Until the Tequila (The Killers #3.5)(21)

“I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this by yourself. I wish I was there with you. I’ll talk to Wes, we need to make a trip. Maybe a long weekend. I’ll check on flights.”

“Really?” I start to tear up at the thought of her coming to see me. Shit. There’s seriously something wrong with me—I’m one Hallmark movie away from turning into a sap. I’m losing my edge I’ve worked so hard on all these years. I swallow over the lump in my throat and turn to follow Evan. “I would love that so much. But I’m not dealing with it alone. I was with Evan when I found out this morning.”

“You were?” I hear the smile in her voice. “So, it’s serious? I really like him. Whenever I text him, he gets back to me right away.”

I try not to laugh because that’s so July. “Why are you texting him?”

“To check on you.” She doesn’t sound the least bit repentant for her intrusion. “Because you don’t text me back right away. I’m surprised you answered this call.”

I shake my head. “I’m glad you feel well-informed.”

“I need to meet him in person so I can make my final approval. Since I play the part of your mother, your sister, your best friend, and your—”

Oomph.

My body flies forward and the burning on the side of my face is immediate. My car swerves when something hits me from behind again.

When my brain finally clicks, I drop my phone to bring my hand to my face when my car thrashes, but not before it’s angled off the dark road, jolting and bumping, until it jerks to a hard stop in the ditch.

My head pounds in a whole new way that makes my hangover feel like a papercut. Moaning, I lean back on my headrest and feel pain shoot down my neck.

The airbag in front of me deflates and I bring my trembling hand to my temple, wetness leaking down my face. When I pull my hand away, there’s blood covering my fingers—I see it through the smoke. My stomach turns and, over the hiss of my engine, I hear voices in the night.





Evan





I hit my brakes as hard as I can when I see her headlights veer and lurch to the right in my rearview mirror.

Then, they disappear into the ditch.

“Fuck!”

I don’t even bother pulling over. Throwing my car in park in the middle of the road, I swing my door open and start for the grass where Mary’s car is steaming, wedged into a bank. But I hear it before I see it.

Through the dark night, there’s a car. No headlights, I barely make out the shine off the windshield until the sky comes alive, lighting up the night.

Two strikes in a row, followed by booming thunder, and I see it—a dark sedan, the front of the car is smashed to shit from where it rammed Mary and pushed her off the road. The engine revs one more time but it’s weak and doesn’t sound like it’s going anywhere. I glance to where Mary is still sitting in her car. She isn’t moving.

I need to get to her so I run toward the ditch, reaching for my phone as someone gets out of the car.

“Don’t move!” The southern drawl mixed with a rasp of cigarettes cuts through the night. “You take one step to her, I’ll put a fucking bullet through your head.”

I hold my hands out low. “I need to check her. She’s not moving.”

The man starts for me and I move in kind toward Mary. He’s crazy if he thinks I’m gonna be a sitting duck. We’re right outside of Addy’s property. I need to get to Mary, call for help, and, somehow, I need to do that without this jackass putting a bullet in either one of us.

“I said don’t move!” he booms, but the heavens argue and, when the sky lights up again, I see him.

He might be five-eight, five-nine. I have at least three inches on him. From everything she told me about him, he has aged beyond his years, but I guess prison will do that to you.

“Duane?” I call out as the rain starts. I need to go to her, call for help because if she isn’t moving at this point, she’s surely hurt and that kills me. But the gun dangling from his hand isn’t giving me a choice and I can’t turn my back on him. “I don’t know what you think you want with Mary, but you’re not touching her. You’ll have to kill me first.”

He tsks me and shakes his head. “Isn’t this sweet? My little girl hooked a pretty-boy. I don’t blame you, not if her snatch is as sweet as her mama’s was. To this day, I’ve never had better. Wish she coulda handled her crank better. She brought top dollar back in the day and I got to enjoy her whenever I wanted.”

Fuck. Nothing Mary told me could’ve lived up to this, could’ve prepared me for the piece of shit who gave her life. I lift my hand to pull it through my hair and his hand holding the gun jerks at my movement. I hold my ground as the rain starts to soak us to the bone. “What do you want?”

He stops about ten feet from me. The rain is pelting down and I have to squint to keep the water out of my eyes. “I know Mary’s got some money comin’ to her. They came to me lookin’ for her. I just got out, haven’t built my business up again, and I need Mary to take care of her old man. I have to do what I have to do. She won’t take my calls and I’ve been watchin’ her for a day or so. You won’t leave her side so now I’ve gotta get through you to get to her. All I want is what Mary’s mama’s old man left her. It should come to me, anyway. She was my wife. Then I’ll be gone for good.”