ON Edge

by John W. Mefford

  39

  Tearing around the corner of our home, Nicole slipped first, but I was able to hoist her back up and barely lose stride. Three steps later, my loafers went out from under me, and we both hit the ground. Hard. The wet grass was like running on sleet.

  Up on my hands and knees, I was as still as a hunting dog that had just spotted its prey. “Do you hear anything?” I asked her, knowing I’d never be able to pick up slight sounds.

  “Nothing yet.”

  I could make out her pale feet. We didn’t have time to make sure her feet were warm. I tapped her on the shoulder, and we darted toward the back alley.

  “This way,” I said, heading west, which happened to be up a hill. As we ran, I touched the button on my coat, searching for the listening device planted there by Bowser’s team. Then I put my hand on my front pocket. No phone either.

  “Fuck!”

  “What’s wrong?” Nicole said, panting, as puffs of smoke curled above her head.

  “The listening device. It’s gone. So is my phone.”

  “You were wearing a wire?”

  Now she sounded pissed.

  “Nicole, don’t go there. Some bad shit has gone down with your new boyfriend. I was dragged into this.”

  She didn’t say anything as I spotted a house where I knew the owners would be home.

  We slipped to the side of their eight-foot fence—everyone in Texas with any money at all just had to build their own fortress—and headed for the front door. Trying to shave a second or two, I cut across their lush landscaping beds.

  It seemed like a hand reached up from the ground and grabbed my shoe. I flew through the air and landed face first into a rosebush.

  I did everything I could to mute my groan, but something squeezed out.

  “Holy…” Nicole dropped to her knees as I lifted my face. “Do you want me to pull out the thorns?”

  “Screw it. No time.”

  She helped me up, and we jogged to their door. Not a light on anywhere, I rang the doorbell. My legs couldn’t stop moving as I glanced left and right, wondering if the thugs would run up at any second.

  “So, this wire…shouldn’t they know we’re in trouble?”

  “I hope. I just don’t know when it came off. Could have been when we fell on the side of the house.”

  “Our house,” she said, as if she were redefining our relationship…again. I ignored it.

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “Could have been when I was hit from behind, or any time during that fight. Hell, it could have been when you tried to kiss me.”

  “You mean when you tried to kiss me?” She cupped her hands and blew into them.

  “What? You pulled me closer.”

  Whatever. I pushed the doorbell again, then plucked a thorn from my cheek.

  She touched my arm. “You’re right—I pulled you closer. I couldn’t take being away from you any longer,” she said, looking into my eyes.

  She was hoping for a bonding moment, but instead I took a step off the porch and scanned the area.

  “Jesus, Oz, your face. It’s—”

  “Made for Hollywood?”

  “A sense of humor even right now. You haven’t changed a bit.”

  I said nothing. “The Millers must be on one of their cruises.”

  “We could just climb their fence and wait in their backyard.”

  “I thought about that. First, we’d be sitting ducks. Second, I have no phone. We’d be waiting for hours. Come on. Let’s try Mrs. Johnson.”

  Mrs. Johnson was related to THE Johnsons of Texas, as in the thirty-sixth president, Lyndon Baines, and his wife, Lady Bird. As least that was her story.

  We raced across four yards. I thought about ringing a bell at each house, but I knew too many of these owners had guns. If they saw two people frantically running around, they might shoot first and ask questions later.

  We managed to make it to Mrs. Johnson’s doorstep without another fall and no sign of Grill Man or Hugo. I rang it twice.

  “Maybe the two assholes got scared and ran off,” Nicole said, rubbing a cold, bare foot against her sweats.

  “Did you hear what they said? They were going to kidnap us. Not kill us, at least not initially.”

  She grabbed my arm and squeezed with the pressure of a medical cuff. “I’m so sorry, Oz. I should have never—I’m just so weak. I know you thought I was different. But I’m not like that. I’m weak, insecure, and flighty.”

  She was right. I had no idea. I’d read her all wrong, and she’d been damn good at portraying a very different person. “Thank you for saying that.” I cupped my hand against a window and looked inside. No movement. I rang the bell again. “Come on, dammit!”

  We waited another few seconds.

  “What if we just broke in?”

  “Two things: she might have a gun and an alarm.” I started scanning the neighborhood, looking for any signs of the two thugs, as well as thinking about possible next stops.

  “But if she doesn’t have a gun,” Nicole said, “the alarm would send the cops over.”

  “Grill Man and his sidekick would also hear the alarm. They’d beat the cops here, and then what?”

  “You seem like you’ve been in this situation before,” she said.

  “No, I’ve just heard some crazy stories from my dad.”

  A pause. “Your dad.”

  I turned to look at her, as resentment coursed through my veins. “Do you know about how he died?”

  She shook her head. “I swear I don’t know. I just overheard Calvin in a phone call earlier. He said he couldn’t leave any trail and that he’d decided to kill Nathaniel’s son to ensure there was no trail.”

  “Do you know he killed Dad?”

  She covered her mouth. “I feared that when I heard Calvin talking. I just…I can’t believe it,” she said as emotion crept into her voice.

  I didn’t reach out and console her and tell her everything was okay. It wasn’t. And I wasn’t sure it ever would be. “I thought his name was Mr. Drake?” That was a real classy line, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say. So, I went low.

  She sniffled. “I know, Ozzie. His ego is off the charts, but after I crossed the line, I wasn’t sure what to do. I just kept up the charade. I knew it was wrong. I was wrong.” She took in a shaky breath. “I had done so much to hurt you, it was impossible to face the truth. I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

  “What changed?”

  “That phone call. He thought I couldn’t hear him when I went into the bathroom to take a shower, but I could hear him through the wall.”

  The pang of jealousy hit me like a metal crowbar. “You two did it in our house?”

  She opened her mouth, but no words came out. More tears streamed down her face. “Dammit, I hate myself.” She gasped out a breath. “It just all happened so quick. He acted like he was being a good friend, listening to all of my complaints of the world. And then he started showering me with gifts. I was blind and selfish and couldn’t face the truth, couldn’t undo what I’d done to you…to us. I was weak, Ozzie. But now I just want to…” She sobbed, with her big eyes looking at me.

  I pulled another thorn from my face. “That hurt,” I said, knowing it actually felt good compared to hearing her unload this bagful of regret. My heart felt like it was being dragged through burning coals.

  One more glance inside Mrs. Johnson’s house.

  “Now where?” she asked.

  I ran my fingers through my hair, pushing all the emotional crap aside for now. Bowser and Brook had to know they’d lost communication with me. Wouldn’t they at least drive by the house? I continued the thought. Then they’d see my car…well, Tito’s VW bus. They could think that I was inside the house and that nothing had happened. They might even assume that the listening device had accidentally fallen off, especially if they knew the history of friskiness between Nicole and me. Or maybe not. I had little confidence in my ability to rationally think everything through.r />
  The Tube. I felt in my pocket for the keys.

  “We’re going to circle around and try to make it to my car.”

  “You mean that old green thing? And we’re going back to the house where the thugs are?”

  “I’m open to other ideas.”

  She started running before I did. I caught up, and we made our way back to the house, but we took a different route. We stopped at every home, peered around each corner before moving forward. No sign of Grill Man or Hugo. We actually went farther than we needed, on purpose. We stopped two houses east of my former home. I knew this two-story had a large hedge of bushes. We got down on all fours, crawled into the middle, and stopped where there was a small hole. We could see the Tube and the surrounding street. No sign of any people or moving cars.

  “It’s eerie,” Nicole whispered.

  I nodded. “I’m worried they might be hiding somewhere, waiting for us to make a run for the car.”

  “You think?”

  “Actually, I have no frickin’ clue.” A few seconds passed. “By the way, when did you get Baxter?”

  She looked down for a second. “Right after you came into the house and looked through my things.”

  Wow. “So you knew that I knew about this ‘C’ man?” As soon as I said it, I realized what it might sound like—semen. “Damn, that sounds bad.” We both smiled, although my stomach twisted tighter.

  “Calvin put a few cameras in my house. Said he wanted to make sure I was safe.”

  I wanted to ask her why, but that would only lead to about ten other whys.

  “I know I was naïve and immature,” she said.

  I ignored her and kept my eyes on the street and the surrounding yards.

  “You haven’t asked how he and I met or when it started.”

  “Does it matter?” I asked, my eyes on anything but her.

  “It does if we’re…” She didn’t say it, and I’m glad she didn’t. I couldn’t go there. Not now.

  “We met at a conference in Vegas about three months ago.”

  “I guess that’s why they came up with their infamous phrase.” I’d never been to Vegas, and now I never wanted to go.

  She took my arm again, and I knew she was going to start talking about us. I waylaid that idea.

  “You ready to run?”

  She nodded. “I’m with you all the way.”

  Nice line. The old Oz wouldn’t have been able to stop that arrow of love. He would have let it warm his heart. But right now, my wall was mostly intact. Only a small piece of the arrow had found its way inside. And I wasn’t going to let her know that. “Let’s go.”

  We crawled out of the bushes, then darted for the bus. Did I lock it? I wasn’t sure, and that car was so old I’d have to get to the car and just yank on the door to see. I took aim on the passenger door. We crossed the sidewalk, and I did a quick three-sixty turn to make sure all was safe. Seemed so. I flipped around and yanked on the passenger door. It opened, and we jumped in.

  Then we both froze.

  “Has the happy couple renewed their wedding vows?”

  It was Drake. My eyes went straight to his teeth. They looked fluorescent.

  Bent over to fit in the bus, I shuffled a half-step toward him. He lifted a gun. It wasn’t small. “I don’t want to spray your brains all over your friend’s car. Sit the fuck down.”

  We did as he said.

  40

  Through the rearview, I could see Drake put a phone to his ear.

  “Get back to the bus now,” he said into his cell phone. He placed it in his front pocket.

  I tried to sneak a glance at Nicole to see how she was holding up. Her chin was trembling.

  “Ah, is the little missus all upset?” Drake said as if he were speaking to a toddler. He laughed for a second. “Maybe I ought to pull you into the back here and let Oz watch a real man go to town on you.”

  I clenched my fists.

  “Shut up, Calvin!” Nicole barked, then put both hands over her face. “You are a piece of filth. I don’t know what I was thinking, being with you.”

  “Like I said, you finally wanted a real man. The whole thing was almost too easy.”

  His comment pierced through all of the anger and fear and found a way into the part of my brain that ran it through a series of tests. It didn’t pass. “What was almost too easy?”

  “Your wife, dickwad. She’s easy, but not just in bed.”

  Nicole sobbed, and I fumed silently, although I could feel my eyes burning. It seemed almost certain that he and his two thugs would take us into a field and kill us, or maybe even throw us into one of the surrounding lakes. It almost didn’t matter—we had no way out. But I had to know if he’d killed my father and why, although I was very curious about the role Nicole had played, apparently unwittingly.

  “Easy in what way?”

  “Stop, Ozzie. He’s just trying to torture you.” Tears covered her face and neck. I’d never seen her this upset.

  “Easy in what way?” I repeated, still looking through the rearview.

  “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore,” he said, as if he were talking more to himself. “She was the one who let my guys go through the outside back gate at the Belmont so they could plant the bomb that went off. She thought they were part of the crew. Like I said, ‘easy.’”

  We both gasped, and then Nicole screamed out. “You fucking monster. People died in that bombing!”

  “I didn’t mean to harm innocents, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made.”

  “What are you talking about?” I dug my fingernails into my arm to keep myself from lunging at the guy, which I knew would result in being shot.

  “We learned that the good doctor would be in attendance. Turns out he knew one of the band members.”

  “Dr. Clem?”

  Nicole asked, “Who’s Dr. Clem?”

  I saw Drake nodding, his eyes on mine through the reflection. “So you did piece it all together. That was my fear. That’s why we’re all here tonight.”

  “You killed my father.”

  “I paid Nathaniel a lot of money to be my mouthpiece. We tried to get the damn doctor to shut his trap without having to take irreversible measures. We tried everything, but Dr. Clem took this moral high ground, and I was left with no choice.”

  I could feel my rage boiling, and I was about to go off, knowing it might be the last thing I’d do on this earth. “You will fucking rot in hell.”

  “Might be so, but between now and then, I’ll be a very rich man off this new drug. Of course, it might have some deadly side effects, but again, I say the evolution of this world is all about sacrifices.”

  Nicole whimpered, grabbed each side of her head. She was tormented by what she’d done, how she’d allowed herself to be used by this maniac. I could see it, feel it. I wanted to reach out and grab her hand, but I didn’t.

  “You had someone from MS-13 kill Dr. Clem, didn’t you?”

  “They owed me. I used to work for the force up in Dallas. I let them get away with so much shit. I finally called in my favors.”

  “And you paid them to shoot me.”

  “Those bozos fucked up. And it cost them their lives.”

  He’d killed the killers. This guy reset the bar for low-life trash. But I still had to know the fate of my father.

  “How did you do it? How did you kill my dad?”

  “Didn’t do it. I guess that was a gift from the man upstairs. I was going to, especially with the Feds involved. I knew he’d eventually talk. And I thought he’d unload everything to you too. Which is why I was watching you.”

  The sliding door pulled open. Hugo hopped in, followed by Grill Man. With the interior light on for a moment, I could see blood seeping down Grill Man’s arm. He caught my gaze. “Motherfucking dog.” He lunged at me, slamming his gun against my head. I fell against the steering wheel. I literally saw stars for a moment, and my eyes went blurry. A cluster of noise sounded all around me, but through it all
I could hear Nicole scream. I pushed myself up as Hugo pulled her out of the seat and into the back.

  “Stop!” I made an attempt to reach for her, but it was pathetic. Within seconds, I was tossed into the passenger seat, my head still swimming. I tried to blink away my wooziness. Then I saw Drake climb into the driver’s seat.

  “I don’t do anything unless I’m in the driver’s seat,” he said with a laugh. “You like my pun?”

  I ignored him. I had to. I wasn’t sure I could piece together two words.

  Another scream from Nicole. I turned and saw Hugo pawing at her. I tried pushing out of my seat, but a second later, Grill Man shoved me back and pressed his gun into the back of my head. “Give me one damn reason to pull this trigger, motherfucker. Please. I’m begging you.”

  The engine started, and I caught the eye of Drake, who shrugged. “You swim with the sharks, you get bitten by the sharks. What can I say?” He knew they would rape Nicole, but he didn’t care.

  He put the VW bus in drive and pulled away. Nicole screamed again. I blinked twice and felt my brain starting to come back to life. I wondered if I could somehow move quickly enough to grab the steering wheel and yank on it. He’d swerve, maybe crash, but it would stop Hugo and give us a chance. That was all I could hope for at this point. A chance.

  “What is—” Drake never finished his sentence. I heard a loud pop, and the Tube bucked upward. The back end fishtailed. All of us went airborne. My head hit the ceiling, and Drake face-planted into the steering column—old car, no airbags.

  The crash seemed like it lasted a good minute, but probably took no more than a few seconds. The air was thick with burning rubber.

  I took a breath, and everything was still. Somehow, the Tube had stayed upright.

  Doors swung open. I glanced up and saw Brook with a gun aimed right at Drake. “Kill him, Brook. Shoot him dead.”

  She didn’t do it. But she did throw him out of the car and onto the concrete. That would have to suffice for now.

  41

  Nothing to create a little neighborhood gossip like having a dozen law-enforcement cars with flashing lights in front of your house. I noticed a flurry of neighbors in robes and sweats, all outside a barrier set up by the APD.