Tiger's Eye (25 page)

Keesha
Pretty
Girl
Smart
Help
Teach
Show
Fun
Car
Lady
Bad
Man
Sad

Nope. All it revealed was her experience as a prison dog. The last three words I assumed meant it was bad what happened to Cole and she was sad about it.

I have learned over the years that sometimes, in order to figure out how the story ends, you must go back to the beginning.

So that’s what we did.

I played the recording in the car on the drive back. It was fuzzy, but I could make out most of what was said.

I can’t just kill a man in cold blood. You have to get that out of your head. Besides, you always said everything he touched turned to gold. Why don’t you just hit him up for another payoff?

The voice from the phone call. Cole’s voice.

Then, another.

He won’t do it. I tried. That bastard owes me. Besides, we need the money if we’re going to build another lab.

No way. I’m done with that. Let’s just stick with the plan, RJ. This gig I got going now with stealing the trailers is going to be good money. The VINs are legit and the buyer in Chicago is a sure thing. We’ll be fine. Remember what Dad always said, stick with the sure thing and don’t get caught.

Dad got caught, Cole. That’s why we ended up in the system in the first place.

Look, I’ve been on probation for two years. If I get busted again, I’m looking at hard time. Only thing that saved me was they couldn’t prove we had distributed.

The money is all gone. We need this. We hit him and I know I can use that as leverage.

With who? Look, you said he knows too much. He may have told someone what he’s got on you.

Not a chance. He’s afraid of me.

Well, what if he changes his mind?

A pause.

What? What are you looking at?

Dead men tell no tales.

What are you doing? Stop it! Get your hands off the wh—

A crash, the sickening sound of metal crunching against metal.

And that was all.

I was shaking with fury as we made our way down to the lake, my resolve stronger than ever.

Thor took off after an unsuspecting rabbit and Keesha and I wandered around the embankment. It was cloudy today, cooler than yesterday, but my blood was boiling hot.

There had to be something here. Something I missed.

I followed Keesha as she sniffed around the trees and pranced through the sand, my focus on the dog’s actions and energy.

She inspected a dead fish, pawed at it a bit. We moved on to some wildflowers, a willow tree, and a fallen log.

I closed my eyes for a moment, sending a message to Cole to present himself.

I waited.

He didn’t show.

I walked closer to the water and tried to call him again.

That was when the white tiger appeared.

And behind me, a branch cracked.

I turned, expecting to see Thor.

Instead, I was staring at a crossbow.

Chapter 33

“The poor dog, in life the firmest friend, The first to welcome, foremost to defend.”

—Lord Byron

I dove behind a tree and an arrow pierced the bark. Another whooshed toward me and I scrambled back around, but I wasn’t fast enough. It sliced across my hip, and the ripping pain doubled me over. The gun was in a holster strapped to my ankle, but I was afraid by the time I retrieved it I would have an arrow in my back. I stood there, perfectly still, wondering what my next move should be.

Then, it was made for me.

“Come out of there or I’ll kill the dog.”

Keesha? Where was she? Or was it Thor?

I took a long, deep breath and limped around to face Becky.

“I take it you’re a fan of the
Hunger Games
too, huh, RJ?”

“You’re pretty observant. And smart. Do yourself a favor and be smart now. I’m taking the dog. Make a move and I’ll kill you.”

She trained the bow on me with one hand and walked toward Keesha.

I scanned the woods, the lake. No sign of anyone near. Nowhere to run.

“You killed your blood brother. How could you do that?”

“Because he was going to rat me out. Rats deserve to die.”

I heard a rustling above me as a squirrel scurried down the tree. “My father didn’t deserve to die. He told no one about you. I guess you’re less significant than you think.”

She snorted. “Psychobabble doesn’t work on me.”

“Right, I forgot you’re a sociopath.”

She snorted again and said, “Sticks and stones. He thought he was so much better than me. Thought he could say
no
to me. I deserved that inheritance from Mr. and Mrs. Perfect and they didn’t leave me a goddamn dime! I earned that money!”

What was that supposed to mean? She earned it?

A trace of something crossed her brow. A flicker of movement from the corner of her eye.

Her own face betraying her because she had said too much.

“You killed them, didn’t you?” I said.

She stared me down, deadpanned. Didn’t say a word.

“You’re a monster.”

Her grip tightened on the bow. This wasn’t just anyone in a desperate situation. She truly was out of her mind.

“Sticks and stones.”

Stones. There was a giant rock nearby. If I was fast enough…

In front of me, Keesha crouched to release her bowels.

RJ stared at the dog, eyes wide. She had two arrows left.

She flung the bow over her shoulder and lunged for Keesha.

“Leave her alone, you crazy bitch!”

I dove after RJ, but the collie charged away.

Except it wasn’t the dog the woman was aiming for, it was what Keesha had deposited in the sand. That’s when I knew and I scrambled for it too.

The radiograph, the broken letters on her custom-made tambourine—was that the weapon used to hit Cole on the head? Keesha must have eaten one of the letters that spelled out
Nevermore
.

Which would place them both at the scene of the crime.

We fought over the feces and RJ got in a good closed-fist crack to my jaw. I grabbed the back of her head and shoved her face in the sand and Keesha’s contribution to it, but she wrestled away and elbowed me between the shoulder blades.

I saw something shiny then and I grabbed for it.

That’s when RJ shoved me hard and flipped to reach for her bow. I shuffled for the gun on my ankle, but the maniac stomped on my wrist and I screamed in agony.

She sprung to her feet and I delivered a roundhouse kick that took her down again.

I flipped my pant leg up and unsnapped the holster on the gun.

But I was too late.

The bow was aimed directly at my heart.

Then, from the rocks above, I heard the low, deadly growl of an animal about to attack.

We both turned to see Thor perched on a boulder, two-inch canines dripping saliva.

He lunged before RJ had time to redirect her aim. The dog came down on top of her, hard. The arrow misfired and stuck in the damp earth below the boulder.

The impact sent Thor and my attacker tumbling through the sand.

I shuffled to my feet, turned, and told Keesha, “Go!” And grabbed the letter. Shoved it in my pocket.

The collie darted off into the forest and I spun back around.

What happened next took place in slow motion

RJ aimed the bow at my Great Dane.

I screamed in terror, reached for my gun.

But I was too late.

My familiar—my pet, my friend—crashed into the water.

Lifeless.

The sound of a demon escaped my throat and I tackled RJ, beating her face raw with my bare hands.

Tears streamed down my checks, mixed with feces, blood, and sand as I delivered blow after merciless blow to a woman I had just met.

The rage, hurt, and scars of fourteen years of loss and agony I unleashed on this one individual.

I couldn’t stop myself.

Then, in the distance, a tiger roared.

Closer, a horse whinnied.

A shy dog barked in protest.

It was the animals who brought me back to reality.

I jumped up and sprinted to Thor.

There are stories where, under duress, people find the strength of ten men. Mothers lifting cars off children. Men hauling cranes off coworkers.

That was the only explanation for what happened on the beach that day, although I don’t remember it.

I was told they found me trying to carry Thor into the vet’s office, the arrow still sticking out of his ribs. Tracey helped me lay him on the floor before she sprinted for the vet.

Doc Zimmerman came rushing out of an exam room. He took one look at me and said, “We’ll fix him.” He called someone to help and they carried Thor into the back area of the clinic.

He wouldn’t allow me to stay in the room through the surgery, so I washed up in the bathroom, feeling numb. That part, I remember.

I found some bandages for my hip in the medicine cabinet. Dressed the wound.

The waiting room of any doctor’s office or hospital is purgatory on earth. Waiting to hear if your loved ones will live or die. Waiting to hear if your life is about to change. If there will be a void when you leave there.

Waiting for answers.

I sat there, feeling helpless, while a thousand voices rambled through my head. Voices I tried to turn off, but who wouldn’t be ignored.

Because there was a piece of the puzzle still missing.

“You always said everything he touched turned to gold.”

“Dead men tell no tales.”

Grow house—discovered outside of Madison—torched

“Your father was murdered.”

Kansas City state troopers pull over semi-truck—find meth lab

“Look, I’ve been on probation for two years.”

Two years. Something was niggling my mind about that number. Two years.

And then it hit me.

Tracey interrupted my thoughts. “He’s going to be fine. The arrow went about an inch deep. It sliced a muscle, so he’ll have internal and external stitches, but after he’s patched up, he’ll make a full recovery.”

I thanked Tracey, asked her to kennel Keesha, and told her to call me the minute Thor woke up.

I dialed Leo’s private number from the car.

“There’s a woman who was beaten up at Eagle Lake. You might want to get over there.”

“Where are you?”

“On my way to kill my boss.”

Chapter 34

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

—Mark Twain

I marched into Parker’s office and shut the door. Closed all the blinds.

He looked up from the computer and frowned at me. “You smell like shit. Literally.”

“Why did you move here from Madison?”

Parker shrugged. “A fresh start.”

“Because someone torched your grow house?”

“What?”

The raw look on his face told me everything I needed to know and I trained my gun on him.

“Hey, Stacy, take it easy. Put that thing away before someone gets hurt.”

“See, that’s the thing, Parker. Someone already got hurt.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about!” I yelled. “Everything he touched turned to gold. Isn’t that what you said? Where did you hear that, Shea? Where?”

He stood, moved around to the side of his desk, and I followed.

“RJ, perhaps?” I said.

My soon-to-be-dead boss swallowed hard. “Stacy, you have to understand, she’s crazy. For Christ’s sake, she tried to set me on fire.”

“He trusted you and you betrayed him!” I didn’t think it was possible to get any angrier, but I did. It was like a snake pit festering in my belly. The gun shook in my hand.

Shea wagged his head. “No. I tried to warn him.”

“LIAR!” I shoved his monitor off the desk and it crashed onto the carpet.

He stared at the broken glass and his shoulders heaved. “Okay, at first, I admit, I was a plant. She sent me here to stake out your father, find out what his next business venture would be, but”—he looked at me, his eyes pleading—“then I got to know him. And your mother. And you.”