Page 68 of Deputies Under Fire
“It was supposed to be over,” Frank continued, his voice lower now. And he was too composed, considering what he had done. Considering what he was about to do. “But Carter had taken some pictures of me going into Brenda’s house that night, and he tried to blackmail me with them.”
“And you killed him, too,” Rory concluded. “Three. That’s makes you a serial killer.”
Frank didn’t have time to react to that because Diedre spoke before he could say anything.
“But I saw blood on your porch,” the woman said, like some kind of plea to help her make sense of this. “I saw it and thought you’d been hurt or killed.”
Frank shook his head and tipped his head to his arm. “I cut myself when I was moving some of the IEDs.”
So no one had harmed him. Not physically, anyway.
“You son of a bitch,” Helen yelled. She was conscious now, and she had her narrowed eyes pinned on Frank. “I trusted you. I was in love with you. And this is how you repay me? You asked me to meet you so you could give me proof that Diedre had murdered Mellie and Brenda.”
“What?” Diedre howled.
A surge of anger must have gone through Diedre because she tried to get up. No doubt to charge at Frank so she couldtry to have a go at him. Bennie, thankfully, shut that down by wrapping his arms around the woman and holding on tight.
“I wasn’t going to pin the murders on you,” Frank insisted, sparing Diedre a dismissive glance. “In fact, you weren’t even supposed to be here. You were supposed to…live,” he muttered.
“But I was supposed to die?” Helen snapped. She was struggling to get out of the tape restraints, and she was succeeding. Rory only hoped the gun wasn’t loaded, because if she tried to shoot Frank, he’d set off the IED. “Why did you lump me with Mellie, Brenda and Carter? I wasn’t blackmailing you. I didn’t know you were a killer.”
“You’re insurance,” Frank said. “Ike’s fingerprints are on the tape and gun. After this is over, the CSIs would have found that. They would have found his prints on some of the IEDs, too. And the equipment to make the IEDs is in the cargo bed of his truck. There’s a note back at my house, saying that I learned that Ike was going to kill you and that I came here to try to stop him.”
Rory cursed. “But Ike would have been dead.”
He nodded. “Dead, but always remembered as a cold-blooded killer. That’s the legacy I want for him. The legacy he deserves.”
“And what legacy do you deserve?” Rory snapped to get his attention. “You’re killing innocent people.”
Much to Rory’s surprise, Frank seemed to consider that, and he looked at Diedre. “There’s a big hole from the old mineral springs right in front of Helen. Get in it now. You, too,” he added, spearing Eden with his intense gaze. “And Bennie. It might protect the three of you from the blast.”
Rory didn’t even have to think about this. “Go,” he ordered Diedre, Bennie and Eden.
Bennie and Diedre quickly moved toward the hole. So did Helen, who had managed to get out of the tape. Eden didn’t. Damn it. She stayed put.
“I’m not leaving you to die,” she said, and then she added something that perhaps stunned them both. “I’m in love with you.”
Despite everything, Rory managed a brief smile. Those were words he’d waited a long time to hear. And to say.
“I’m in love with you, too,” he told her. Now, he had to play dirty. He had to say or do whatever it took to save her. “I need you to stay alive for Tyler. He can’t lose both of his parents. Our son needs you.”
She shook her head. “He needs you, too. I need you,” Eden added.
“This ends now,” Frank repeated in a mutter.
Rory knew the man meant it, and moving as fast as he could, he hooked his arm around Eden, diving toward that hole with her in tow.
Behind them, the blast ripped through the air.
Chapter Eighteen
Eden wasn’t sure if Rory or the blast had propelled them into the hole. Maybe a combination of both. But they landed on top of Bennie, Diedre and Helen.
It wasn’t exactly a cushioned fall, since bodies slamming against bodies was rough, and Eden saw stars when her elbow rammed against the rock wall. And she couldn’t breathe. The air was gone, and her lungs were clamped into a vise.
She wasn’t the only one, either. All of them were gasping, and Eden thought that maybe the IED had created some kind of vacuum. Still, the fact that she could feel the pain meant she was alive.
She turned—well, as much as she could turn in the small space—and saw Rory. He was right behind her. Alive, too, thank goodness. They had survived. But were they out of danger?
