South River Incident (24 page)

Brad walked over to Laura
and planted a kiss on her face. “You might have a good idea there, babe. I’ll
kill all these crazy hags, and then set the house on fire. The Indian will come
to their rescue, and then I’ll do him in.”

My question about the
identity of Chicky went unanswered.

O
ut of the corner of my eye, I caught movement. Athena
was quietly descending the stairs. Her ears perked as her head hung down. Her
snout jutted forward, exposing bared teeth while a low growl rumbled from her
throat. Halfway down the steps she stopped, sniffed the air and then continued
on her trek to the bottom of the stairs. She whimpered as she ambled over to
Thor, circled him and licked at his wound. In a flash, she let out a snarl and
leaped through the air at her target of revenge.

Sarah let out a scream when
Brad turned and aimed his gun at the raging dog. One shot and it would all be
over. Athena would be dead.

“No!” I yelled, rising to
my knees and aiming my gun at Brad’s head, all in one swift motion. “Stop!”

A shock wave reverberated
off the walls as the blast pierced my ears. I closed my eyes just for a second,
and when I reopened them, Brad and Laura crumbled to the floor.

Laura lay motionless beside
her husband.

Brad’s body twitched as an
arc of blood spurted from his neck, splattering me with each beat of his heart.
Shortly, the warm flow of blood ceased. He was dead.

Dropping the gun to the
floor, I bent down on my knees to inspect the carnage. My mouth fell open when
I saw what I had done. The bullet from my gun had pierced Brad’s neck, took out
a chunk of soft tissue, and left a gapping hole that exposed bone and raw meat.
It was awful. The knees of my jeans were soaked in his blood. I glanced at
Laura. In the center of her forehead was a bullet hole. Trails of blood had
split off and run down the sides of her face. This horrible scene gave a new
meaning to the phrase—killing two birds with one stone. I couldn’t believe it.
Luck must have been on my side. My accuracy with a gun was far less than
perfect, but for some unknown reason, I had really hit my mark this time. I had
killed two people with one bullet. Yet, this wasn’t a story I would one day
tell my grandchildren.

Athena walked up and licked
my face.

“You’re not a coward after
all, huh?” I said, rubbing her fur and allowing her to drool all over me. 
“From now on, you’ve earned the right to lick and do your doggie thing, and I
promise not to whine about it.”

The front door exploded off
its hinges. A barrage of policemen stormed the room with their guns drawn as
the leader shouted into an electronic headset. Nobody moved, not even the dogs.
Seconds later, Cole appeared at the doorway. Not waiting for clearance, Billy
brushed past him and came to my aid. He bent down and removed the duct tape
from my wrists, praising and scolding me the entire time.

“That was a brave thing you
just did, Jesse,” he said. “Have you lost your mind? You could have gotten
everybody killed.”

“They were going to kill us.
I had to do something.”

“Are you okay?” he turned
and asked his mother. “You’re not hurt, are you?” He leaned over, gave her a
hug, and then removed the duck tape from her wrists. He looked over at Claire
and then yelled out, “Somebody needs to get over here and fix up her face. She
has a pretty bad cut.”

The roar of a siren blasted
through the hole in the wall that used to have a door attached. Within the
blink of an eye, paramedics had entered, assessed the situation, and were ready
for transport. Claire was taken out first, with a promise from one of the men
that she was going to be fine. He said the gash would not leave a bad scar.

Tears flooded my eyes when
I saw a brown, furry, limp paw sticking out from under the blanket that covered
the small mound on the gurney. My eyes wandered to the other end, and then I
saw it! Thor’s tongue was licking at the air. He was alive! I was so happy. I
ran over to him. “You have to learn to control that temper of yours, Thor,” I
admonished him, tears running down my face as I stroked his head. I welcomed
the lick of his tongue on my hand. “You and Athena are the best dogs anyone
could ever have. I’m so lucky!”

With the sound of her name
in the air, Athena came over and jumped up, putting her front paws on the
gurney. A sad whine echoed.

I leaned down and stroked
Athena’s back. “I’m so proud of you two dogs! You saved the day!”

I looked up at the
paramedic and asked, “He’s going to make it, isn’t he? I don’t know what I’d do
if...”

“Yes ma’am,” one of the men
replied. “It’s only a flesh wound, but that guy’s boot took out a chunk of
meat. He’ll need stitches.”

“Oh, gross,” I said. I
gagged for a second. “Can you fix him up?”

“We could if we had to, but
he’s going to do it,” the paramedic pointed to the chief. “We’ll transport the
animal to his clinic. They’re better equipped to handle an animal injury.”

The chief stood off to the
side, hugging his wife.

My mind had been clouded
with so much emotion that I had almost forgotten about Mom until I heard her
voice outside.

“Let go of me!” She pushed
one of the men. “I’m going inside. My daughters need me. Get out of my way!”

Billy whispered into my
ear. “I made your mother stay in the truck. She’s probably really angry at me.
I forgot she was out there.”

“That’s right, Billy Blackhawk!
I am mad at you!” Mom roared, blazing a path past the cops. “You made me wait
outside in the freezing cold while my daughters...”

“Calm down, Minnie.” I went
to her. “We’re all right.”

“I was so scared when we
pulled up and the house was surrounded by police. I heard a shot and then all
heck broke loose,” she cried. “They wouldn’t let me come in, and then I was
scared of what I’d find when I was allowed in.”

“Thank God, for this
storm!” I said. “There’s no telling what would have happened if Brad had known
the cops were outside. If he had seen the headlights from the truck when you
and Billy pulled up, I could be dead right now. We all could be dead. We were
very lucky. I’m so glad that things didn’t play out differently.”

“Let’s not dwell on the past,”
Mom said, hugging me. “I’m just glad my girls are safe.” Her gaze wandered over
to the two bodies on the floor. “Isn’t that the girl from the photo... the one
who was in my house?”

“That’s Laura and Brad
Westover. I killed them.”

Much to my surprise, she
responded, “It was God’s will, Jesse. You did nothing wrong. You had to do it.
I’d rather it be them on the floor than one of you. If they had...”

A paramedic approached.

“Ma’am, I need to bandage
that gash on your forehead. It looks like it might need stitches.”

I touched the cut. “I’m
fine. Just put a Band-Aid on it.”

Mom laughed as she brushed
back the hair from my face. “I don’t think so, Missy. You’re going to the
hospital.”

“I’m not going anywhere
until I get some answers first. Where’s Cole?” I looked around the room,
searching for him.

“He’s in the ambulance with
Claire,” Billy answered. “He was off-duty when a call came over his scanner
requesting backup for
2 Bear Mountain
Road
. He got on the phone and tried to
reach you and then me, but to no avail. He reached your mom on her cell phone.
She told him we were on our way home as they spoke.”

“I guess I need to talk to
someone else then,” I replied.

I was unperturbed by the
fact that Cole and my sister were obviously an item. I was glad for them both.
Cole was just what Claire needed. I liked the idea... as long as he could
control his temper.

Billy interrupted my
thoughts. “Before you go off and run your mouth, let’s think about this for a
minute. You have two dead people lying on your floor. Things can get turned
around real quick.”

“Not this time, baby,” I
snapped, out of control. “No way are they going to lay this at my feet. I saved
us. Those two pieces of dirt were going to kill us, and I stopped them.”

“That’s correct,” a
familiar face appeared.

It was Captain John Waverly
from the Charlottesville Police Department; I recognized the scar across his
right eye.

“They would have killed all
of you without hesitation. They had a lot to lose, and you were standing in
their way. Once Roy Keen was out of the picture, they were on their way up.
Tyler
was
ready to put Brad in charge of his drug traffic. Brad is... was... an eager
beaver. He wanted it all, and
Tyler
would have given it to him. It was just a matter of
time.”

“How are you, captain?” I
greeted him halfheartedly. I’d had very little dealings with this man so far,
but the one thing that stuck in my mind about him was that he appeared to be a
man of integrity.

His grasp was warm and
soothing. “We’ve had the Westovers under surveillance for some time. I’m sorry
about what happened here. I must commend you on your marksmanship, Miss Watson.
It’s not often I see two people killed with the same bullet. Considering the
circumstances, it was a blessing. I’m sorry to say that, but if you hadn’t killed
them, they would have killed you. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

“Taking someone’s life is
not something I’m proud of, but in this situation, I’m glad I killed them. I
didn’t have a choice.”

“We’re going to need a
statement when you’re up to it,” Captain Waverly said. “But for now, it can
wait.” He glanced at the paramedic who had been standing quietly by my side.

“Fix her up, Chicky.”

“Will do, sir,” he
responded. “That’s my job.”

I freaked out. When I asked
Brad who Chicky was, I never did get an answer. Well, now I had it.

“What kind of name is
that?” I asked.

“It’s his nickname,”
Captain Waverly laughed. “His buddies gave it to him a long time ago. It has
something to do with all the girls he chases.”

A spark of revelation
sprang forth. Our eyes met. He knew his cover had been blown and I knew he was
a killer. What I didn’t know was how he was tied into it all. What was a
paramedic doing involved in an operation such as Clayton Tyler’s? If Chicky
killed Roy Keen then why did Laura lead me to believe Brad was the one who did
the deed... unless she didn’t know any better? Maybe Brad and Chicky had made
it a team effort. Perhaps all three were involved in the murder and the name
Chicky was the last one uttered by Roy Keen. They were like cockroaches in the
woodwork... once they come out, they’re all over the place. You kill two of
them and ten more show up. So far, I could link five deaths, either directly or
indirectly, to Clayton Tyler. But I knew his prime objective had not been
achieved. He wanted something and he was willing to kill everyone in his path
to get it. He would continue his effort with this man. Apparently, Clayton
Tyler had goons everywhere and he wouldn’t rest until he had what he wanted. I
was just a fly in the ointment.

Should I give this guy the
picture and hope for the best or do I pull out my gun... again, today? No, that
wouldn’t be necessary.
Tyler
had decided he wanted us dead so no matter what I
did, it wouldn’t change things. We had seen the picture. We could link him to
it all. Clayton was the one I had to deal with now. It was the only way to keep
us alive. He had to be eliminated. We could either see to it that he got locked
up in a prison far, far away or we could kill him. I opted for prison. I had to
tell Billy. Something had to be done quickly.

“I’m fine,” I said,
stepping back. “If I need stitches, I’ll get the chief to fix me up with a
couple of butterflies when he gets back from the clinic. I’m not too concerned
about my face.”

“Are you refusing medical
attention?” he asked, resuming his role in front of the captain.

“Yes, I am,” I responded as
professionally as I could under the circumstances. “I’m refusing medical
treatment.” I sure didn’t want assistance from a crazed killer!

“We’re out of here,” he
yelled to the crew of medical people.

They gathered their bags,
jumped into the ambulance, and sped down the driveway.

If Cole hadn’t been with
Claire and Thor, I would have never let that man out of my sight. I was
counting on Cole to protect the ones I loved.

“Jesse, why didn’t you let
him take you to the hospital?” Mom cried. “You need to have that face looked
after.”

Billy looked at me and
said, “It looks pretty rough. Why don’t you... ”

“Come with me,” I
commanded. “We need to talk before we do anything.” I grabbed Billy by his
sleeve and led him to the bedroom, snatching my cell phone out of the charger
on the way. There was so much commotion going on, nobody noticed us leave. Mom
didn’t say a word when I took Billy away, and the captain was involved with his
crew.

“What is it, Jesse?” Billy
asked as I closed the bedroom door behind him. “Why did you drag me away?”

I flipped open the cell
phone and punched in Cole’s number. I needed to warn him about Chicky.

“That paramedic is on
Tyler
’s
payroll. He and Brad killed Roy Keen over the picture you have.”