Say You Need Me (25 page)

She didn’t have time to notice anything else, because she was suddenly flattened to the ground. A scream tore from her throat at the same time she heard what sounded like firecrackers.

Gunshots!
she realized in horror at the same moment she realized it was Darrell’s body flattening her to the warm pavement.

“Don’t move!” he yelled.

The SUV rounded the parking lot’s corner and sped off in the direction from which it had come.

“Son of a bitch!” Darrell stood and scooped Serena into his arms. “You okay?”

“Darrell, what happened?”

“Come on. Let’s get back inside.”

Darrell slipped his arms around Serena’s waist, holding her tight, and Serena clung to him, barely able to think past her fear as he hurried her back to her apartment.

Darrell’s heart pumped from adrenaline. The moment he’d seen the Ford Explorer speeding down the parking lot and realized someone was about to shoot, he hadn’t been sure he’d make it to Serena in time. Never in his life had he been so scared. If Serena had been shot before his eyes…

Even now, he felt a degree of helplessness. And a degree of guilt. He knew he’d sent Serena running. If she’d been hurt, it would have been his fault. If not directly, then indirectly. Cecil was his brother, after all. Because of him, Serena’s life was in jeopardy.

Darrell helped Serena to the sofa, but she didn’t let him go even as he tried to ease her down. Surprisingly, Darrell
felt his heart lift a little. He liked that she trusted him, and that he was able to give her comfort.

Still holding each other, they sat. “We have to get out of here.” Slowly, he released her, and she looked up at him. Her eyes were wide with fear, but at least her breathing had calmed. “Grab your purse and let’s go.”

Serena scrambled to the bedroom, then returned moments later with her purse. Darrell dug the keys to the Viper out of his pocket.

“Can you go to your sister’s place?”

“Darrell, I don’t want to leave you.”

“You’ll be better off without me. They obviously mean business, and if you’re with me, you’re in trouble. Do what we did before. Drive around for a while to make sure no one’s following you, then head to your sister’s.”

“Darrell—”

“No arguments. I’m not going to risk you getting hurt.”

Serena whimpered. She didn’t want to leave Darrell. She didn’t care what the danger was; she’d feel safer with him. Already, he’d saved her from harm.

Darrell flung open the door.

And stopped in his tracks.

“Going somewhere, Cecil?” a man asked, a smug smile on his face as he leveled a gun straight at Darrell’s heart.

Serena’s blood ran cold as she looked at the muscle
man holding the gun and the attractive woman who stood by his side. She shot a quick glance at Darrell, and he met her eyes. Silently, she told him to tell them that he wasn’t Cecil.

The man forced his way inside, followed by the woman. Darrell and Serena had no choice but to step backward, but Darrell stepped in front of Serena, shielding her body.

“There’s no need for—” Darrell began.

“Shut up and sit down,” the man instructed, gesturing Darrell toward the living room.

Realizing he had no other choice but to comply, Darrell led Serena to the living room. He urged Serena down first, then stood before her. But when he saw the lethal look on the man’s face, he sat.

Folding her arms over her chest, the woman smugly
strutted toward Darrell. She glanced down at him and sneered, then before Darrell saw it coming, she slapped him across the face.

Serena flinched when Darrell did.

“I’ve been waiting to do that for a long time, you no good son of a bitch,” the woman said.

Serena’s eyes flew to Darrell’s. She saw pain flicker in his eyes; she felt it in her heart.

Serena’s gaze went back to the woman. And suddenly, she recognized her. The woman from the restaurant bathroom that day she’d been at Monty’s with Darrell!

“Yeah, it’s me,” the woman said, smirking as she read Serena’s expression.

“He’s not Cecil,” Serena told her.

“Yeah right, honey. And I’m the Queen of Canada.”

“Canada doesn’t have a queen,” Serena pointed out.

“Shut up,” she retorted. Her eyes flitted to Darrell once again. “My point is, I’d know the louse who screwed me over anywhere.”

“Darrell.” Serena gave him an urgent look, imploring him to tell this psychotic duo the truth. Why, even now, should he protect his brother? This was a matter of life and death!

Darrell replied with a quick shake of the head. A little sob escaped Serena’s throat, and what Darrell saw next touched his heart in a way he hadn’t imagined possible. Tears filled Serena’s eyes. Tears for him.

He looked away because her tears were too much, meeting the stares of first the woman, then the man. “Maybe we can work something out,” he said to them.

Serena wiped at a tear that trickled down her cheek.
“Why are you doing this?” But she knew. He was trying to protect Cecil, the way she would try to protect her sister in a similar situation. Right then and there, she knew for certain she was in love with him, and Lord help her if this goon did the unthinkable right in her place.

“You’ve been promising to work things out for over three weeks now,” the man said, stepping forward. He grimaced at Darrell, then looked at his accomplice. “What did you ever see in this pretty boy, Jan?”

“Don’t start,” Jan said.

“No, I really want to know. I thought you liked your men with a little beef on them—”

“Rex.” Jan threw her hands in the air in frustration. “We’ve already discussed this.”

Rex continued. “And he looks like he’d be lousy in bed.”

Jan exclaimed, “Rex!” at the same time Serena raised a challenging eyebrow in his direction. She almost blurted out that Darrell was a magnificent lover, but stopped herself.

Besides, Jan’s memories were of Cecil.

“Yeah,” Rex said, turning his scowl on Darrell. “That doesn’t matter. You made a mistake, and I forgive you for that,” he added with difficulty. “You, on the other hand.” He directed the gun squarely at Darrell’s head. “The sooner you’re out of the way, the quicker I’ll be able to put my wife’s
indiscretion
behind me for good.”

“So you don’t care about the jewelry,” Darrell said. “You just want to get rid of me.”

Rex’s grin was pure evil. “Now you’re getting the picture.”

“Rex,” Jan protested. “You said—”

“Yeah, well, now that I know what he looks like, I’ll be haunted by images of you two rolling around together—unless I wipe his ass off the planet.”

Slowly, Darrell rose to his feet. He wasn’t about to take this threat to his life sitting down. He was a good half-foot taller than Rex, even if Rex was heavier. “If you’re so tough, why not put the gun down? Deal with me man to man.”

“Rex, we came to get the jewelry.”

“Man to man?” Rex asked, ignoring Jan.

“That’s right,” Darrell said. “Put the gun down.”

Rex looked like he was contemplating just that when the front door flew open. All eyes went in that direction.

“Holy mother of Jesus!” Jan cried out.

Rex’s gaze darted between Darrell and Cecil, clearly confused. Darrell’s eyes filled with relief at the sight of his brother.

“What the fuck?” Rex asked.

While Cecil stepped into the apartment and closed the door, Darrell saw his opportunity and seized it. With Rex’s eyes on Cecil, Darrell lunged forward. He hit Rex’s thick frame of muscle with an
oomph!
Rex was too big for Darrell to do much damage, but because he caught him off guard, he startled him and Rex stumbled backward. Rex’s foot hit the coffee table, and he completely lost his balance. He loosened his hold on the gun as he tried to break his fall.

The gun went flying.

Her heart pounding, Serena jumped to her feet and dove for the gun. Now on her stomach, she scrambled the few inches to grasp the gun in both hands. The semi-automatic secured in her palms, she did a quick roll over onto her back, positioning herself on her butt as she straightened the gun. She’d never held one before, and it
was heavy and awkward, but she had to be strong so as not to lose control of things.

She finally analyzed the situation. Cecil had Jan by the arms, and Darrell sat on Rex. Jan whimpered, realizing the tables had been turned. Surprisingly, Rex didn’t move.

“Not so tough without your gun, huh?” Darrell asked.

“How can there be two of you?” Jan asked, as if the situation was completely incomprehensible.

“Twins,” Rex said, matter-of-factly.

“Very good,” Cecil retorted. “Serena, bring me the gun.”

Her hands shaking slightly, Serena rose to her feet and did as she’d been told. She handed the gun to Cecil, thankful to be rid of it. If push had come to shove, she would have tried to use it, but who knew if she could have hit a target, even if her life depended on it.

“Go call the police,” Cecil told her.

Serena hustled to the living room phone.

“Damn it, Rex,” Jan immediately began. “I told you this was a bad idea!”

“If you hadn’t fucked around on me—”

“Oh, for chrissakes. I am
not
going to explain myself again.”

Rex and Jan continued to bicker while Serena dialed 9-1-1.

Minutes later, the police screeched to a halt in front of Serena’s apartment. Serena, who stood alone outside, made her way toward them.

“Thank God!” she said.

Two officers jumped out of the first cruiser, and two jumped out of the second. The closest one to her, the tall male blond, said, “You the one who called?”

“Yes. There’s a man and woman in my apartment. They broke in and pulled a gun. The man’s really big. Looks like a fridge. And…” Just as she was about to mention Cecil, she paused—and thought of Darrell. Suddenly, she decided not to mention Cecil’s part in this.

“You know them?”

“No. I can only assume it was an attempted home invasion. My boyfriend managed to get the gun from him. He and his brother, they’re twins, are inside with them now.”

“All right,” the cop said. “Let’s go.”

Serena hurried with the cops back to her apartment. “Those two,” she said, pointing to Jan and Rex. “They’re the ones who broke into my apartment!”

“Hey,” Rex began in a placating tone. “This is all a misunderstanding.”

“You call breaking and entering a misunderstanding?” the cop who approached Rex asked.

“Things got a little out of hand,” Rex explained, “but nobody got hurt. There’s no need for anyone to get arrested.”

“Is that so?” The cop slapped a pair of cuffs on Rex.

“I told you this was a bad idea,” Jan snapped as another cop placed her in handcuffs. “God!”

“Fine,” Rex said angrily. “Point the finger at me. Are you gonna tell them about your son of a bitch boyfriend?”

“He’s
not
my boyfriend!”

“No, you just fu—”

“Okay, okay,” one cop said, tightening cuffs on Jan’s wrists. “Will you can the lovers’ quarrel long enough for me to read you your rights?”

“That punk over there slept with my wife!” Rex exclaimed.

“I can understand you being peeved, but that’s not a
crime, sir,” the cop informed him, then began reading the Miranda warning.

Both Jan and Rex said that they understood their rights as they’d been read to them—then promptly began bickering again.

“Tell them, Jan,” Rex said. “Tell them how you slept with that scrawny piece of shit, and how you let him have all the jewelry I gave you.”

“I didn’t
let
him have it. He took it! And how many women have you slept with while we’ve been married? Stop acting holier than thou, Rex. I’m sick of it!”

“God, I’m getting a headache,” one of the cops said.

“Why don’t you two shut up till we get your lawyers?”

“This all started because one of the Bobbsey twins over there stole a fortune of jewelry from me,” Jan said.

“Are you making any sense of this?” one of the cops asked another one.

“Naw.”

“If you’ll listen, I’ll explain,” Jan said.

The cop holding Rex’s arm led him to the door, saying, “How ’bout you both talk at the station? Cause this story sounds like one big mess and we’ll need an interpreter to piece it together.”

The cop holding Jan chuckled, then started with her out of the apartment.

“You won’t get away with this, Cecil,” Rex announced.

Serena walked behind the officers to the door. One of the other cops said to her, “You have any idea what those two are talking about?”

“None,” Serena lied. As she got to the foyer, she looked at Darrell and Cecil over her shoulder before stepping outside.

Darrell watched her go, knowing she was giving him
and Cecil time alone together, and he appreciated the gesture. He also wondered why she hadn’t turned Cecil in.

A smile lifted his lips at the thought that this was finally over, and relieved, Darrell turned to face his brother. Cecil stood a couple feet behind him, a huge grin on his face.

The two brothers flew into each other’s arms, embracing tightly. Hands slapped backs and laughter filled the air.

“Cecil.”

“Darrell.”

They pulled apart and regarded each other, still smiling.

Then Darrell punched Cecil in the gut.

Cecil doubled over in pain, and as he raised his head, he stared at Darrell in shock. “What the hell?”

“You almost got me killed, Cecil. You almost got Serena killed.”

“Hey, everyone got out of this okay,” Cecil retorted.

“
Not
because of you,” Darrell pointed out, glaring at his brother. “For God’s sake, what were you thinking? Stealing jewelry?”

Regret passed in Cecil’s eyes. “I know. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Eddie said it was foolproof.”

“A good idea? I can’t believe you. Your antics have gone too far this time, Cecil.”

“Yeah.” Cecil spoke softly. “I know. Eddie screwed me over—”

“Is that all you care about?”

“No, no,” Cecil quickly replied. “I’m just saying I know I messed up. Believe me, I know.”

“You
always
say you know you messed up. Yet you get yourself into more shit than the last time. I can’t…” Darrell’s voice trailed off as he groaned. “I can’t keep bailing
you out of trouble. You’re thirty-one. Do you know the stress you put Serena through?”

“I’m gonna make it up to her.”

“How?”

“Well, I didn’t hawk the necklace. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, not after everything she’d told me about it.”

Darrell gave his brother a stony look. “If you think that’s gonna earn you any points in my book—”

“I know.”

“Where’s the necklace?”

“I’ve got a van outside. A rental.”

Darrell nodded grimly. At least his brother still had it. That was one other plus in this whole messed up situation. “She could have turned your ass in right now. You know that.”

“Uh huh.”

“I’m not sure you do. That took a lot of restraint on her part, a quality you obviously don’t have. If you really want to make this up to her, you have to turn yourself in.”

Cecil’s eyes bulged.

“There’s a warrant out for your arrest. How long do you think it will take for Jan and Rex to calm down enough to explain that you stole from them? Then you’ll do what, go on the lam again?” Cecil’s expression said he hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Cece, it’s time you own up to your responsibility. Maybe if you turn yourself in, that’ll work in your favor. Gain you a few brownie points.”

“C’mon, bro. I’ve learned my lesson. Believe me. I’m gonna go straight. I mean it this time.”

“Bullshit.”

“Honestly.”

Darrell shook his head with chagrin. He’d heard this song and dance one too many times to get excited now. “I’d like to believe you, Cece. I really would. But let’s face it, the next good scam that comes your way, you’re gonna jump on it.”

“I won’t.”

“Even if you don’t, there’s a warrant out for your arrest. That isn’t going to go away. Do you honestly want to live the rest of your life looking over your shoulder?”

Cecil frowned, the reality of the situation seeming to dawn on him. “Naw…”

“I didn’t think so.” Darrell paused. “You know how you can prove to me that you’re gonna go straight?”

“How?”

“Turn yourself in.”

Cecil gritted his teeth. “Man, I don’t want to go to jail.”

“And I don’t want to worry about you while you’re on the run for the rest of your life.” Darrell paused, met his brother’s eyes with a level gaze. “Cecil, I love you. You have to know that. But I can’t stick by you if you continue on this criminal path. And I sure as hell don’t want to have to travel some place to identify your body because someone you pissed off put a bullet in your head.” Darrell’s voice wavered. “I don’t want to lose you, Cecil. You’re the only family I have left.”