Deploy, Part One (Rawlings #1)(95)

Murdock pushed in the front door, searched the rooms knocking over everything he passed, sneering at the baby stuff. When he saw Declan’s bag he kicked it across room then charged down the stairs.

He was feeling like a million f*cking dollars—yep, he had a dose or two of his happy pills that were funded by the allowance his parents gave him that he was not willing to give up.

Murdock finally found her ass out back. She looked up at him with wide eyes then reached for her iPod which was strapped to her arm. He thought she was going for another f*cking weapon and was across the way and pushing her to the ground in a beat.

“We’re getting some shit straight, you and me.”

She kicked him, and he fell back. She stood up. “You’re not touching me again!”

He laughed from the ground, looking up at her. “You liked it.”

“You raped me.”

“Because you ran off with that f*cking jackass. I told you that you were mine.” He staggered to his feet.

~

Justice’s heart was racing. She decided she would never, ever doubt Dawson again. The woman understood the human condition and Murdock was outright making this too easy. There is a God...

“All this—everything you did to me was to cover-up what you did to Nolan.” Justice pushed, not caring he looked high as a kite and any good lawyer could argue as much.

“Declan,” he said, pointing at her. “That f*cker was mad you were mine and I had to set him right, pride was on the line.” He stomped the ground. “And he came here! Yes, I chased him down, dealt with it.” Murdock laughed. “I didn’t even try—I was drunk and I still hit that f*cker. Fish food. Boom. Then what?” he said with his arms up. “Another boom, fire at your house—daddy all gone.” He laughed. “He fell.” Murdock shook his head. He staggered closer. Her guard was down because she could not believe how easy this was. Which was stupid—it gave him a chance to backhand her, and she yelled out.

“All over your whore ass! You won’t listen!”

He went to hit her again but she kicked him then hit him again but he acted like he couldn’t feel it.

“I liked that Nolan guy, better than the other f*ckers,” Murdock lifted his hand and pointed. “Like you, you f*cking pissant cunt.”

Only he wasn’t pointing at Justice. She glanced to her side in time to see Boon pulling the forty-five from where Justice always had it strapped at her back and aiming it at Murdock.

“I will f*cking kill you, you hear me, bitch!” Murdock yelled, and then charged the gun like it was a water gun, and in all truth he was high enough to believe it was.

Justice’s hands went across Boon’s, trying to stop him as she moved in front of him, but Boon fired, not once but three times, and she screamed bloody murder as Murdock didn’t stop coming at them until the last bullet left.

She pulled her phone from the pouch on her arm. She had no way of knowing if it was still recording or what it saw, the screen was shattered. There was no telling at what point in the fight it happened—if all Murdock confessed to was now lost and she was back in the guiltiest seat in the town.

She fumbled with it, saying, “Oh, God, oh, God,” over and over again as she managed to get the screen to show a dial tone so she could call for help.

She took the gun from Boon and with her shirt she wiped his prints away.

She pointed for Boon to go in, to his clothes, telling him to change.

By the time the cell phone company transferred three times over to the right emergency people, Boon had stripped even his boots and all of it was in the wash doused in bleach.

Justice had run in and grabbed towels and ran back outside.

“I was attacked,” she told the operator. “I tried to stop him but he kept coming, I fired,” she said. “Yes, I’m alone. Yes, I think he’s alive.”

Justice did everything the operator told her to do as Murdock stared up at her with a cold confused gaze.

“My friend is here now,” she told the operator. She meant Boon. He’d come back outside and was shocked to see Murdock still fighting. “Pressure, yes. No, I’m not okay. I don’t know, he hit me pretty hard.” Hard pained tears came and they were not all fake all she could think was Boon had just destroyed his life. She had to get this story to stick and if she didn’t—she couldn’t even think.

She screamed out when she saw Murdock close his eyes, when she saw the final breath leave, a final breath she had seen her father take years before, the pool of blood under Murdock—her mind was merging both events into one moment. A transitory moment where time moved so slowly she could hear her heart, which was slow...beat...beat...beat.

Over. It was all over. For good or bad this demon had fallen.

An eye for an eye—it wasn’t a fair enough statement. This boy had by all accounts killed Nolan, raped her, beat her—and he got to die, he was done. The rest of them, the survivors, they’d live with this, carry the memory until their final breath left.

***

Over the years Justice had learned to say it all with a glance. She never once coached Boon on what to do or what his alibi should be, but he understood.

“I came to get the baby’s milk. I saw the front door was busted open, things in the house tossed about. I ran out back when I heard her yelling on the phone. He was down already. She tried to save him but couldn’t...I’m not sorry she didn’t. You see her face?” That was the extent of Boon’s statement.