“The hell you think you’re goin’?” another voice boomed, this one the coldest, vilest, most demonic voice Sam had ever encountered. It put shivers straight down his spine.
“Relax. You can have ’em back,” Sam’s immediate captor soothed. “Once we get our cut, that is.”
“Cut? What cut?” the vile voice snarled. “That Southern asshole we’re paying, not you.”
“Shame. Guess these are comin’ with us then.” The man holding Sam writhed again, his head turned backwards. “Charlie, take ’em.”
A metallic click stopped them dead. “I said, they’re not goin’ anywhere.”
“And I say they are.” The sharp blade was now biting hard into Sam’s throat and a hint of something wet was becoming apparent. Behind him, he heard Josh cry out. “We left one for you.”
“I don’t think so, boy,” the evil man sneered. “The deal was for all of ’em.”
“Then I guess you can make some arrangements. Twenty for each. Fair going rate, considering they’re damaged goods anyway.” Sam hissed as he tried to get his feet to cooperate with the pull of his captor against his shoulders. He was tilted dangerously off-balance, and he fought to get his bearings.
“Not gettin’ one dime,” the man with the cold, vile voice spat. “Boys, take ’em.”
“Remy, run!” Sam shouted just before all hell broke loose. A sharp blow to his captor caught Sam up in the mix, sending both tumbling to the floor and knocking the knife away. “Run!”
* * *
Remy froze. He watched out of the corner of his eye as one of the black men dragged a struggling Josh toward the front door. The other seemed to be wrestling with Sam and a third man on the dirty carpeted floor while dodging bullets. There were a number of large bodies stirring, and Sam’s shout spurred them into action. Remy’s focus, however, lay on the thin, disheveled figure that was his uncle, staring at him as though he were a prize ham ripe for the taking. His heart raced, and a shout from Josh snapped him out of the silent spell he was about to fall into.
“Remy!” the younger man cried. “Help!”
“The hell you think you’re going, boy?” Cooper bellowed, rising sharply from the sofa he’d occupied.
“Remy, run!” Sam yelled again, struggling to wriggle out of his attacker’s grasp. The more willowy black man was nearly laying on top of the tall blind man, and Sam was having trouble shifting out from under his captor’s weight. “Just run!”
Something flickered in Remy’s line of sight, and a large, unkempt, heavyset man with a bushy beard came barreling toward him. “Not goin’ anywhere, kid,” the man growled.
Remy cast his gaze toward Josh, who had managed to kick his captor, a massive black man, square in the shins. The knife nestled at Josh’s throat pulled away a little with the surprise of the attack, and Josh managed to slip under his captor’s arm. He raced toward Remy. “What now?” he yelled.
“Come on!” Remy shouted, trying to be heard over the racket in the room. The eldest of the three tenants saw an unguarded door and grabbed Josh’s arm. “This way!” Both young men bolted through into a small kitchen. There was a sliding glass door on one side. Remy grabbed the handle and pulled, to no avail. “Shit!”
Josh slipped his small hands onto the side of the handle. “There’s a lock,” he said. “Just…there!” The door slid easily, and the pair ran out into the cold winter night.
“Get after them!” a deep voice shouted. “They’re gettin’ away!”
“Son of a bitch!” another voice said, one Remy knew very, very well. “We lose that one, it’s over!”
Remy paid the voices no mind. He ran flat out, heaving in the freezing air as he raced to put distance between his captors and himself. Just behind him, Josh was breathing heavily, his shoes crunching in the snow in an attempt to keep up. “Remy?” he asked, the word coming in gulps.
“Not now, Josh!”
“No, Remy…”
“You wanna get caught?”
“But…”
“Shut up!”
The pair raced for the woods, the sounds of loud crunchy footsteps trailing behind them in the distance. Once they reached the treeline, Remy spotted a pair of fallen trees that could easily hide them. “Here,” he said, pulling Josh with him as he jumped in-between them. “Now, shh.”
Josh heaved his breath in gulps, but said nothing. The sounds of voices and feet trickled through the stands of bare trees, and Remy willed himself to be absolutely silent so that he could hear them.
“They gotta be somewhere,” a voice said, one of the rough, evil ones he’d heard through the basement ceiling. “Start lookin’.”
“In the dark? Good luck,” another voice said, this one similar to the first. Remy wished he could peek over the large tree trunk that hid him to try and see who he was running from. There was something about the voices that seemed familiar, though he couldn’t place them.
“No. We gotta find ’em. Especially that nephew of Cooper’s.”
“Fuck it. Leave ’em to freeze.”
“You wanna get paid? Cause we ain’t unless we get that kid.”
A third set of footsteps came closer. “Find ’em yet?”
“No. We’re lookin’.”
Something was poking Remy hard in the ribs. “What?” he hissed, glaring at his companion.
“Remy, isn’t that…?” Josh whispered.
“Shut up!”
“No, Remy, isn’t that…?”
The sound of footsteps grew closer. The stars twinkled in the night sky, and a shadow was casting over them. The effect had Remy at a loss. “Gotcha!” a voice cried out, thick hands grabbing both Remy and Josh by the arm. “Look what I found!”
“Let go!” Josh shouted. “Get off me!”
“Feisty one, huh?” the man said as his compatriots hurried over. “Maybe I should break your legs, kid, see how feisty you are then.”
“Leave him alone!” Remy yelled. Another pair of hands grabbed him and Remy shied away from the touch violently. “Let go of me!”
“Well, well,” his captor spat. This man was as large as the other men, but clean shaven. He smelled of beer. “Looks like we found Cooper’s golden goose.”
“And you’re gonna get us paid, too,” the man with the cold, demonic-sounding voice said, grinning from ear to ear. The expression chilled Remy to his core. If ever evil had a face, he thought, this guy’s is it.
“Gonna have to watch ’em better,” Josh’s keeper said. “Pretty pricey things to be losin’ like this.”
“Those two guys with that Southerner have gotta go,” the ringleader with the Cheshire Cat smile declared. Then he stepped closer to Remy and Josh. “Try something like that again, and the boys will be practicing target shootin’ out here---with live targets.” He eyed each young man up in turn, and Remy saw the fear roll through his young friend. A thick shiver raced down his own back, and it wasn’t from the cold.
“Now,” the man said, pulling out a large handgun from his belt. “Move. Don’t try anythin’ cute.”
“Oh, shit,” Remy breathed. Josh’s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets as he stared at the weapon pointed at him. Their guards pushed them in the direction of the house. The two young men trudged in silence through the thick snow back toward their prison.
Chapter 37
Evan shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat of the old panel van. His hands were bound behind him with a plastic tie, and it made trying to settle in difficult. “I wasn’t planning to fight you,” he said, turning toward the man who had started this whole nightmare.
“I know. But, better safe than sorry.”
The vehicle trundled on, turning down darker and more rural roads as they went. There’s nowhere to go, Evan thought. Even if the kids managed to escape, where would they run to?
“I’ve been waiting for this a long time, Liam.” The statement broke Evan out of his thoughts. “Spent five long years wondering where you’d run off to. I knew you’d left Carol
ina. Was just a matter of figuring out where you’d gone.”
“How…how did you know I’d left?” Evan was fairly sure he knew the answer to his question, but a part of him needed to be sure.
“Good help is hard to come by these days.” Dayton fell silent again, and Evan stared out the mud-spattered window. “I’d hoped that you’d be a little more understanding,” the scraggly man said, breaking the silence. “After all, you did owe me.”
“You wanted a connection, not repayment. I offered you twice what I owed. You turned me down.”
“What good was a grand when I could make ten grand, maybe more?” Dayton turned to glare at his captive. “You’re a businessman now, of sorts. Don’t tell me you just fix all that crap for all those townies back there out of the goodness of your heart.”
“How do you know what I do for a living?”
Dayton chuckled. “Like I said, I had a lot of time to learn patience. Been watching you for months. Since before the holidays, actually.”
The thought of this man spying on his every move, on Rachel and his young tenants’ every move, chilled him to his core. “W-why?” he asked.
“Had to know what you were up to. Made something of yourself, I see. It’s almost quaint. Did you really think you could just run away and start over, no strings attached?”
Evan wanted to retort, but held his tongue.
“What?” Dayton chuckled. “Nothing to say? Not gonna educate me on the error of my thinking?”
“What’s the point? You’re planning to kill me. I know it. Why not just pull over and do it?”
“Oh, Liam,” Dayton tsked. “Now, I’m not as uncivilized as all that.”
“No. No, you just hire others to do the messy part for you,” Evan responded.
The car stopped abruptly, sending Evan sharply forward in his seat. Only the loose seatbelt kept him from going through the windshield. “Come again?”
Evan glared at his former friend. “I know it was you, Dayton. Three weeks after I testified? You were hoping it would look like a deal gone bad, or something along that line. I saw the little bags of…”
A hand struck Evan’s angular face hard. The man winced. “Someone owed me a favor. Just so happened he knew the name of the man who had just taken his dealer out of commission. Wasn’t hard. But don’t ever say that I had it hired out. Not ever!”
“Same difference.”
“No. No, no, no. See, I wanted my old friend to suffer, not die. Dying? Too quick, too easy.”
“So, what? The guy was just supposed to scare me? Into what? I’d already testified!”
“And what’s to stop a man from going in and saying he made a mistake? Just a terrible, terrible mistake? Nothing.” Dayton’s face grew darker than the night sky. “That’s all it was.”
“I was there. So was Keith, my lead pharmacist. You and your…friends, you were all armed. It was no mistake, Dayton. You knew exactly what you were doing.”
“So did you, when you came looking for me. I wanted you to recant. That whole case was built on the testimony of a common addict! One little pissant addict with a conscience. Take your story out of it, and I was free and clear.”
Evan chuckled darkly.
“What’s so funny?” Dayton demanded.
“You. You don’t get it, do you?” Evan’s chuckles grew deeper. “Seriously, you never will.”
The car jerked back onto the road. “We’ll see who’s laughing when this is all said and done,” the Southerner spat, his teeth clenched.
Chapter 38
Inside the small house, the living room teemed with anger and paranoia. In the middle of the tiny space three young men sat with their backs to each other and their ankles now bound along with their wrists. Remy’s zip tie was dark with blood as the hard plastic had cut into his skin, and Josh’s joints were only slightly better off. Sam’s shirt was stained with blood from old and new wounds. Parts of his collar had begun to stiffen, but fresh blood stained one sleeve leaving it bright crimson.
“Well, now we got ’em,” one of the men said, the large, evil ringleader. Remy looked around and saw his uncle standing near the front window, leaning against a wall like he was holding it up. “What’s the plan?”
“We’re leavin’ this place,” Cooper said, and Remy’s breath caught. “Do what you want with the other two, but that bastard nephew of mine is comin’ with me. Just make sure you don’t kill ’em, is all.”
“W-why?” Sam stammered out, his words slurring. Remy had seen the condition he’d been left in once he’d been forced through the sliding door and into their new prison—Sam was sporting a freshly blackened eye as well as a large egg on his scalp. He was also favoring his left shoulder as they sat.
“Don’t mistake it for kindness, blind man,” Cooper replied. “But see, my nephew needs a carrot to work with if he’s gonna behave.”
“And we…we’re th-the carrot,” Sam said, heaving a large breath.
“I’m not a carrot,” Josh protested.
“Shut it,” one of the other large men said, giving Josh a gentle slap across the face. The sound of Josh’s cry struck Remy, and he seethed with quiet anger.
The sound of a door opening took everyone’s attention. Remy and Josh turned their heads in unison while Sam’s ears visibly perked up. “What the hell is goin’ on here?” the Southerner asked, shoving a figure before him. The body fell to the ground, and Remy realized who it was.
“Evan!” Josh cried out. “What…?”
“Josh, be quiet,” Remy admonished. He too was staring in wonder at this sudden turn of events.
“Good idea, brat,” the Southerner said, kicking Evan in the ribs as he stood over him. Remy heard the sharp cry that Evan tried to muffle, and behind him he felt Sam tense up. “Be quiet and hear him tell you why you’re here.”
“What?” Remy asked.
“Go on, Liam. Tell them.” The Southerner kicked Evan again, and this time he did cry out.
“Who is Liam?” Sam asked. “I’ve never heard of him.”
“He’s…he’s me, Sam,” Evan said, his voice toneless. “Before I came here, my name wasn’t Evan. It was Liam. Liam Collier.”
“Well, why are you Evan now?” Josh wondered.
“Yes, Liam,” the Southerner asked. “Why are you Evan now?”
“I made some mistakes. I wanted to start over. I…I thought I could run away from my problems.”
“And how did that work out?” the Southerner chortled.
“Not…not very well, o-obviously,” Sam said, his words slurring harder. Remy wondered how hard he’d been hit.
“No, I would say not.” The Southern man knelt down, his face parallel to both Josh’s and Remy’s own. “See, my old friend here, he betrayed me.”
“No he wouldn’t!” Josh yelled, earning a sharp kick for his pains. “Ow!”
“Oh, he did. Cost me my business, among other things.”
“Evan?” Remy asked tentatively. “Is that true?”
“Yes, Remy. It is. But what was your business, Dayton?” Evan’s eyes sparkled. “I notice you’re leaving things out in this story.”
“None of your concern, kid.”
“No, you want this told right. He was a dealer, Remy. Sold pills to anyone who had the cash.”
Remy tensed. Behind him, he felt Sam shy away from the words. “You…you sold drugs?” Josh asked, slowly processing what was going on.
“Not unlike your friend here, kid. Except I could name my own price.”
“You were a dealer too, Dyer?” Cooper asked, a gleam in his eyes. “Always thought you were too sanctimonious for your own good.”
“I was a pharmacy intern. That means I was studying to be a pharmacist, Josh. I sold pills to people at a pharmacy. I filled prescriptions written by doctors. Dayton sold to anyone, whether they should have them or not. There’s a big difference.”
“So…so you were like the people at Hanover’s?”
“Kind of. I was still learn
ing to be a pharmacist, like them. I didn’t like it.”
“And that’s why you came here?”
Evan nodded, the effect lost as his head shook parallel to the floor he lay upon. “I came here, met Rachel, and started fixing things. Then I met her tenants, and then you guys moved in.”
“Touching, Liam,” the man called Dayton spat. Then he looked at Cooper. “You can have them now,” he said. “I got what I wanted out of him.” Then he looked around. “Where’s my men?”
“In the basement. I’d keep an eye on them.” The man with the vile Cheshire Cat grin laughed. “Tried to steal what wasn’t theirs. They learned fast.”
Remy swallowed thickly. He had a feeling he knew what was in the basement.
“Why did you change your name?” The room fell silent as Sam’s question came forth.
“Yes, Liam,” Dayton said. “You never did answer that. Why did you? I’m dying to know.”
No one spoke as Evan bit his lip. “Evan?” Remy prodded gently.
A sigh came from Evan’s lungs. “Someone was trying to hurt me. I was almost killed. I moved North from where I was living, and somewhere in the middle I heard the name Evan. I liked it. I saw a shop called Dyer’s, and I liked that too. When I got to Rachel’s place my first night in town, I used that as my name. It stuck. I had my name changed shortly after that.”
“Someone was trying to kill you? Why?”
“Because I helped send them to prison. They’re pretty pissed at me.”
Remy realized what Evan was trying to say. “I’ll say,” he said. “He’s kind of an asshole, huh?”
Evan chuckled a little, and Remy figured it was from nerves. “I guess you could say that.”
Fury washed over Dayton’s weathered face. He struck Remy square across the jaw. “Watch your mouth, or you’ll be in the basement next,” he warned.
Remy fell silent.
“Come on, brat,” Cooper said, grabbing Remy by his arm and snapping the tie around his ankles. “This has been fun, but now you’re coming with me. No one left to save you now,” he added, pointedly staring at Evan as he dragged Remy behind him. “Bring the other two. I want my nephew properly motivated.”
In the House On Lakeside Drive Page 18
