Blood Walk (A Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Book 8)

by Melissa Bowersock

  The hand came away from his head, and his face was infused with rage. Red with it. He pointed the gun at Lacey. “Stop it! I’ll kill you! I’ll make you stop, you just watch.”

  “That’s my gun,” she said. “You’ve never shot a gun. You don’t know how. You don’t know where to aim. What if the gun kicks, and you miss? What if it pulls one way or another? You don’t even know where the safety is, do you?”

  Still almost apoplectic with rage, Ed heard the words, and they nettled. He turned the gun sideways and studied it.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Lacey saw some motion in the kitchen. The back door opening with just the slightest snick.

  “And once you find the safety,” she said to cover up the sound, “do you know how to check and see if there’s a bullet in the chamber? Do you know how to load it, if there isn’t?”

  Movement in the kitchen. She couldn’t look. She kept her eyes on Ed.

  “You’ve never fired a gun,” she continued. “It’s very loud. I use ear plugs when I’m practicing at the range. The noise can spook you. Some people even drop the gun. And it kicks. Are you ready for that? Some people end up putting a bullet in the ceiling by mistake. You have to hold it very tightly. Keep your arms straight.”

  “Shut up!” Ed said, his agitation clear. He pointed the gun at Lacey again. “Just shut up. We’ll just wait until Sam gets here. We’ll just wait.” He started back toward the couch.

  Lacey heard a small scuffing sound from the kitchen.

  “But you still don’t know how to shoot a gun. What are you going to do—go back to the knife there on the coffee table? Use the Taser? You’re sitting on the couch. How are you going to reach Sam when he comes in the front door?”

  “Stop it! Just be quiet!” Ed waved the gun at her with one hand, held his head with the other. He closed his eyes, grimacing with pain.

  Lacey took a chance and glanced toward the kitchen. Tommy was there, gun drawn; Sam was behind him. She jerked her head toward the couch.

  “Drop it!” Tommy called, shoving his gun around the corner. “Drop it now!”

  Ed jerked to life, a snarl on his face. He leaped to his feet, swung the gun toward Tommy, held his arms out straight and fumbled for the trigger.

  Tommy shot once, twice. Ed jerked backward; the gun went flying. Ed staggered, looking dumbly down at the ragged holes in his jacket, at the spreading dark stain. He looked up, his eyes sliding from Lacey to Tommy, then to Sam.

  “You!” he snarled. He raised one hand to point at Sam, but didn’t have the strength to complete the action.

  His eyes rolled upward and he crumpled to the floor.

  ~~~

  NINETEEN

  Lacey and Sam snuggled in the back seat of a cruiser, oblivious to the comings and goings of officers or the flashing strobe of bubble lights on other cars in the parking lot. The police had roped off a chunk of the lot in front of their apartment, so they were protected from the crowd of onlookers that gathered outside the tape boundary.

  “You’ve still got some glue on your wrists,” he noted. He held up one of her hands and plucked the bit of tape residue from her skin.

  “It’ll all come off in the shower,” she said. She tipped her face up to him. “Is there any on my face, around my mouth?”

  He studied her. “No. But it’s kinda red.”

  “I’m not surprised. He ripped it off. Hurt like hell.” She rubbed her left shoulder. “I’m just glad he Tased my left arm and not the right. That arm’s been through enough.”

  Sam pulled her closer. “I’m just glad you’re okay. When I think what he could have done…”

  “He didn’t want me,” she said. “He was only after you. And I couldn’t let that happen.”

  “So what did you do? How did you get him to that place where I could feel him?”

  “Remember you thought the connection was emotional?” She shrugged. “I just made him mad. I told him what we knew—about his mother, his helplessness. I kept hammering him with it, knowing his emotions were raging, knowing he was ready to blow. And I knew you could get in.” She tilted her head up again. “I was just trying to warn you, so you didn’t walk in unprepared. I never thought about you calling Tommy. That was a great idea.”

  “It seemed like a good time to call in the cavalry,” he said. “You had the only gun—or Ed did.”

  “I’m glad he didn’t know how to handle it. That whole thing could have been a lot dicier if he did.” She sighed. “But we won’t have to worry about him anymore. Much as I don’t wish anyone dead, I’m glad he is. Can you imagine being inside his head the whole time he’d be on trial? When he’d be in prison?”

  Sam was silent for a moment, no doubt imagining that very thing. “Ugh,” he said. “I hadn’t thought of that.” Lacey felt him quiver slightly, as with a chill. “No, it’s better this way. I’m not crazy about the police being judge and jury, but we all know without a doubt that he was guilty.”

  “And he would have killed you, probably Tommy and me, too, if he could. No, it’s much better this way.”

  The front door of the cruiser opened, and Captain Shaw settled in the front seat. The car rocked with his added weight. He turned to get a good look at them.

  “You’re both okay?” he asked.

  “Fine,” Lacey said. Sam nodded.

  “Good.” His voice was a growl, but his dark eyes sparkled. “I don’t want anything happening to my best contract employees.”

  “Oh, that’s right,” Lacey said. “Hey, do we get hazard pay for this? I don’t remember if that was in our contract.”

  Shaw regarded her quietly, his face impassive. “I’ll see if we can work out some kind of bonus,” he said.

  She grinned at him.

  “Now,” Shaw said, “as soon as we get the body out of there, we’ll let you go back in and pack up a few things for a night in a hotel. We’ll be working all night in there, but we should be done by morning.”

  “That’s fine,” Lacey sighed.

  “All right. They should let you know shortly.” He popped open his door. “Oh. I hear there are congratulations in order.”

  “That’s right.” Lacey smiled up at Sam.

  “When’s the big day?”

  “April twenty-sixth.”

  “In Arizona,” Shaw recalled.

  “Yes, but we’ll have a reception here in May. I gotta celebrate with all my besties.”

  Shaw nodded. “I’ll be there.”

  The big man climbed out of the car and closed the door. He tipped his head at them both in a silent salute and headed for the apartment, no doubt to check on the progress inside.

  Lacey saw EMTs bringing a body out on a stretcher. She shivered, and Sam held her close. After a moment, the ambulance pulled away slowly, without lights or siren.

  “So that’s done,” Sam said. “It’s over.”

  “Yeah.” She exhaled with relief. “Now there’s only one problem.”

  “Oh?” He looked down at her, one eyebrow arched in a question mark.

  “I have no idea what we’re going to have for dinner.”

  Sam laughed, full and hearty. “Whatever you want,” he said. “I’ll buy.”

  ~~~

  TWENTY

  Lacey stood beside her parents’ rental car and stared out over the stark Arizona landscape. The mesa Sam had chosen for their wedding had an otherworldly quality to it. Erosion of the gentle, rolling hills exposed striated layers of warm earth tones: red, brown, tan and gray. Stacks of rocks stood sentry, their layers looking for all the world like giant mounds of Pillsbury biscuit dough, not yet cooked to golden perfection. Above the rocks and earth, the sky was a brilliant turquoise, and an eagle soared in graceful circles.

  “It’s rather… desolate, isn’t it?” Judy, Lacey’s mother, murmured.

  “Mmm,” Lacey agreed. “Desolate, yet beautiful. It takes a little getting used to, I know. But this was important to Sam.”

  “We like him very much,” her da
d said. Steven had slipped one arm around his daughter’s waist, mindful not to muss her white dress. “He seems like a very genuine fellow.”

  “He is.” Lacey smiled. She knew this wasn’t exactly the way her parents had envisioned their only daughter’s wedding, but they were being game about it.

  Lacey glanced over at the setup for the ceremony. “They look like they’re about ready.”

  “It’s almost two,” her mother said.

  Four dozen folding chairs were set in rows on either side of an aisle delineated by bright Navajo rugs. The woven colors mirrored and enhanced the colors of the earth: deep red, brilliant turquoise, fiery orange and a muted slate gray.

  Most of the chairs were occupied by Navajos, their copper-colored faces warm in the sun. Sam’s family was too large for the groom’s side of the seating, and spilled over onto the bride’s side. Lacey’s family now. They all looked expectantly at the simple archway that had been erected at the front, the metal frame woven with flowers.

  Sam’s cousin, Arthur Firecloud, stood tall in his dark suit, his long hair flowing freely down his back. He was heavier than Sam, rounder of face. Noting that everyone had arrived, he nodded to his side.

  Sam approached, flanked by his brother, Gabe. They took up places to the right of Arthur, and turned toward the aisle.

  Roxanne joined Lacey and her parents. “Ready?” she asked.

  Lacey pulled in a deep breath. “Ready.”

  “Mrs. Fitzpatrick, would you like to take your seat?”

  Lacey’s mother nodded, and walked from the parking area to the open, outdoor church. She lifted her chin as she strode down the aisle and found her seat in the front row.

  Roxanne smiled at Lacey. “Let’s go.”

  Lacey slipped her arm through her father’s, and the couple followed Roxanne. At the first Navajo rug, Steven and Lacey paused. Someone somewhere cued up a portable sound system, and the thin, piping notes of a Navajo flue played “Here Comes the Bride.”

  They started forward, Lacey in her knee-length, full white dress, a wide turquoise belt ringing her waist. Her father in a dark suit, a turquoise carnation in his lapel, mirroring the ones in Lacey’s bouquet.

  Lacey never considered herself a crier; it took a lot to move her to tears. But when she looked down the aisle and saw Sam standing there, waiting for her, the tears welled up. He was so beautiful: black pants and a white shirt, with a turquoise bolo tie, his hair pulled back in a ponytail, shining blue-black in the sun. His dark eyes drank her in, and she almost missed a step.

  Her father stopped in front of Arthur, and Lacey’s mother stood on her other side.

  Arthur began speaking in his quiet yet full voice. “Beloved family and friends, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman together as one spirit in marriage. Who brings this woman to be married this day?”

  “Her mother and I,” Steven said. Both parents kissed her cheek, and her dad motioned her forward while they took their seats.

  She handed her bouquet to Roxanne and stepped up next to Sam. His eyes shone, and his mouth curved in the slightest smile.

  The words that Arthur spoke washed over her, the syllables lost in the fragile wave of love and contentment, while the meaning flowed through her, filling her up. Only when she heard the words, “Do you have the ring?” and Sam turned to face her did she swim up into awareness. She turned to Sam and let him take her hand in his strong, gentle fingers.

  “Repeat after me,” Arthur said, offering the vows.

  Sam’s quiet, clear voice rang out. “I, Samson Benjamin Firecloud, do take you as my lawful wedded wife, to love, honor and cherish, to have and to hold from this day forward ’til death do us part.”

  As he spoke, Sam slipped the ring over the tip of her finger and slid it home to that place connected directly to the heart. Lacey raised her face to his, tears starring her eyes.

  “Do you have the ring?” Arthur asked her. She took it from her own thumb where she’d worn it for safekeeping, and held it ready. “Repeat after me…”

  “I, Lacey Cathleen Fitzpatrick, do take you as my lawful wedded husband, to love, honor and cherish, to have and to hold from this day forward ’til death do us part.”

  She slid the ring on his finger, feeling satisfaction at the perfect way it fit, not too tight, not too loose, and at the contrast of white gold and turquoise against his warm brown skin.

  They held hands as Arthur completed the benediction. Lacey’s heart swelled with a pure, quiet joy, and she saw the same reflected in Sam’s dark eyes. This man—her partner, her friend, her lover—now her husband.

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

  Sam’s head dipped down, his full, sculpted lips moving over hers. Love, honor, cherish. He did that and more in that simple kiss. Lacey felt her soul rising up and out of her body, buoyant, weightless, soaring. With his.

  Arthur addressed the crowd. “May I present to you Samson and Lacey Firecloud.”

  She faltered a little as they turned together toward the audience, but Sam’s strong grip strengthened her. They faced their friends and family, beaming as they accepted the heartfelt applause. Gabe motioned for people to rise, and rise they did, standing, clapping, laughing, crying. Roxanne pressed the bouquet back into Lacey’s hand, and then the newly wedded pair began their first walk together as husband and wife.

  Lacey cried.

  ~~~

  TWENTY-ONE

  The party at Gabe and Roxanne’s was a sprawling, noisy event. Children ran through the house or outside in the open yard, Daniel and Kenzie swept up in their cousins’ excitement. Adults crowded the dining room table, sampling the contributed dishes while Gabe and Modesto manned the barbecue outside, flipping burgers and checking steaks. Lacey and Sam floated through the well-wishers, sometimes together, sometimes apart, as they rode the tide of celebration. It was a barely organized free-for-all, punctuated by laughter and the loud pop of champagne bottles.

  Lacey stopped for a moment beside her brother and his wife, Fran, talking to Roxanne.

  “Where are Tina and Robbie?” she asked, looking around for her niece and nephew.

  “Are you kidding?” Sean asked. “They’re outside with the rest of the kids and the dogs, climbing rocks, getting dirty. This is better than Disneyland.”

  She hugged Sean and Fran. “I’m so glad you could come.”

  “We wouldn’t miss it,” Sean said. He winked at her. “Now Mom can quit trying to set you up with my co-workers.”

  Fran took Lacey’s hand and examined her ring. “That’s gorgeous,” she said, “and so different. Where did you find it?”

  “Sam’s cousin Wesley made it. He’s a silversmith, and he’s around here somewhere.” She looked across the crowd but couldn’t pick out the man right then.

  “Is everyone here Sam’s cousin?” Fran asked.

  Lacey laughed. “Just about. Cousins, nephews and nieces.” She nodded toward the couch, where her parents sat with Ben. “Except for Sam’s grandfather, of course.”

  Ben caught her looking, and she moved that way. The frail old man had traded his usual flannel shirt for an undyed cotton overshirt. He wore his silver-white hair back in the traditional Navajo bun, and a turquoise squash blossom necklace lay on his thin chest.

  “Ben,” Lacey greeted him. She kissed his leathery cheek and settled next to him, her parents on his other side.

  “Lacey.” He grinned at her, and took both of her hands in his. “Very pretty.” He motioned toward her dress.

  “Thank you,” she said. “You’re very sweet. Mom, Dad, Ben probably hasn’t told you, but he’s a master potter.”

  “Really?” Lacey’s mom leaned closer. “How do you make your pottery?”

  While Ben explained in his halting English, Lacey slipped over to her dad’s side. “Quite a family, isn’t it?” she said.

  “Heck of a lot bigger than our little group,” he said. “They’re good people, aren’t they
?”

  “The best,” she said. “I think you can see why Sam and I wanted to do this here.”

  He nodded. “Yes, I do. And it’s great. We never spent much time in Arizona, even when we lived in LA, so it’s nice to see some new territory. It is beautiful in its own way.”

  “And magical,” she added, although she didn’t plan on going into details. “By the way,” she said, “there’s a horseshoe tournament going on outside. I think you ought to get in on that.”

  “Horseshoes?” He glanced around. “Where?”

  Lacey laughed. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

  The tournament was going strong. Modesto—freed from grill duty—maintained his position as reigning champion. Lacey introduced her father to a half dozen Fireclouds and they let him steal into the place of next challenger. Lacey chuckled at the sight of her red-haired father in the sea of dark heads.

  She drifted past the barbecue, noting Gabe had been replaced by another Firecloud. She supposed she should eat something, although she wasn’t really hungry. Fueled by love and contentment, she thought. But still… She went back inside and sampled some of the delicious homemade side dishes.

  “Hey, don’t I know you?” Sam crept up behind her and kissed her neck.

  “I think I’ve seen you somewhere,” she said, turning to slip her arms around his neck. “You’re one of those Fireclouds, right?”

  He kissed her fully. “Just like you.” He grinned.

  She tilted her head at him. “That’s right, I am. Mrs. Sam Firecloud. I like that.”

  He stared down into her eyes, held her face in his hands and kissed her again. “Me, too.”

  She settled against him, her head on his chest, the familiar heartbeat beneath her ear. She sighed.

  “Happy?” he asked, holding her close.

  “Oh, yeah.” She felt his strong arms around her, looked out at the quiet chaos of the celebration, at the welcome meeting of diverse cultures and unfamiliar families. She nestled closer to him and nibbled his ear. “Happier than I’ve ever been in my life.”