Town Darling (26 page)

“That’s because she’s been
arrested,” Dina informed him then shook her head and appeared surprised.  “You
don’t know about that?”

“No,” Mack replied.  “I
hadn’t heard about that.  Where did it happen?”

“Right outside,” she
replied with rising anxiety.

He again shook his head. 
“Nope, I hadn’t heard.  Is she okay?”

“You have no idea what
happened?” she asked with surprise.

He again shook his head. 
She stared at him a moment.  Mack returned to his customers and busily filled
mugs.  He looked back at Dina, but she was already heading through the crowd
for the door.  Dina left the tavern and immediately removed her cell phone as
she crossed the parking lot.  She pressed a button and held the phone to her
ear.  She groaned when she got Casey’s voicemail.  She approached Grey’s jeep
and pressed another button.  She paused before the jeep and waited.  She
groaned with disgust as Grey’s voicemail picked up.

“Grey, it’s me,” she
announced into the phone.  “It was no accident.  I think I was lured away on
purpose--”

She saw Casey’s black
Camaro pull into the parking lot.  Dina sighed with relief and disconnected the
call as the car drove closer to her.  She immediately noticed the damage to the
right front fender and appeared alarmed.

“What the hell--?” Dina
gasped and hurried for Casey’s car as it stopped.

†

D
ina opened her eyes and
stared at the steering wheel beneath her head.  The only light in the darkness
was from the vintage dashboard of the Camaro.  She attempted to sit up and
immediately groaned in agony.  She touched her bleeding temple and looked
around with disorientation.  She was behind the wheel of Casey’s car!  Dina
made a second attempt to sit up, but something was holding her back.  She
uncertainly looked out the windshield and immediately appeared horrified.  The
hood of the car was severely crumpled and a tree was only a few feet in front
of the windshield.  Beyond the windshield was the deep ravine.  Casey’s Camaro
was vertically inclined on the hillside and the only thing that kept the car
from plummeting nose first into the ravine was a single, large evergreen tree
beyond the treacherous curve’s busted guardrail.  Dina gasped with alarm and
uncertainly looked around the empty car.  Her purse lie on the dashboard,
although how it got there was a mystery.  She didn’t have it with her when she
left Grey’s jeep.  How she even got in the car was a mystery.  She made another
effort to sit up, although gravity and her own injuries held her back.  She
contained her sobs and slowly reached for her purse.  The tree groaned beneath
the weight of the car, and she felt a slight jolt.  Dina gasped and stared
frozen out the windshield.  There was no telling how long she had before the
car plummeted, taking her to her death in what was sure to be a fiery crash. 
That was exactly what someone wanted when they put her behind the wheel.

A
black, leather gloved hand
slowly pushed the master bedroom door open.  The intruder entered the quiet,
dimly lit bedroom that once belonged to Catherine and Brandon Remington.  The
Remington’s bed was neatly made, and, although the comforter and decorative
pillows weren’t the originals, they were painstakingly close to it.  The room
looked just as it had with the exception of the empty gun cabinet.  The
bathroom door was partially open, revealing the glow of a light.  The jets from
the whirlpool tub were heard circulating.  Romantic music played softly from
within the bathroom.  The intruder quietly crossed the bedroom, paused before
the bathroom door, and slowly pushed it open to reveal the large white, bright
bathroom.  The intruder looked at the circulating jetted tub.  It was empty! 
Deputy Tucker stood in the doorway with his gun in his hand and a surprised
look on his face.  He quickly turned within the doorway to the bedroom and came
face-to-face with Casey, who was now dressed in a black stalking outfit.  She
swiftly kicked the gun from his hand, caught it mid-air, and aimed it at his
face.  Tucker stared at her holding his gun and appeared alarmed while holding
his hands up in front of him.  From the look in her eyes, it was almost
surprising she hadn’t pulled the trigger.

“Casey, put down the gun,”
Tucker said gently.

Casey stared at him with no
emotion and cocked her head slightly.  “What are you doing in my bathroom,
Deputy?”

“Sheriff Holt said we
should patrol your farm,” he sternly informed her.  “The front door was open
and no one answered when I called.  I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I
need you to give me the gun.”

Her expression didn’t
change.  “So you heard the tub circulating and just decided to have a
look-see?” she asked.  “Wouldn’t you assume I was in the tub?  A courtesy knock
would have been appropriate.”

“This is all a misunderstanding,
Casey,” he said firmly.  “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Trust me, anything I do
will be smart and deliberate,” Casey scoffed.  She nodded to the window.  “If
you were patrolling, where’s your cruiser?  You weren’t driving it when I saw
you sneaking to the house on those cute little spy cams Diesel installed.”

His expression suddenly
dropped.  “You saw wrong,” he insisted and looked more nervous now.

“Don’t fuck with me,
Tucker,” Casey growled.  “I’m still a little pissy about the last time I ran
into you in this bedroom.”

Tucker stared at Casey and
appeared stunned.  For a moment, he was unable to speak.  He slowly shook his
head.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you do,” she
insisted.  “Remember, that’s the night you murdered my parents and gutted me.” 
She casually indicated the bedroom door.  “That’s the door I blew out with the
shotgun when I nearly took off your head.”  She smiled innocently.  “I would
think that would still be fresh in your mind,” she announced then suddenly
sneered.  “It’s
fresh
in mine.”

“Casey, you’re making a
mistake.”

“I don’t think so,” she
insisted.  “You told Melanie that Vaughn interrupted a rape attempt, but Vaughn
never told you that.  He never told anyone that.”

“No, of course he didn’t,”
Tucker replied.  “I read it in his police report.”

“It wasn’t in the report,
because he arrived after the fact.  Vaughn didn’t know anything about it,” she
informed him and again smiled sweetly.  “The only people who knew about that
were the two people in the kitchen that night.  Me and the killer.”

Tucker suddenly tensed
while staring at her.  Her look was cold and frightening.  “You can’t prove
anything,” he informed her.  “I have an alibi for the time of the murders.  I
was with Melanie.”

“Oh, please, Tucker,” she
scoffed.  “As deputy, you could easily manipulate the time.  I doubt anyone
ever questioned your whereabouts.  You probably showed up at Melanie’s house
right after your little side trip here.”  Her look was now oddly psychotic. 
“Besides, I don’t care what I can prove.”  Casey raised her brows while tilting
the gun.  A twisted smile crossed her face.  “I’m just looking for revenge.”

Tucker’s look slowly faded
to fear.  Casey was on the edge, and it wasn’t going to end well for him.

“Let’s see,” she announced
reflectively.  “An eye for an eye, right?  Now what would be the male
equivalent to my reproductive organs?”  She grinned most sinister.  “I think
you know what’s coming next--”

Casey cocked the hammer and
aimed the gun at Tucker’s crotch.  He suddenly cried out.  A car was heard
pulling up the gravel driveway.  Casey frowned and pulled the gun back.

“Damn, that’s Sheriff Holt
here to ruin my fun.”

For some odd reason, the
sound of the approaching car allowed Tucker to regain some of his arrogance.  “I
doubt Vaughn will be making your date tonight.  He met with an unfortunate
accident on his way over,” Tucker bluntly informed her and smiled deviously. 
“Some drunk driver in a stolen car ran him into a tree.”

Casey’s look suddenly
changed from sinister to concern.  She removed her cell phone and pressed a
button.  The phone rang on the other end.  Vaughn’s voicemail picked up.  Casey
disconnected the call then glared at Tucker.

“For your sake, you’d
better be lying,” she growled.  “Toss your handcuffs and keys to me.”

Tucker tossed both to the
floor near her.  As Casey reached down to pick them up, Tucker suddenly lunged
for her.  Casey spun into an upward kick from the floor and struck him in the
face.  Tucker fell harshly against the dresser then collapsed to the floor. 
Casey casually collected the handcuffs and snorted a laugh.

“Thank you,” she announced
to the unconscious deputy.  “That was actually easier than telling you what to
do.”  She sighed while grinning.  “And ten times more satisfying.”

Moments later, within the
kitchen.  Deputy Mitchell poked his head in through the open door and
cautiously looked around with his hand on his gun within his holster.

“Hello?  Anyone home?”
Mitchell uncertainly called out while scanning the empty kitchen.  It was too
quiet.  “Casey?  Grey?  Big,
brawny
dude?”

Mitchell slowly entered the
kitchen while continuing to scan the area then uncertainly approached the
living room archway.  He cautiously entered the dimly lit living room and
looked around.  Nothing moved.  He slowly headed toward the main stairs.  Casey
emerged from the shadows, slinked across the floor, and entered the dark dining
room.  Mitchell hesitated, looked back from where he stood near the bottom of
the stairs, and scanned the room.  Nothing moved.  He focused his attention on
the stairs and headed up them.  Mitchell quietly walked along the upstairs
hallway, glancing into each dark room as he passed.  He uncertainly peered into
the dark, master bedroom.  There was a thump.  Mitchell removed his gun and
fumbled with the light switch.  Tucker was naked and standing facing the
bedpost.  His wrists were handcuffed to the canopy, his ankles were tied to the
bottom post, and his sock was stuffed in his mouth.  Red lipstick scribbled
across his buttocks read, "Vote for Grey".  Mitchell hurried toward
him while appearing alarmed and removed the sock from his mouth.

Tucker spit several times
then glared at Mitchell.  “Untie me,” he cried out in mild panic.  “She’s in
the house!”

Mitchell quickly removed
his handcuff keys and unlocked the cuffs on Tucker’s wrists.  “You said you
could handle her,” he protested with the alarm evident in his voice.

“Are you sure you didn’t
see her?” Tucker demanded.

“No, she must have slipped
out.”  Mitchell removed his knife and cut the ropes binding Tucker’s ankles
while avoiding looking at his naked body. 

Tucker grabbed his clothing
and quickly dressed.  “Guard the door,” he ordered.

Mitchell hurried to the
bedroom door and watched the hall as Tucker dressed.  Casey appeared in the
bathroom doorway and somersaulted across the room. 

Tucker saw her and suddenly
cried out, “There she is!”

Mitchell spun with his gun
aimed.  Casey was already in front of him, spun into a roundhouse kick, and
knocked his gun across the room.  Mitchell gasped and ran from the room. 
Tucker lunged for the gun on the floor.  Casey flipped through the air, struck
him in the head with her foot, and gracefully landed near the gun as Tucker was
thrown onto the bed.  He groaned and appeared disoriented.  Casey picked up the
gun and shook her head with disappointment. 

“You’re not even making
this sporting,” she scoffed.  “I’ll be back to deal with you.”

She darted across the room
and disappeared into the hallway.

†

D
ina held back her sobs
while she half lie frozen against the steering wheel of the vertical car.  She
again looked at her purse on the dashboard.  She had to reach it.  She had to
get her cell phone.  It was her only hope for survival.  The Camaro suddenly
jolted and the tree creaked loudly.  Dina screamed.  The large evergreen swayed
slightly as the car pulled away from it.  She stared out the windshield as the
front of the car was pulled backwards and away from the tree.  She clutched the
steering wheel in both hands as the car was pulled up the ravine.  Within
seconds, the car was pulled through the mangled, metal railing that resembled
torn tinfoil.  The driver’s side door was pulled open with a loud creak.  As
Dina looked at the open door, Ruger stared back at her with fatherly concern.

“Are you alright?”

Dina held back her laugh,
clutched her bleeding temple, and slowly shook her head.  “Honestly?  No.”

Ruger helped her from the
car.  She leaned heavily on him while holding her head.

“What happened?” she asked.

“I’m guessing you had an
accident and ran off the road,” Ruger replied.

Diesel removed the tow
cable from the Camaro and returned to Grey’s jeep.  Dina stared at Grey’s jeep
a moment then looked back at Ruger with alarm.

“No,” she announced
firmly.  “I was driving Grey’s jeep.”

“We found it abandoned at
the tavern with the keys in the ignition,” Diesel informed her as he
approached.

Dina remained disoriented
then looked at both men.  “Someone hit me as I approached Casey’s car!”  She
was now horrified.  “We need to find Casey.  I know who’s behind this!”