to potty.”
Jessie glanced up from the coloring sheet that Presley was attempting to make a G on and wasn’t
quite successful. “Go ahead.”
The squirming little boy dropped his pencil onto his worksheet and hurried away from the half-circle worktable.
Jessie scooted her wheeled chair to Lola, watching her make the letter on her page. “Good job, Lola,” Jessie complimented.
The little girl gave her such a proud smile that Jessie wanted to hug her.
When she returned to the daycare this morning, she hadn’t known if she was strong enough mentally and emotionally, wishing she had given herself the additional week she originally told Holt she would take.
She had arrived early, texting Bliss to make sure that they arrived together. She wasn’t ready to be on her own without support, afraid of her reaction if a father brought his child in. The few times she had gone out after her kidnapping, Dustin had kept her close, and she had felt his presence like an invisible shield protecting her.
Bliss was there when she arrived, so she walked into an already lit room.
When the children started arriving, Jessie was overwhelmed with emotions as their faces lit up when they saw her opening the door for them.
Everything was going well until Presley’s father brought him inside. He had enrolled Presley when he had moved back to Treepoint after moving away sixteen years ago. He returned with his two children when his widowed sister had become too ill to care for her own two children. Jessie had cared for his niece and nephew before they reached school age and had been heartbroken that Abby was so sick. The vivacious mother had been her go-to when she needed a parent volunteer.
Divorced and handsome, Owen had created a stir when he returned to town, setting the single women into a tizzy. So far, though, he hadn’t dated or developed any interest in any of them.
When Jessie saw him getting out of his truck, her nerves had frayed, freezing her in place instead of going out to greet him at the door.
She had been getting ready to panic that she couldn’t do it when she felt a reassuring hand on her back.
“I’ve got this,” Bliss had said. “Lola is trying to convince the entire reading group to read the unicorn book again.”
Jessie had nodded, forcing herself to move as she gave Bliss a shaky smile. “Thank you.”
Each time a father was about to come through the door, Jessie found Bliss by her side, taking over the greeting.
Once all the children had arrived, Jessie found herself able to relax and enjoy her time back with the children.
After the children had fallen asleep for their naptime, Jessie threw herself down on a chair behind her desk, seeing Bliss and Kailor give her amused glances as they brought chairs over to eat their lunch.
“I forgot how busy they keep you.” Jessie laughed, reaching for an apple.
“That’s why I quit going to the gym after I started working here,” Kailor said, opening her lunch bag.
From where Jessie sat, she saw the flashing lights of police cars whizzing past the front plate glass window.
“Thank God Knox didn’t turn the sirens on. I think I might have cried if he had woken Presley up. His father might be a knockout”—Kailor fanned herself at the mention of Owen—“but his son is a handful.”
“His wife needs her head examined for divorcing him just because he wanted to move back to Treepoint and help Abby. She didn’t even fight him over visitation. She lets Owen have them during the school year and takes them during the summers.”
Jessie ate her apple, listening to Kailor moon over Owen. She had missed the easy rapport she shared with the women. They were more friends than co-workers, and Jessie felt guilty she cut them out during her recovery.
“I’m sorry,” Jessie spoke out, breaking into Kailor’s description of a dish set she had found on sale.
“What for?” Kailor frowned at her.
“For not letting Bliss, you, and Rain come to visit me. I just didn’t want you guys to see me like that.”
Bliss angrily set her sandwich down on a napkin. “Don’t you dare apologize or think about making another excuse. We’re all big girls here. I, for one, know what you went through. It burns me to hell when a woman apologizes for something a man did. I wasn’t hurt, and neither were Kailor or Rain. We knew if you needed anything, you would tell us, and you did. You needed me to run the daycare while you recovered, and I did. You asked Rain if her sister could help out until you came back. You asked Kailor if she would get your mail at your apartment, and she did. That’s what friends are for, not to sit at your bedside and wish you better.”
Jessie gave a soft tear-filled laugh, so she wouldn’t disturb the children. Bliss was furious at her, and Kailor didn’t look any less angry.
“I’m the luckiest woman on earth. I have you guys, my family, and …” Jessie glanced cautiously at Kailor, hoping what she was about to say wouldn’t strain their relationship. “Dustin.”
Kailor’s eyes twinkled at her. “So, the rumors are true?”
Jessie frowned at the remark. “What rumors?”
“That you and Dustin are a couple. So, it’s true?”
“Yes.”
“Well, at least if I can’t have him, I’m glad you can.”
Jessie could tell she meant it. “I was worried about telling you,” she admitted.
“Why?”
“I didn’t want it to ruin our friendship.”
“No way! I’ll just set my sights on someone else.”
“You’ve already set your sights on half the men in town,” Bliss joked. “The other half are married.”
Jessie tilted her head to the side. “How come you haven’t asked me to hook you up with one of my brothers or cousins?”
Kailor darted Bliss an anxious glance before looking back at her. From her expression, Jessie could see she was trying to come up with a polite response.
“Nuh-uh, there’s a big age difference between us. Holt and Asher are a lot older than me.”
Jessie wasn’t going to give her an easy way out. “You’re twenty-six, Holt is thirty-six, and Asher is thirty-two. It’s not that big of a difference.”
“But mentally, I’m much younger.”
Jessie rolled her eyes. “I can agree with that. Bubba’s the same age as Holt, but what’s wrong with Bud?”
Kailor paled at the suggestion of her with Bud. “They’ve told everyone in town that when they have kids, they’re going to have B names. What if I want to name him Donald or Quentin?”
Jessie waved her concern away. “That’s just a rumor. Their brother Kyle had a K name.”
“Kyle was his nickname. His given name was Bucephelus.” Kailor’s raised voice had the children stirring in their cots.
“Shh ….” Bliss sent her a threating glance.
“You would love Bud. He’s good-looking, sweet ….”
Kailor looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “Isn’t he the cousin you complained about being a redneck from Hell.”
Jessie studied her fingernails to keep from meeting her dubious eyes. “I might have overexaggerated.”
“No, you haven’t. There hasn’t been a Saturday when he hasn’t been locked into one of Knox’s cells since I started working for you. You would pay his fines every Monday morning before opening the daycare, so Knox would release him.”
“I forgot about that.”
“I didn’t. I talked to Knox on my way in this morning. He said he was glad you’re getting back on schedule and that Bud wouldn’t have to watch you so much. He misses the revenue he makes when you get Bud out.”
Damn, she had been hoping to get Bud off her hands. Those fines had been eating a chunk out of her profits. He had been staying close by since her kidnapping, and she dreaded him getting back on his scheduled weekend binges.
She wasn’t ready to give up the ghost of a chance yet. “A good woman can always change a man’s wild ways.”
Kailor began to look doubtful. “You could be right. I’ll think about it.”
“Do that!” Jessie encouraged, beginning to see a light at the end of th
e tunnel. “Just think, we could be cousins-in-law!”
“I’m not making any promises, but if you set us on a date, then you and Dustin are coming with us. I don’t have anything to do this coming Saturday.”
“I’m busy this Saturday. Friday is much better.”
“Okay,” Kailor agreed suspiciously. “I’m usually exhausted by Friday, but since you’re back, you could give me this Friday afternoon off. I can take a nap before getting ready.”
“Absolutely!”
Kailor gave her another suspicious look at her eagerness, so Jessie hastily looked back down at her nails.
“Uh … just one suggestion … Don’t wear green. Blue looks lovely on you.”
“You know, Jessie, now that I think about it, I promised to visit my aunt in the nursing home this Friday. I’ll think about it and get back to you the next available day I have some free time.”
Jessie felt her hopes crumbling around her and was trying to think of a way to get Kailor back on board when she looked out the window and saw the police cars returning. She got even more worried when she saw four state police cars following behind Knox and his deputies’ cars.
“I wonder what in the world is going on,” Bliss said, getting up from her chair to stand at the window.
Jessie saw the children stirring.
“I’m sure we’ll find out when the parents start coming in.” Jessie threw the last of her apple away before helping the children get up from their cots.
Their break over, the women set about their normal routine.
She was helping a small group of children make various shapes with blocks when she looked up and saw Holt and Asher come in. At their furious expressions, she signaled Kailor to take over before walking to them.
Drawing closer, Jessie realized they were even more furious than she had thought. Asher looked like he was about to blow a gasket, and Holt’s rage was bouncing off him in waves.
“What’s wrong?”
Holt glanced over her shoulder at the children before meeting her eyes. “You want to know what’s wrong?” he hissed between clenched teeth.
Becoming worried, she looked back and forth between her brothers.
