Behind the Pines (The Gass County Series Book 3) (16 page)

“Let’s make the deal.”

“You like what you see?” Haines asked, sounding surprised. “I know from personal experience she’s not a virgin. But it sure took some hard work to get the deed done.”

Brody’s pulse accelerated and suddenly murder didn’t sound too bad at all. To his dismay Haines continued his story. “Who knows how many else have been inside her, but don’t let her get off too easy. She can take a good punch. You should see her face below that bag.” He pointed at the white fabric moving in tune with Sunshine’s breathing.

Bryce stared at Haines, a look that said nothing even though his fist clenched repeatedly, something Brody knew from experience was a telltale sign Bryce felt inclined to plant a fist in someone’s face and push the bastard’s nose to the back of his head.

“Deal is done. We’re out of here,” Bryce gruffed and with one strong lift under Sunshine’s arm he pulled her up to her feet. Grabbing her arm just a little tighter as she wiggled to get free. “Deadlines to meet, border crossings to make for human transfer.”

“Of course.” Haines backed away and held the cabin door open.

As the three men crossed the ground, Sunshine walking blindly in Bryce’s death grip, Haines leaned into Bryce, giving a whisper. ”I’m not sure why you deal with the other dude, is he mute? Special? You could have done this without his help. You’re obviously of higher rank than he is by the way you handle yourself and this matter.”

Brody watched Bryce tilt his head away from Haines mouth, disliking what had been said. And as he opened the backseat to the Honda and tossed Sunshine inside before slamming the door shut behind her, Haines stopped a ways from the car, watching Bryce sit down in the passenger seat.

“So, that makes you the driver.” He turned to Brody, passing him in silence, not wanting to give him the honor of talking to his face.

Brody ignored Haines’s halt and focused on the Honda. Just a few more steps and he’d be behind the wheel, revving that piece of shit away from this deserted location and onto the narrow road on which they had come. ”Deal’s done, transfer made,” he said and opened the car door only to snag his jacket on the corner allowing for the zipper to inch down on his chest. Before he realized the mistake, Bryce was out of the car and in a flash landed the probe from his Taser in Haines’s chest as Haines reached for something at his belt.

“Get the fuck in the car and get this piece of shit machine out of here!” Bryce yelled, erasing the fog that had clouded Brody’s mind. Nothing less but a race had to be completed through the forest to reach the road, and to pray for strength in the little but still alive vehicle.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Sunshine took in the world around her. She could have been in dead by now, or become a slave. Who knew the future could take so many different turns in such a short time. Instead, she was now breathing in the musty air from the fabric of an old Honda, alive. Once in a while she’d catch Brody’s eyes on her in the rearview mirror, in his own silent way making sure she was doing all right. Not crying, not sleeping, feeling alive. Bryce had given her a sweater in which she swam but kept warm, given her a sandwich from his bag, and a hot cup of coffee from his thermos.

“This thermos of yours must be a godsend, Bryce. I’m not sure how long this coffee has been in here but it’s practically burning my lips,” she hummed, delighted, into the steam touching her lips.

“Got an award at work for a lack of tardiness. Thermos was a sweet deal in that prize,” he answered, turning around in his seat rest to watch her as he spoke.

“What else was in the prize?”

“Six doughnuts from the bakery and a free haircut at Hayley’s. She did a good job.” Bryce ran his hand over his head, feeling the short dark strands underneath his fingers.”

“Yep,” Brody said, “she always does a good job.” Sunshine looked in the rearview mirror and sure enough, Brody was staring right at her.

She looked out the window, watching fields of dead grass and brown soil fill the view. Anything was better than having a silent conversation with Brody about what he might or might not know about her and Hayley.

“Almost back at the gas station at the border where we left the cruiser. I’d be surprised to see it still there, left untouched.”

Yet, there it stood, parked next to the red cabin serving as the last outpost before crossing the border into deep forest and new land. Not that she didn’t like international travel, only the way in which this would have been done. Sunshine shrugged her shoulders and stepped out of the Honda as Brody parked it a few spots away from the cruiser. She watched as Brody bent down on his knees and felt underneath the car and around the wheels. She noticed Bryce didn’t feel the need to question Brody’s behavior; instead he stood at the passenger side, hands in his pockets away from the cold, his duffle bag on the ground waiting next to his feet. Waiting.

“Did you misplace your keys?” She felt the need to ask. She would have thought the three of them would already be inside of the car, wishing the border farewell, ready to head back home to Gass County and dear Primrose Valley at lightning speed.

Brody fished out the keys to the cruiser and motioned for them all to make themselves comfortable inside the car, then turned to face Sunshine in the backseat. “Checked for bombs. Don’t want us blown up, that’s all.” Sunshine swallowed hard and gripped the seat belt at her chest.

They rolled out of the parking lot only to feel a thud on the back window.

“Out!” a muffled voice yelled from outside, making everything inside Sunshine turn into ice. Haines. As another thud came, hard enough to break the glass, Sunshine scrambled to the opposite side of the backseat, feeling Brody pushing down the gas pedal as the wheels skidded against the cement. The car ran at high speed across the gas station parking lot and gave two of the border patrol officers at the otherwise calm border crossing a reason to step out of their small huts. Sunshine noted them motioning for someone behind them, should their cruiser breach the yellow line in the road, setting the two countries apart. Instead Brody maneuvered sharply, taking them alongside the line. Sunshine watched the two men and grabbed Bryce by the shoulder.

“It will be okay,” he assured from the passenger seat.

Brody pushed the breaks on the cruiser once more and stared ahead. Haines was standing in front of them, slamming one fist on the hood of the car, and with the other aiming a handgun at the three of them. Sunshine knew it wouldn’t be a problem for the bullet to penetrate the glass and instantly kill, and Brody seemed to have shared the thought as he revved the car in reverse and several feet away opened the car door and jumped out, rifle loaded aiming back at Haines. An alarm sounded from a distance, giving Sunshine a clue border patrol needed this to end, giving the stand-off a warning. A shot was fired and Sunshine ducked behind Bryce, realizing she’d used him as a shield. She crouched down further, attempting to make herself invisible behind the seat, until a tap on her shoulder made her insides jump and she screamed, trying to swat the hand away.

“Look,” Bryce whispered from above, still safely in his seat. He pointed out the window and her sight followed. Outside Brody took a step back, then in a quick jog returned to the driver’s seat and backed the vehicle away from the tumult coming from not only the border but what played out in front of them. “It’s safe,” Brody said, turning to look at her still crouching on the floor. “Surreal, but safe. For us, anyway.”

“What?” Sunshine’s whispered, crawling back onto the seat.

Bryce coughed and turned his head. “Funny how things come around. Karma, really. Haines pulled the trigger, a second away from shooting Brody, but went down on the ground, knees and all. He was stabbed from behind, by no one other than his dear old friend.”

Sunshine shook her head. “Who?”

“James Hemmerson, calm and alive with a scarily steady hand. Haines fell to ground like sack of Russet potatoes.”

Chapter Thirty

Another day, another hospital corridor. It seemed to have become a habit, something he wasn’t sure he liked one bit. His eyes had grown accustomed to the walls, the numbers decorating each and every white door. And somehow he seemed to know each room number by the person who’d once occupied it. The thought sent a flame of heat through his stomach and he turned to find a trash can strong enough to hold his body weight as he bent over and emptied his stomach into the black lining inside the metal can.

“Are you all right, Officer Jensen?” a small voice asked from behind him. He turned quickly, his elbow barely grazing the girl’s forehead.

“Here, take this. I didn’t blow my nose in it or anything, but what you did in there was nasty, Officer.” The young girl giggled and handed him a tissue from a box, a blue giraffe against her chest in her other hand. “Don’t worry,” she said, looking down at her bare feet, toenails painted in greens and yellows, sticking out from below a pale hospital gown. “I’m not sick, use the tissue. You still look pretty bad, yucky to be honest.” She giggled again, her little body twirling from left to right, eyeing his use of her gift in great detail.

“Thanks,” Brody nodded and folded the tissue paper in half to wipe his mouth. “Since you already seem to know my name, I feel inclined to ask for yours.”

“I’m Melody,” the girl answered and held her blue giraffe up to his face. “And this is John-John, he sleeps with me every time I go to the hospital. But soon I will go back home. My mommy says things look better and I don’t need this anymore.” The girl pulled down the top of the collar, revealing a small tube exiting her body.

“Is mommy or daddy here?” Brody asked, motioning for the girl to walk with him down the corridor, looking for anyone in charge of the little person.

“Did you like the tissue?” She stopped and looked up at him. “Do you need another one?”

“Thanks, I’m good for now. I’ll make sure to search for you should I need another one.”

“Okay,” she answered and held the blue giraffe up to his hand, eyes begging him to take it. “You can hold one of John-John’s feet if you feel lonely.”

“Um, sure.” Brody grabbed the blue plush of the giraffe’s dangly legs and held pace with the girl as she walked with small steps at his side.

“My mommy is going to have a baby soon, and that means I am going to be a big sister. How many kids do you have?”

Brody swallowed and used a side of the tissue paper to wipe the corner of his mouth. “Um, I don’t have any.”

“What do you mean?” The girl stopped, John-John’s leg pulling him to a halt. “You’re old, you should have kids by now.”

“You sound more like fifty than . . . how old are you, really?”

“Five. I’m five.” She let go of the giraffe and held her hand up to his face and smiled. “I’m big, but not that big!” She laughed and forgot about both him and John-John as she skipped down the hallway, her bare feet bouncing happily down the cold floor until she reached the end and turned to him.

“You forgot your giraffe!” Brody held the blue furball in the air.

“You can have him,” the girl called back and waved. “He helps people be happy. Now he’s yours!” With a wave she skipped around the corner, the pale fabric of her gown the last thing etched to his retina. The hallway was once more deserted.

He tucked the giraffe to his chest and looked around, seeing no one to take care of the little girl, then shook of the chill of feeling he’d been cast in Stephen King’s
The Shining
. A hand grabbed his shoulder and made him clutch John-John to his chest in desperation.

“What’s up with you, not trying to kill you here.” Melanie Orchard grabbed his shoulder and swung him around to meet his face. “A giraffe? You? Are you all right, Brody”

“Fine . . . just—”

“Just looking for Sunshine?”

“Right.”

“Gone.”

“What?” Brody squeezed the soft animal closer.

“To Hayley’s, Brody. Get yourself together.” Melanie stepped around him and walked down the same corridor the little girl had just taken. “I’m off, Brody,” she called over her shoulder and zipped up her black leather jacket, Nebraska Bandits decorating its back.

Brody sat back in his car faster than he registered it himself. He only had one destination in mind, Hayley’s.

*              *              *

Hayley’s house was taken straight from
Home and Garden
’s summer collection of fabrics and hues. Every square foot of her modest house was placed in perfection and each item purchased with love. Lace and white linen coated the chairs around the white kitchen table, each bed as soft and fluffy as the next.

Sunshine sauntered around the rooms in the quiet house, and, wrapped in one of Hayley’s soft robes, she enjoyed a cup of warm coffee. She could be happy living here, she thought, and suddenly remembered their encounter at the salon. She felt a blush develop on her cheeks and with a big gulp of coffee she commanded her thoughts elsewhere, like the doorbell.

“Oh, hi. Come in, please.”

She watched Brody take off his hat and tuck it under his arm as he entered the short hallway leading into the living room.

“Just wanted to come and check on you, see how you are doing.” She watched as Brody took in the neat space around him. Looking everywhere but at her.