Demon's Stand

by Dahlen, K. J.

  The next few minutes lasted for hours. Then she heard something. Someone was calling her name softly. She cocked her head to listen and she heard it again. Peeking out into her room, she knew the lights were still off. She waited for him to call out her name again.

  Suddenly, there was a shadow standing in the doorway calling out her name. Then she realized it wasn’t Charlie or anyone associated with him. The name the shadow was calling out was Georgia, not Shiloh.

  The shadow turned and called out again, “Georgia, Georgia, come out, come out wherever you are,” he called out softly.

  Shiloh lowered the lid and waited. She didn’t know what was happening out there but here she was safe. She heard a gunshot from somewhere in the house and she jumped. Then she heard another gunshot followed by two more.

  She laid there, her heart pounding in her chest, until all she could hear was the steady beat. All other sound was gone except for that one.

  Then she saw a crack of light coming from the hall. She lifted the lid of the window seat enough to peek out and noticed the lights were back on in the rest of the house.

  “Georgia, where the devil are you girl?” someone shouted. “Come out, come out from wherever you are.” The voice was moving around the house. “I’ve got your friends out here and they are just dying to see you again.”

  She didn’t hear anything for a few minutes then she heard, “Have you found her yet?” A voice from her past was just outside her bedroom door. She peeked and saw Simon Pratt standing there talking to a man she didn’t know.

  “She’s hiding somewhere in the house.”

  “Get Boone, he’ll find her,” Simon said.

  “I had to shoot him.”

  “Is he dead?” Simon growled.

  “No, I only winged him, but he’s not going to be much good to us.”

  “Get him anyway,” Simon told him. “He found her the first time, he will find her again.”

  Shiloh didn’t realize she was holding her breath. She exhaled slowly and waited as Simon turned to go down the hall. She watched from her vantage point until she saw the man with Simon drag a badly wounded Charlie into her line of sight.

  Charlie had a blood stain on his shirt and Shiloh could see the look of pain on his face.

  The man shoved him to the floor and growled, “Make her show herself before I finish you off.”

  “Bite me.” Charlie snarled as he tried to kick the other man.

  The man raised his gun butt into the air as was going to strike Charlie when Simon walked over to them. “If you kill him we’ll never find her.”

  Charlie glared at Simon and spit at him.

  Simon’s lip curled up as he placed a well-positioned kick at Charlie’s belly.

  Charlie doubled over and gasped for air.

  Simon leaned over and told him, “You’ve been a pain in my butt for a long time now, old man. It wouldn’t take much for me to have my friend here put a bullet in your head, but I’m not quite done with you yet. Don’t make me push up my timetable.” Simon straightened up and said, “Call to her. Make her come out of hiding and soon this will all be over.”

  “Go fuck yourself.” Charlie groaned. “If you want her, you find her.”

  “Maybe I don’t need her,” Simon said. “Maybe I you can tell me what I want to know. Where is the safe?”

  “What safe? I haven’t seen any safe.” Charlie growled.

  “Now, I know you’re lying to me.” Simon grinned. “I know you’ve seen it.”

  Charlie looked at the other man. “What are you talking about?”

  Simon reached into his pocket and pulled out a green journal. “A dead man had this in his hand. I know it was in the safe because Mike told me he put it there a long time ago.” Simon struck Charlie in the face with the book. “Don’t lie to me again. Now where is the safe?”

  “Even if I showed you where it was, you wouldn’t get it open,” Charlie replied. “Only Shiloh knows the combination.”

  Simon looked at the other man. “Did you kill the rest of them?”

  The other man nodded.

  “Make sure… I don’t want any more surprises.” Simon looked down at Charlie. “I’ll watch this one while you check the others.”

  When the other man left, Simon began to pace the floor in front of Charlie. “You know something, it seems my whole life I’ve been waiting for my big break and it never really happened until now.”

  “What big break are you talking about?” Charlie whispered.

  “I always wanted to have enough money to have the finer things in life. I worked very hard to get where I was, always taking chances for other people to get rich, well not anymore. Now it’s my turn to sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labors.” He paused then admitted, “The smuggling ring was my idea. I set it up and I made all the connections. I had to deal with some unsavory characters, let me tell you.”

  “And your life has been so clean?”

  Simon chuckled. “No, I am what I am but it was me that took all the chances. Mike would go to all the different places and buy the antiques but it was me that built up the smuggling route. Getting the items from point A to point B was no small task. Then Mike had to find the diamonds, and it all fell apart. All my carefully laid plans came crashing down.” He paused and shook his head. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the rage I felt that day.”

  “Why didn’t you leave town and set up somewhere else?” Charlie asked. “Why did you stay here after you killed Mike and Dana?”

  “Because I knew the stones were here in the house somewhere. When Donna took the brat and left town, I knew I’d have time to find the safe and retrieve my diamonds.”

  “But you couldn’t find the safe, could you?”

  Simon paused to shake his head. “Mike hid it well. I knew he had a safe here but he would never show it me. I asked him time and time again but he didn’t trust me I guess.”

  “Imagine that.” Charlie scoffed.

  Simon glared at him and continued to pace while he waited for the other man to show up.

  “How did you manage to find Donna and the girl all those times?” Charlie asked.

  “Leroy found them for me. I ran into her myself only one time. I was in Phoenix for an auction and I found her there waiting tables. I tried to talk her into coming back with me but she ran away again. It took Leroy a long time to find her again after that.”

  “I found her the last time about two weeks ago,” the other man returned.

  Shiloh got a good look at his face. This was the infamous Leroy Younger. This was the man that caused the accident that took her aunt’s life. She frowned as she tried to recall if she’d ever seen him before. She couldn’t recall his face.

  Rage grew in her chest as she stared at him. Shiloh closed her eyes for a moment and tried to calm herself. She couldn’t let the rage win, not this time. If there was a way out of this situation, she needed to think clearly.

  “Are the rest of them dead?” Simon asked.

  Leroy shook his head. “There’s one body missing. His nephew isn’t where he went down.” Leroy motioned to Charlie.

  “What do you mean he isn’t where he went down?” Simon growled.

  “I shot him in the kitchen and his body is missing. The back door was opened a little bit, so I’m thinking he got as far as the backyard but I haven’t checked out there yet.”

  “Never mind, Richy is walking around outside. He’ll find him.” Simon grabbed his phone and called his nephew.

  “Why don’t you do us all a favor and get Shiloh for us so we can get this over with?” Simon asked Charlie in a snide voice. “I really don’t think you have much more time.” He motioned to Charlie’s wound. “You’re still bleeding and soon you’ll die.”

  “Go to hell.” Charlie grunted at him.

  “I’m thinking more like Rio or somewhere tropical with no extradition.” Simon he tipped his head back to call out, “Shiloh, if you can hear me, your friend Charlie is dying out here. Yo
u have nowhere else to go. You might as well come out of hiding.”

  Shiloh knew defeat. She couldn’t stay hidden forever and he wouldn’t hurt her until he got what he wanted. She opened the lid of the window box and stood up. Closing the box, she went to the door of her room. Glancing down the hall, she made her way to where they were standing.

  When she rounded the corner, she stopped and raised her hands.

  Leroy turned his gun on her.

  Simon turned to finally see her. He looked at the young woman in front of him and gasped. “You look just like your mother.” He told her after a moment. “Except for your eyes, you have your father’s eyes.”

  “And you’re still a monster,” Shiloh told him.

  Her statement made him laugh a little. “That’s my girl, you never really liked me much did you?”

  “Guess what? I haven’t changed my opinion of you over the years. There might have been a reason I didn’t like you back then.”

  Simon shrugged. “Your opinion of me doesn’t matter to me. I loathed you as a child and now I simply don’t care one way or the other. To me, you are a means to an end, nothing more, nothing less.” He stepped up to her and said, “Where is your father’s safe?”

  “Why should I tell you?” Shiloh challenged him.

  “Would you rather your friend die here and now?”

  Shiloh looked down at Charlie and saw him shake his head. She turned to stare at Simon. “I figure we’ll all dead anyway, so why should I help you?”

  Simon raised his hand and slapped her hard.

  Shiloh’s head turned away from him with the force of the slap and she stumbled backward from the blow. Her head exploded in pain and when she turned back to him, tears welled in her eyes. “Are you going to beat me to death like you did my parents?”

  “Unfortunately, I can’t do that but I can make your life unpleasant if you don’t give me what I want. I’m running out of patience and time.” He paused and asked, “Are you going to show me where the safe is?”

  Shiloh nodded. “It’s downstairs.”

  Simon motioned to Leroy. “Bring him along. We may need him.”

  Leroy hauled Charlie to his feet. He didn’t seem to mind that Charlie was in pain.

  Shiloh walked to the basement stairs and turning on the light began descending the steps. Simon was right behind her. When she turned the corner, she thought she saw a shadow duck into her father’s office. She hoped the shadow was Demon but she didn’t dare look at him.

  Instead, she turned to the wall the safe was hidden behind.

  Simon waited for her to say something and when she didn’t he asked, “Where is the safe?”

  Shiloh turned her gaze to him and said, “Its right in front of you.”

  Simon turned to the blank wall. “I don’t see it.” He turned to glare at her. “Stop fucking playing games!”

  Shiloh shrugged as she stepped forward and hit the hidden switch.

  When the wall opened to reveal the heavy steel door Simon gasped. “I’ve been in this house several times over the years and I never noticed this before.” He turned to her and commented, “You father was too clever for his own good.”

  Shiloh didn’t say anything. She couldn’t speak. Her throat was swelling up from unshed tears.

  “Open it up,” Simon ordered.

  “No.” It was her last little bit of defiance. She knew she couldn’t hold out forever but it made her feel better to hold him off as long as she could.

  Simon turned to Leroy. “Put another bullet in him. Don’t kill him yet, just hurt him a little more.”

  Leroy aimed his gun at Charlie’s leg and pulled the trigger.

  Charlie screamed in pain as the bullet tore through his leg.

  Shiloh’s defiance turned to rage as she glared at Simon. “I hate you.”

  “Well, guess what darlin’? I don’t much care for you either, now open the safe, or I’ll have Leroy shoot him again.” Simon growled at her.

  Shiloh stepped forward to open the safe and a shot rang out. Leroy dropped to the floor, screaming in pain and Simon whirled around to face the door to her father’s study.

  “The next one goes right through your head.” Demon’s voice came from the darkness of the study.

  Simon reached for the gun under his jacket then changed his mind and slowly raised his hands.

  Demon stepped out of the darkness and into the room.

  Charlie twisted around to see his nephew holding a gun on Simon. “Be careful, Richy Hall is outside.” Charlie reached out and slid Leroy’s gun out of his reach.

  Demon nodded. “I figured as much.” He was sweating and there was blood from a gunshot wound to his arm. “Shiloh, can you get their guns?”

  Shiloh reached for the weapon Simon had stashed under his jacket. When her hand wrapped around the handle she pulled it from the holster. She raised the gun and pointed it right at Simon’s head.

  Simon looked a little worried for a moment, then his eyes shifted to behind her.

  Shiloh turned and fired the gun at the window. The glass of another window next to it shattered and a body of a man fell into the room. It was Richy Hall. He laid on the floor and groaned for a moment before he glared up at her. “Fuck you bitch.” His voice was surprised.

  “Who shot you? It wasn’t me,” Shiloh argued.

  “I was aiming at Demon when I felt the bullet rip through me. I’m not sure who shot me.”

  “That would be me,” a voice called out as Lucifer came into view.

  All three men stomped down the steps and into the main room in the basement. Lucifer, Hades and Jinx joined them.

  “Shiloh, call 911.” Demon urged.

  Shiloh grabbed Simon’s cell phone tapped in dialed 9-1-1.

  Chapter Nineteen

  A few minutes later, the house was crawling with police. Charlie, Leroy and Richy were on their way to the hospital and Simon was finally in police custody. Thomas, Tim and Frank were on their way to the morgue and Demon was being attended to by the medical team.

  He glanced at his shoulder being wrapped and then glanced at Shiloh. “It’s finally over and we survived.”

  “Is it?” Shiloh asked. “Over, I mean?”

  “Why wouldn’t it be? We got Simon and Richy.”

  “I know but something doesn’t feel right. There is still something or someone out there yet. I can feel it.” She was still on edge about something. There was a piece of the puzzle missing but she didn’t know what it was.

  “Babe, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Demon shook his head. “I called the last person Thomas was talking to. You know to report his death and the guy that answered the phone said they would step up the roundup. I think he said his name was Henry Wall. The smuggling ring is being rounded up as we speak.”

  “Did you get the green book back from Simon before they arrested him?” she asked.

  “Oh, yeah.” Demon patted his pocket. “It’s in an evidence bag and I am personally taking it to be tested.”

  Shiloh tried to think of what was out of place. She looked over at Lucifer and the other men in his club. “I know we’re overlooking something. I can feel it.” Then she remembered something she forgot all these years. She turned to look at Demon. “Simon got a phone call right after the murders. I don’t know who it was but I heard him tell someone the gems were safe for the moment and he was working on getting out of the house before the police got there.”

  “Who was he talking to? Can you remember?”

  Shiloh tried to recall if Simon ever mentioned a name but she couldn’t remember. “I can’t remember. But I do recall him mentioning he had to kill my dad and the guy he was talking to wasn’t happy about it.”

  “I wonder why you didn’t remember this part on the tape we heard?” Demon asked.

  “I think I was too afraid.”

  “Maybe, but you could be on to something here.” Demon looked troubled.

  “What do you mean?”

  He
shrugged. “Simon could have set the whole ring in motion but I’m thinking maybe he had help.”

  “Help?” Lucifer asked.

  “Yeah, he had to get just the right person in certain places, like the Customs terminal. He had to find someone that he could depend on to allow certain boxes through without being searched.”

  “Where would he go to find the right person?” Hades questioned.

  “I know of a couple of people who could handle that, but I’m willing to bet their alliance wouldn’t be to Simon.” Demon frowned. “I don’t want you to stay here tonight. You must be exhausted.”

  “Where would I go?” Shiloh raised her shoulders.

  “I’m not letting you out of my sight until Charlie is able to take over, so pack a few things. We can go back to my clubhouse for now,” Demon said.

  Lucifer nodded. “A good idea for now.”

  Shiloh disappeared down the hall and came back with a small suitcase. It was everything she brought with her from Seattle.

  When she caught up with Demon, he turned to look at her. He could see the concern on her face. “Hey, don’t worry. We’ll figure this out and in the meantime, I’ve having a couple of the boys watch the place tonight. I don’t want anything happening here before we get the stuff out of the safe and in the evidence room.”

  “Some of the stuff belonged to my father,” Shiloh reminded him.

  Demon nodded. “I know and after the trial, it will be returned to you, as his survivor. The items related to the smuggling ring will of course be turned over to the authorities, but most of it is yours.”

  “I wasn’t worried but my dad was an honest man. He tried to do the right thing.” She nodded at the closed safe. No one else knew the combination so for now the items were safe.

  “I know. But not to worry. Its Like Charlie always says, ‘things have a way of working out for the best.” So, I’m sure this will too.”

  They walked out to his car and he drove them to the clubhouse. Demon showed her his room then she took a shower and washed the blood off her body. Demon was right she was exhausted, but even as she made her way back to Demon’s room and laid there in the dark she found she couldn’t sleep. There was too much on her mind.