Under the Midnight Stars (27 page)

Jack sat down in the chair next to the door and crossed his arms.

Richard eyed him cautiously, before he followed Amy and the deputy out the door.

As soon as the door shut Jack jumped to his feet. His eyes narrowed. “Like hell I will!”

Brielle heard a seething tone in Jack’s voice. He was out for vengeance. And that would only result in either Jack going to prison, or getting himself killed. She had to talk some sense into him. “Jack, please stay here like the sheriff said.”

Colt immediately pulled off his gown and began to dress into the sweatpants and T-shirt that the firefighters had brought for him, followed by his boots.

“Uh uh,” Jack replied smoothly. “I’m gonna find Billy myself.”

Brielle rushed to the door in a panic and blocked it with her body. “You’re not going anywhere, Jack!”

Jack’s expression remained unchanged, but his eyes filled with venom. “Outta my way,” he ordered sharply. He reached for the handle.

“NO!” She pressed her back against the door.

Colt stepped in between them, facing Jack. “I’m coming with you.”

Brielle’s mouth hung open in shock. Now she was facing losing both men in her life? And for what? So that they could get revenge? What revenge could possibly come out of Billy single-handedly taking away everyone she’d ever loved?

“You guys just stop for a minute!” she pleaded desperately.
“Please!
Don’t do this! I’ve already lost my parents. I can’t lose the both of you too!”

Colt turned to her. “Baby, Jack’s leaving here with or without me. I can’t keep him outta trouble sitting here.”

She was relieved that Colt was only going along to keep Jack from doing something foolish. But if she couldn’t stop them from going, then she’d be damned if they expected her to just stay put and wait for bad news.

“Fine, I’m coming too!” She turned to open the door.

“The hell you are!” Jack reached around Colt and held the door shut.

“He’s right, Brielle,” Colt agreed. “You’re not going anywhere near danger.”

She spun around and glared at the both of them. “I will
not
sit here and wait for someone to tell me that one of you is dead and that the other is going to prison! Now I’m going whether you like it or not!”

Colt sighed his impatience. “No. You’re pregnant. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“You have a concussion,” she challenged. “I don’t want
you
to get hurt!”

Jack rolled his eyes. “You won’t be able to talk her out of it, Colt. Once she’s made up her mind that’s it. It takes days to talk any sense into her.”

Brielle fumed. “You’re one to talk, Jack!”

Colt studied Brielle’s demeanor before he reluctantly gave in. “Fine, but you’re staying in the car.”

“Fine,” Brielle agreed hotly, still angry over the whole situation.

Colt placed both hands on either sides of her face. Worry creased his forehead, but his voice was tender when he spoke. “I’m serious, Brielle. Our baby is growing inside of you. You have to keep yourself and our baby safe from harm. You have to promise me you’ll stay in the car.”

Colt’s words shed a new light on the situation. She hadn’t realized that if she went, she’d be placing her baby in danger. She raised her hands to her abdomen, and for the first time acknowledged the new life growing inside of her. She nodded gently. “I’ll keep our baby safe, Colt. I promise.”

“Now that
that’s
settled,” Jack said with irritation, “can we go?”

Without another word they left the room. Wanting to remain inconspicuous, Jack led the way to a side door, avoiding the nurses’ station altogether. When they were safely in the busy parking lot, he clicked the door-lock button on his key remote, triggering one short honk. They followed the direction of the alarm and found Jack’s car a few rows away.

Colt opened the passenger door and pulled the front seat forward. He turned to Brielle and gestured with his hand for her to get in.

Not wanting to be trapped in the back seat, she shook her head. “But I—”

“You promised you’d stay in the car,” Colt reminded her.

She frowned and reluctantly climbed into the back seat.

Once they were all inside, Jack drove along the curved road that led away from the hospital, stopping when they reached the intersection of Main Street. “Where in the hell would he be at this time of morning?”

Brielle leaned forward as far as the seatbelt would permit to talk some sense into her brother. “Jack, what do you expect to come of all this? If you beat him up, you might kill him. You’ll go to prison. I’ll be all alone. Please, just stop and think for a minute.”

Jack glared at her through the rearview mirror. “Would you like to get out of the car?”

Colt stepped in. “She’s only trying to be reasonable, Jack. She doesn’t want you to get hurt. Neither of us do. And we certainly don’t want you to get carried away and do something stupid enough to get yourself locked away for the next twenty years.”

He stared at Colt blankly. “Would
you
like to get out of the car?”

Colt shook his head and sighed in exasperation. “You’re a damn fool, Jack!”

Jack turned left onto Main Street. He glanced over his shoulder at Brielle and scowled. “Sit back in your seat the right way. The seatbelt won’t work if you’re not in it properly.”

She sighed and sat back, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m not a child, Jack.”

“No, but you’re carrying one,” he reminded.

She remained silent, thinking of a way to stop him from making a big mistake. She considered quietly unfastening her seatbelt and snatching the keys from the ignition at the next stop sign, but then she remembered his car didn’t start with a key — it started by pushing a button.

Jack pulled into the parking lot of the diner, but they didn’t see Billy’s truck.

Brielle was relieved. She could only imagine the scene Jack would’ve created had Billy been there.

“Shit,” Jack said. “I’ll bet he’s at the bar.”

“He wouldn’t be at the bar this early,” Brielle said. “It’s only nine o’clock.”

Jack pulled to the mouth of the parking lot, ready to turn right, but stopped when he saw five sheriff’s cars approaching quickly from the opposite direction, sirens blazing.

“Damn, they beat me to him!” Jack smacked his steering wheel. He waited for them to pass and then quickly followed them.

After seeing the security of the sheriff’s department speed past, Brielle’s fear over what
might
happen slowly turned into anger over what
did
happen. Now, not only did she want to enjoy the satisfaction of watching Billy get arrested, she wanted to see the look on his face when they did it.

Jack sped down the road, following the commotion. When they reached the bar, three of the sheriff’s cars pulled into the parking lot, while the other two blocked the only way in or out of the parking lot.

“I guess watching them take him down will have do,” Jack sounded disappointed. He pulled over on the side of the road and hopped out of the car.

Colt opened his door.

“Colt,” Brielle stopped him. “Please, you have to let me get out. I have to see this.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Colt argued.

“He killed my mom, Colt. I
have
to see this,” she pleaded. “I need this closure. There are deputies all around. We’re safe.”

Colt remained quiet for a moment before he finally agreed. “Okay. Just stay with me.” He set the seat forward and helped Brielle out of the back seat. They spotted Jack standing behind one of the deputy’s vehicles. Deputy Frank was standing next to him. Colt grabbed Brielle’s hand and hurried over to stand next to Jack.

“Not one step closer,” Frank warned her and Colt.

Brielle and Colt nodded.

The other deputies surrounded the front door, guns in hand.

Richard stood in the middle of them, but his gun remained holstered.

Colt put a protective arm around Brielle.

Frank slapped a firm hand to Jack’s shoulder.

Then Billy exited the bar.

“Hands in the air!” a deputy shouted as he raised his gun. The other deputies followed his lead, pointing their guns directly at Billy.

Billy jumped back, his eyes wide with fear. He slowly raised his hands above his head. “Dad?” His voice shook. “What’s going on?”

“Son, step over to my car and place your hands on the hood,” Richard ordered loud and clear.

Billy did as he was told.

Richard motioned with his head for a deputy to pat his son down for any weapons. The deputy did as instructed and stepped back. “He’s all clear.”

“Lower your guns,” Richard ordered.

“Dad?” Billy slowly turned around, his hands still raised. “What’s this all about?”

Richard’s eyes bore into Billy’s before they filled with tears. “Why, son?”

Billy shook his head, looking confused. He slowly lowered his hands.

“I’ve dedicated every day for the last two years searching for Katherine Sinclair’s murderer … only to find that for the entire two years, I’ve been staring him straight in the eyes every single morning … Why, son?
Why?
”

Billy stood dumbfounded, mouth agape. He glanced around at all of the deputies, and then focused in on Colt, Brielle, and finally Jack. He narrowed his eyes and curled his mouth into a vengeful sneer before he turned his attention back to his father.

“I’ve been asking myself the same question ever since I saw you fucking Katherine Sinclair in the barn! And Mom saw you too! She told me not to say anything! She told me to keep quiet about it! So I did, and she killed herself because of you and that whore!”

Brielle was appalled. Her gut wrenched. It had to be a lie! She looked at Jack. His angry expression melted into a look of shock. But he remained silent, his full attention on Billy.

Colt tightened his grip around Brielle’s waist.

“How’d you know your mother killed herself?” Richard asked, completely bewildered. “You were so young at the time. I told you she left town to spare you the pain.”

“Because I came home from school and found her dead! That’s why!” he cried bitterly. “I saw her lying in the bathtub in a pool of her own blood! I saw her dead! And then I ran! I ran away for hours, not knowing what to do! And when I came home, and you told me that stupid made-up story of her leaving, I realized you didn’t even know that I’d already seen her. That I already
knew!
She died because of you! And I blame you, and I blame Katherine! That whore got what she deserved! And so did you! I heard you break down when you found out she died! You got what you deserved, you
bastard!
I
hate
you!”

Richard winced at the painful blow. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks. “I’m sorry, son.” His voice was somber. “I don’t know what you think you saw in the barn that night, but you’ve got it all wrong … Nothing happened between Katherine and me. We were just consoling each other. She’d just found out that your mother and Roger Sinclair … had been having an affair.” He took in an unsteady breath.

Brielle shook her head, horrified at what she’d just heard. She grabbed Jack’s arm. “It can’t be true, Jack. Is it true?”

Jack looked down at her, teary-eyed. He lifted his shoulders and let them fall hopelessly. “I suppose it is.”

Richard cleared his throat before he continued. “I found them together and was willing to forgive your mother and give her another chance. But Katherine didn’t find out about it until a few days later — the night you saw us in the barn together. She came over looking for answers … She was upset and crying and I comforted her … and then she kissed me, but I put a stop to it. I didn’t let it go any further than that. I couldn’t — I respected Katherine … and was still in love with your mother.”

He shrugged. “Katherine was embarrassed and went home right after the kiss. She and Roger, they worked things out. But your mom … she was ashamed. She couldn’t forgive herself. And she couldn’t live with the pain she’d caused you, and me, and Katherine. And I wish you’d never seen any of it. Here I was out protecting the world, and I couldn’t protect my own son from what was happening under my own roof … I’m so sorry … I’m so sorry.”

Billy shook his head, his eyes wide with panic. “I didn’t know. I got things mixed up! I didn’t know!”

Richard turned from his son to dry his eyes with his hands. After a deep breath he squared his shoulders and faced Billy again. “Even so … adultery … suicide … those are crimes that can be forgiven with enough love … But rape … murder … those crimes are unforgivable.”

With that, he motioned toward Billy with a quick nod of the head, signaling the deputies to arrest his only child.

For Brielle and Jack, the next two weeks were solemn. It was difficult climbing out of bed with each new dawn. With each step they took, it felt as if they were tiredly working against the forces of gravity. It was as if they had just lost their mother all over again, making the pain of recently losing their father almost unbearable. And though legal justice would be served on their mother’s behalf, there would never really be any true justice served. There never could be. Katherine Sinclair was gone forever, her life prematurely taken in a brutally senseless crime at the hands of a morally lost soul, and all they could do was somehow learn to live with it.

Jack kept busy from dawn ’til late in the evening raising the new barn. And nearly every member of the fire department volunteered during their time off to help their brother in need. And as a part of the family now, aside from being the good-natured man that he was, Colt worked diligently beside him. He’d left most of the oversight of the garage construction to Zeke, who, with his wife’s cancer now officially in complete remission, had been more than ecstatic to see his crumbling business transform into a thriving resource.

Wearing white sneakers, cut-off jean shorts, and a lavender T-shirt, Brielle descended the stairs and hurried to the kitchen, expecting to find Colt and Jack chatting over breakfast as they had done all week. Though she had asked Colt to wake her as soon as he had arrived in the morning, he insisted that if she were sleeping in, it was because she and the baby needed it.