by Mark Stone
“Can’t move,” Davey said weakly. “We can’t move. Parker,” he added as panic flushed his features. “It’s Parker.”
“I know, Davey. I’m going to stop him, and you can’t move because of what he gave you,” I answered. “It’s going to be okay. I’m here now. I’m calling someone to come. They’re going to help you, but I need you to tell me where he went. Where did he take Jack?”
“Beach,” he muttered. “They’re on the beach.”
“Okay,” I said, blinking back tears that came from looking at my friend in this situation. “I’m going to go get him.”
Standing, I pulled out my phone and dialed Emergency Services. Giving them the address, I told them something horrible was about to happen. “And tell the police to be quick,” I added. “Tell them John Lucky is in the house.”
Dropping the phone, I started toward the door, though I still needed a weapon. Looking around, I saw nothing. There were no fire pokers by the fireplace, no swords hanging as decorations from the wall, and no gun rack filled with firearms. In fact, the only thing I saw that could be of any use at all was a full bottle of champagne.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, shaking my head as I thought about the day back at the truck stop, the day when all of this started in so many ways. “Oh, well,” I said. “I guess it does have sort of a poetic justice to it.”
Grabbing the bottle, I steeled myself, marching toward the door, ready to put an end to all of this.
Chapter 29
I walked out through the back door and out onto the beach. The breeze came heavy off the Gulf, and peering out into the dark water, I knew why. The water was angry tonight. Whether it had been like this when Mia and I were plowing through it earlier or not, I had been going too fast to tell. All I knew was that it was pissed now, and it had company.
I had been tricked. I had been a fool. I hadn’t been smart enough to know what was going on sooner, and an innocent child was about to suffer because of that. I wouldn’t have that. I would stop it at all cost.
The beach was almost as dark as the water tonight. In fact, the only light on the whole of the beach, aside from the ambient light that came from inside the house, was produced by a handheld lantern I saw sticking out of the sand. Following the light, I saw something that made my entire body shiver with disgust. Parker stood in front of a pile of kindling, sticks, and wood thrown into a small little pyramid. Jutting up from that pyramid was a large stick, and tied to that stick stood a crying, screaming Jack.
“He’s going to light him on fire,” I said breathlessly, horror reaching into the deepest parts of me. That horror quickly morphed into a rage, an unflinching rage that would burn Parker up long before his fire would ever touch Jack. “I’ll kill you,” I said quietly, walking toward him and tightening my grip on the neck of the champagne bottle. I didn’t need to let my emotions get the better of me right now, though. It would make me sloppy. It would make me less effective than I needed to be. No. I needed to let the soldier in me take the lead right now. I needed to be calm, collected, and most of all, deadly.
I thought about the element of surprise. After all, it worked well for me last time. This was different, though. I had a speeding truck to cover me then. Now, I had nothing but empty space. No. He would see me coming. The best thing I could do was take control of the situation. I needed to get in his head. I needed to rattle him.
“What is it with you and fire, anyway?” I asked loudly, walking toward Parker at a leisurely pace.
“Mr. Fortunate! I knew you’d come for me!” Jack screamed, his face lighting up as he caught sight of me. “You’re in trouble now!” the little boy said as he looked back over at his captor. For his part, Parker didn’t looked too affected.
“Lucky John,” Parker said, a smirk appearing across his face as he turned to me. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I was kind of hoping you were in cuffs by now.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” I said. “I guess I’ve disappointed you twice tonight, haven’t I? You wanted me dead first.”
“Don’t say it like that,” Parker answered. “You seem like a cool enough guy. I actually enjoyed hanging out with you earlier. It’s not that I wanted you dead. It’s that I needed you dead. I needed someone, a couple of people, actually, to take the fall here. Otherwise, all of this would have been for nothing.”
“And what was it for otherwise, Parker?” I asked. “I kind of get how you did it. You studied my handwriting, planted the evidence in the various crime scenes, and tricked me into boarding Mia’s ship after you’d rigged it to take off. I’m guessing the guy who tried to kidnap Jack in the truck was paid off as well.”
“He was an old client of mine,” Parker said, beaming with pride. “A career criminal, as it were. He owed me one for keeping his ass out of jail the last time he got in trouble. So did his wife, who was the woman Davey disappeared with at Alexis’s party the night George died. I needed him to not have an alibi.”
“So you were in there when Jack was taken from his room. You were one of the people in masks?”
“The one who put the Taser into your neck,” Parker said, still smiling. “Sorry about that. It was a necessary evil.”
“And the other one?” I asked. “The one whose ass I beat?”
“That was George,” he answered flatly. “You see, you didn’t know it, but you actually made this much easier for me. I had been trying to do this for so long. I’d been stoking the flames of George’s anger. But it wasn’t until you got here, it wasn’t until you beat him up and embarrassed him in front of Alexis that he was ready to pop. He came to me. He told me about you and what you’d done. All I had to do was tell him Alexis had invited you to her party and he was ready to do whatever I asked. I promised to help him take Jack, and then I promised to talk to Alexis, to convince her that they all belonged together.” He shook his head. “I would never have done that, of course. He never deserved her in the first place, let alone after everything that happened between them. And Jack is a reminder of that. He’s a living testament of the worst mistake Alexis has ever made. She’ll never move on as long as he’s still alive.”
“Move on?” I balked, moving toward him as anger grew inside me more and more steadily. “That’s her son. That’s her life.”
“It wasn’t always,” Parker said. “I remember before all of that, before George sank his hooks into her. She was happy then, just me and her. We could be that happy again. I spent years thinking about it, but I couldn’t figure out just how I was going to make it work. Then you dropped into my lap, the perfect scapegoat. And you still will be.”
“Is that what all of this is about? You’re in love with Alexis? You want to have her all to yourself?” I sneered.
“Don’t be vulgar!” Parker shot back. “This isn’t about base carnal needs. This isn’t about my wanting to have sex with her. This is so much more than that. She’s the only family I have. She’s all I need. Did you know my mother died, John?”
“I did,” I answered. “And I’m sorry to hear that, but—”
“And then my father left me,” he said. “He told me he couldn’t handle the pressure of having me without her, of being a single parent. He burned all of her things first. He said he was afraid of sickness or germs, but I knew better than that. Cancer doesn’t spread that way. I knew he was just trying to purge himself of her because keeping her around hurt too much. I guess keeping me around hurt too much. I swore that day, looking out at the fire pit that symbolized the last of my mother being burned away from the earth, that I would never be a burden to anyone else. I would never allow another person I loved to leave me ever again. And I had succeeded in that up until recently. I saw the strain on Alexis that came from being a single parent. I saw that my dad was right, but I would have let it go if she hadn’t started talking about leaving. She wanted to move away, to take Jack and start out somewhere new.” He shook his head hard, his face a mask of bitterness against the glow of the lantern light.
“She didn’t even ask me to come along. It was like I was nothing. It was like I was a stranger. That’s when I realized that Alexis isn’t herself anymore and she hasn’t been for a really long time. If I was going to fix that, if I was going to stop another person I loved from leaving me, then I was going to have to cut out the things that changed her. I was going to have to pull George and everything he did to her out, root and stem.”
“Everything?” I asked, my heart in my throat. “Including her son?”
“It’s a terrible sacrifice, but it has to be done,” Parker said quickly, his voice colored with something that sounded a bit like remorse.
“This isn’t going to work,” I said. “Do you really think Alexis could ever forgive the man who killed her only son? It’s insane.”
“Of course, it is,” Parker answered. “Don’t you think I’ve thought of that? I’m a genius, John. That’s why I put Alexis to sleep first. That’s why I dosed her with enough sedative that she won’t remember anything. When she wakes up, you’ll all be dead. It’ll just be me to tell the story, a story that will be corroborated by the police. So, no, I don’t believe Alexis has it in her to forgive the man who killed her son. The thing is, in her mind, that man is going to be you.” Parker shook his head. “Don’t worry, though. You’ll be dead long before she ever has a chance to blame you.” He pulled a gun from his waistband and held it out at me. “And so will Jack.”
Parker kicked the lantern back hard. It smashed open against the kindling and the entire pyre quickly caught fire.
“No!” I yelled, running toward the place where Jack was tied up. He was screaming again, crying and jerking as he saw the fire. The little guy tried with everything in him to pull free, but he was tied too tightly. In seconds, he’d be burned alive. “Leave him alone!”
My mind moved so quickly and toward such a defined point that I didn’t even hear the gun as it went off. I didn’t feel the bullet as it entered my gut. In fact, the creeping realization that Jack was getting further away from me as opposed to closer was the only indication that something wasn’t right.
Stumbling backward, I fell against the sand. With my back against the ground and my eyes looking up at the brilliant stars that draped the night sky, I finally felt a stinging in my stomach. Reaching for the source of the pain, my hand came back to me covered in blood.
“See?” Parker’s voice echoed from over me as the sounds of Jack screaming sent a million pinpricks of hurt through my heart. “You’re another one, aren’t you? You’re just trying to get between me and my sister. You all have to die for that, I’m afraid. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt that much.” Parker pointed the gun at my head. “Any last words?”
A few choice ones ran through my head, but along with them came an idea.
I muttered some nonsense in a voice so low and weak.
“What?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me. I muttered the same nonsense, putting on the same weak, quiet effects to my voice.
“I can’t hear you,” he said, instinctively getting closer. “I know you’re dying and all, but you should really speak up. It’s rude.”
He settled over me, exactly where I wanted him to be. Steeling myself, I thrust my arm up, sending the full champagne bottle colliding hard with his groin.
“I said, have a drink,” I replied as loudly as I could.
Parker crumpled toward me, his face in pain. As quickly as I could, I grabbed for his gun, but he kept a hold on it. In seconds, we were on top of each other, rolling on the sand and grappling for the firearm. He punched at me with his free hand, landing blow after blow to my head. I didn’t relent, though. I had already taken a bullet to the gut. A couple of ham-fisted punches weren’t going to bother me too much at this point.
I felt his hand trying to move toward the trigger, and I did my best to wrestle it away. His eyes were manic and intense as we fought, still rolling around.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of a muffled shot, and my heart dropped. I didn’t feel anything, but then again, I hadn’t felt anything the first time I got shot either. Was this just like that, and if so, could my body even handle the trauma that came with another bullet?
As it turned out, I wouldn’t have to find out.
Parker’s eyes went wide as he coughed and rolled off me. He had shot himself in the chest, and he dropped the gun as his hands moved over to the wound.
I stood, looking down at the man and fighting through an injury of my own.
“They’ll all leave me,” he said, looking up at me. “If they find out, they’ll all leave me. Just kill me. I’d rather be dead than alone. Just end it.” He looked over at the gun. I grabbed it and stuffed it into my waistband so he couldn’t get to it.
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m not in the mood to do you any favors.”
“What about this?” he asked, his eyes growing cold. “If you don’t kill me, I’ll never stop. They’ll always have to look over their shoulders.”
“Fine by me,” I said, leaning down to him. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”
With that, I reared back and punched him hard in the face. Parker fell unconscious and I turned my attention to Jack.
The fire licked up toward him now. In seconds, he would burn.
“Hold on!” I yelled, taking a deep breath and running as fast as I could.
Pain threatened to split me wide open as my bullet wound screamed in agony. I couldn’t stop, though, not for the pain and not for the fire I was heading toward.
As I reached the pyre, I leapt as high and far as I could. Slamming into Jack, I felt the stick break behind him. The both of us went tumbling to the beach on the other side of the pyre. The instant my body hit, I turned to him.
“Are you okay?” I asked, grabbing his shoulders and looking him over. “Did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine, Mr. Fortunate,” he said, sniffling. “Just hot.”
I pulled the little guy close, hugging him tightly.
“Hey, Mr. Fortunate,” Jack said, his voice muffled against my shoulder. “Will you do something for me?”
“Anything, kid,” I said. “What did you have in mind?”
“Will you come with me to school tomorrow?” he said. “I have show and tell, and I don’t think my teacher is going to believe this.”
I laughed so loudly and so uncontrollably that I thought I was going to pass out. Of course, the bullet might have also had something to do with that.
“Sure, kid,” I said, giving him a pat on the back. “I don’t see why not.”
Chapter 30
“Look at you, all healed up,” Alexis said, brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear with a piña colada in her free hand. It had been a couple of weeks since everything came out with Parker, and as with seemingly everything that happened in Bonita Springs, it was marked with a celebration.
“I’m feeling a lot better,” I said, gently patting my still bandaged belly. “I have to head back to the doctor next week, but you know how doctors are. So overly cautious.”
“Says the least cautious man in the world,” Alexis said, smiling at me. “You threw yourself through fire at least twice for my son.”
“I’ll admit, there was a lot of fire,” I answered, smiling as I spoke. “It’s nothing I wouldn’t do again, and it’s certainly not a big deal.”
“It’s a huge deal,” she answered. “It’s the biggest deal in the world to me, and you are my favorite person in the world. Which is why I’d drive you to the doctor myself if I could.”
“Well, I mean, who told you leave town, anyway?” I asked, my smile dropping just a little.
“Good point,” she said, looking down at the sand of the beach behind her house. To think, just a couple of weeks ago, this same sand lay stained with mine and Parker’s blood. It very nearly saw Jack’s blood spilled too. Now, it was filled with all of Alexis’s friends and family, all gathered to laugh, drink, and wish her a fond farewell.
“You think Jack will like
it up in New York?” I asked.
“He’s excited,” she said. “My cousin lives up there, and she has a little boy around Jack’s age. They keep talking about all the fun they’re going to have.” She looked up at me. “He is going to miss you, though. We both are.”
“Me too,” I said, stuffing my hands into my pockets. “I know we’ve only known each other for a little bit, but you’ve left a strong impression on me. I’m kind of sad this is the last time we’re going to see each other.”
“What if it’s not?” Alexis asked, biting her lower lip.
“What do you mean?”
“I asked Jack how he wanted to spend his last night here, and do you know what he told me?” Alexis asked.
“Video games and Pop Tarts?”
“He actually said he wanted to watch Indiana Jones,” she said.
“Really?” I smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of anyone in my entire life.”
“I was thinking maybe you could come over tonight and watch it with us.” She took a step closer to me. “And after Jack goes to sleep, maybe you and I can find something equally fun to do together.”
“Really?” I asked, my smile instantly widening.
“Really,” she confirmed. “Unless you can think of a better way for me to spend my last night here.”
“You know,” I muttered, “I’m drawing a blank.”
“Good,” she purred. ‘I’ll see you tonight.”
As she walked away, I caught sight of Mia. She, once again, stood out with her feet in the surf, looking at the Gulf.
“You really like this, don’t you?” I asked, settling beside her and looking out at the water. “Because it’s peaceful, I guess.”
“’Cause it makes sense,” she answered. “Every ripple, every turn, every wave all makes sense. Even when its unpredictable, you can put logic to it. The Gulf has that over on people, I guess.”
