by Anna Paige
Keith jerked his head up and leveled the gun at my chest. "What did I tell you, hero? Stay where you are or I'll put just enough bullets in you to keep you subdued while I take your bitch for one last ride." His lip curled in a stomach churning grin. "Yeah, I'm sure you hate knowing I got to fuck her first. Maybe I should treat you to the live show, let you watch me bury my cock in her throat. She liked that, you know, sucking me off. She said it was her favorite way to make me come."
Ali snorted. "Yeah, because it took two seconds and I was in no danger of choking." She looked up at him with hate-filled eyes. "I could have whistled around the damn thing, stupid." His hand shot out, and he caught her across the face with the side of the pistol, her mouth gushing blood almost instantly.
"You son of a bitch!" I lunged forward, torn between reaching for her and ripping his goddamn head off. I made it two steps before the tip of the barrel touched my chest, stopping me cold. I glanced down at it, not giving Keith the satisfaction of eye contact. There were flecks of blood on the barrel, Ali's blood. I looked over at her, watching her cup her face while Lauren tried desperately to snag a cloth napkin from the table.
Keith snatched Lauren closer, cutting off her air. "Get the damn napkin. Slowly. And hand it to Alison. I don't want her bleeding all over me while I fuck her." I met his eye exactly as he'd wanted. He loosened his grip marginally, and Lauren's fingers took hold of the square of cloth, passing it across Keith's body to hand it to Ali. Once she was finished, Keith tightened his grip again, turning slightly to lick her cheek, his steely gaze on mine.
He wasn't putting his hands on them, either of them, even if I had to take a whole clip of bullets to stop him.
Ali had the napkin pressed to her face, coughing slightly. She was probably choking on her own damn blood. Goddamn it! I had to do something.
She dropped the towel to her lap, tilting her head back and testing the corner of her mouth with her fingers. Keith paid her little attention, his focus clearly on me. I held his unblinking stare, waiting him out, hoping he would give me just one brief moment to act. A flicker of light caught my attention, but I didn't look away, didn't want to make Keith aware of it. From the corner of my eye, I watched Ali's hand moving slightly beneath the discarded napkin. The sliver of light peeked out again.
Her phone!
She had her phone in her lap, hiding it from view while she called the police.
God, I wanted to kiss her right then, but I knew that making the call wasn't the same thing as having help. I had to get Keith talking, keep things calm for a while longer.
And I had to make damn sure he didn't spot that phone.
Eyeing Keith curiously, I asked, "How do you see this playing out? I mean, you must have a plan, right?"
That smug grin of his was back. "I've been thinking about that very thing. At first I thought you and your bitch showing up would complicate things. Now, though, I think it's going to work out so much better this way." He pulled Lauren in and kissed her cheek, her face scrunching up distastefully at the contact. "See, I know Lauren here had a thing for you a while back, and we all know how hard it is to turn down a piece of ass like her. So, I'm thinking maybe you didn't turn it down. Especially in favor of a cold fish like Ali. I mean, she doesn't even swallow. It's the least she could do, am I right?" He smirked at me, and it fucking killed me not to rub in the fact that she'd done that for me from the beginning. But I needed to keep him talking not piss him off. "Maybe you've been running around behind Ali's back, and maybe she showed up here today and caught you with your side piece."
Ali still had one hand beneath the napkin while the other edged its way toward her crutch, propped against the wall beside her chair. It was impossible for me to signal her — to tell her not to do anything stupid — not with Keith's eyes boring a hole in my head. So I did my best to keep him talking while readying myself for whatever might happen and praying for the damn police to get here before all hell broke loose.
"So, you see this as, what? A murder-suicide thing?"
"Why not? Everybody knows bitches get crazy over cheating. And from what I've gathered about you, I doubt anyone would jump to your defense. You've got quite a track record with women. I'd be impressed if you hadn't ruined it all by falling for a frigid bitch. I have to call into question what kind of womanizer would waste his time on someone like her." He reached back, not looking as he ran the barrel up the inside of Ali's thigh, pushing the hem of her skirt as he did. "Then again, maybe you really did manage to wake that pussy up. Guess I'll find out soon enough." He sneered and dropped his other hand from Lauren's neck, moving it to fondle her breast.
I gritted my teeth hard enough to make them crack as I bit out, "There aren't enough bullets in that fucking gun to stop me from killing you with my bare hands if you don't get your hands off both of them, especially Alison. Now." Keith started to raise the gun from Ali's lap and I was poised to make a play for it when Ali — who thankfully picked up on my use of her full name — whipped up the crutch, slamming it into his hand on the upswing and into his head on the way down. He flung Lauren away, her thin body slamming into the wall. The gun clattered to the floor, skittering under the table as I lunged forward and tackled Keith, at a serious disadvantage with only one good arm.
We tumbled to the floor, and I slammed my injured shoulder hard into his jaw as we fell. Though the pain was excruciating, the sound of his jaw cracking was fucking worth it. He struggled under me, snarling and swearing but unable to shake me off. I could hear Ali and Lauren yelling back and forth as I reared back and landed another blow across his pathetic face. His left arm crossed in front of me as I tried to lift myself up, and I roared in agony as he connected with my shoulder, the pain traveling across my entire torso.
Fuck!
Before I could recover, another vicious blow hit like a bolt of lightning, accompanied by the distinct feel of the bone unseating from its socket. I clenched my jaw against the urge to cry out. It wasn't easy to bite it back, but I wasn't giving him the satisfaction.
You wanna play motherfucker? How's this?
I rammed my head forward, catching the bridge of his nose with the top of my head, and was rewarded with a satisfying crunch followed by a yelp of pain.
Just getting started.
I braced myself with my right arm, looking down into his blood-soaked face with something akin to glee. Pushing back suddenly, I used the momentum to strike out with a right cross as I fell forward, his blood hitting the wall behind us with a spattering sound. He pushed me off, blinking away the tears and blood in his eyes, trying to scurry away. I landed on my back, fighting for breath as I prepared to give chase.
Keith was half-standing when Lauren spun and leveled the gun on him. "Don't move, asshole. Don't even blink or I swear to God, I'll blow your puny little brain out the back of your head." Her voice shook, but her hold on the gun was surprisingly steady as she stood over him. Despite my reservations about the woman, I was kind of proud of her right then.
With 'Needle Dick' neutralized, Ali pulled herself to her feet and hopped over to where I lay, plopping down beside me with no regard for her injured foot. Her eyes and hands were everywhere, checking for wounds, I presumed. Her voice was high and panicked as she ran her hands over my chest. "Where are you hurt? Where is all the blood coming from?"
I had to glance down to see what she was talking about. The front of my shirt was covered with blood, but not mine. "Shh, Ali." I told her, rubbing my hand over her arm. "It's not my blood, it's his. I'm fine. Well," I winced, sitting up, "I'll be needing to get my shoulder reset but other than that, I'm fine."
She stood and leaned against the chair-back, offering me a hand up. I slipped my hand in hers and made sure to do the brunt of the work myself, not wanting to pull her down with me. Once I was on my feet, I kissed her hand and stepped over to Lauren. "Are you okay?"
She nodded, never looking away from the pathetic bastard cowering on the floor before her. "I am now. Thank you, both of
you. If you hadn't showed up..."
I slid an arm around her shoulders, feeling the need to comfort her. "If we hadn't been here, he still would have gotten his ass kicked. Of that, I have no doubt." I gave her shoulder a squeeze and let go, reaching for the gun. "How about I take this, and you go open the door for the police?"
"The police?" She hadn't seen Ali place the call.
"Yeah, I called while everyone was distracted. They should be here any time. I'd go let them in, but I think I broke my crutch over dumbass's head." She glowered at Keith.
Lauren smirked and handed me the gun, making sure to keep it pointed at Keith at all times. She patted my arm on the way by. "I'll go wait for the cavalry. The second cavalry, that is. You and Ali were the first." She stopped to squeeze Ali's hand on the way out, the women exchanging warm smiles.
When she was gone, I stared down at Keith. "It looks like you'll be trading your tailored suits for prison orange. I wonder what your bosses at GFS are going to think."
His defiant stare was comical given the amount of bruising and blood covering his face. "I'll be out before Christmas. I never fired a shot, and you can't even prove it's my gun. All we have here is a domestic disturbance."
I made a tsking sound and shook my head. "I'm sure the 911 tape of you describing how you intended to kill us will send you away for a while. Plus, arson carries more than a three-month sentence."
"Arson?" He and Ali said in unison.
Not bothering to address his pathetic attempt to sound innocent, I spoke to Ali. "Oh yeah. I was coming in here to tell you that we missed the last few pictures from the game camera. Turns out Keith paid a little visit to the house right before the fire. He's the one that started it." He paled at the mention of pictures, saying nothing further as the wail of sirens drew closer to the house. "If all that isn't enough to impress your bosses, I could tell them about your little embezzling habit. My investigator has definitely earned his paycheck these past few weeks." Feigning like I was sharing a secret, I held his eye and dropped my voice to a whisper that could still be heard by everyone in the room. "Your little girlfriend from the gala works in accounting, doesn't she? I'm betting she'll toss you right under the bus to save herself some jail time."
He sat there bleeding on the floor and looking for all the world like he was wishing we'd just shot him and gotten it over with.
Not getting off that easy, asshole.
Ali looked over at him contemplatively for a moment before meeting my eye. "What do we do about Lauren and Teach?"
Just as the sound of footsteps echoed through the house, I bent closer to his face and whispered, "I'll see to it that your time behind bars is excruciating if you so much as breathe one damn word of whatever you had on Lauren and her uncle. And you better pray no one else lets it slip either. If it comes out by any means aside from their own admission, I'll assume it was you and start calling in favors. Within twenty-four hours, you'll be the penitentiary's newest social butterfly." I met his widened eyes with an unblinking stare of certainty. "You'll get a taste of what you had planned for Ali and Lauren. Only these guys will be packing way more dick. You understand me, Keith?"
He nodded weakly and looked almost relieved when the police and EMTs stormed in.
I laid the gun on the table and stepped back out of the way. Once the officers verified who needed apprehending, Ali, Lauren, and I were escorted to the living room to give our statements. Given Keith's connection to the fire, we did a two-for-one and spent the next several hours wrapping things up. Ali's lip didn't require stitches, and I managed to talk one of the paramedics into resetting my injured shoulder so I could avoid a trip to the hospital. Somehow it wasn't as bad the second time around.
But it still hurt like hell.
When it was all over, we stood on the porch with Lauren, having long ago watched Keith be taken out in handcuffs. Ali hesitated, studying Lauren before turning to me. "You know, Teach is going to be gone for a few more days. I don't like the idea of leaving Lauren here alone all that time."
Following her train of thought I nodded, looking at Lauren. "She's right. You don't have to stay here alone. We can wait for you to pack a few things, and you can go with us to Gran's for the week. She has plenty of room and cooks enough to feed an army. She'd be thrilled to have someone else to look after."
Tears welled in her eyes at our unexpected invitation, but she shook her head, smiling. "Thank you. I appreciate the offer, I really do, but I think I'm going to stay here and follow through with my promise. Teach trusted me to run the diner while he's gone this week, and I don't want to let him down. It meant a lot to have him ask me to manage the place, you know?"
Ali smiled warmly, nodding. "It's a big responsibility. And I know you'll do great." She gathered the woman in a friendly hug, doing that side-to-side thing again. Pulling back, she said, "But don't hesitate to call if you change your mind. The invitation stands."
I reached out to take Lauren's hand, this time my smile was entirely genuine. "I just wanted to let you know that I had a little talk with Keith before the cops came in. Your secret, whatever it is, is safe. Keith won't be breathing a word to anyone."
Her bottom lip quivered as she choked out her thanks.
I just shook my head and pointed at Ali. "It was her idea. I was just doing what she wanted. And I may have taken pleasure in making the little maggot squirm one more time before they hauled him out." I leaned down and looked at both women, my expression fierce as I recalled their ordeal. "I want you both to know that as long as there was breath in my body, he never would have touched either of you." I damn well meant that. Every single word.
Neither of them spoke, choosing quiet hugs over further conversation.
A few minutes later Ali and I piled back into the truck, finally on our way out of the tiny town, the mountains in the rearview, and the future sprawling out ahead.
THE WEEK AT Gran's went better than I ever could have hoped — so much so that we ended up staying on for an extra week. Ali and Gran only butted heads once or twice, each time managing to come to a compromise, or what I called a split decision.
Talia called every afternoon, and Ali spoke to Jeffrey regularly, happily relaying the news that her dad was finally seeing someone. Seeing him smiling into his phone at the hospital that day had given me that impression, but it wasn't my place to mention it to Ali. I knew he'd tell her in his own time.
Spencer had come to visit and brought Ali's canvases, earning him a huge hug and teary thanks. He'd blushed with embarrassment and waved off the gratitude, telling her it was what family did for each other.
And we had the best family in the world.
We sat in Gran's living room the afternoon after his visit, Ali and me on the plush floral sofa, and Gran to our left on the matching love seat. It was the same furniture she'd had as long as I could remember, and it still looked brand new. The fact that she had insisted on making Ali a little nest on that sofa spoke volumes about her fondness for my girl. No one had ever slept on that couch. Ever. Gran said it flattened the cushions. But she'd lovingly tucked Ali into a pile of homemade quilts and refused to let her move for the first couple of days.
Ali handed Gran and I each a brown paper covered canvas, an ethereal smile on her face.
Gran opened hers first, slowly tearing the paper away. She nearly dropped it as a startled sob tore from her throat. She looked at it through teary eyes for a moment, one hand clutched tightly to her chest before turning it around for me to see.
The scene Ali had painted stole my breath away. It was the lake, as expected, with the willow and the pier so expertly brushed it looked like a photograph. It was spectacular in its detail, the colors vivid and sharp but what made it truly breathtaking was the expertly rendered image of a woman standing beneath the willow, smiling peacefully as she looked out over the water.
My mother.
I looked from the canvas to Gran, eyes burning as I blinked back tears. She met my eye and smiled, turning the
painting back around and reaching a hand out to Ali. "Darling girl, this is the most precious thing I've been given since my grandsons were born. Thank you can't even begin to cover it." She stood and pulled Ali into a hug, kissing her cheek and whispering softly to her before turning to leave the room, blowing me a kiss on the way out.
Ali watched her leave with a fond smile before turning to me. "Gran said she thought we should be alone for a while. I think maybe she needed a minute herself."
She reclaimed her spot beside me on the couch, slipping the wrapped painting from my lap. "I should probably help you with this. It's not exactly a one-handed job." The endearing blush that crept up her neck would never get old. "Um, I mean... Oh, screw it. You know what I mean." She chuckled, the sound of her laughter somehow breaking the tension that had crept into my limbs.
She turned the canvas over, pulling the thin strips of tape off the thick brown paper. Once the back was open, she turned it right-side-up and placed it back in my lap, slowly sliding the covering away. I'd thought seeing Gran's painting had prepared me for what mine would be.
I was wrong.
The image was an up-close rendering of the lake, its depiction so real I expected to feel water dripping from my fingers as I trailed them over the surface. There in the lake my mother and my twelve-year-old self floated side by side, our fingers entwined to hold us close to one another, matching looks of serenity on our faces. The likeness was absolutely astonishing. Not only did she manage to capture my mother's face, every freckle, every curve, every fleck of gold in her hazel eyes; she also depicted me at twelve in such a way that I felt like I was back there. It felt more and more like a memory the longer I looked at it. I held something real from my past recreated in a tangible way to remind me of the happiest time of my childhood.
"I hope you don't mind that I used some of the pictures from the box Gran left you." She leaned into my shoulder, the warmth of her body blanketing me as I shook my head, too entranced to speak as I trailed my fingers lightly over my mother's cheek.
