Runs Deeper

by R. D. Brady

  Bess’s eyes looked way too serious as she responded. “Is it the bad man?”

  “Yes, it is.” He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. “Always remember that I love you, no matter what.”

  Bess threw her arms around Steve. “I love you, Daddy. Don’t go.”

  Steve hugged her tight before extracting himself from her hug. “I don’t want to go. But I have to. But I love you. I always have, and I always will. Don’t ever forget that.” Then he stood and quickly crossed through the kitchen to the mudroom before he could give himself a chance to stay. Because he wanted nothing more than to return to that living room and stay with his little girl.

  Julie followed him into the mudroom. “Be careful.”

  Steve shrugged into his jacket and slipped into his boots. “I will.”

  Julie handed him the Beretta. “Take this. If you have the chance, you shoot him. You don’t wait for him to say anything. You don’t give him a chance to speak or get away. If you have the shot, you take it.”

  He gripped the gun. “I will.”

  Julie grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him close. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me too, Steve Kane. And I expect to live a nice long life with you.”

  She pulled him in close and kissed him like the world was ending. Steve kissed her back just as strongly, because in his heart he knew it was.

  Chapter Seventy-Eight

  As soon as Steve was out the door, Julie pulled out her phone and called Nevaeh. She didn’t answer. Julie immediately hung up and called Reggie. He answered quickly.

  “Reggie, thank God. Jack’s at the lumberyard. He’s got Declan and Russ. Steve’s on his way there now.”

  “Alone?” Reggie’s voice was incredulous.

  Julie sat down, pulling on her boots as she spoke. She wasn’t going anywhere, but she felt better prepared than wandering around the house in her slippers. “Jack didn’t give him a choice. I tried to call Nevaeh, but I couldn’t reach her.” Julie could hear a mumbled voice in the background.

  “She was sleeping. She’s up now.” Reggie quickly relayed what Julie had told him.

  And then Nevaeh’s voice was on the line. “What else can you tell me?”

  “Declan and Russ were tied up. Russ looked out of it. They had duct tape over their mouths as well. I couldn’t see anything beyond that.”

  “Okay. We’re on our way. You sit tight. We’ll let you know as soon as we’ve got them.” Nevaeh disconnected the call.

  Julie paced the floor. She should stay here. Nevaeh and Reggie could handle it better than her. She placed a hand on her stomach as her gaze fell on Bess. And I have you two to look after.

  Julie moved to the mudroom window, staring at the tracks Steve’s car had made when he’d pulled out of the driveway. A hole hollowed out inside her chest. She grabbed her sweater, clutching it tightly as if somehow that could keep the hole from growing larger. They’d been through so much to be together. Jack couldn’t take him away from her, not now.

  Almost as soon as Steve had pulled out from the driveway, Julie’s phone rang. “Reggie?”

  “That motherfucker took out our cars. We’re taking the snowmobiles, but it’s going to take us longer to get there.”

  “Okay, what about the other deputies? Are any of them around?”

  “Nevaeh called them, but they’re farther away.”

  A strange sense of calm fell over Julie. “Okay, Reggie. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Julie, do not go out there.”

  “There’s no one else, Reggie. And I’m not going to let him die.”

  “Julie, we’ll be there soon. Don’t you—”

  Julie disconnected the call. The phone rang again, but she sent it straight to voicemail.

  Julie shrugged on her jacket and then grabbed Bess’s boots and jacket as well. She hurried into the living room. “Come on, baby. We need to get going.”

  The phone rang again. Julie knew it was Reggie. He didn’t want her to go. She understood that. But it changed nothing. She’d promised till death do you part. But she hadn’t promised to allow Jack to determine the time and place of that death.

  Five minutes later, Julie was pulling into the parking lot of the coffee shop. She was thankful that the lights were still on.

  She hurried through the front door. Evelyn looked up in surprise. “Julie. I’m surprised to see you. Is everything all right?”

  “I need you to watch Bess for a little while. And if anything happens, I need you to contact my parents.” She handed over a slip of paper.

  Evelyn stared at the paper and then back at Julie. “Julie, what’s going on?”

  “I can’t tell you. But please, can you watch Bess?”

  “Of course. But you’ve got me worried.”

  Julie just gave her a small smile and then lowered Bess to the floor. She knelt down and looked into her eyes. “I love you, baby girl. I have always loved you. And I will always love you.”

  “You’re going to see Daddy.”

  “Yes, baby. I’m going to see Daddy. You listen to Mrs. and Mr. Muir okay? I’ll be back soon.”

  She hugged Bess tightly. Then Evelyn was there hugging her just as tightly. “Whatever you’re doing, good luck.”

  Julie couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat, so she just gave Evelyn a nod as Evelyn took Bess’s hand and led her behind the counter to choose a cookie. Not giving her emotions a chance to break free, she hurried for the door and nearly bowled over the man walking in.

  “Sorry.” She started to hurry past him.

  “Dr. Granger?”

  Julie’s head darted up. Detective Sullivan stared at her with a concerned look. “Dr. Granger, is everything all right?”

  “No, everything is not all right. I need you to come with me. I’ll explain in the car.”

  Chapter Seventy-Nine

  The lumberyard was quiet. There was only one car in the parking lot. It was an old pickup that Steve didn’t recognize. He rolled into the parking lot slowly, looking for any sign of motion. But there was nothing. The place looked dead. He shuddered at the thought.

  He pulled into his regular spot and let the engine idle for a moment. He’d nearly been killed about three times as he’d sped here. His heart had raced just as fast as the car. But now a strange sort of calm had come over him. Ever since he’d learned that Jack had survived the events in Millners Kill, he’d known that it would come to this. That they would face each other one more time. That he would be forced to see the evil in his brother that he hadn’t noticed all those years growing up.

  Steve stepped out of the car, pausing at the open door to listen. There was no sound. He closed the door as the wind picked up. A tremor ran through him, only partly from the cold.

  The gates to the lumberyard were locked tight, but there was a small light on inside the main building. Steve slowly walked toward the door, waiting for Jack to jump out at him. But nothing moved.

  He reached the front door and pulled on it, expecting it to be locked, but it pulled open easily. He stepped inside. The reception area was dark, as were the doorways to the office. But there was a glow coming from beyond the showroom doors.

  Steve could feel the cold metal of the Beretta against his back. It gave him a small sense of comfort, but not a lot. He wasn’t proficient in the use of firearms. Julie was practically a sniper at this point, even with a handgun, but Steve had never really liked guns.

  Reggie had taken them shooting a bunch of times. Steve wasn’t going to win any marksman competitions, but he could reliably hit the broad side of a barn. But that was when the targets were standing still, and him as well. This situation was going to be nothing like that. He had no illusions that he would somehow be able to take Jack down. His best hope was getting the gun to either Declan or Russ and hoping they were in good enough shape to use it.

  Bracing himself, Steve walked through the showroom doors. He loved this room. It always smelled like freshly cut wood
. To the right were twelve displays of different kitchens. All had been created by him and Reggie. To the left were some of the other work that they did, including handmade rockers, picnic tables, fireplaces, and even a luxury doghouse.

  The room always gave him a sense of accomplishment. He and Reggie had created all of this. He had some tangible proof that he was in this world. And the happiness he saw on people’s faces when they saw his creations, it filled him up.

  But today he felt none of that joy. He scanned each piece, looking for a sign of Jack, Declan, or Russ. He scrutinized everything, looking for indications of violence. But there was no blood, no signs of destruction. He didn’t see the bodies of his best friends lying anywhere. “Jack?”

  There was no answer. Steve wasn’t sure what to do. Should he go back and check the offices? But no, they’d been dark. The sound of the giant saw coming to life cut through the silence. Steve’s head jerked up, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at the double glass doors at the back of the showroom that led out into the lumberyard.

  All the horror movies he’d seen that involved a lumberyard saw raced through his mind. Before he knew it, he was sprinting for the back door. He burst out into the yard, his gaze immediately going to the saw. But there was no one there. In the dim light, he could make out that the blade was turning, but there was nobody on the conveyor belt.

  He took a deep breath. For one split moment, he felt relief, thanking God he wasn’t actually in a horror movie. But then he realized he was. It was just a different type. He glanced around uneasily. The hair on the back of Steve’s neck stood straight up.

  Jack had turned the saw on to get him back here. But once again, there was no movement.

  A spotlight at the top of the stack of two-by-fours blared on right into Steve’s eyes. Steve held up his hand, trying to block out the light. A figure appeared above the stack of wood, aiming the light at Steve, making it impossible to see more than a silhouette.

  “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t make it.”

  With the blowing snow, it was difficult to make out his words. He stepped closer. “I’m here. Now let Declan and Russ go.”

  “Tell you what, I’ll give you one of them.” That’s when Steve noticed the body lying at Jack’s feet. With a kick, Jack sent the body rolling off the side of the stack of wood.

  “No!” Steve raced forward, but he was too slow. The body slammed into the ground with a thud. Steve slid to his knees next to it, not recognizing Declan or Russ. The body had landed face down. With a shaking hand, Steve rolled the body over. And then he stumbled back. His mind struggled to comprehend what he was seeing.

  It wasn’t Declan.

  It wasn’t Russ.

  It was Jack.

  Chapter Eighty

  The back of the Subaru fishtailed as Julie took the turn too fast. She white-knuckled the steering wheel but eased up on the gas as she leaned into the skid. Controlling the car once again, she slammed down on the pedal.

  “Maybe you should slow down a little bit,” Sullivan said nervously from the passenger seat.

  Julie just glared at him from the corner of her eyes. “Maybe you and your partner should have done something helpful like catching Jack instead of focusing on my husband.”

  Sullivan winced. “I’m sorry about that. It looked like Steve was the one who had committed those murders. He—”

  Julie scoffed. “Yeah, and it’s not like Jack has ever set him up before.”

  “Look, when we get to the lumberyard, it’s probably best if you stay in the car. I’ll go in and—”

  “Let me make this clear, Detective. You are here to back me up. If you think I’m trusting the life of my husband to you, then you are sadly mistaken. I will do anything to save him. I somehow doubt you can say the same.”

  Sullivan mumbled something under his breath.

  “What was that?” Julie demanded.

  “Just saying you remind me of my wife.”

  At the exasperation in his tone, Julie let herself have a small smile. “She must be an amazing woman.”

  “That she is.”

  Chapter Eighty-One

  Steve crawled toward the body slowly, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him. It couldn’t be Jack. It wasn’t possible. It had to be someone else.

  But Jack’s shaggy hair was gone, and so was his beard. There was nothing to distract or hide behind. And it looked just like him. Steve reached down and grabbed the man’s arm. When he was ten years old, Jack had gotten a burn while making a grilled cheese. The edge of the pan had caught on the side of Jack’s arm and left a wide burn.

  Steve had to yank hard to pull back the sleeve, the jacket stiff from the cold. The man’s skin itself had ice crystals forming on it. But there on the skin was the two-inch scar.

  Steve sat back hard, his mind seeming to splinter. Jack was dead. But then who’d been on top of the lumber stack? Who’d called him here? Because the man in front of him was frozen solid. He didn’t have Declan’s training, but he knew that Jack had been dead for a while. So who’d taken Declan and Russ? Who’d stabbed the detective? Did Jack have a partner? Had that partner turned on him?

  “Still haven’t figured it out, have you?” The voice taunted him from somewhere in the lumberyard. The voice echoed, making it impossible to zero in on a location.

  Steve hadn’t noticed the man climb off the stack of wood. Now he looked around anxiously, trying to spot any movement. “Who are you?”

  Silence was the only response. And that chilled him more than any words could. There was another killer. Another madman had somehow inserted himself into Steve’s life.

  Suddenly Steve was angry, angrier than he could ever remember being before. Jack had played with his life and taken ten years from him, along with his grandmother and father. And he’d nearly taken Julie. He’d played with him like he was his own personal toy. And now this person thought they could do the same. And Steve was not going to let that happen. He stepped forward. “Where are Declan and Russ?”

  “Oh, they’re around here somewhere. I can’t remember exactly where I put them.”

  The wind had died down, and there was something familiar about that voice, but Steve couldn’t quite place it. “Why do you want me here? You’re not Jack. So why do you care about me?”

  “Oh, I’m not Jack, but I am family. I started writing to my dear old dad when he got locked up. And he lapped it up, thinking he could control me.”

  Steve’s jaw dropped. “You’re Jack’s son?”

  He could hear the shrug in the man’s words. “Don’t really know. My mom said that she met him once. And she was a whore. So he was as good as anyone else for the job, I suppose.”

  This guy was insane. He’d reached out to Jack without even knowing if they were related. And then he’d killed him. “Look, if Declan and Russ are okay, then you haven’t done anything wrong. You were manipulated by Jack. You won’t do any prison time. I can help you with—”

  The man’s laughter rang out yet again, and it lasted a long time.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “The idea that I didn’t do anything wrong. Your dear old brother there has been dead for a month.”

  Once again, Steve’s mind seemed to stumble. But that meant… “You killed Miss Minnie and Laura. You tried to kill Bess.”

  “Oh, no, no, no. I had no intentions of killing Bess. I figure she’s family. And being I was planning on killing you and Julie, she’ll need someone to take care of her. In fact, I still plan on killing you and Julie. But don’t worry, I’ll look out for my little cousin.”

  Chapter Eighty-Two

  Once they turned off Main Street, Julie and Sullivan hadn’t passed a single car. Now she could see the lumberyard up ahead. Her stomach tensed.

  “Go over it again,” Sullivan said. They’d been going over the layout of the lumberyard for the last few minutes. Sullivan had been in the office and glanced in the showroom. But he’d never been in the yard itself.
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br />   “There’s a large double chain-link gate, about twenty feet tall. Pallets of wood rim the area, some of them about twenty feet tall. There are two industrial-strength table saws along the back of the yard, directly opposite the fence.”

  “How far away?”

  She pictured it in her mind. “Probably seventy-five, a hundred feet. In between, there’s more pallets. That’s where they stack the orders. They’ll be shorter than the stacks on the rim.”

  “How many?”

  “Don’t know. I think there’s at least five or six at any given time.”

  “And there’s only the one office/shed in the back?”

  Julie nodded. “It’s got electricity and heat, but it’s really just a glorified shed.”

  “Anything else?”

  “There are lights out back, some big spotlights. No one should be out there. And there’re no houses anywhere nearby.”

  Sullivan continually scanned the street from side to side. “Turn off the lights.”

  Julie did, the car crawling along now. Her skin felt like it was covered in live wires. She pulled slowly into the parking lot and then moved forward. She started for Steve’s car, but Sullivan shook his head. “No. Park in the back of the lot, facing out.”

  She did as he asked, putting the car in park.

  In the darkness and with the snow, the yard and building looked different, creepier. She swallowed, staring at the main building. She didn’t want to do this. She wanted to be home, curled up with Bess, telling Steve about the baby that was on the way. But if she didn’t do this, she’d never get the chance to tell him.

  “Why don’t you stay here while I go take a look?” Sullivan said.