American Heroes Series - 03 - Purgatory (53 page)

Biffy returned Elliot’s smile,
reluctantly, but it was the last thing Elliot saw before the front window
exploded and Ms. Biffy’s head along with it. Elliot screamed and threw herself
against Alec as glass and bloody tissue blasted into the room. 

Suddenly, the front door was
flying open and men with guns were bolting in from the door and the shattered
windows of the library, shouting and creating chaos. 

Elliot huddled between Alec and
Beck, terrified, as the men with weapons swarmed the room. Someone rushed up
and grabbed her, and she screamed until she realized it was Nash.  Bursting
into tears, she threw herself against him and he picked her up, carrying her
quickly from the chaos of the library. Alec and Beck followed close behind.

Nash made it into the ballroom
before trusting himself to speak. He was so wound up, so terrified at what he
would find at Purgatory, that he was in shock to realize that Elliot was in one
piece. He’d had his doubts.

“Are you all right, baby?” he was
holding her so tightly that he was crushing her. “Are you hurt?”

Elliot had her arms around his
neck as he held her against his chest. “No,” she sobbed. “I’m fine. Beck, Alec
and Penny are fine, but Shane was knocked in the head. He’s upstairs with
Penny.”

They could hear more shouting out
towards the library as well as things banging about, and Elliot’s head came out
of Nash’s neck.

“Tell them not to wreck my
house,” she said, struggling to be put down. “It was Biffy, Will and Ed Loreau,
and they’re all in the library.  There’s no one else as far as I know.”

Nash had his hands on her face,
inspecting her to make sure she was all right indeed. He had to see for
himself. “Are you sure?”

She shook her head. “I’m sure,”
she insisted.  “Nash, Wolfie got shot. He was in the library last I saw him.”

Nash was concerned for the dog,
but not nearly as concerned as he was for his pregnant wife. Seeing that she
was sound and whole, he let out the biggest pent-up sigh he could summon and
put his arms around her, holding her tightly.

“Sweet Jesus,” he breathed,
allowing himself to feel some relief after twenty-three minutes of utter terror
between the time he got her call and the time he ran into the house and pulled
her into his arms. “Thank God y’all are all right. I had no idea what I was going
to find when I came home. What in the hell happened?”

Before Elliot could answer, Ken
stuck his head into the room. His gun was still in his hand. “All clear down
here, Nash,” he said, looking at Elliot, Beck and Alec. “We’re moving
upstairs.”

Elliot looked at him. “That’s not
necessary,” she assured him. “It was just those three in the library.”

“You’re sure, Ms. Aury?”

Elliot nodded. “I’m sure. But
someone might want to take Shane over to the hospital. Ms. Biffy hit him pretty
hard.”

Ken backed out of the room as
Nash, satisfied that Elliot was alive and well, turned his attention to Beck
and Alec to inspect them as well. The boys shrugged him off even though Alec
had the beginnings of a lovely black eye. Nash was so relieved he seriously
thought he might cry, but his thoughts turned to the kids upstairs. He took
Elliot by the hand.

“I need to see Shane and Penny,”
he said.

The four of them went upstairs to
find it empty and the door to Shane’s bedroom locked. Nash pounded softly,
assuring the kids that it was okay to open the door, and Penelope opened the
old panel and threw her arms around her mother, weeping. She hugged Nash, too,
before he could get into the bedroom to see Shane, who was on his bed with a
big washcloth on his head. 

Nash checked the bump on his
son’s head, trying to talk him into having it checked out, but Shane didn’t
want to go to the hospital. Rather than argue with him, Nash just let it go.  He
was too relieved to get upset or argue over anything at the moment. 

As he turned for Elliot, Wolfgang
suddenly appeared, wagging his tail and looking worn out. Penelope saw the dog
and ran to him, hugging him and cooing at him as she tried to get a look at the
wound on his back leg. Nash held the dog, getting a look as well, and saw that
the bullet had just skimmed him. He petted the dog on the head.

“Good boy,” he said. “We’re going
to take you over to the vet in the morning to get that looked at.”

“He was really fierce, dude,”
Alec said with some enthusiasm. “He attacked those dudes who broke in and
chewed them up pretty good. He was awesome.”

Nash smiled faintly, petting the
dog on the head again. “I’m glad he was here.”

 Everyone agreed and Wolfgang got
more pets and hugs. As the kids focused on the dog, Nash took Elliot by the
hand and pulled her down onto the second bed.

“Now,” he said softly. “Tell me
what happened.”

Elliot was remarkably calm given
the events of the evening.  She held Nash’s hand tightly as she told him of the
broken windows, of no power, and of being herded into the bathroom by Beck and
Alec, who took charge of the situation. She was very proud of them. She told
him about Beck and Alec going downstairs to retrieve the guns and of Biffy
Loreau shooting the lock off the bathroom door. 

Beck and Alec kicked in with their
version of what happened downstairs, how Will and Ed tried to break in and how
they all fought for their lives. It was a vivid and harrowing tale, one that
made Elliot sick to listen to. It also underscored their bravery, of young men
growing into fine and courageous adults.

The boys told their story until
the point where Biffy Loreau lost her head. From there, everything seemed to
trail off. Nash turned to Elliot, who had fallen oddly silent through
everything.  She just sat there, looking pale and tired, and he put his arm
around her.

“Well,” he said decisively. “I
think the best thing we can all do is get back to bed for now. Sorrento P.D.
should be here any moment and I’m going to cover up the broken windows with….”

“We’ll help, Dad,” Beck said, motioning
to Alec. “We’ll do the windows in Penny’s room and in Elliot’s writing room. I
didn’t check to see if any more were broken other than the library windows
downstairs, but I don’t think so.”

“I’ll do the library,” Nash told
them, thinking that it was now a crime scene. “In fact, I should probably get
down there to see what’s going on.”

Shane, with the knock on the
head, was told to stay awake by his father, who turned the television on for
him before he left the room.  Penelope volunteered to stay with Shane, even
when her mother insisted she go back to bed. Penelope compromised by climbing
into the second bed in the room and covering up, determined to keep Shane awake
because of his head injury.

As Alec and Beck went about
gathering trash bags, duct tape and plastic wrap to cover up the broken
windows, Nash took Elliot back to their bedroom.

“I’m going to take Shane to the
hospital when I’m finished downstairs,” he muttered. “I know he hates
hospitals, but he needs to be looked at.”

Elliot nodded. “I agree,” she
said as they entered their bedroom. It was dark and she went to light one of
her many candles, turning to Nash as the soft glow filled the room. “Now that
this is all over, I feel kind of weak.”

His brow furrowed with concern. 
“Do you feel sick?”

She shook her head. “No, not like
that,” she said, her gaze moving over his face. “Just… wiped out.  Ms. Biffy
and I had an interesting conversation as she held a gun on me.”

Nash set her down on the bed.
“What about?”

Elliot lay back on the pillows,
gazing up at him as he stood over her. “She said that Case Aury was Femmie’s
father. Did you know that?”

Nash scratched his head and
averted his gaze as he sat down on the bed beside her. “No, not for certain,”
he said after a moment. “I’d heard rumor of it all my life, of course, but no
one would ever confirm it, least of all my granddad. So she told you that?”

Elliot nodded faintly, reaching
out to take his hand. He held on to her tightly. “She said that the Aurys paid
her money to keep quiet when they found out she was pregnant,” she said softly.
“She said they didn’t want the shame of it. Do you think it’s all true?”

Nash shrugged. “I don’t know,” he
said. “Probably.  I think my dad thinks so.”

“He’s mentioned it before?”

“Once, in passing. He said
something once about Femmie having Case’s eyes, but I never gave it much
thought. I guess… I guess I probably should now.”

Elliot toyed with his big
fingers. “Biffy said they came tonight because of the treasure,” she told him.
“She said she wanted her due. You know, it’s funny, but she didn’t seem really
angry or crazy tonight other than the fact she was wielding a rifle. She seemed
calm… like she wanted to talk. She also just wanted to see Purgatory because
she said she had a lot of memories about the house.  By the time you guys
charged in, she was very calm. I think I could have talked her into giving up
her gun. I feel kind of sorry that you guys did what you did to her. I don’t
think it was necessary.”

Nash looked at her, almost
angrily. “Baby, I wasn’t going to take that chance.  We could see the
silhouette of someone up against the window and they were clearly holding a
gun. Knowing my entire family was in the house, I was going to shoot first and
ask questions later.  I’m sorry if that upsets you, but that’s just the way it
is.”

“I know,” she said quietly
because he was starting to get riled up.  She studied his profile as he looked
at her hands, lifting one up to kiss it. “Nash, who fired the shot that killed
Biffy?”

He looked at her again. “Does it
matter?”

“No,” she whispered. “I just
wanted to know.”

He leaned over her, bracing both
arms on either side of her as he looked her seriously in the eye. There was
something set and deadly to his gaze, something Elliot had only seen once since
she had known him. It was the look of a man who knew when to make a life or
death decision.

“I got a hysterical call from my
wife tonight telling me that someone is shooting out the windows of our home,”
his voice was low and steady. “I leave the scene of a disaster to fly home with
five other deputies who should be working the disaster scene but are instead
going home with me to save my family. I pull up and see someone in the library
with a gun in their hand. My entire family’s lives are at stake, including the
life of my wife and unborn baby. Now, if you were in my shoes, would you have
pulled the trigger?”

He was deadly serious. “Without
hesitation,” she whispered.

He nodded faintly, seeing the
sincerity in her eyes. Leaning down, he kissed her soft mouth, tasting her
flesh. Scooping her up against his chest, he kissed her fiercely, realizing how
close he came to never tasting her again. It scared the wits from him but he
reminded himself that she was safe, warm and alive in his arms.  That was all
that mattered. 

“I love you, Ellie Aury,” he
breathed against her. “I would kill or die for you. Don’t ever doubt that, not
ever.”

“I don’t,” she held him fiercely.
“I love you so much, Nash. Pirate treasure, ghosts and crazy neighbors aside,
buying Purgatory was the best thing I ever did.”

He couldn’t dispute it. In fact,
he pulled back to smile at her. “Selling it to you was the best thing
I
ever
did.”

Elliot wholeheartedly agreed.

CHAPTER TWENTY
SEVEN

February

“Hurry up,” Elliot said. “We don’t know
when she’s going to come tonight, so we need to hurry this up.”

It was dark and cold outside, a full
moon rising over the bayou. Elliot and Dr. Clarke were standing next to the
trench area between the house and the ruined stable block. They were watching
Nash, Alec and Shane down in the dark, moist trench with three big, white
wooden boxes. Alec looked up at his mother and frowned.

“Just because you’re, like, fifteen
months pregnant doesn’t mean you can boss us all around like this,” he grumped.

As Dr. Clarke grinned, Elliot cocked an
eyebrow at her son. Bundled up against the cold February temperature, her
enormous belly was evident. She looked like a round little Eskimo. Before she
could respond, Nash put his hand on Alec’s shoulder and turned him back to the
task at hand.

“Yes, she can, son,” he told him
stoically. “She can boss us around as much as she wants.”

Elliot fought off a grin as Alec
grumbled.  “That’s mean,” he said. “It’s cruel. It’s mean and cruel.”

“That may be, but if you keep your mouth
shut, you’ll live longer.”

Alec did as he was told as he, Nash and
Shane arranged the boxes in the cold and dark trench. Above their head, a full
moon was filling the sky and Elliot noticed that the fireflies were starting to
come out in force. A soft breeze began to blow and the old spirit bottles in
the trees rattled gently. Dr. Clarke looked up from the trench, addressing the
sound.