Brown Eyed Girl (32 page)

He caught up with Vivienne and shoved the gun in her side. “If you want to live, you’ll come quietly,
Mom
.”

<><><>

Tiffany froze, seeing Benji walk through the parking lot with Vivienne’s arm tightly in his grip. She couldn’t see a gun but judging from the look on Vivienne’s face, she suspected he had one on her.

“
Oh my God, he’s here outside of the police station and he has your mom. I think he has a gun on her, Red. I can’t let him take her.”

She heard Red shout to everyone what she’d just told him and heard scuffling sounds coming from the phone.

“
Tiffany, don’t you do anything stupid!”

“
If anyone comes barging out here he’ll kill her Red. You must know he just wants to make you suffer. I have to do something!”

“
Tiffany...”

“
I’m putting the phone in my pocket but I’ll keep it turned on, so you can hear.” She ignored his pleas to wait and pocketed her phone.

She called his name, forcing herself to stay calm. He swung around, jerking Vivienne so roughly she nearly fell. The bulk of a man dwarfed the tiny woman, and although she was trying to be brave, Tiffany could see the terror in her eyes. “She’ll only slow you down, Benji. Take me, instead. I’m his fiancé.”

He leered evilly at her. “Why don’t I take both of you and we can all have some fun?”

Tiffany walked calmly up to him. “You can’t keep an eye on both of us, and she’s older—she
will
slow you down.”

His eyes narrowed to two evil looking slits before he shoved Vivienne roughly away, causing her to fall on her knees. Tiffany tried to help, but was stopped short by Benji jerking her back by the hair.

“
I like the curls,
Doc
. You’ll be much easier to hang onto,” he said, pulling her along by her hair. He turned to look at Vivienne. “If you move from this spot, she’s dead, do you hear me?”

Tiffany exchanged a look with Vivienne as the woman nodded in understanding.

“
I won’t, but please Benji…don’t hurt her,” she said, reaching her hands forward.

“Not right away,” he sneered. “But you can tell that baby boy of yours I intend to have some fun with her first.” He pulled Tiffany’s face closer and gave her a long, slow lick from her jaw line to her ear.

Tiffany squeezed her eyes shut and shuddered in revulsion, swallowing the bile that threatened at his invasive act.

Benji caught Vivienne’s horrified expression and laughed sadistically. “Let’s go have some fun curly.”

“
So what exactly is your plan or do you have one?” Tiffany asked calmly as they walked away from the building.

“
Mm hm…sure do,” he said. “I plan to blow your head off if I see even one uniform.”

“
My car is over there,” Tiffany told her captor.

“
And no doubt loaded with GPS so they can track us? No thanks, beautiful—everything I need is in my truck.” He jerked her roughly along with him, turning often to make sure they weren’t being followed.

“
Do you want me to drive?” she asked.

“
So you can drive us into a ditch or a tree, or something equally as imaginative? I don’t think so.” He jerked her around to his side of the truck, opened the door, and shoved her inside before climbing in after her. He took the gun from her long enough to start the engine, but as soon as it roared to life he aimed it at her and threw the truck into drive, activating the automatic door locks.

Tiffany scooted all the way over to the door, putting as much space between them as she could. The truck was a fairly new Chevy Silverado with electric everything, and she made a mental note of where the unlock button for the door was. The gleam of something metal between the handle and the door panel caught her attention. It was a metal letter opener, the decorative, heavy stainless steel type and very pointed on one end. Using her body as a shield, she eased it from the space, barely having time to conceal it under her leg before he jerked her back over to his side of the truck.

“
You get your pretty little ass back over here so I can keep an eye on you, Curly Q,” he said, grabbing her by the hair again.

Tiffany sucked in her breath as she felt some of the hair rip from the base of her skull. She clenched her teeth against the pain, using the opportunity to place her phone on the seat beside her, out of Benji’s line of sight.

Tiffany forced herself to think, to be aware of every movement he made, and everything going on around them. If the chance to escape presented itself, she had to be ready. As long as he had that gun pressed to her side she was pretty damn helpless to do a thing. If only he’d move it for a second or two, she could make her move. She knew that the further from the police station she got, the less chance she had of ever seeing Red, or anyone else, again. He’d never let her live.

She cast a sidelong look at her captor. “What did Red do to make you hate him so much?”

Benji shrugged. “Not a damn thing to me personally, but he fired my little brother a couple of years ago. McAllister accused him of stealing from the door. He got in with the wrong crowd after that and was shot in a drug deal gone bad.”

“
So, you’re thinking he didn’t steal?”

Benji laughed loudly. “Hell yeah he stole. That little son of a bitch came off his mama’s tit wanting whatever wasn’t his.”

“
Then why blame Red?”

“
Because I
can
, that’s why,” he sneered. “Bobby was the only family I had, and he’s dead because of McAllister. It’s not right that he should get everything he wants out of life when others have nothing.”

Tiffany forced herself to remain calm in light of this new information, and tried to put herself in his frame of mind. She knew he’d stop at nothing to make Red pay, even though he wasn’t responsible. Benji’s failed attempt at framing Red for murder left him no choice but to take away someone he cared for. She suddenly knew with certainty that he would be more than willing to die…as long as she did, too.
Oh God, help me.

She forced herself to keep the fear out of her voice as she continued to talk, trying to glean as much information as she could. “It’s not like it was handed to him on a silver platter, Benji. He’s had to work hard for it. That club was his dream and you burnt it down. Isn’t that enough?”

“
Hell no! He would have rebuilt with the insurance money and it would have been bigger and better. People like him keep coming back financially. I have to let him know what it’s like to lose someone he really cares about.” He sent her an evil glare. “I saw the look on his face when he threw Angelique out of the club. You don’t throw away a dish like that over nothing. She was good too, I almost regretted the plan to kill her but it was the golden opportunity to set him up. I don’t know why she never showed up.”

“
She did. She went through the side door and overheard you talking to your girlfriend. Your
pregnant
girlfriend—you killed your own child.”

He laughed maniacally. “The hell I did. I know for a fact that my loads are all blanks. Once that bitch said she was pregnant and tried to pawn it off as mine, I knew she’d been screwing around. That was the easiest kill I ever made. Walked up behind her while she was bitching and moaning and snapped her neck like a twig.”

An icy chill went down Tiffany’s spine at his confession. God, she hoped Red hadn’t heard it. She had no doubt that Red and the officers knew her exact location. Her phone had a built in GPS, and she suspected they were being followed very closely. All she could do was stay alert, and wait for her opportunity to escape.

They were a few miles from the station when she got the chance she’d been praying for. Just as they crested the overpass that led to one of the busiest intersections of Lafayette, she saw at least a quarter mile of brake lights ahead of them, clear down to the intersection.

Benji swore when he saw the bottle necked traffic due to the accident at the light. He slammed on his brakes and grabbed the wheel with both hands to avoid hitting the car in front of him.

Tiffany took a deep breath and gripped the letter opener tightly in her right hand. Channeling every ounce of strength she had, she jabbed the opener just above Benji’s right knee where she knew it would do the most damage. His angry, pain-filled roar resounded throughout the truck a second before he dropped the gun. It hit the truck’s floor board, sliding over to the passenger side. Tiffany lunged for the door and hit the unlock button. She threw it open and slid out, grabbing the pistol in one fluid movement before she hit the pavement running. Thank God she’d worn a pair of athletic shoes and comfortable jeans.

<><><>

Panic closed in on Red as he watched Benji’s truck approach the crest of the overpass. They weren’t more than thirty car lengths behind them and the three passengers of the Jeep had been keeping a close eye on the pick-up with binoculars. “Can’t we drive any faster?” he groaned. “We’re about to lose sight of them.” He caught Mike’s reflection in the rearview mirror.

“
Just hold on, Red. He doesn’t know it yet, but the intersection ahead of him is gridlocked because of a wreck. We can use the opportunity to get closer but we’ll have to be careful with all these people around.” Just as he predicted, as soon as the truck disappeared behind the overpass, vehicles behind it began hitting their brake lights. The instant traffic stopped around them, the officers exited their vehicles and began to run up between the lanes of traffic toward the crest.

Red got out and stood next to Mike and the two accompanying officers. He strained his eyes at something up ahead. “What the hell is that?” He pointed in the direction of the overpass then raised his binoculars to focus on the sight. It only took a second before he realized what he was seeing. “It’s Doc!” Before the other officers could stop him, Red bolted toward Tiffany, who looked like she was trying to break her own personal record for speed. At his approach, he watched as recognition dawned on her, followed by a serious look of relief.

<><><>

Benji howled with equal parts of psychopathic rage and pain as he pulled the letter opener out of his knee.
I’ll kill that bitch for this.
He hobbled out of the truck then pulled his rifle with the scope out from under the seat. He ignored the several people in the cars around him that pulled out their cell phones. They could call all the cops they wanted. By the time they got here it would be finished. He was ready to die to avenge his brother’s death, as long as McAllister’s whore died too.

He hobbled to the top of the overpass with some difficulty, cursing her the entire time. He switched off the loaded rifle’s safety, and brought it to his shoulder. Just as he focused in on her with his scope, Red reached her. He swore again when he saw Red grab her hand and pull her in front of him as they headed away from him.

“
That’s okay, Red. This son of a bitch is powerful enough to go right through the both of you,” Benji murmured. “Not bad, Bradford…two for the price of one.” He applied smooth and steady pressure on the trigger until the shot was fired.

<><><>

Red reached out for Tiffany, pulling her in front of him as they both continued to run back to the Cherokee. They passed at least a half dozen officers situated between vehicles along the way. They’d apparently positioned themselves along the roadway at regular intervals to insure that no passengers exited their cars. As the couple got to the Jeep, Mike yelled at them to get down. The explosion of a single shot fired just before Tiffany and Red collapsed onto the back seat.

<>

“Do you have a clear shot, Hobbs?” the chief asked.

“Yes sir.”

“Take it.”

Ken Hobbs fired and watched as Benjamin Bradford crumbled to the ground before getting a shot off. “It’s done.”

The captain lowered his binoculars. “Good job...let’s go pick him up and see what we can do about this FUBAR of a traffic situation.”

<>

Red and Tiffany were back at the police station within twenty minutes after the shooting. As they entered the precinct’s central office, Vivienne threw her arms around Tiffany.

“
Please tell me he didn’t hurt you,” she said hysterically. “Sweetie, you risked your life for me.”

“I’m fine, Vivienne. Did he hurt you when he knocked you down?” She looked down at Vivienne’s scuffed slacks.

“I’m fine! I felt so helpless watching him take you away like that.” She began to cry as she placed her hand softly on Tiffany’s curls.

“Vivienne, I’m fine, really. It’s all over with and he can’t hurt us anymore.”

“Is he...?”

Red and Tiffany both nodded.

“Oh my God,” she said sadly. “I can’t believe something like this could happen to us—to one of
my
children.”

Red hugged both women tightly. A movement caught his eye and he grinned. “Mom, where’s dad?” he asked, mischievously.

Vivienne pushed away from her son. “Your father’s at home, fighting the flu. He wanted to come with me, but he was burning up. I had to sneak out while he was in the bathroom.” She covered her eyes with one hand and groaned. “Oh Lord, he’ll be furious with me. After this, I’ll
never
be able to win an argument with him again.” She jumped at the sound of her husband’s deep baritone.