Love Slave for Two: Reckoning [Love Slave for Two 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (21 page)

He roared and raised the gun over his head to club her with it.

Nevvie didn’t understand what happened. One second, she was staring at Alex’s enraged and crazed face. The next, six loud explosions shattered the afternoon. Alex’s body jumped. She was suddenly covered in a warm, red shower of spray and what felt like raw liver. And Alex’s face was no longer recognizable.

As she stared, the scream building in her throat, he fell first to his knees, then collapsed on top of her. The shotgun fell from his limp hands.

Panic set in as she thrashed, trying to get him off her, trying to get the stuff off her, the sticky, warm, copper-penny-smelling nasty crap off her, wordless screams exploding from her lungs as she tried to free herself.

And Tyler ran up, seemingly from out of nowhere, yelling at her. She couldn’t understand him over her own screams. He grabbed her arm and hauled her out from under Alex’s body and fell to the ground with her in his arms.

“Are you okay?” he yelled.

She couldn’t stop screaming, crying, trying to get away. Alex was going to get up any minute now and—

“Love!” Tyler yelled at her. She realized in addition to her screaming, her ears were still ringing from the three shotgun blasts and the six loud reports she was beginning to think were gunshots.

That’s when she felt a stinging slap on her cheek, shocking enough to silence her cries. Tyler immediately cradled her cheeks again. “Nevvie! Answer me, are you hurt?”

Eyes wide, she shook her head. “Just my ankle. But Tommy!”

Tyler looked over his shoulder. “Thomas!” he screamed.

Nevvie let out a sob of relief when Tom raised one hand at them from where he lay on the ground by the shed.

Tyler grabbed her under her armpits and dragged her a few more feet away from Alex’s body. Then he picked up a handgun, removed the clip, and cycled a round out of the chamber before returning to kneel beside her.

“Gun?” She stared at him.

His expression still looked dark and deadly as he studied Alex’s body. “Yes, love. I’m sorry. I owe you and Thomas an apolo—”

She grabbed him and kissed him, sobbing. “Thank you! Thank you for not listening to me! Thank you!” She dissolved into tears.

He gathered her into his arms again, her gore-splattered head tucked under his chin. “It’s all right, love. The nightmare is truly over.”

* * * *

Tyler could barely hear anything. The odd, random thought flitted into his mind that now he completely understood why ear protection was mandatory at the gun range.

He stood and scooped Nevvie into his arms. With his pulse barely starting to slow, he carried her across the backyard to where Tom had rolled himself over. He set her down next to him. Then he leaned against the shed wall, his gaze on Alex’s body, and slid down the wall.

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed 911.

“911, what is your emergency?”

Nevvie, still sobbing, was trying to check Tom. Content Tom wasn’t in immediate danger of dying, he focused on the operator’s voice.

He knew someone who made a living as a wordsmith should have words for this. He didn’t know where to start. He opted for the address. “1519 Pine Hill Lane. A man tried to kill my wife and husband. I…” He swallowed. “I shot him.”

“1519 Pine Hill Lane. I’m dispatching police and EMS. Is he alive, sir?”

Tyler stared at the still form. “I bloody well hope not.”

They were still sitting there when the first deputy rolled up the driveway, lights and sirens blaring. They’d managed to get Tom into a sitting position, braced against the shed wall. Nevvie’s ankle had already swollen to the size of a grapefruit. If it wasn’t broken, it was at the very least badly sprained.

Tyler raised his hand and waved at the deputy. He didn’t even know if he could stand at this point, the adrenaline crash hitting him full force.

Odd, I’ve written about it. Now I get to feel it.

The deputy rushed over, gun drawn.

“Let me see your hands.”

Tyler raised his, but pointed at Alex’s body with one of them. “I shot him. I left the gun on the grass over there. I believe it’s completely unloaded, but double-check before you pick it up, please.”

The deputy holstered his gun and spoke into his radio as he ran over to where Alex lay. Three more deputies joined him before the ambulance arrived.

“Is he really dead?” Nevvie asked. “Are you really fucking sure he’s totally dead? Maybe we should cut off his head or jam a stake through his fucking heart.”

Tyler suspected Nevvie wasn’t far from a hysterical breakdown.

Tom let out a barking laugh. “He was a psychopathic asshole, not a zombie.”

“I don’t fucking care! I want to know for sure he’s dead!”

The deputy walked back over to them. “Ma’am, he’s definitely dead.”

“Are you sure? How can you be sure?”

“Most of his brain’s gone. And his face. And he has several holes in him. I’m no doctor, but that makes me pretty sure he’s not getting up and running a marathon.”

Nevvie and Tom both refused to be loaded into the ambulance before they had given their statements and been assured Tyler wasn’t in trouble. Deputies had intercepted Andrew and Peggy and the kids at the driveway and escorted them to Ben’s house, at Tyler’s request, to wait. They also diverted Laurie, and John and Kelly, when they returned.

Somewhere along the line, Detective Platt arrived.

Nevvie glared at him and pointed to the gore still drying on her. “Not my imagination anymore, is it, Detective Fucktardo?” Her voice bore an unmistakably shrill edge of hysteria.

He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”

“Nev, love, please calm down,” Tyler said. “It’s not his fault. They didn’t know.”

“They should’ve known!” she screamed. “I told them! They should have fucking known it was him when I told them about him!”

Tyler gave the detective credit for maintaining his composure. “Ma’am, even you admitted you didn’t know how he could find your sister-in-law.”

One of the deputies walked over and spoke to Platt. His face clouded. “Where?” He looked at the three of them. “I’ll be right back. Wait here.” He and the deputy left at a fast jog.

Crime scene technicians were still processing evidence, but at least someone had covered Alex’s body with a sheet. Tyler had hit him with each of the six shots he’d fired, the hollow-points doing their job admirably.

He’d never admit it, but he was pleased to overhear one of the techs say it looked like at least two of the slugs went through the back of his skull, the others hitting him in the torso.

A cold calm had also settled over him.

“Look,” Nevvie said, a shrill, brittle edge to her tone, “can we please wash off? I want his fucking brains out of my hair.”

Crime scene techs had already photographed them, so one of the deputies nodded. “It’s okay,” he told the paramedics.

Tyler simply pointed to the hose coiled around the shed corner. One of the paramedics got it, turned the hose on, and helped Nevvie rinse off. She yanked her shirt off, apparently not caring everyone could see her bra. Tom pulled his shirt off when she finished and handed it to her. She pulled it on over her wet bra.

Tyler pulled his shirt off, too, and washed off the blood and gore Nevvie had transferred to him.

Detective Platt returned a few minutes later, carrying a duffle bag. “We found this bag at the edge of the property. This was in it.” He held up a zip-top evidence bag. When Tyler saw what was inside it, he let out a harsh laugh.

“Oh bloody hell! How did he get his fucking hands on
that
?”

“That’s my address book,” Nevvie said, blanching. She looked at Tyler. “That’s the one I wanted y’all to bring to me from the Tampa house. He went to our fucking
house
? He was
in
our goddamned house?” She burst into tears again.

Tyler held her. “It’s all right, love. He shall never hurt us again.”

Tom placed a hand on her shoulder. Tyler hated seeing the bruises on his lover’s body. He’d have two black eyes, and need surgery for his nose, no doubt.

But at least he was alive.

They were both alive.

And Alex was gone for good.

Tom’s voice sounded thick and garbled through his swollen lips. “He’s dead, Nev. It’s over. He’s gone.”

“He was in our fucking house! He could have hurt our kids!” A look of horror crossed her face. “The kids! Where’s the kids, and Mom and Dad? Are they okay?” Tyler knew she was still two breaths from hysteria.

“They’re fine,” Tyler assured her. “They’re at Ben’s house next door, with a deputy.

“Oh, thank God!”

Detective Platt wanted one more run-through from Tyler on what happened, but he assured Nevvie and Tom that no charges would be filed.

“Let them take you to hospital, loves. Please,” Tyler begged.

Together, Nevvie and Tom both groused, “
The
hospital!”

Tyler rolled his eyes. “Right.
The
fucking hospital. Whatever the bloody thing is called, go. I’ll follow along shortly once we’re done here and I get Mom and Dad and the boys and everyone else home.”

Tom patted her shoulder again. “Come on, Nev. Please, baby girl.”

She wordlessly nodded. Tyler kissed her and scooped her up from the chair someone had found for her to sit in. He carried her to the back of the ambulance where the paramedics helped her inside. Tom had already been put on a gurney, and they loaded it inside as well. Tyler watched while the paramedics climbed in with them, closed the doors, and took off with sirens blaring.

He looked up at the sky and took a deep breath. Then he turned to the detective. “Let’s please get this over with.”

Detective Platt nodded. Then he stuck his hand out. It puzzled Tyler, until he realized what he wanted. Tyler shook with him as the detective smiled.

“I wish the circumstances were better, and I’ll deny I ever said this. But thank you for saving the state of Georgia a trial. You did good.”

“Yes, well, it doesn’t bring Emily back, I’m afraid.” He stared at the sheet-shrouded body. Crime scene techs were preparing to load Alex into a body bag to transfer him onto a gurney. “That man was pure evil. He’s caused our family untold grief over the years.”

“Some friendly advice? I know it might not seem like it now, Mr. Paulson, but I advise you to seek some counseling. Even seasoned law enforcement can’t shrug something like this off.”

“No.” He watched the two techs unfold the body bag. “I have my own form of therapy, Detective.” He looked at Platt. “I can assure you, while I’m not happy things came to this end, I will not lose a moment’s sleep over that man’s death. He brought this day of reckoning upon himself.”

* * * *

Nevvie had little patience with the hospital staff, even though she knew they were only doing their jobs. She didn’t like being separated from Tom. They finally relented to putting them in adjoining ER beds and keeping the curtains between them open.

Tom looked over at her. “Behave, baby girl,” he said. They’d given him a shot of painkillers that already had him loopy. He needed to be taken to radiology, and doctors had told him he’d need surgery for his nose. They also suspected a concussion. With his past history of TBI, which Nevvie recited to them chapter and verse as they examined him, they wanted to keep him overnight for observation.

The doctor turned to Nevvie. “And it wouldn’t be a bad idea for us to keep you overnight, either, ma’am,” he said. They’d already hooked a band to her belly to monitor the babies. So far, everything looked fine, their heartbeats sounding strong and normal. They would be doing an ultrasound on her as a precaution when a tech became available. Her ankle had been x-rayed, and it was only a really bad sprain. She now sported a bulky Aircast on it to mobilize it.

“I hope you put us in the same room,” Nevvie said.

“We’ll see what we can do. We can probably arrange something.”

“Good.”

Peggy and John arrived an hour later and hurried into the ER.

“Where’s Tyler?” Nevvie asked, her voice growing shrill. He should be there!

“Calm down,” Peggy said. “He’ll be along in a little while. We left the kids with Kelly. Tyler’s finishing up with the detectives. He said he’s going to pack a bag for both of you and grab himself a shower. Andy will drive him here when he’s ready. It’s all right. I told him if he needed to be here sooner I’d call him.”

She relaxed, fighting the urge to burst into tears again. “They won’t charge him? Are you sure?”

John shook his head. “Nope. No charges. Clearly self-defense. Well, defense of a third person, but the same thing.” He leaned in and kissed her. “I’m really proud of you, honey.”

“For what? Nearly getting me and Tommy killed?”

“Stop that,” Tom scolded her from his bed. “You did good. You distracted Alex.”