A Perfect Mess (28 page)

With a sigh, Langston hauled Booker out of the trunk and maneuvered him into a fireman’s lift. Without a word to me, he started walking, and I didn’t have to guess where he was going. He crossed the lane and I was close on his heels.

When he let Booker fall, I caught him against me. But his dead weight was too much and I fell to the ground with him, doing my best to protect his head. We were butted up against one of the Magnolias, and my skin crawled with the memory of Damien’s hot breath on my face and his big body pinning me down.

I touched Booker’s face and his skin was warm. My hand slipped down to his neck and I felt a strong and steady pulse. Thank God. My chest swelled with the love I had for him. How cruel it would be to discover something so beautiful and to lose it now, when it was so new.

“Isn’t that touching?” Langston sneered.

The numbness began to fade and fear took its place. Tears rose to burn the backs of my eyes. I would have given anything for the comfort of Booker’s arms. But Booker couldn’t come to my rescue this time. I loved him, and this time it was
my
turn to fight for
him
. I glared at Langston.

He squatted down. “Now that we’re all situated, why don’t you tell me what happened to my brother?”

I met his scary eyes steadily.
Don’t show fear. It gives him power.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ve created all this mayhem for nothing.”

“Defiant little bitch,” he said, straightening slowly. A fire lit in his clear gold eyes, glowing bright as he came toward me.

“If you don’t tell me, Aubree, I will kill Booker. Then I’ll go and finish the job on your aunt.”

I shuddered, trembling with anger. “You hurt my aunt!”

“I wanted answers, but you were all cozy and safe at Tulane. I kept expecting you to come home, but you didn’t. I went to your aunt’s house to get some answers, but she stonewalled me, too. I was so angry when she slammed the door in my face. I burst through it and caught her on the stairs. I grabbed her to make her tell me, but she fought me and she fell. At first I was so frustrated when I thought I had killed her, but when I saw she was breathing, I knew if your aunt was hurt, you’d come running, and that would give me my opportunity to get some answers.”

“What makes you think something happened here?”

He smiled slyly. The look of it chilled my blood. “Because he called me.”

I shouldn’t be shocked, but I was. How could they have been so cold and calculating about rape? “You knew what he was planning?”

“Not exactly. My brother always had a hard-on for you. So, when he told me that he was going to teach a Goody-Two-Shoes a lesson, I guessed. It was our nickname for you.”

“Why did you drag Booker here, then, if you believe it was me Damien was after?”

“Your knight in shining armor?” he scoffed. “I have a hard time believing he wasn’t involved somehow. But he was the bait, and now he’s the leverage.”

“And what if I don’t have any answers for you, Daniel? Are you going to kill us?”

He rose and paced away, the gun swinging at his side, clasped tightly in his hand. I could see his finger was on the trigger. “Nobody cared about my brother. My father isn’t going to do anything to find him. He just wrote him off like trash and turned to me to mold me in his image. I’ve never been able to stand up to the old man. So it’s up to me to get justice. You have to pay for what you did to my brother.”

“What I did to him? Langston, you are so delusional. He attacked me. He was going to rape me, and you knew about it. And you did nothing.”

“He’d always wanted you. Although I think it was more that Booker wanted you and he hated Booker.”

“Why?”

“Because he stood up to us. He never backed down. He, like you, was always challenging us in high school.”

The first flurry of rain hit, the drops making a soothing patter against the Magnolia leaves. “How do you know he just didn’t skip town and start over in a new place?”

“A twin knows when the other twin is no longer breathing. I know my brother’s dead.”

“I killed him.”

I looked down, startled. Booker’s eyes were open, and he met my gaze instead of Langston’s. There was so much I wanted to say to him.

He set his jaw and his gaze went to Daniel Langston. If looks could kill, Daniel would have dropped dead on the spot.

“He’s only saying that to protect me. I killed your brother. It was in self-defense. He had a knife and he was trying to rape me.” I held my breath, waiting for Daniel’s reaction, praying he would believe me, almost certain he wouldn’t. Needing him to believe me. God, the need was terrifying, and it had little to do with Langston. I had wronged Booker and it was now my turn to protect him.

Langston blew out a breath. His face crumpled in pain. I guess it was one thing to suspect, but another to know that death had taken a loved one. There was no doubt Daniel had loved his brother. They were a twin force, not only against external threats, but against their father. Now he’d had to handle that on his own, and it had taken its toll on him. Damien had been the driving force behind the twosome, and Daniel was flailing and acting on impulse. He was in the same boat as the rest of us. Transitioning from being told what to do, what path to take, and now suddenly having to make decisions that would affect the rest of his life.

I saw the urge to do violence in his face. I’d seen it there plenty of times in the past. “No!” I shouted as he stalked over and kicked Booker in the ribs. Booker grunted in pain, his eyes closing against the assault.

“Stop it!” I said, throwing my body over Booker. Daniel swore under his breath as he backed off and paced in the road, his chest heaving.

Booker strained to rise and I helped him into a sitting position. “You are out of your fucking mind, Langston.”

“Maybe. But I’m still not done, Outlaw.”

It started to rain in earnest as Booker said, “Yeah, you’re a big man, waving your gun around, terrorizing an innocent girl. You had to ambush me, because you were too much of a coward to face me full-on like a man.”

“Booker, don’t,” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at me, and he must have seen something in my eyes that calmed his anger.

“I’m sorry, Aubree. I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have been so dismissive of Langston.”

He was lashing out at Daniel because he was terrified for me and feeling guilty. “This isn’t your fault, Booker. Just don’t antagonize him.”

“Where’s my brother’s body? What did you do with him? I’m going to see to it that both of you go to jail for this.”

“We won’t go to jail. He attacked Aubree. I saw it happen. She’ll say the same thing, Langston. It was self-defense. You should worry about yourself at this point. Kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon. Federal crimes.”

Fear and frustration blossomed in his eyes. “But you covered it up. Hid it. That’s against the law. It won’t matter. This town will crucify you, Outlaw. You and your white trash family.”

“Shut up!” I screamed. “Shut up about Booker’s family! You Neanderthal! Booker is more man than you and your brother combined! You got pleasure out of inflicting pain because you had no power at home. You don’t have any power over us. You just think you do.”

“Aubree,” Booker said quietly. “What happened to not antagonizing him?”

“I couldn’t stand it. I knew this would happen.”

“Let Aubree go and I’ll tell you where your brother is buried.”

“Booker, no.”

“I’m not letting her go. I’m not letting either one of you go. If I can’t get justice for Damien through the courts, then I’ll just have to get it my way. I don’t need both of you.”

The gun swung in my direction and my breath caught in my throat.

The rain came down harder. Lightning shattered the black of the sky, and the clouds ripped open, drenching us.

Howling in rage, Booker staggered to his feet and charged Langston, who reacted by swinging the gun towards him.

At that range he couldn’t miss. Mindless with fear and determined to do something this time instead of standing by helplessly, I grabbed a rock and threw it with all my might at Langston. It glanced off the arm holding the gun and the shot went wide.

Booker slammed into him, the gun skittering away into the dark. But Booker was at a disadvantage. He’d been hit in the head and been unconscious for quite some time. Langston, on the other hand, was fresh and unharmed.

“Run, Aubree, run!”

But I had no intention of abandoning Booker again. We’d been in this together last summer when Damien died and he helped me to bury the body. We were in this together until the end. Whatever it was.

They disappeared into the darkness and away from the glow of the Mustang’s headlights. I had to do something! I had to find the gun.

#

Booker

I struggled to keep Langston pinned beneath me, but my strength came in erratic bursts, and my faulty sense of balance made it hard to determine which way was up. I could tell I had a concussion at the very least. Ignoring the pain that screamed through my head and bit into my side, I slammed my fist into his face, rage briefly overcoming my disorientation.

Langston writhed beneath me, twisting, heaving upward. I used my fists, battering at him, but he struck back, viciously slamming his fist into the injured side of my head. The pain sent me rolling, plummeting toward unconsciousness like a falling star sputtering and falling into black, black depth of the night sky.

I fought against it, held my breath and fought to claw my way back up through the dark, up through the bright pulsing stars that exploded in my brain. My vision cleared enough for me to make out Aubree searching frantically on the ground.

Aubree. She hadn’t run like I’d told her to do. Damn her. She hadn’t left me. She was all that mattered now. I dove for Langston as he lunged at her. I hit the back of his knees and he fell within the circle of the headlights. He turned his head and kicked at me, the heel of his sneaker connecting with my chin.

My head snapped back and my vision dimmed. I couldn’t leave her. I had to stay with her. She was everything to me.

When I struggled out of my daze, Langston had her by the hair, and he had the gun. He dragged her back into the pool of light, and although she fought him, she couldn’t get away. With a mighty heave, he knocked her to the ground and knelt down and put the gun directly under her chin. Red, hot anger surged. I wanted to choke the life out of him with my bare hands.

“Tell me where my brother’s buried,” he ground out at me, “or I’ll kill her.”

“Go to hell,” she shouted, glaring at him with fire in her eyes and a smudge of dirt on the tip of her upturned nose.

“Over in the old churchyard behind us!” I shouted. “Now let her go!”

His face contorted again and the rain tapered off to a drizzle. He looked over Aubree’s head toward the churchyard. In that moment of distraction, she kicked him and scrambled away.

“I’m done,” he said. “And so are you. You bitch!”

I threw my body over Aubree’s as the gun fired, crying out in pain as a white-hot slash of agony scored my shoulder.

“Drop the gun!” The shout came from an out-of-breath woman. Was that…?

There was a deafening blast and I closed my eyes and clutched Aubree to me.

When I raised my head, Langston was lying spread-eagled on the road, his eyes open and staring up at a night sky he would never see again.

And standing in the headlights was Aubree’s Aunt Lottie, her face a mask of determination, holding a smoking rifle in her unwavering grasp.

I met her fierce eyes as she lowered the gun, my relief so huge, I released a ragged sigh. “Thank you,” I said and she nodded. Aubree was safe. The darkness swept over me like a velvet blanket, and I surrendered sinking down, down.

Chapter Fourteen

Aubree

Booker sagged against me, his heavy body pressing me to the ground, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. I turned as my aunt…my momma…came running over.

“Booker!” I yelled his name, then looked at her. “Call an ambulance.”

“I don’t have a phone,” she said and she helped me roll him off me.

“Check Booker’s car or Langston. He had Booker’s phone.”

She moved to comply and I checked for Booker’s pulse. It was weak, but it was there. I maneuvered his head onto my lap.

“Lottie!”

That was the sheriff’s voice, and he soon barreled into the glow of the headlights, taking in everything. He reached for the radio at his shoulder and called for an ambulance.

I was shaking uncontrollably. I couldn’t lose Booker. Please, God, no!

He came over and hauled my momma to her feet and pulled her against him. “Dammit, Lottie. I told you to wait for me!”

“I couldn’t,” she sobbed. “I couldn’t lose her again, Mike. I’m sorry.”