Deceitful Moon (43 page)

“Before I kill you, tell me how you figured me out.”

Manny shrugged. “I remembered your
résumé
when Alex showed it to me. Not many women make it to a Special Ops level. I know you finished your sniper training before you tore up you
r
knee and were discharged. Your determination was a big part of the reason Alex wanted to bring you aboard.”

She looked at Alex with that puppy-dog look again
,
and Manny knew they were running short of
time. She was in love with Alex
and wanted to finish what she started here, then run off with him to places unknown.

Pointing the gun at Manny
,
she stepped back, just out of his reach. “Impressive, detective. I had no idea you saw my credentials. And for your information
,
I didn’t hurt my knee. I was
set
up
by two officers and booted to keep my mouth shut.”

Her eyes grew wilder, darker, if that were possible. “They didn’t like it that a woman was kicking their precious
men-
troop’s ass
es
in just about every category, particularly the sniper thing. I could hit a
four-inch square
at 200 yards
nine
out of
ten
times.”

“So why didn’t you say something?
”
asked Sophie.

“Because I was a soldier. I wanted them to know I was
as
tough as any of them.
And I told you
to
shut up.
”

More hatred
sprang
from her face. “But the men in charge saw that I wasn’t broken, wasn’t going
to
give up. So they
put
drugs in my footlocker. I had two choices
,
th
eir
terms or the brig.”

“I
’m
sorry that happened, but
—
” started Manny.

“I don’t need your
idiot
sympathy. I just want men like them to
disappear, t
he hard way.”

Alex seemed to catch on
to her mental state. “Sparky. You
are
the best tech I’ve ever had. Just give me the gun and we’ll
—
”

“I can’t do that. I’m going to finish what we started.”

T
heir best shot at getting out of this was to keep her talking.
Manny
did
.
“
So why hide the gun
s
and clothes here?”

“I couldn’t bear to part with them. Every time I looked at
those things
, it made me feel like I’d made a difference. I hid them here while you were at the
ball
game. There was no one watching the place
,
and
Sampson
and I made friends at that cook
-
out you had last month.
Besides, if anyone would’ve seen me, I would’ve said I was working. But y
ou really should get a less laid
-
back dog.
Not that it’s going to matter.
” She spread her feet a little wider and shifted the sidearm to her right hand.

“It was a perfect hiding place
. Who was going to look there?
I didn’t think you’d find the
rifle
and bag before I got
rid of you and your family. Or
before
Buzzy
could get a GPS fix on the phone.”

“Why us? Me
,
I get
. . .
but my family?”

“Because once this stuff is found here, your wife will be the prime suspect
,
so no one’s going to be thinking
of
me
, e
specially with Alex to back me up. You’ll all be dead, and, well
,
I’m home free
.”

“What about Stella and
Kathy
? Why them?”

Her impatience was growing, but her narcissism was stronger. She wanted to impress Alex with her story. More time to
sort her
out,
Manny
hoped.

“After Gavin was shot, I knew Stella had done it and that she was
coming
after all of you. I couldn’t allow that
, certainly not my beautiful Alex.” She smiled at him again. “
So I followed
Stella
and set up across the street. You know the rest.”

“How did you all get together?”

“Oh
,
girl talk, a few drinks, a hatred for men, particularly perverts, goes a long way. You’d be surprised what truths people can
agree upon
.”

Sparks frowned. “I hadn’t been officially introduced to
Kathy
and Stella before all hell broke loose
, s
o I decided to take things into my own hands. I followed
Kathy to talk to her
and
introduce myself
,
but
heard her tell Evelyn that I needed to go. Hey
,
I’m a survivor.
I wasn’t going anywhere.
They’re the ones that went.
”

“But there was one thing I hadn’t counted on.” She went starry
-
eyed in
Alex’s direction. “No one ever
treated me the way you did
,
Alex. Kind, considerate, patient. The men in my life were never like that. Hell, neither were the women. I knew right away that you loved me. A month later, I’d fallen for you. I never thought that would happen to me.”

“So
you
killed Stella to protect Alex?” said Sophie.
“How sweet.”

Sarah took two quick steps and put the Beretta between Sophie’s eyes. “What the hell would you know about love? You’re just a shallow smartass. I’d do anything for him
,
and he’d do anything for me.”

Alex nodded. “So you hung out near my house to be close to me?”

“Of course. There’s no other place I’d rather be.” She backed away from Sophie, touching Alex’s
cheek
,
and Manny knew it was time.

“We
’
ll have to get rid of your wife
,
and I have a plan for that. Then we can be together. Forever. But more on that later. Let’s get this over with.”

“No
,
wait,” said Alex.

“
Sh
hh
. Don’t worry. Let me handle this. It’ll be over before you can blink.”

It was now or never. Manny gathered himself. He was going to be killed trying, but he couldn’t just sit there and let Sparks send them out of this world.

Sarah racked the slide. Then all hell broke loose.

“What are you doing?” yelled Louise from the kitchen doorway.

Sarah spun to see who had interrupted her
private
revelry
.

Manny leaped off the couch as the pain in his side rose to just this side of black
-
out. He hit Sparks in the middle of the back
,
and she flew
through the air
. The gun went off as she hurtled forward. He scrambled up her back desperately reaching for the
Beretta
. She elbowed him in the nose. More stars than he could count shot past his eyes, but he held on and grabbed the hand holding the gun. She tried to move it away from him
,
and another
shot bellowed through the room.

Manny grabbed her hair and slammed her face into the hardwood floor. She screamed
,
and the gun skittered across the
wood
, hitting the TV stand. He raised her head again, and slammed it down with all his strength. He felt her body go limp
,
and she stopped struggling
. H
e rolled over on his back, breathing hard and wondering if there was enough pain medicine in the world to quiet the storm in his side.

A second later, Sophie had Sparks in cuffs.

Somewhere in the distance
,
he heard sirens.
The blues in the car outside his home hadn’t checked in
,
so here c
a
me the
c
a
val
ry.
It was okay with him
;
he’d had e
n
ough of this shit for the night, maybe
for
the rest of his life.

Except it wouldn’t be enough
. D
estiny
wanted more.

“Manny! Come quick.”
The pure panic in Alex’s voice caused the hair on the back of his
arms to
raise
straight up.

He sat up, looking in the direction of Alex’s voice. That’s when he saw the blood. Louise had been hit.

Chapter76

He cradled Louise in his arm, putting his hand on the hole in her chest, trying to stem the crimson flow that wouldn’t take stop for an answer. It took
only
a few seconds before he was covered in his wife’s
warm
blood. Somewhere in another world he heard Alex yelling into the phone, telling whoever was on the other end to hurry.

“Come on
,
baby
.
T
hey’ll
be her
e
soon. Just hang in there,” he begged.

He pressed on the wound harder
,
and the bleeding slowed. He yelled for Sophie to get a towel. She ran to the bathroom to get one, her face as white as Louise’s. The
coppery
odor from
her
blood reminded him of
how
many scenes like this
had been carved into his memor
y
.
Except this was his wife, the love of his life.
He shivered and pushed a little harder.

“Not one of my good ones,” gasped Louise
, h
er eyes flickering open.

“I’ll buy you new
towels
,” he said, trying not to cry.

“You
. . .
you say that now
. . .
” she trailed off.

He heard another door open
,
and a second later
,
Jen rushed into the room. It had taken the
shouts
to get her attention because she always slept with her headphones on. The look on her face would be one he’d take to his grave. Maybe beyond.

“Mom!” she screamed.

His daughter sprinted to them, tears already streaking her face, and crowded close.

“Is she okay?”

He nodded furiously. “She’s going to be al
l
right. We just have to stop the bleeding until the EMTs get here.”

“What can I do?”

He didn’t think it possible to be prouder of his little girl than he was at that
moment
. Just like her mom.

“Put your hand on mine and hold tight.”

She did.

A few moments later
,
Louise laid her hand on top of Jen’s, touching his. She felt so cold.

“I
. . .
I love you two,” she whispered.

Jen spoke for both of them
because Manny couldn’t
, hard tears stealing the youth from her face. “We love you too mom, forever.”

Louise opened her eyes and tried to smile. Manny felt every emotion the two of them ever shared in the split second it took to glimpse the light in her eyes.

“Take care of each other,” she breathed
.

Then Louise Williams left this world.

Chapter-77

Manny felt the sun peek over the top of the tall maple on the east side of his yard as he sat on the front
porch
of his home. The sun and the warm cup of coffee resting in his hand reminded him that he could still feel something, at least on the outside.

It had been
thirty-two
days since Louise’s funeral, but it might as well
have
been
thirty-two
seconds. The pain in his gut felt like a dull, two-edged sword had run him through.