1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Fourteen

by Kristen Ashley

  “Because I don’t even know what all’s in here,” he babbled. “A couple of times the guys came over while Hannah and the kids were gone. They probably left stuff around, too. You’ll never find everything unless I talk to them. You can’t kill all of us.”

  I raised a brow because I damned well could kill every last one of the little bitches. I’d do it, too. Had to clean out the trailer first, though.

  “We got a problem, boss.” Dopey said. “Cop just pulled up.”

  “Fuck,” I muttered, stepping toward the window.

  Heath Andrews was outside, and he was moving fast. Halfway across the lawn already. Hannah and Mandy were hanging on his arms like rag dolls, for all the good it did them. From the look on his face, he knew something was off and he wasn’t going to stop until he figured it out. Probably because he’d seen Randy’s car, I realized. He had a whole goddamned county to cover, yet he still found time to cruise by Hannah’s place every five minutes.

  This was gonna complicate things. Complicate them a hell of a lot.

  “Get this cockwad into the back bedroom,” I said, kicking Randy’s chair.

  Dopey and Thrash grabbed it, dragging it toward the hallway. Bax—the prospect we’d brought along to take Randy’s place—scooped up the drugs and money, making for the bathroom. I raised my gun, training it on the door, realizing there was no fucking way we could cover this up.

  It crashed open and I stood, waiting, as Heath Andrews stepped into the room, his own gun raised and ready for action. Hannah was right behind him, followed closely by Mandy.

  I met him head on and everyone froze.

  Standoff.

  His eyes took in everything. I could tell that Dopey and Thrash hadn’t made it to the bedroom from Hannah’s low moan. Apparently seeing Randy in all his half-dressed and bloody glory was a bit of a shock. Yeah, there wasn’t gonna be an easy way to explain this one.

  My mind raced, searching for a solution.

  With any other guy, I’d try a bribe. Unfortunately, Heath Andrews was straight up. We’d reached out to him several times already, and while most of his fellow officers were more than willing to accept a little Reaper cash on the side, Andrews had made his position clear.

  He followed the law. Period.

  That same law said this was assault and kidnapping, with possession thrown in just for fun. If I let him arrest us, Mandy and her sister would get pulled in as accomplices, and all three of those little girls would find their asses in foster care.

  Then they’d be sitting ducks for their dad’s associates.

  Hell, even if I shot the fucker, odds were good the noise would draw witnesses and we could find ourselves surrounded by SWAT. Not even the Reapers could get away with killing a cop in cold blood. At least, not without careful planning.

  “Girls, get the hell out of here,” the deputy said, his voice steady.

  “You should go, Hannah,” Mandy agreed quickly. “She had nothing to do with this, Heath. It’s all my fault. Go to Sara’s place, Hannah. Ask to borrow her car and start driving.”

  “That’ll make a bad situation a hell of a lot worse. Come inside and shut the door,” I ordered. Hannah’s eyes darted between me and Heath, frozen in indecision. “You go to your friend’s house and get her car, that’ll just drag her into it, too. We can still control how this plays out.”

  “No. We have to stop,” Hannah said, her voice quavering. “It’s one thing to hurt Randy. He deserves it. Heath hasn’t done anything.”

  “Tell me what’s really going on here,” Andrews insisted, holding his gun steady. Something was strange here, I decided. Something off about the way he was handling this. He wasn’t acting like a cop. For one thing, he hadn’t stopped to call for backup. He’d barged in like an angry boyfriend ready to clean house. Out of uniform, and that sure as shit wasn’t a service issue gun… Suddenly, the pieces fell into place.

  Andrews wasn’t just dating Hannah—he was in love with her. He’d come in here ready to handle Randy in whatever way necessary.

  I was about to bet my life on it.

  “Hannah’s fuckwad of an ex has been hiding drugs in the house,” I said bluntly, laying it all out. “Not only that, he owes people money. Some of them were here earlier looking for it. Threatened Hannah. Said they’d take the girls if she didn’t pay. I’m sure you can imagine what they’d do with them. We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  The deputy’s jaw clenched and his eyes went flat.

  “Hannah, is that true?”

  “Yes,” she replied softly.

  “You should’ve called me,” he said, his voice full of tightly banked fury.

  “Mandy’s on probation,” she whispered. “And we’ve only gone out together a couple of times. I was afraid you’d throw her in jail.”

  “Jesus Christ,” Andrews said, shooting her a quick glance. “Jesus fucking Christ, Hannah. We—no. We’ll talk about that later. Right now, we focus on making this go away. How solid is your plan?” he asked me.

  My hunch had been right.

  “It’s solid,” I told him. “Everything is in place. We only brought in Mandy and Hannah to get him here and set up what happens next.”

  “The girls will need an alibi,” Andrews said. Hannah seemed confused by what was happening, but Mandy’s eyes widened in understanding and something like wonder. She’d figured it out. “I can provide that, but your club has to deal with the evidence. This conversation never happened. As far as I’m concerned, I saw the bastard’s car here and stopped by to check on Hannah. Randy was inside picking up some stuff and I thought he was bad news, so I’m taking Hannah and Mandy with me. We’ll grab the kids and do something that will take the rest of the afternoon and evening. Something public.”

  The deputy glanced behind me toward Hannah’s ex. “Do what you have to do and don’t give me any of the fucking details.”

  I exhaled slowly, part of me sure it was a trick. Logic said it was—Heath Andrews upheld the law and he didn’t fuck around. Everyone knew that. But the look on his face… I knew that look. He’d decided to do something ugly and he didn’t care.

  “Why?” I asked, needing the words.

  “Why do you think?” Heath said. “It’s for Hannah—her and the kids. If you and I work together, I think we can pull it off. You’ll need to burn down the trailer, though. Destroy the evidence. I can’t see any way around it.” He shot a glance at Hannah. “Sorry, sweetheart, but it’s gotta go. The trace evidence will come back on us otherwise.”

  Andrews looked back to me, holding my eyes as he lowered his gun. He set it on the floor slowly and steadily, then took a step backward.

  “I’m all in,” he said, his voice steady.

  “We burn the trailer, the girls lose everything,” Dopey said in a low voice, coming up behind me. I studied Heath, considering. I hated to give up on the place, but he was right. Burning it really would be the best solution. The trailer was contaminated as hell—not just with meth, but blood and hair and a thousand other tiny pieces of evidence. People would be suspicious when Randy disappeared, but if he disappeared because he’d accidentally torched his own trailer, leaving his kids homeless…

  Hannah and Mandy would have airtight alibis if they were with a cop, and it wasn’t like he didn’t have plenty of enemies.

  “We’re losing everything anyway,” Hannah said slowly. “I don’t even want to live here anymore. The place is contaminated—meth is poisonous and I was already prepared to leave with the kids. I don’t see how it burning would be much different. I’d like to grab a couple photos and keepsakes. Anything else can be replaced.”

  “We’ll need to do it right,” I said, thinking out loud. “Get out clean. This will draw a hell of a lot of attention. We’re good but nobody’s perfect—how professional is your fire inspector? He know what he’s doing?”

  “He’s the best,” Andrews said coolly. “He’s also my brother. You do what you have to and I can guarantee you he’ll
draw the right conclusions. Nobody will second-guess him.”

  Damn. Hadn’t seen that coming. I lowered my gun, studying him. “You’re surprising the hell out of me, Andrews. I thought you were the real deal. Straight cop.”

  “I am a straight cop,” he replied, dead serious. “Don’t ever try to pay me off—I’m not interested. But this isn’t about money, it’s about family. My brother will back me up.”

  “Why?” Hannah asked, her voice almost a whisper. “You hardly know me.”

  “I’ve known you for years,” he said simply. “You think I need to buy groceries every damned day? I stop by the store to see you. I watched that piece of shit cheat on you and use you, but you never lost your smile. When it finally ended, I waited. I gave you time to heal before I asked you out, but there was never any question in my mind. This is serious, Hannah. We’ve only been on four dates, but I’ve known you were for me from the first time I saw you. Six years ago. You were at the park, laughing. You had on a red sundress and you smiled at me and I thought, ‘That’s the girl I’m going to marry.’ Then I learned you were with him, and for a while I gave up on that dream. Now it’s real again, and I won’t let him take you away from me. He had his chance.”

  Hannah melted, wrapping her arms around him. Mandy watched them thoughtfully, crossing her arms. She wasn’t convinced—not so much a romantic, I decided. Neither was I…but here I was, committing a series of felonies for a woman I hardly knew.

  Fuckin’ moron.

  Then Randy the cockwad moaned through his gag, reminding me we still had serious business to handle.

  “Very nice,” I said, because we needed to get this shit moving. “You kids are adorable in love and all that shit, but you need to get out of here if this is going to work. You sure your brother has our asses covered on the fire?”

  Heath looked up from Hannah. “Yeah. Make it look good, though. Just because we have my brother doesn’t mean we want to use him. Not if we don’t have to.”

  “Got it,” I told him. “Girls, grab whatever shit you can fit in your purses and then get out of here.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Mandy

  Heath took us to Cranston to see the latest Pixar film. It was good. Really good. So good that I cried, although some of that might’ve been pent-up emotion over the situation. Afterward, Heath took us all out to Applebee’s. I watched him with the kids, wondering if he could actually be the real deal.

  He laughed with them, teasing and playing, all the while treating Hannah like a queen.

  The whole thing was so sweet I could have vomited. Hannah ate it up. Good for them. Maybe Heath wanted a big family, and Hannah sure as hell loved being a mom. No way you’d catch me bringing any spawn into the world, but whatever made her happy was fine by me.

  Ignoring them, I focused on my food, plowing through a burger the size of a house. Then the little girls begged and pleaded for ice cream, and there was a long debate over exactly what sundae to order. We’d made a decision and had just gotten our order when my phone started blowing up.

  Sara: I got a call from my sister. There’s a fire on the flat. I don’t want to freak you out but sounds like it could be your place

  Hannah’s phone went off a moment later, followed by Heath’s. Then more messages started arriving. Heath made a tense phone call to dispatch, then looked up at us and nodded.

  Show time.

  “There’s a fire at your trailer,” he told Hannah, and Callie’s eyes went wide. Hannah and I had talked about this—we hated putting the girls through trauma, but it was better than being ripped out of their beds and taken to a whole new town.

  “Mommy, what’s happening?” she asked. At least the twins were too busy with the ice cream to pay any attention.

  “It’s okay, baby,” Hannah said, wrapping an arm around the little girl. “If there’s a fire, we’ll deal with it.”

  “But where will we live?”

  Hannah and I stared at each other—that was a detail we hadn’t had time to figure out just yet.

  “Don’t worry,” I told Callie. “Your mama and I used to move a lot when we were your age. I know you never met your grandma, but she was real good at figuring stuff like this out. She taught us everything she knew. We’ll always take care of you, honey, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said, shrinking into Hannah’s side.

  “I have a nice, big house,” Heath said. “You guys can stay there tonight if there’s really a fire.”

  Hannah’s eyes flew to his.

  “What about tomorrow?” Callie asked, her voice small as my phone buzzed again.

  “You can stay as long as you need to,” Heath told her. “All of you.”

  Hannah looked at him like he was her knight in shining armor. Maybe he was, although the curse of the McBride women suggested we stay cautious. He was better than Randy, that was for damned sure—and Hannah made a great damsel in distress.

  As for me, at least I wasn’t in jail again.

  Funny, the last time my life had fallen apart, I’d gone down as an accessory for a crime I hadn’t committed. Now I was guilty as hell and a cop was covering my ass.

  This kind of bullshit from the justice system is why superheroes go outside the law, Wonder Woman said, her voice accusing. You took care of your family and that was the right thing to do. Fuck everything else.

  “Let’s go,” Heath said. “I just got a message from my brother. I’m very sorry, but it’s definitely your place that’s on fire.” He looked at Hannah. “We can call my mom on the way and ask her to watch the girls for a few hours, if you like.”

  “No!” Callie shrieked, and heads turned toward us. “I don’t know her. I want to stay with Mommy.”

  “It’s okay,” Hannah reassured her quickly. “You can stay with me. It might be scary, though.”

  “Nothing’s scarier than you disappearing,” she said. “I’m a big girl.”

  The drive home was tense. We kept getting more phone calls, including the hardest one—Randy’s parents. Hannah handled it well, telling them only the truth.

  Yes, Randy had come over that day. No, she didn’t know where he was now or whether he’d been there when the fire started. Yes, the girls were fine. Yes, we’d be there soon.

  By the time we pulled up, the fire was mostly out, although there was still a lot of noise and fuss. The firefighters were milling around, doing cleanup, and the neighbors were all outside watching. Mrs. Collins rushed over to us carrying a blanket, wrapping it around Callie.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said, leaning in to me. “It all happened so fast. The flames just exploded out of the place.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “That no good man of your sister’s had just left, too—I saw him come out and get into his car, then drive away. Nearly ran over my cat. He must’ve done something to start it. I already told the police all about it.”

  “That’s horrible,” I managed to say.

  “Mandy, are you okay?” someone shouted. I spun around to find Sara running toward me.

  “I thought you were working tonight?” I asked her, feeling confused and overwhelmed.

  “Bone sent me,” she said. “Once we started hearing things, he wanted to make sure you were okay. How are you?”

  “I’m fine,” I told her. “We’re all fine. We were in Cranston having dinner with Heath Andrews.”

  “It was Randy earlier today, wasn’t it?” she asked, pitching her voice low. “That’s why you wanted to drop off the girls?”

  “He wanted to get some stuff at the house,” I said, following the script. “Hannah and I didn’t want the girls seeing him because he’s gotten more erratic lately. Heath saw the car outside and stopped to check on us. By then we just wanted to get away from Randy, so we left. I still can’t believe this happened.”

  “Oh, Mandy. I’m so sorry.” Sara’s pretty eyes blinked at me, and I realized she was on the verge of crying. I gave her a hug, feeling horrible for lying to her. “You can stay with me if you want.
Your sister, too. I know it’s small, but…”

  “Heath already offered his place to Hannah,” I said. “But I’d feel much better staying with you, if you don’t mind.”

  “It’s fine,” Sara assured me. “I’ve been considering getting a roommate anyway. You can borrow some clothes and stuff, too. We’ll help you get back on your feet, don’t worry.”

  I nodded, wishing my reality was even half that simple. Over the next hour, my respect for Heath grew as I watched him talking to his fellow deputies. At some point he introduced his brother and then he sat next to me while they asked questions about what’d happened. Apparently Mrs. Collins wasn’t the only one who saw Randy leaving the trailer in a hurry right before it went up. They were looking for him now, but hadn’t had any luck.

  Finally, it was time for us to go. I bundled Hannah and the girls into Heath’s car before catching a ride with Sara back to her place. She loaned me some yoga pants and a shirt, and then I was asleep on her couch.

  The next day things went from chaotic to surreal. Representatives of the local Bible church—women I’d only ever met casually—got in touch to ask what sizes we wore. Later that day they brought two big boxes of clothing and toys to Heath’s house, and not just castoffs. This was nice stuff—clothing that’d been taken directly out of people’s closets.

  Not only that, they set out change jars at both registers in the town’s only grocery store. Hannah had worked there for nearly six years, and apparently she was well liked. By five o’clock, they’d already collected nearly three hundred bucks, including an anonymous Benjamin someone had slipped in without comment.

  As for me, Bone messaged and said I didn’t need to work that night. I went in anyway. The thought of sitting alone at Sara’s house was too weird and I hadn’t heard anything from Shade. I didn’t feel comfortable messaging him, under the circumstances. Hanging with Heath and Sara sounded even weirder. All I wanted was to feel normal and in control. Waiting tables sounded like heaven.