No Going Back (23 page)

Everything I’d considered could have been bullshit, but over the years I’d learned to trust my senses. As I saw the cruiser speeding towards me I made a snap decision: I shoved the semi-automatic I’d liberated from Carson into my waistband. The Smith and Wesson I dangled from my finger, offering the approaching cop no threat. Then I’d placed it on the porch and stood away from it, assuming the position with my hands laced on my head. For all I knew, I was totally off track, and couldn’t even be sure that it was Lewin who’d responded.

Next second, the young fair-haired cop threw open his door, and, using the cruiser as a shield, he targeted me. That wasn’t unusual and wasn’t what told me that he intended shooting first and asking questions later. It was the rage in his face. My presence on the doorstep could mean only one thing, especially considering the gun I’d just put down: the Logans were no longer a threat to me. Ergo, I’d killed them. And he was now the only one left to resolve the terrible situation.

I couldn’t see Jay, but I heard her scream. I was already moving by then, dropping out of Lewin’s line of fire and going for the semi-auto at the small of my back. Lewin’s shot went over my left shoulder and through the open door, striking something metallic inside the house. The
spang
! of the spent bullet was echoed by my return shot. At this distance I’d no option but to aim for his centre of mass, most of which was concealed by the cruiser. Nevertheless I watched Lewin respond by rearing away and twisting his body so that he could check where my bullet had struck his anti-ballistic vest. Like many US cops, he wore his vest beneath his uniform shirt, but I’d been under no illusions that it was there. My shot hadn’t been designed to kill, merely to stop him killing me while I was out in the open.

He snapped his gaze my way, just as I vaulted off the porch and ran at an angle towards the cover of the Dodge pick-up. ‘Bastard! I’ll kill you!’ His yell came out as an hysterical scream, and he fired at me. Again his shot went wide and I threw myself down at the far side of the pick-up, placing the wheel hubs and engine block between us.

For a couple of seconds I had no line of sight, but it was a fair trade considering the cover it offered. I took the respite to eject the magazine and check the load. Carson had been shooting wildly, and judging by the weight there weren’t that many shells left in the gun. In fact, only two bullets remained, one of them already in the breech. I’d .357s in my pockets, but this mag wasn’t chambered for them. Crap. Never mind, I’d just have to make them count. One thing I was sure of: I wouldn’t be aiming for his bulletproof vest next time.

‘I don’t need you out the fucking car to kill you.’

Lewin’s shout wasn’t only for Jay’s ears. He’d yelled loud enough that I knew what he intended, and it wasn’t to warn me that he was about to kill her. He was trying to draw me into the open again. If he shot Jay there and then, what leverage would he have against me?

I didn’t concern myself with his bullshit at first, because I didn’t think it was an immediate threat. But then I heard Jay screaming again and I dodged around the back of the pick-up. Lewin was so incensed with rage – or fear – that he wasn’t acting in a rational way. He was grappling with her, leaning inside the car and, for a long enough time, his attention wasn’t on me. I kept low, running towards the rear of the cruiser.

Bang!

Lewin’s gun went off and the rear of the car lit up like a match had been struck. Then all was dark again and I could no longer hear Jay. Not necessarily because she couldn’t speak, but for the fact Lewin’s scream was deafening. He reared up and away from the back compartment, and his left hand was busy trying to pluck a knife out from between the biceps and triceps muscles of his right arm.

I went over the back of the car in a hurdle and slide, landing on my feet beside him. Lewin’s face was a picture of shock, both at the stabbing and at my sudden appearance. His reaction was far from considered, and maybe if he’d acted differently he’d have found a way out of this alive. But he swung his gun on me. I wanted answers, yes, but not at the expense of my life, or that of any of the girls. I shot him, point blank between the eyes.

The impact didn’t knock him flying like you see in the movies; his body merely dropped directly in front of me, collapsing like a house of cards. He ended up propped within the open door and the sill, his knees one way, his arms the other. There wasn’t much left of his head to talk about.

Cop Killer.

The notion struck me, a cold sliver of steel that drove right through my guts.

There was going to be a shit storm over this. No doubt about it.

I looked down at the corpse and thought, No. This piece of crap was no police officer. A uniform didn’t make him a good man. It’s what was in his brain and his heart that defined him, and he was no cop. He was almost as sick-headed as the Logans, allowing this to go on as long as he had.

I hadn’t killed a policeman, but a beast, and I could live with that.

A moan drew my attention and I leaned down to peer into the prisoner compartment. Jay was looking back at me, her eyes wild with fear, but also a touch of triumph. Her face was streaked with dust, blackened with tears, and her hair was matted to her skull. Her clothing was in disarray, equally smeared with dust and God knows what else and one of her shoes had fallen off and was in the well between the seat and Perspex screen. Other than lumps and scrapes from her earlier beatings and incarceration, she looked well.

‘I did it, Joe,’ she said very softly. ‘I did it.’

I took it she was referring to fighting back: jamming the knife I’d given her through Lewin’s arm. If she hadn’t brought herself to do so, I fear there’d have been a different resolution to my fight with Officer Lewin. She’d done it all right. Her distraction had allowed me to get close enough to kill the bastard. Her counter-attack had quite possibly saved both our lives.

How Lewin missed shooting her in such a confined space I couldn’t fathom. It was too dark to see where his shot had gone, but I knew from the way Jay looked back at me that she hadn’t been hit. I wondered if an ounce of compassion had remained in Lewin’s soul and at the last moment he’d redirected his aim. Maybe he only intended panicking me by making it seem like he’d killed the woman. Then again, maybe Jay had stabbed him forcefully enough to knock his gun aside at just the right moment. I would never know now, and it wasn’t something I was about to take up with Jay. She’d been through enough. There would be plenty of opportunities to learn the story in the coming weeks, to a point where we’d both be sick of repeating it.

Jay made to clamber out of the cruiser, but then had second thoughts as her gaze alighted on the ruin of Lewin’s head. She cringed.

‘Wait there.’ I took hold of the corpse by the ankles and dragged it away from the car. Lewin’s service pistol had fallen to the ground. It was best that I didn’t touch it: the forensics would prove everything that had happened and I didn’t want to confuse things by handling the cop’s gun now.

Returning to the cruiser, I looked back at the house. Brent, Carson, Samuel and now, Officer Lewin: all of them were dead. It was over but for one thing.

‘C’mon, Jay,’ I said. ‘I’ll take you to Nicole and Ellie.’

To use the police cruiser would cause us too many problems in the long run, and not only because of the impact it could have on any subsequent forensic examination. I was concerned that – on seeing the police car approaching – Nicole might panic and open up with the shotgun I’d left her. Jay watched dispassionately as I went through Carson’s effects. The keys to Jameson Walker’s SUV were in his trouser pocket. I remembered that she’d called him the Tin Man because he’d been so heartless. Now it was Jay who looked like she possessed not an ounce of compassion, but who could blame her?

She also looked across at where Brent Logan was laid out and her only reaction was to blink like a bullfrog, slow and languid.

I took her by the arm and led her towards the back door. She followed but then came to a halt and stared back into the living space.

‘The other one? Samuel? What about him?’

I felt a tremor of fear course through her body, and I put a comforting arm around her. ‘As dead as the rest of them. He’s outside.’

‘Thank God,’ she sighed. She rested her head against my shoulder, then moved with me for the exit door.

I thought about checking on Samuel, but decided enough was enough. Jay didn’t want to be parted from me for even a second and I didn’t wish to subject her to more corpses than she’d already seen. I guided her across the yard towards the lean-to shed. With no need for stealth now, I gripped the plyboard covering and tore it aside. Jay gave a sob as she recognised her father’s car. Not that he’d berate her for the damage it had sustained, but it obviously brought back everything about her original kidnapping. For a second or two I thought she’d refuse to get inside. I fired up the engine and edged it out from under the tin shed. Jay had no qualms about climbing in, and I’d to warn her off while I swept the crystals of broken window glass from the front seat. Once in, she tucked the seat belt round her, snapping it secure. After all that she’d endured, the action brought a smile to my lips. She didn’t notice; she had her head in both hands and was now openly crying.

I allowed her a few minutes as I drove back out and across the yard. A rickety fence made things awkward for driving around the right-hand corner of the ranch, so I was forced to go left. I glanced across at Jay as we passed where Samuel had fallen but her hands were still obscuring her face. Good. She was spared what I saw.

Giving the SUV its head, I swung us past the watering hole and beelined for the distant cliffs where I’d left Nicole and Ellie. With the headlights on they’d see us coming, but I hoped Nicole would have the good sense to ensure they kept their heads down until I could reassure her that it was safe to show themselves.

There was no trail to follow, as we were reminded by the jouncing of the wheels over the same ruts I’d recently used for concealment. Jay braced one hand on the dash, while using the other to wipe the tears from her face. Between watching the desert for hidden dangers, I checked her out and saw that she’d managed to rein in her emotions for now. Or, more accurately, she’d cried for herself, but now she was more concerned about her friends’ well-being.

I hadn’t told her what Nicole had suffered, but it was apparent that she had figured it out for herself. I bet she believed her own ill-treatment was nothing in comparison, and guilt was setting in once more.

‘She’s a strong young woman,’ I said. ‘Stronger, I think, than many people give her credit for.’

‘I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.’ Jay’s voice was small.

‘And you followed through with your promise, Jay. Look at what you’ve had to do to save us all.’

She frowned at my choice of words. ‘It was you that saved
us
, Joe.’

Shaking my head, I said, ‘If you hadn’t got Samuel off me that first time, I don’t know what might’ve happened. He could quite easily have killed me, and I dread to think what would’ve happened to you all if he had. Then, when that dirty cop almost killed me, you saved me again. That’s twice I owe you my life.’

She went silent for a while, working through what I’d said, but she wasn’t entirely convinced. She told me what had happened between the two cops, and how Lewin had murdered his sergeant when he’d realised the gig was up. And how helpless she’d felt when Lewin had taken her prisoner a second time.

‘I should have thought about his connection to the Logans sooner. I’m sorry I put you through that again.’

‘Everything turned out well in the end,’ she said. ‘And we now know everyone responsible. At least it’s over with.’

A couple of outstanding issues still remained, but I wasn’t about to bring them up. Not yet. Notwithstanding the whereabouts of Helena Blackstock and Carla Logan, the reason for the Logans selecting specific lookalikes continued to elude me.

‘Let’s collect the others and get the hell out of here,’ I said.

Jay perked up, anticipating the longed-for reunion with her friends.

The cliffs were etched under the glare of the SUV’s headlights, the yawning caves like the open mouths of a choir. Flicking the headlights to announce our arrival, I guided the vehicle to the foot of the cliff where I’d left Nicole and Ellie. We were a good distance from the ranch, but I didn’t doubt that they had heard the recent gunfire. They couldn’t know who had triumphed, of course, and would still be wary of whoever was arriving so soon after. I’d have preferred a more low-key approach, but Jay had unbuckled her seat belt and was out of the door before I could caution her.

‘Nicole! Nicole!’

Jay had no clue which of the caves held her friend, but it didn’t stop her running for the foot of the cliff. From inside the SUV, I searched for the cave mouth I’d tagged in my memory and saw two figures emerge from it. There were corresponding shouts of joy as Nicole and Ellie began clambering down the rock face. I didn’t want to interrupt their reunion, so busied myself with another task. I climbed out of the cab and turned to survey the nightscape, holding my reclaimed S&W in one hand and Carson’s semi-auto in the other. The girls were safe for now, but I wondered how long that status quo could be maintained, because there was yet another outstanding issue I’d neglected to mention.

As we’d driven past where Samuel had fallen, his body was no longer there.