Hereafter [McKnight, Perth & Daire 2] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Beth D. Carter

  “Shut up,” Deputy Darling ordered. He grabbed Melody’s arm and dragged her over to the nearest police car. “Hand over your cell phone and get into the backseat.”

  Melody brought her phone out of her purse and held it out. Deputy Darling took it and tossed it away before holding open the car door. Melody slid in, and he slammed the door before turning toward Charlotte.

  “Throw your phone away, too.”

  “But this is my new phone!”

  “Do it!”

  With a huff she complied, glaring at him.

  “Now, take me where you have the fucking book. Then you’ll have an hour to tell me all about it.”

  Her fear factor just wrenched up a notch. “What does that mean?”

  He flicked the safety off his gun and brought it up to her face.

  “Stop!” Charlotte whimpered. “I don’t know how to read that book.”

  “I think you’re lying.”

  Her mind raced. If she played along maybe it could buy her a little time in the hopes that Jonas and Nash could…what? Miraculously come rescue her? This wasn’t a sappy cop story with a happy ever after ending. She had to be practical.

  Her gaze flicked over to Melody. As if reading her thoughts, she slowly shook her head, telling her not do anything stupid.

  But what else could she do?

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  Deputy Darling smiled, although it didn’t reach his dark, flat eyes. “Good. And remember, Miss Perth, if you don’t cooperate, she’s the one who’ll suffer. Clear?”

  “Crystal.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “There are a lot of Feds here today,” Jonas murmured as he joined Nash.

  Jonas gave a nod at the two men in suits who were on their cell phones.

  “They’re Parkinson and Brice,” Nash told him. “I’ve been collaborating with them.”

  “Oh, those are your Feds?”

  “Not mine, per se,” Nash grumbled. “They prefer working at the crack of dawn, which is just inhuman. I’ll be happy to see the last of them after this case.”

  Parkinson shot him a glare, indicating that he’d heard Nash’s complaint.

  “No offense,” Nash assured the scowling Federal officer.

  Parkinson turned his back. Nash gave a one-shoulder shrug, and Jonas found himself hiding his smile.

  “So, what’s going on?” he asked.

  “Some interesting facts have come to light,” Nash replied.

  “Facts?”

  “Yeah, take a look at these reports,” Nash said, handing over some papers.

  Jonas read through the first one. “The rest of the ME report. Like we thought, there wasn’t any viable DNA on the bodies. What about in the club?”

  “Still running the swabs.”

  Jonas opened the next folder. “Ballistics came back on the rounds fired at Charlotte yesterday. The round that struck the house was a .45 caliber fired from a Smith and Wesson that was supposed to be in police custody?”

  Nash held out another piece of paper. Jonas took it and read through it quickly.

  “Who’s J Darling?”

  “The deputy.”

  “Oh,” Jonas said, surprised. “I thought his name was Bruce.”

  “Parkinson and Brice just finished talking to Sheriff Ratcliff,” Nash stated. “Deputy Darling was the man who signed it into custody, but the gun was never signed out.”

  “What does Deputy Darling say?”

  “He never made it in today. But more interesting is the fact that the good deputy was nowhere to be found at the time of the shooting yesterday. And finally, the coup de grâce,” Nash said as Jonas opened the last folder.

  It only took a moment for Jonas’s head to snap up. His eyes were wide. “Kendra had been arrested for prostitution at the dance club attached to the Here After club.”

  “Only, I think that report was fudged. I don’t think she was arrested on the dance portion side,” Nash told him. “I saw girls just like her waiting to be bought for an evening of entertainment in the Here After club. Look who the arresting officer was.”

  “Sheriff Ratcliff. But that’s not even his jurisdiction. Was he spying on the place?”

  “Doesn’t fucking matter,” Nash muttered. “What matters is Ratcliff knew about the connection between the girls, and he never said a damn word about it.”

  “So he’s protecting the Here After club?’

  “Or protecting someone at the club,” Nash stated.

  “Well that’s just fucking great.” As Jonas read through the reports again, he saw one name at the bottom that suddenly froze his insides. “Sheriff Ratcliff’s name is Earl?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “Charlotte found Candace’s book and the last entry was DMER dash U slash F. Danny McCoin Earl Ratcliff dash U slash F.”

  “What the hell does that mean? Speaking of Charlotte, where the hell is she?”

  Jonas looked over where he left her and Melody. They weren’t standing at the side, staying out of trouble, where he left them.

  “Maybe they went to the restroom,” he suggested.

  Nash looked over at the door marked Ladies. “Okay. We’ll wait for a moment.”

  He folded his arms across his chest.

  “Listen, Nash,” Jonas said quietly. “I talked with Charlotte last night.”

  “Yeah? What about?”

  “You.”

  Jonas could tell that startled him. Nash turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised, waiting.

  “She wants you. She…still has feelings for you.”

  “And?”

  “And…God, I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but she needs us both, or she’s not going to be completely happy.”

  Nash didn’t say anything for a moment. He simply looked Jonas up and down, measuring. “I don’t know if you realize this, but she lives in a different state.”

  “Are you opposed to moving?”

  “Hm,” Nash murmured, noncommittal. “And then what, we organize a custody schedule?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “I’m not. I’m asking logical questions. You say sharing, I ask how.”

  Jonas frowned.

  “And, truthfully Jonas, can you tell me you won’t ever be jealous?”

  “Can you?” Jonas fired back.

  The two men stared at each other, measuring one another, until Nash suddenly frowned and looked at the still-closed Ladies door.

  “I know women take a while, but they’ve been in there a bit too long, I think,” he said.

  Jonas walked over to the door and knocked. “Charlotte?”

  When no answer came forth, he tentatively opened the door and looked inside. “Shit,” he muttered. “They’re not here.”

  “Let’s check outside,” Nash replied.

  Nash led the way out of the cramped room and out the door, but immediately they saw that Charlotte and Melody were nowhere to be found.

  “Let me call her,” Nash said. He pushed a button on his phone and waited. A second later, they heard the ringing coming from some weeds. Jonas took off after the ringing and picked up her phone.

  Nash shut his off. “This is not good.”

  “Here’s another phone,” Jonas stated. He picked it up and looked at the history. “It’s Melody’s. Someone took them. Deputy Darling?”

  “Fuck!” Nash muttered under this breath.

  “One of the cop cars is gone,” Jonas pointed out. “Come on, we need to track that car.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Charlotte watched as J Darling drove into the parking lot of her hotel. She hadn’t known how to stall, and so she’d blurted out the actual place where she’d put the book. He parked far from the door, toward the back, turning the patrol car so as not to be easily seen. As soon as he turned off the motor, his gun came out, aimed straight at Charlotte.

  “Now, we’re going inside to get that book,” he informed them. “You’ll walk first, Miss Perth, and
if you do one thing out of line, she’s as good as dead. Understand?”

  There was no bluffing in his tone. Slowly, she nodded.

  He came around to her side and opened her door, keeping his gun trained steadily on Melody. Charlotte only had a moment to glance at the other woman, trying to soothe her as much as possible. And then he was pushing her forward, into the back entrance of the hotel, his arm keeping Melody’s body tightly beside him.

  They rode up to the second floor in silence, although Charlotte was consciously aware of the gun. Her nerves were strung tight as a piece of dental floss between two teeth. But she held it together, trying to keep her mind clear as she thought of a way out of this mess.

  She opened her door, and he bustled them inside.

  “Get the book.”

  She nodded and turned to the desk. Her gaze fell upon Kendra’s phone, so she used her body to shield the fact that she grabbed it with her free hand. Then, as she picked up the book and turned, she quickly dropped the phone into her pocket.

  Charlotte held the book up. “Here it is. Can we go now?”

  Slowly, he shook his head. “I’m afraid my wife has a little score to settle with you, Miss Perth.”

  That made her nerves skyrocket.

  “What? But…but you got what you wanted—”

  “Come on,” he said, pointing with his gun. “She’s waiting out front.”

  Charlotte wanted to stay put, because she knew Cecelia Duwhite didn’t have anything nice planned for her. In fact, Charlotte figured if she and Melody got into Cecelia’s car, it would be the last thing they ever did.

  “Don’t,” Deputy Darling warned.

  “Don’t what?”

  “Don’t make me shoot you here.”

  With one look at the steely resolve in his eyes, she knew it wasn’t just a threat. She gave a shaky nod and took Melody’s hand. They walked out of the room, the knowledge of his gun trained on her back making her stomach flip with dread.

  Cecelia Duwhite waited out front in a white Cadillac that sparkled in the sun. She watched Charlotte behind thick sunglasses, but the dark lenses didn’t lessen the impact of her icy glare. J Darling held open the back door and gestured for Charlotte and Melody to get in. They hesitated for only a moment before climbing in, the deputy squeezing in beside them.

  * * * *

  Cecelia drove them to Lake Wappapello.

  Charlotte had half expected the cavalry to come to the rescue, riding in to save them like they always do in the movies. But she didn’t think Cecelia and Deputy Darling had brought her and Melody all the way out here to drop them off.

  They drove her across the long bridge she’d seen the last time she’d been there, but instead of traveling to where they’d found the bodies, Cecelia parked under it. The lake stretched far in front of her, the hydroelectric plant letting the water stream through in controlled lines. Looking at the large expanse of water, Charlotte felt her anxiety rise. Crap, she couldn’t have a panic attack right now.

  “Get out,” Cecelia ordered.

  With J Darling’s gun poking her in the back, Melody opened the door and slowly got out. Charlotte followed her. As unobtrusively as possible, she eased her hand into her pocket and carefully dialed 911, hoping beyond hope that the operator wouldn’t ignore the call and would inform the numerous people at the Rock Ridge station that she and Melody needed help.

  “Give me the book,” Cecelia ordered. Jay held out the book and she snatched it up quickly, thumbing through it.

  “I tried telling him, it’s in code.”

  “Not that difficult a code if you know what you’re looking at,” Cecelia muttered. “Damn it!”

  “It’s just gibberish to me. So why was your marriage so secret?”

  “Because he’s the perfect enforcer on my side.” Cecelia flipped to the last page, and Charlotte saw the blond stiffen. “I knew it,” she whispered. “I know the bitch figured it out.”

  Charlotte glanced at Melody and shrugged. She didn’t want to have anything to do with Cecelia or that book. The woods were surrounding them. If they could just ease away and disappear inside the heavy foliage they could have a chance hiding from them until help came. Slowly, she took a step backward, tugging on Melody’s hand. She watched Cecelia and J Darling look through Candace’s damn journal and took another step back. But a second later, the deputy’s gun was trained directly on her.

  “I think it’s time to tie up this loose end,” he murmured.

  “Are you insane? You honestly think no one is going to figure out you’re the killer?” Charlotte asked. “Let us go. It’ll show leniency in court.”

  Cecelia smirked. “You think we’re going to get caught?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “Sweetie, all I’m caught up in is a sex scandal, and as much dirt I have on the judges in this district, as well as the sheriff, I’m pretty sure a fine and a slap on the wrist is all I’m going to have.”

  Charlotte’s eyes swung to the deputy.

  Cecelia walked over to her and grabbed her face. “The only proof of Jay being my husband lies in this book. With it gone, and you and Miss St. Cloud committing suicide, Jay walks scot-free.”

  “Why would you be in the book? Aside from the fact that Candace wrote about your marriage, all it talked about was blood and genetics.” And then suddenly it dawned on her. “Oh. You’re Danny’s mother.”

  Cecelia neither confirmed nor denied, but she did send Charlotte a sarcastic little smile.

  “My handsome husband will now escort you both to the top of the bridge where, sadly, you’re going to jump to your deaths, unable to tolerate this…gift you both have,” she said, sneering.

  Charlotte heard Melody whimper, and her heart thumped heavily as the knots in her stomach began to wildly churn. She shook her head. “No one is going to believe that we killed ourselves.”

  “It shall always be a mystery,” Cecelia replied. “I think it’s the perfect justification for ruining my club. I’m going to have to start all over again, and real estate is very difficult to find. My clients may even abandon me!”

  Charlotte wanted to ask if she was insane, but she already knew the answer. Jay took her arm while Cecelia grabbed Melody and together began to pull both of them along. Cecelia may not have had a gun, but Charlotte could see that Melody was too scared to do much more than stumble along. If they were going to get out alive, Charlotte knew it was going to rest all on her shoulders.

  She didn’t have time to be afraid. She didn’t have time to cower and worry about what was going to happen when they got to the top of the bridge. She struggled as much as she dared, but the deputy was a big brute of a man, and he had more strength in his little finger than she had in her whole body.

  She dragged her feet. She tried lifting his fingers up from his steely clasp, but he only smacked her hand away and tightened his grip. They were on the bridge now, and she could hear the whoosh of high-pressured water as it flew out of the hydro pipes. She knew no one could survive falling into the wave as it splattered upon the concrete below.

  “Don’t,” she gasped. “Please. I don’t like water. No one is going to believe I used it to off myself.”

  “Shut up!” he snarled. “You’ll be first.”

  He pulled her closer, dragging her to the side. Charlotte fought with everything she had, pushing away from the edge. She kicked back and felt a bit of satisfaction when she heard him grunt with pain. She went to kick again, but he blocked her, moving in closer to render her feet useless. Charlotte looked around, hoping to see someone, anyone, that could help them.

  How can there not be one single person?

  Charlotte screamed as she felt Jay lifting her up. He was going to throw her in! Instead of struggling and kicking, she grabbed onto him. If she was going over, he was coming with her. Her fingers wrapped themselves into his hair as she managed to hook one leg around his tree trunk of a leg, locking her ankle with her other.

  “Get off me, you bitch!�
� he yelled.

  She screamed again as he punched her side. Pain exploded through, but she refused to let loose. She wasn’t going to make it easy for him to kill her.

  He stumbled away from the edge and toppled backward. They hit the ground with a dull thud, and it knocked the breath out of her. Her grip loosened, and he rolled free, the gun coming around sharply and pressing against her forehead.

  “You’re going to jump now,” he ordered, his tone dark and deadly.

  “No, she’s not,” Sheriff Ratcliff stated.

  Jay startled, turning swiftly. Charlotte had never been so happy to see another human being in her life. She began to inch toward him.

  “Don’t, Earl!” Cecelia’s voice rang out.

  Charlotte stopped. She looked over and caught Melody’s terrified gaze and tried to convey a sense of calmness even though it was far from what she was feeling. It also didn’t help her when the gun wavered in Earl’s hand.

  “Help me,” she whispered although she wasn’t sure if he heard her over the roar of the water.

  “They have to die,” Cecelia continued, holding up the book. “They know. They’ve read this damn thing and they’ll tell!”

  “They don’t know everything.”

  “They know enough. And if people knew, your career is over and I may never be able to rebuild my clientele! What about our reputations?” Charlotte thought that sentiment, coming from a madam, completely hilarious but wisely kept the amusement to herself. Cecelia continued her tirade. “And what will Danny think? All he’s known is you as an uncle.”

  That made Charlotte pause. And then it hit her like a ton of bricks. She realized what the U slash F meant.

  “Oh my god,” she said. “It’s like Chinatown.”

  Cecelia blinked. “What?”

  “Of course,” Melody exclaimed, her eyes wide. “She’s my sister, she’s my daughter. Only this time it’s he’s his uncle he’s his father.”

  “That’s it, isn’t it?” Charlotte pointed between them. “You two had an incestuous relationship, and she got pregnant. Oh, ew!”

  “Shut up!” Cecelia screamed. “They have to die! Don’t you see that, Earl?”