by Raven Snow
“Your mother talked about you all the time,” Dakota said, not for the first time. “You really should give her more credit.”
“What?” Rowen asked. “For knowing a few things about my life?” She glanced over at Dakota. “No, you’re right,” she added quickly without meaning it. Arguing with Dakota over family drama really seemed like a bad idea. “Do you still have my phone. Can I call her?”
Dakota smiled. “Nice try,” he said. “No, you’ll see her soon enough.“ He pulled her cell phone from his back pocket and dangled it in front of her before slipping it in again.
Rowen was genuinely surprised to see that he still had the phone on him. She tried to hide her surprise. This was clearly a guy who had lived off the grid for so long that he no longer had a good handle on how technology worked.
“Come on,” said Dakota. He reached into the back seat and grabbed a bag.
“Where are we going now?” asked Rowen.
“Just to a better vantage point.” Dakota gave Rowen a critical look. “Now, do I have to gag you or will you go quietly?”
“I’ll go quietly,” said Rowen. “My head still hurts from the last time you knocked me out.” Let Dakota think she was intimidated by him. Rowen had a plan beginning to take shape.
There was a banging from the trunk. Eric was probably listening to their conversation. He probably didn’t like the idea of her going off alone with a killer. Dakota turned to say something, but Rowen beat him to it. “Calm down,” she called. “He’s not going to hurt me. Just trust me.”
The banging ceased. Hopefully, he really did trust her this time - not that he really had any other option given the circumstances. Rowen looked back to Dakota. “After you,” she said.
Dakota got out of the car with his bag. He might trust Rowen not to scream, but he didn’t seem to trust her not to run. He grabbed her firmly by the wrist as he led the way around the back of the diner. They looked like a very odd couple heading off on their own. There weren’t many people around, though, and no one really seemed to be looking in their direction.
There was a fire escape behind the diner. Rowen was made to climb it first. She wasn’t terribly fond of heights but managed. Things got worse when she reached the top of the fire escape and was given a boost onto the roof. Fortunately, it was neither that high nor that treacherous.
“I don’t want to hear a peep out of you,” said Dakota, motioning her to take a seat near the smoke stack. “Understood?”
Rowen sat down where he had indicated. “Understood,” she said.
Dakota frowned.
“Oh, was that starting now?” Rowen lowered her voice. “Sorry.”
Dakota sighed but set about unpacking his bag. It was no great surprise that there was a rifle in there. It was a hunting rifle, the one Terry had been accused of owning. She still didn’t feel too sorry for him. Tina on the other hand… Rowen was going to feel pretty darn sorry for Tina if she got killed because of this guy. “Normally, I would prefer to get up close and personal when taking someone’s life,” he said. “It sends a clearer message that way.”
Rowen watched as Dakota set up a few feet away. He was surveying the scene through the scope on his gun. Rowen couldn’t see much from this distance, but she could see that her cousins and Tina were all still visible through the front windows. It seemed that Willow had had the right idea after all. The office really wasn’t the safest place to be.
Dakota reached down into his bag. Retrieving what looked to be a different sort of ammo. He was probably picking the best tool for the job. Rowen, meanwhile, kept her eyes on his back pocket. She could see the rectangular shape of the phone. It was there. She needed to get it without him noticing. She began to move forward but moved back just as quickly when he moved to take aim again.
Rowen couldn’t screw this up. It was very likely that she would only get one shot at this. Time was of the essence, though.
Rowen crept forward and made her move. All those misspent teenage years snagging the car keys from an unknowing Aunt Lydia had paid off. She slipped the phone from his pocket with him being none the wiser. Crouching down next to the smoke stack again, she switched it on.
Dakota was still surveying the situation through his scope. “It’s all about picking your shot,” said Dakota. “Take your time. Pick your shot.”
Rowen’s fingers flew over the buttons. She picked Peony out from her contact list. She was fairly levelheaded and the closest to Tina physically. Contacting her was the best shot she had right now.
‘Killer outside! After Tina! Get down!’ Rowen pressed send. She should have called Ben immediately after, but she was too distracted by what was going on right in front of her. She squinted into the distance, praying that Peony would check her messages.
Rowen saw movement that might have been Peony looking at her phone, but it was difficult to tell. Dakota’s finger was on the trigger.
BANG! There was a crack as the gun went off. Rowen gave a shriek. She couldn’t help it. She had seen a blur of movement, but it was impossible to tell precisely what had just happened.
Dakota peered through his scope for several long moments. “Oh, no,” he said.
“Oh, no?” Rowen repeated. She couldn’t help it. She stood and hurried to the edge of the building. She didn’t care about heights anymore or Dakota. She wanted to make sure that, ‘oh no’ just meant he had missed. Something about the way he had said it sounded off.
“We have to move,” said Dakota, packing up his gun.
Rowen took a step toward the fire escape. Throwing caution to the wind, she picked up the phone and called Peony outright.
“Rowen?!” It was Rose that answered. There was shrieking going on in the background. It sounded like Tina. “Rowen, where are you?! Peony just got shot!”
“What?!” Rowen felt a chill stab through her.
Dakota looked back, saw that she was on the phone and lunged for her.
Rowen didn’t give him the opportunity to catch her. She jumped down onto the fire escape. “Call the police! Get away from the windows!” she shouted into the phone.
“I’m on the phone with Ben,” Rose assured her. “We’re moving into the- Tina! Be quiet! We’re moving into the storage closet now!”
Rowen shoved the phone in her pocket so she could focus on getting to the ground in one piece. Dakota was close behind her. She could hear him making a racket coming down after her.
Rowen hadn’t really thought this far ahead. Instinct told her to run for the office. What if the door was locked, though? And what about Eric and David? She couldn’t just leave them behind!
Instinctively, Rowen ran for the car. Obviously, she couldn’t force the trunk open on her own. She would have to pop it. She grabbed for the door handle on the passenger side. It was locked.
“Rowen! Stop running!” Dakota had caught up to her. “Get in the car. We’ll talk about this.”
“I have to check on Peony!” Rowen made a point to keep the car between them. “You shot her!”
Dakota held up his hands as if to show that he was currently harmless. “It wasn’t on purpose,” he assured her.
“That doesn’t matter!” Rowen could hear banging going on in the trunk. Eric and David probably weren’t much thrilled by the sound of recent developments.
“Quiet!” Dakota hit the trunk with an open hand. He glared at Rowen. “This is all your fault,” he said, his mood shifting from reasonably calm and collected to furious. “She knew what was about to happen! She moved Tina out of the way. If she hadn’t done that-”
“Tina would be dead!” Rowen interrupted. “That’s not any better!” Well, maybe it would have been a little better. Rowen would much rather have Peony in her life than Tina. She didn’t say that aloud, though. It was beside the point. Geez, she hoped Peony was all right. She hadn’t a clue what she was going to do if she wasn’t.
“She’s done nothing but terrorize your family!” Dakota argued, having a hard time keeping his volume
under control. If they hadn’t been attracting attention before they most certainly were now. People had left nearby buildings to watch them from a safe distance. “This whole town hates the Greensmiths!”
“You’re certainly giving them reason to!” Rowen wouldn’t exactly blame people if they drove the Greensmiths out of town after this.
The point that he was the problem was lost on Dakota. He did, however, start to move around the car. It seemed that he was done talking.
Rowen was still debating over whether or not to run when a shout stopped her dead in her tracks. “Dakota!” shouted Tiffany. “Get away from my daughter!”
Dakota froze. His eyes went wide. He turned to face Tiffany. She had stopped Aunt Lydia’s car in the center of the road. It looked like she had come alone. “Baby,” said Dakota, his violent posture relaxing.
“Don’t baby me,” said Tiffany, taking a startlingly angry tone with a confessed killer. “Get away from her.”
Dakota began to walk toward Tiffany. For a moment it seemed that Tiffany was moving forward to close the distance between them. Instead, she walked right on past. She went straight to Rowen.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
Dakota grabbed for Tiffany’s arm as she went by him. Tiffany predicted the movement and dodged away. “Don’t touch me!” she snapped.
Dakota reeled as if he had just been struck. “I come all this way for you, and you-”
“I didn’t ask you to come all this way!” Tiffany snapped, interrupting. “We’re done, Dakota! What part of that did you not understand?”
“I love you,” Dakota insisted, sounding suddenly desperate. “Come back to me, Tiffany. Please. We were so good together.”
“Come back to you after you attack my daughter on the street?” Tiffany didn’t know the finer details of precisely what Dakota had done while he was here. Who knew why she had come when she did, but it seemed like she had only seen this man terrorizing her daughter. “Leave. Just go. If I ever see you again, I’m calling the police.”
Dakota flinched when she used the word police. Rowen doubted it was because he was afraid of the authorities. He just hadn’t thought Tiffany would use societal rules against him like that. He’d thought she was above that.
Tiffany walked the rest of the way to her daughter. Meanwhile, Rowen’s eyes were still on Dakota. She hadn’t forgotten that he had a gun. Sure enough, that’s what his hands looked to be moving for now. “Mom, watch out!” she blurted, reaching out for Tiffany. “He’s got a gun!” she warned.
Tiffany spun just in time to see Dakota leveling the gun at them. She launched herself at her daughter, immediately, tackling them both behind the car.
BANG!Somehow, this gunshot sounded louder than the first. Rowen’s back hurt from connecting with the asphalt, but she was more worried about her mother. She had been in front of her, after all.
“Stay down!” shouted Ben.
The gunshot had sounded different because it was a different gun, Rowen realized. She peeked from around the car just in time to see several officers converging on Dakota.
Dakota was on the ground, clutching at his hand - which was bleeding. His gun was on the ground and was quickly snatched up by Ben.
“Rowen!” called Ben, “You all right?”
Rowen’s mind drew a blank for a long moment. She looked down at herself. She looked over at her mother. Tiffany’s eyes were huge. She looked pretty shaken. “What in the world just happened?” asked Tiffany. “Why did he have a gun?”
The gun! “Peony!” Rowen jumped to her feet and ran for the office. “He shot my cousin!” she shouted at the police on her way past.
Margo was at the door, unlocking it as Rowen got there. Rowen shouldered past her, running straight for the storage closet. Rose narrowly avoided getting hit by the door when it burst open. Rowen scanned the room.
“Is it over?” asked Rose. “Margo said she heard Ben.”
Tina was on the floor beside Peony, fussing over her. She looked up when Rowen entered. “She needs medical attention, immediately!”
“I can wait a second, actually,” said Peony. “I think I’m okay.” Indeed, Peony looked to be in decent shape. She was sitting on the floor but seemed alert. She pointed to her arm. “It just grazed my shoulder,” she said. “I can’t even really feel it.”
“She’s in shock,” said Tina.
“I don’t think she’s in shock,” said Rose. “I think it’s adrenaline.”
“She saved my life,” Tina said, throwing her arms around Peony.
Peony grimaced. “Okay, I can feel that.”
“Are you all right?” asked Rose.
Rowen nodded. “I think so. The last hour or so happened… really fast.”
Rose nodded, still looking completely lost in all of this. “What did happen?”
“When you called back, I got caught. I was following Edward, and-”
Rose’s eyes widened. “Edward?”
“Yeah,” said Rowen. “Edward. From the sound of it Eric and David had followed him earlier that- oh, no! Eric!” Rowen ran back out the door. She passed Ben on her way out of the office.
“Where are you running off to now?!” he demanded.
“Eric and David are in the trunk!” she blurted, running back toward the car.
“David’s where?!” Margo exclaimed somewhere behind her.
Tiffany was lingering near the car, still looking a bit pale. She jumped when Rowen tried the door. It was still locked, of course. Rowen scanned her surroundings and ran next to where Dakota was being Mirandized by a couple of officers. All of them, Dakota included, looked startled when she began to pat Dakota down. She didn’t waste time explaining. She got the keys and ran for the car again. This time, she went for the trunk directly.
She had a few false starts trying to get the key in the lock. She managed, though, and the trunk came open. Rowen struggled with untying Eric but, finally, she got that done too.
Eric climbed out of the trunk. He pulled his gag off with one hand and, with his other arm, hugged Rowen tight. “You terrified me,” he breathed against her neck. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”
“Likewise.” It was a bit of an understatement, but it was true. She hugged him back as tightly as she was able.
Meanwhile, Margo had made her way to the car. She worked to untie David, sounding absolutely baffled. “You spend one day away from me and this happens. What did you do?!”
Eric took a step back from his brother and the car. “I hate to say it,” he said, once they had a bit of privacy. “I hate that you put yourself into danger again, but-”
“To be fair, I couldn’t get in touch with you,” Rowen said, quickly. “I didn’t even know you were going out until you were just gone.”
“But,” Eric continued. “I’m glad you showed up. I’m not sure what would have happened if you hadn’t. That psycho was judging us like we were on trial. David and I might be dead by now if not for you. Tina would almost definitely be dead.”
Rowen smiled. “Well, I’m glad I could screw up, get captured, and still be of service.” Rowen took Eric’s hands into her own. “Don’t do anymore running off on your own, all right?”
“I won’t if you won’t,” teased Eric. Growing slightly more serious, he added, “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”
Rowen shook her head. “I get it,” she assured him. “You being more comfortable with the things I do is a lot to ask… It’s who I am, though. I can’t just stand by while stuff like this is going on. If there’s something I can do, I need to do it.”
Eric nodded. “And I get that,” he said. “Honestly, more people should probably be like you… To an extent. Sometimes, you need to know when to just let the police handle their job.”
“That’s just who I am too, I think.” Rowen could feel her face growing a bit warm. “Is that a problem?” she asked. “I’m… I’m not sure I can change all that much. I can tell you where I’m going, and I can try to have
you tag along… But I’m always going to be doing crazy stuff like this, I think. If I happen upon a murderer alone, my instinct is to call for backup but still pursue him. I’m not sure if I can change that about myself. I’m not sure I want to.”
Eric put a hand to Rowen’s cheek. He looked at her, eyes searching. He smiled. “I’m not sure I want you to,” he admitted. “I love the person you are.”
Rowen couldn’t help but smile. She touched the hand on her cheek. “I love you, too… Well, not the part where you’ve been getting mad at me lately. The rest, though. I love the rest.”
“So, do you think you can spare time to have a word with my men and I?” asked Ben, interrupting them. “I hate to kill the moment, but… I’m a little lost, if I’m being honest.”
