A Twist of Betrayal (24 page)

Then heat of rage bubbled up his neck and made his face burn. “Don’t you dare judge me,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Don’t judge you? How can I not?”

Dan sighed and tried to push the frustration aside, grasping a sense of control, hoping that when this was over, there would be time to sort out all the other emotions. But he discovered after all the worry, all the pieces of the puzzle falling into place, all the work he’d done trying to keep his life on the right path, he couldn’t ignore everything. “You’re the one who cheated, Justine.”

She stared at him for a long, silent moment. The rest of the world, including the danger of Dan’s past coming up to bite him from the cabin not far away, faded away. “How did you know? I’m not even—” Her words were still whispered. Disbelief and pain filled her expression. Dan tried to ignore them both.

The last thing he wanted to do was spend the time to explain things now, now with Deke and danger mere yards away. But he also didn’t need Justine opposing him or fighting against him.

“It doesn’t matter how I know. None of it matters. Not now. What does matter is that you understand why I did things. You grew up with a loving family who stood beside you no matter what, with parents who supported your every action and praised your every move, with brothers who protected you and held your hand.

“I grew up with an aunt and uncle who did little more than make things clear that as soon as I turned eighteen, they were through with me and I was on my own. Do you know what it feels like to have your every inadequacy pointed out to you? Do you have any idea what it feels like to stand on the basketball court on senior night in high school holding a rose and be the only one without a parent or someone to stand beside you? No, you wouldn’t, but I do.”

He paused, but never took his hard gaze from hers. “And I know none of it is a good enough excuse, so how about this one. I knew Deke and Thomas were bad but I didn’t know how bad until they told me how they robbed a liquor store. I tried to stay away from them, especially for Dillon’s sake. I had no idea they planned to rob the bank. I just waited in the car. Deke threw in a duffle bag a few minutes later, but then ran in the opposite direction. I sat there in the car with a bag full of money, and no one noticed. No one saw me. No one had seen Deke throw it into the back seat. The police were busy chasing two robbers on foot, two robbers that got away. What was I supposed to do?”

“Turn it in?” Justine said, judgment dripping from her voice.

“I was nineteen years old. I worked at a discount store trying to make ends meet while Dillon was studying driver’s ed. My only other family, my wonderful aunt and uncle who reminded me every single day how gallant they were to take us in, had just moved to Florida and left us. I couldn’t leave Dillon, too. I couldn’t take the chance the police would believe that I knew nothing about the robbery. Even if they held me for a day or two while they sorted things out, Dillion was sixteen. They might have tossed him in foster care. So I took Dillon and we moved to Chicago. I joined the police academy, doing everything to be the model citizen I wanted to be and to have a career that would make my dead parents proud, as well as support and help my brother and give us a life.” He knew he was babbling, but he had to make her understand.

“What about the money?”

Dan met his wife’s gaze squarely in the eye. “There was almost three million dollars in the bag. I took one third of it.”

“And what? Used it to send Dillon to flying school?”

“No, I gave it to my old partner Adam’s wife after his funeral so she had enough to raise his kids. If you want it back, you’ll have to get it from her.”

Chapter 29

“Now I’d love to stand here and tell you all the things Adam’s wife did with the money I gave her. I could also reminisce with you about all the fun times I had at this cabin. It is, by the way, the only good thing I have from my dear uncle. But I think we have more pressing matters to deal with, don’t you? So tell me, is Deke at the cabin?” Dan asked, pulling out his gun.

“Yes, Thomas probably managed to limp his way back there by now, too, since he doesn’t appear to have followed me.” She looked back down the path to make certain.

“Thomas is here, too?”

“Yes. He’s hurt, I think.”

“My truck is back that way, about a quarter mile. I want you to go, get in it, and drive back to Landston.”

“Not without you.”

“Justine.”

She reached up and placed two fingers on his lips to stop any further words. “We can stay here and argue all you want, but we’re wasting time, giving them the chance to get away. I’m not leaving without you.”

“I’m not letting you go back where you’d be near Deke Rynolds. The man is psychopath. And Thomas is worse.”

“I know, but I’m not letting you go in alone, either.

“Neither am I,” a new voice said.

They both turned to see Jack Fillbrook stealthily approaching.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Dan had to ask, hardly believing they were all standing there discussing things, but more surprised to see his colleague who was due to change his career in less than a week. What he noticed even more was the way Justine moved close to him and seemed to clam up as Jack stepped closer. She had shown more spunk and readiness to fight the bad guys from his past than she did to his own colleague.

The last thing he needed was to explain himself to another member of the police force. Inside he seethed. And it took nearly all his effort to keep a poker face.

Jack shrugged. “Watching over you. Helping my friends.”

Something still didn’t add up with Jack, but Dan couldn’t put his finger on it right then and he didn’t have the time. Maybe the Chief had assigned Jack to follow him and keep an eye on him, but he’d been especially careful not to be followed. He did notice that Justine said nothing and took his hand. He wanted to question her, at the very least look at her, see if he could see answers in her eyes. But he didn’t look away from Jack. “Watching over me? Just like that?”

“Both of you actually.”

Dan stole a glance to Jus. She bit her lip. Hell, she didn’t even do that when she had to face the toughest judge. Just what the fuck was going on here? He knew Jack was forever flirting with Justine, trying to kiss her or touch her. Was he actually ‘watching over her?’ Was he the guy she cheated with?
Fuck it all to hell!

Dan went from seething to thinking his blood actually boiled. Maybe he should simply walk away, leave her with Jack and let them face the two prick bastards in the cabin. He could disappear.

He stole another glance to his wife. And what he read in her expression was nothing less than…

Fear.

Pure, unadulterated terror.

There was more to this than his wife cheating on him with Jack. Damn, she was all but breaking his fingers as she stood behind him.

He couldn’t walk away from her. He couldn’t disappear. He needed answers. He needed to follow this through and see it to the end. He’d vowed to save her and get her out of this mess, and by God, he was going to do just that.

He cleared his throat and took a deep breath to settle his racing heart. “How much did you hear?”

“Enough to know you had it rough growing up.”

Dan forced down a shudder that Jack knew about the robbery and the money. For a second, he wasn’t certain which move to make. Could he trust Jack to keep his secret? With the way Justine squeezed his hand, he didn’t think he could trust Jack at all.

Before Dan could decide which direction to take, Jack looked further up the path. “What do you say we get this taken care of so we can all go home?”

A few minutes later, the three of them hid around the corner of the cabin.

“Stay here with Jack,” Dan whispered.

In urgent whispers, Justine argued with Dan. “No! Don’t leave me!”

She had uttered those same words the night he found her looking lost in the kitchen. They tore his heart now even more as they did then.

“All right. Then just stay here while Jack and I go in.”

She seemed more open to that idea, but he had to pry his hand from hers. Dan kissed her quick and hard and moved to the front door. Jack followed him.

From inside the cabin came the voices of an argument.

“Do you really think he was going to just hand it all over after all this time?”

“Why not?”

“He probably hasn’t even got it anymore.”

“You’re right. I don’t,” Dan said from the doorway. He held his gun in his hand, and pointed it at them.

The three of them stared at one another. The tension in the room was so thick Dan thought he could almost see it like smoke.

Deke stood on the other side of the table holding a cold water bottle under his chin while Thomas sat on one of the chairs and propped his right leg up on the second.

Deke was the first to speak. “Nice to see you again, Danny Boy.”

“I can’t say the same thing about you, Deke. You should have never taken any of this out on my wife.”

Thomas giggled and then coughed.

“Oh, but taking your wife made things so interesting. She’s very pretty.” Deke’s grin left Dan fuming. But he kept his expression flat, refusing to let either of his former partners see how much they scared or angered him.

Then he noticed something else…

Jack hadn’t followed him into the cabin.

But Dan was caught in the midst of this game now, and he had no choice but to play it out.

“Deke was going to make her dance naked.” There was still laughter in Thomas’s voice, but his words were thick and dragging.

Deke suddenly grew serious. “And she might have escaped me this time, but who’s to say she’ll be so lucky next time. Unless, of course, you’re here to give me my money.”

“And mine…” Thomas chimed in as if he were nothing more than an afterthought.

“So where it is, Danny, my buddy?”

“You’ve had it all along,” Dan said evenly. He stepped further into the cabin.

“What?”

“You’re standing on it. It’s buried right beneath your feet.”

The shots were loud, sudden cracks of thunder that shook the cabin.

The first missed Deke and was lost in the wood counter. It gave Deke enough time to turn the heavy wooden table onto its side with a crash and duck behind it.

The second rang out less than a heartbeat later and knocked Thomas right off his chair.

He was probably dead before he hit the floor. Eyes still open, he stared at Dan as if to blame him for what just happened.

But Dan wasn’t to blame. He held his weapon, but hadn’t fired it. He took a split second to glance down at it in his hand to make sure. At the same time, he moved to duck back out the door, but someone blocked his way. There was nothing else to hide behind. The next two shots came from Deke on the other side of the table as he defended himself.

Dan wanted to yell out that he hadn’t been the one to fire, but there wasn’t time. There wasn’t even time for him to duck out of the way.

One of Deke’s shots hit Dan right in the chest, sending him stumbling backward off his feet. The second clipped the top of his right shoulder. In the next moment, he was flat on his back, cracking his head on the floor and fighting against the tight burning in his chest. His gun flew from his hand and out the open door behind him where it slid out of sight across the porch. Through a fog, he swore he heard Justine scream. Was she shot, too?
Please, no.

His chest still burned and was so tight he couldn’t breathe.

He looked up into the doorway and saw Jack Fillbrook holding the gun Justine had when Dan caught her running in the woods. He grasped Justine by the arm with his other hand.

“No…”

Again he mentally asked
what the fuck?

He realized he was about to get his answers, and he knew he wasn’t going to like any of them when Deke stood up from behind the table and addressed Jack. “Hey, Cousin!”

Cousin?

“Why the hell are you shooting at me? Why’d you shoot Thomas? And what are you doing here? I thought we agreed we’d split the money when we met at the—”

He didn’t get to finish his statement because Jack shot him. He died with a look of shock in his expression.

Dan couldn’t move. He still couldn’t breathe. “Cousin? What the hell are you doing, Jack? Let go of my wife!” He tried to yell, but all that came out was breathy mumbled sentences.

Much to his surprise, Jack drew closer and looked down at him. He shoved Justine to the floor next to Dan.

“Dan! Oh, my God, you’re shot!” She scrambled to his side trying to see his wound.

Dan grabbed her wrist. He couldn’t let her give away the only card he had to play even though the tears in her eyes made his chest hurt more. It didn’t take a genius to see what was happening here. But maybe if he was lucky, he could keep Justine safe.

“Leave her alone,” Dan said, his words tight and harsh, each one causing more pain.

Fuck, it hurt to talk.

Jack pointed the gun at him, and Dan thought his heart would stop without Jack ever pulling the trigger. “I deserve an explanation.” he forced out. He felt the warmth of his own blood pouring out of his shoulder and seeping into his back on the floor.

“I’m sorry about this, Dan,” Jack said, still looking down.

“Sorry about what? Why don’t you explain what you’re doing?” Dan’s ribs were on fire. Maybe if he could get Jack talking, he could buy them some time.

“I just needed to know where the money was. Thanks for telling me, by the way.” Jack looked at Justine. “I like your wife. She’s so tight and hot. I was thinking I’d take her with me to Mexico as soon as I get the money.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you, you bastard.” She grasped Dan’s hand.

He moved away. His laughter was cold and calculating. “You didn’t think I was such a bastard when you fucked me.”

“I didn’t fuck you. You—you—I don’t even know what you did.” Justine let go of Dan’s hand long enough to pull off the sweatshirt she wore, revealing the tank top underneath. She tried to stop the bleeding in Dan’s shoulder with pressure. Tears still poured from her beautiful eyes.

“All I did was serve you a bit of wine, trying to get you to talk,” Jack admitted. “But it wasn’t enough, was it, Justine?”