Fear Thy Neighbor (78)
Hal lowered himself to the ground, tears streaming from his dark brown eyes. Alison almost felt sorry for him.
“You!” she shouted at Gib. “Get over here beside your son, or I promise you I’ll do what I said. Your worthless brain will be fish food when I finish with you.”
Her hand shook as she continued to direct the gun at Gib. He stared at her, shaking his head.
“You ain’t gonna shoot an old man,” he said, his mouth widening in a grin so wicked she wanted to stick the gun in his mouth and pull the trigger so he would never be able to smile again.
“This is your last chance,” she said, praying the little girl had enough time to reach Val’s house. She lifted a foot, then slammed it down on Hal’s back. “Or I can shoot his brains out,” she said.
“Go on—he ain’t got none anyway. Stupid boy. He deserves to die for what he did to my Rosa. Woman died giving birth to him, and that devil girl twin. Kill ’im. I dare ya.”
It took a few seconds for her to absorb his words. The chanting, the rough Southern twang. Gib had been one of the men wearing robes, chanting in front of the fire the night before. “Why?” she asked, wanting to know what possessed him.
He threw his head back and laughed. “Cause we can!” More laughter; then there was a sharp blast, and Gib fell forward, both hands clutching his chest.
“Don’t move, miss,” came an unfamiliar male voice. “Put down your gun. We’ve got this.”
Ali slowly eased her finger off the trigger, her arm lowered at her side. A team of men wearing navy blue jackets with the letters FBI in bright yellow scattered around Hal and Gib like ants.
Ali stared at them, wondering where they came from and how they knew to come. She had her answer when Kit Moore, still wearing the same clothes he’d worn when she’d first met him, appeared with Pete and someone else she didn’t know.
“You okay?” Kit asked, wrapping his arms around her. He pushed her hair away from her face, tilted her chin up, then kissed her.
“I am now,” she said, finally allowing herself to go limp in his arms.
Chapter Twenty-two
Ali laughed at Renée’s description of all the extra work her mother was doing since revealing her father.
“I kid you not, she does everything, even folds my clothes. Am I right, Mom? Dad?” Renée teased as John Wilson flipped another burger onto a platter.
“I think Val’s got a handle on things,” he said, though he didn’t try to hide the grin plastered on his face. “She’s going to spend the next few years trying to make up for what she did to my reputation.”
As odd as she’d found John Wilson, Ali now saw beneath the beach bum attitude, finding he was a very likable guy. Spoiled by his family with too much too soon, he appeared to enjoy being with Val again, in spite of what she’d done, though Ali was pretty sure there wasn’t any romance between them. Just Renée tying them together.
The group gathered on the deck of Val’s house, the first time Ali, Kit, John, and of course Renée had been together since all hell broke loose. The events of two weeks ago were still in the news. Ali’s entire lawn had been dug up and a second set of bones found, along with a few others that belonged to the girl whose bone she’d first found.
“You know how sorry I am,” Val told John. “This entire island isn’t the same anymore. I’m glad, but so sorry for Hal.”
“It’s too bad, but he only did what Gib told him to do,” Kit said to Val. “He’s going to be okay in the group home. It’ll be a big change, but he’ll adapt.”
Ali took a drink of the freshly squeezed lemonade Val had made for the barbecue. “I was beyond shocked when I saw him, and that poor little girl. Gib must’ve totally lost it when his wife died. I can’t believe no one knew about him and his sickness.”
“What’s going to happen to Gib?” Renée asked. “He seemed like a nice old man.”
“Those are the ones to watch for,” Kit told her. “I’m guessing he’ll spend the rest of his life behind bars. Frankly, that’s too good for him; I’m hoping he’ll get an ass-kicking in jail. He ruined our family, taking little Jane, who must’ve trusted him. I don’t want to know what he did to her, because if I did, I’m afraid of what I’ll do.”
John uncovered a plate of chicken, putting it on the grill. The mesquite chips filled the air with their smoky scent. Soft rock played from hidden speakers. The sun was out, the humidity high. Gulls shrieked above the blue-green waters, and the white sand sparkled. A perfect day for a cookout, Ali thought. This is what she’d imagined when she first came to the island. In a million years, she never thought her life would take such a drastic turn, but it had, and she was happier than she’d ever been. Her bad karma turned out to be so much more. Finding that ad in the newspaper was meant to be. Kit had told her this, and she believed him.
They all spent the next three hours eating, drinking, and laughing. A gust of wind, followed by a downpour, sent them running indoors. Ali and Kit eventually said their goodbyes, then together they walked to her cottage.
“You want coffee?” Ali asked when they were inside. She’d made a few purchases since she’d officially moved in, the first being a Keurig coffee machine. Val had given her a small table with matching chairs, which fit perfectly in her little kitchen. She’d decided to keep the old gas stove for now. Later, when she had her friends over for a real dinner, she might consider a new one.