South River Incident (33 page)

“Don’t talk like that.
You’re scaring me.”

“You need to be frightened
of Clayton Tyler and Larry Hudgins. They’re evil men who kill without remorse.
They might not actually do the killing, but they give the order.”

“Are you afraid of them?”

“Yes, I am. If they thought
for one minute that I was a plant, they’d put a bullet in my head.”

“What do you think our
chances are?”

“Not the best, because
we’re dealing with a couple of cold-blooded killers. But that won’t stop me. I
refuse to give up.”

I toweled off and dressed
in the clothes Larry Hudgins had insisted I wear, and much to my surprise, they
were the right size. The jeans fit me just the way I liked, but the picture of
a big, burly man with a potbelly blazing across the front of the black T-shirt,
was a little too much. Sadness and a feeling of remorse came over me as I stood
critiquing poor Rose’s clothes while she lay dead. I couldn’t help but think
that if I had followed up on her, she might still be alive. I could’ve helped
her get counseling or I could’ve done something.

As if to read my mind, Cole
whispered softly, “It’s not your fault, Jesse. Rose had been emotionally
crippled long before you came onto the scene. Her fate was sealed when her own
family tried to kill her. It was more than she could handle. Don’t blame
yourself.”

“How can I not blame
myself, Cole? If I had...”

“Stop it,” he demanded,
turning around to look at me. “It wasn’t your fault. Larry Hudgins is the one
to blame.” A moment passed between the two of us as I shivered. Cole put his
arm around me and patted my back. “For the life of me, I can’t figure out where
I went wrong with you. I thought for sure you were happy, and then the next
thing I know, you dump me for Billy. Where did I go wrong? How could you fall
out of love with me so quickly? I just don’t understand.”

I pulled away from him, and
backed up. I didn’t want to look into his eyes. I was afraid of what I might
say or do. The wound was still fresh.

He grabbed me around the
waist and pulled me within inches of his face. His lips came down hard on mine.
His hands caressed my body as he led me over to the bed. In one swift movement
he picked me up and then laid me on the bed. He was on top of me. His breath
was hot on my neck. He kissed me forcefully until finally I pushed him away.

“Stop, Cole,” I said. “I
don’t want to do this. Back off! This is not going to happen. What’s the matter
with you?”

“Why did you let me kiss
you?”

“I guess it was because I
was scared and needed to be comforted. I don’t know. But even if I wanted this
to happen, this is not the place.”

“Does that mean you want me
back when this is over?”

“You’re insane!”

“Then why don’t you deny
it?”

“I’m in love with Billy.
We’re getting married.”

“I don’t believe it. You
couldn’t have kissed me that way if you were in love with someone else. I could
feel your love. Don’t you feel it, too?”

“Cole, I’m scared of what’s
going to happen and I’m not thinking straight. Please get off me, and let me
up.” I pushed him, and then stood up. I straighten my T-shirt and jeans. “This
can’t happen again.” I was shaken by the touch of his lips and his body on
mine. The familiar feelings came rushing back. It sent a shock wave through my
body.  A moment of uncertainty flashed before me. I pulled myself together. I
loved Billy and would not lose him over a moment of weakness. I would deal with
my own fears. I did not need Cole to help me.

“It can happen if we want
it to,” Cole said as he rose from the bed. He stroked my face with the back of
his hand. “I still love you, Jesse.”

“Don’t say that,” I said,
pushing his hand away. “I’m in love with Billy.”

“I guess if you say that
enough, you’ll convince yourself of it.” He reached over and pulled me close to
him and kissed me again.

“I mean it, Cole,” I said,
breaking free of his embrace. “I’m sure that I love Billy. I’m just trying to
convince you.”

“We can have it all back if
you want. All you have to do is say the word. If it’s Billy you’re worried
about, I’ll break it to him.”

“I’m sure you would,” I
said, stepping back and giving him a queer look. “But I don’t think so... not
this time.” It was finally clear to me. Cole didn’t love me, he just thought
that he did. Perhaps all he wanted was to win one against Billy. His reasons or
feelings didn’t matter to me. My concern was for the love I had for Billy. Even
though I fell into Cole’s arms and forgot about Billy for a minute, when it was
over, I was still in love with Billy... not Cole. I had made a mistake. I never
should’ve let Cole put his lips on mine. I should’ve stepped back and said no.
But I didn’t and now I would have to deal with my own guilt. In the meantime, I
wanted Cole to know that it was a mistake. I didn’t love him... anymore.
“Billy’s the man for me. He’s everything that I’ve always wanted.”

Cole’s ego was deflated. He
knew he would not take me away from Billy. “Well, you can’t fault me for giving
it one more try.”

“I’m sorry, Cole, but I
think we weren’t meant to be.”

“To be honest, I was hoping
for a moment of weakness on your part. I knew that if I had that one moment, I
could win you back.”

“I don’t think you want me
back as much as you want to take me away from Billy. You hate the fact that he
stole me from you, don’t you?”

“You might be right. I
never thought of it like that. I can’t stand to be defeated by him. We’ve
always been in competition with each other. Of course, neither one of us would
ever admit to it.”

“Why don’t we forget this
ever happened and move on? We need to figure out what we’re going to do. We
need a plan.”

“Does that mean that you’re
not going to tell Billy about our little romp in the sack?”

“Stop it, Cole. You’re...
did you hear that?”

“It’s Chicky,” Cole
whispered. “He’s coming back. Don’t panic.”

Chicky opened the bedroom
door and walked in.

Cole grabbed me by the arm
and slung me down on the bed. He jumped on top of me, raised his hand back, and
then slapped me across the face.

“Don’t you dare talk back
to me. When I tell you to do something, you had better do it. Do I make myself
clear?”

“Yes,” I cried.

His slap took me by
surprise, but it didn’t hurt. He was doing this for Chicky’s sake.

It worked. Chicky turned
and walked out of the room.

C
ole and I devised a plan
.
I was to convince Chicky to let me have my last meal in the
kitchen while Cole stood by refuting my request, saying it would be a mistake.
Eventually, Cole would relent, and the two of us would turn the tides on
Chicky. The goal was to get downstairs and be closer to an exit when Billy was
brought in.

I sat at the kitchen
counter and pretended to be watching television as I ate a ham sandwich, and
checked out the room.

Chicky and Cole were in the
far corner with their heads together, laughing and telling jokes; one of them
oblivious to my surveillance.

“Where’s everybody?” I
turned my head, butting into their conversation. “I thought your boss had an
army of men. It looks to me like he left you two guys all by yourself.”

“I guess he figured we
could handle the situation,” Chicky chuckled. “Besides, you ain’t much of a
force to reckon with. I bet you don’t weigh more than a hundred pounds soaking
wet. I think we got it under control.” He took a deep breath and stuck out his
chest. “Why are you asking so many questions? Are you aiming to overtake us and
escape?”

“I was just wondering who
was manning the camera. I’m sure your boss has a camera to monitor us. Where
are all the guards?”

“We don’t need any help,”
Chicky retorted. “We’re big boys.”

Things were going as
planned. Cole was supposed to distract Chicky while I nonchalantly pumped him
for information. Fortunately, we both were accomplishing our missions.

Chicky’s ego had gotten the
best of him and he had spilled the beans. He bragged about the fact that Tyler
and Hudgins were on their way to pick up Billy, and he was left in charge. He
was running the show. He was the big man. He was the chief. “I guess that makes
me the boss,” he boasted.

We had our information and
it was time for action. We had to make our move if we were going to break free.
In one quick motion, Cole punched Chicky in the face with his fist, and knocked
him to the floor. I jumped up, grabbed a butcher knife from the rack, and stuck
it up against Chicky’s throat.

“You move, and you die,” I
promised.

Chicky wasn’t going
anywhere. He was out cold. Blood streamed down the sides of his mouth from his
nose, and his eyes were wide open in a dismal stare. I checked for a pulse.

“He’s dead, Cole,” I said,
backing away from the body. “What did you do to him?”

“Old special ops trick,” he
replied, not feeling the least bit sorry. “Come on and help me. We need to get
rid of the body.”

I was shocked by his
aloofness and obvious lack of remorse, but I obeyed his command without
hesitation. Together, we wrestled the body to the pantry, shoved it in a
corner, and closed the door.

A sharp pain slammed me in
the chest and then ran down my arm. I couldn’t catch my breath. I fell to the
floor, gasping.

“What’s the matter, Jesse?”

I clutched my chest and
said, “I can’t breath. I need a paper bag.” I gasp for breath. “I’m serious,
Cole. Find me a bag!”

I sat back and managed to
take in a few deep breaths while Cole tried to analyze the situation. He was
confused and looked as if he was going to lose his mind. He searched every
drawer in the kitchen until he finally came up with a grocery bag.

“You’ve got to be kidding?
You couldn’t do any better than this?”

By the time I got the bag,
I was starting to get my wind back. Instead of breathing into the bag, I put it
over my head. I sat there until I couldn’t stand it anymore. I broke out in
laughter as I pulled the bag from my head.

Cole had not moved. He had
been petrified at the sight of my strange behavior. He didn’t know what to
think when I laughed.

“Have you lost your mind?
You scared me half to death. I thought you were having a heart attack. Were you
jerking me around?”

“I was having an anxiety
attack,” I said. “It looks like a heart attack to other people. It usually
freaks them out.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I just need
to sit here for a minute and try to relax. A few deep breaths and I will be as
good as new. All I need is five minutes.”

“We’ve brought one bad guy
down and we have eight more to go,” Cole said, handing me Chicky’s gun.

“How do you figure that?”

“Well,” he said, counting
on his fingers, “You have Tyler, Hudgins, and six of
Tyler
’s men.
My guess is that’s all of them.”

“What if there’s more than
eight? What if you’re wrong?”

“It won’t matter much,
we’re outnumbered anyway. We’ll do what we can and hope for the best.”

“Oh, that’s a positive
attitude,” I hissed. “One minute you’re General Lee leading his men into battle,
and the next you’re Custer making his last stand. What gives?”

“Jesse, if this doesn’t
play out right, I want you to know that I truly did love you, and I still do.”
He reached over, grabbed me, and then kissed me. “Let’s go.”

I was still standing in the
same spot with a gun dangling from my hand and my mouth hanging open when Cole
walked out of the room. Touched by his last minute declaration of love, I was
at a loss for direction. I couldn’t seem to move.

“Come on, Jesse,” Cole
barked from the other room.

I took off running, caught
up with him, and clung to his side. “What do we do next?”

“We’re going to attack as
soon as they walk in the door,” he said, flicking off the living room light
switch.

“Why don’t we just call
someone for help?” I asked, finding my way in the dark to the telephone on the
table by the door. I picked up the receiver and was about to start punching in
911, when Cole snatched the phone from my hand.

“We can’t use this phone.
Hudgins knows every time it’s in use.”

“Don’t you have a cell
phone on you?”

“Jesse, I’m undercover. I
don’t carry my cell phone when I’m undercover. It’s hidden in my Jeep.”

“Let’s go get it!”

“It’s too dangerous. What
happens if they pull up the minute we walk out the door?”

“What happens if we just
sit here and do nothing?” I was beginning to question Cole’s involvement in
this whole incident. Was this just another one of
Tyler
’s games
and Cole really was a part of it or was my imagination running wild? Why was
Cole—a Greene County Deputy—working undercover? He wasn’t a detective. Why
didn’t he want to take the easiest way out? We could call for backup and just
wait. Was there not going to be any backup? I had to find out. “I’m going to
get the phone. You can stay here if you want.”

Cole grabbed me by the arm;
his grip firm. “You’re not going anywhere... without me.”

Relief overwhelmed me. My
fears and anxieties about Cole were squashed. He wasn’t the bad guy after all.

“Just remember one thing,
Jesse. If it comes to it, shoot first and ask questions later. Backup might not
get here in time.”

“For someone who is
undercover, your plan of operation seems a little flawed. Can’t you do any
better than this?”

“The truth is, I don’t have
a plan of operation. I didn’t have time. I got a call from
Tyler
and he
wanted me right then. So I had to go. I had no idea he was planning this until
the last minute. I was still trying to prove myself to him, when he told me
what was happening. I had to go along with it. Chicky and I were in the car
behind you and the girl when you wrecked. We were told to bring you here if the
girl failed.”

“Does that mean that nobody
knows where we are?”

“Sort of,” he replied. “I
was supposed to check in an hour ago. Someone will know there’s a problem. I’m
sorry, Jesse. I’m a deputy, not an undercover agent. I’m doing the best I can
under the circumstances.”

“I did wonder why you were
working undercover. I didn’t think that was something you would normally do.”

“It was because of my
relationship with you and Billy. The police are desperate. They will use
anybody to obtain their objective. They know
Tyler
’s always on the lookout
for a cop that he can bring into the fold. They figured
Tyler
would
think jealousy was a good enough motive to turn a good cop into a bad one. My
rivalry with Billy was living proof.”

“Don’t you mean the history
you two share with women?”

“I guess you could call it
that.”

“What have you learned
about the guy since you started working for him? Is he redeemable?”

”He’s one bad dude, Jesse.
The cops need to take him out of society. He kills for the fun of it. The only
life that means anything to him is his own. So you had your doubts about me,
huh?”

“Maybe a little,” I turned
on the charm, hoping he would forgive me.

Our words were silenced by
the headlights of an automobile shinning through the living room windows.
Seconds later, another car pulled up beside the first one.

For a minute, Cole and I
panicked. We ran around in circles, bumping into each other before I finally
grabbed him by the sleeve, taking control of the situation.

“Listen, you stick to your
day job, and let me handle this one,” I said. I realized that Cole had been
thrown into a position he was not familiar with, and was having a hard time
getting it together. His job had always been one of break the door down, kick
some butt, and make the arrest. He wasn’t used to lying his way out of trouble.
I, on the other hand, had many months of sneaking around, following people, and
slipping away undetected under my belt. Sneaky was my middle name or it would
have been if I had one.

“We’ll slide out the back
door, come up behind them, and let the element of surprise work for us.”

“Sounds like a winner to
me.” Cole grabbed my hand and we took off running to the kitchen, my heart
shipping a beat with every step.

In my hurry to flee, I
committed the ultimate act of clumsiness. I bumped into the doorjamb with my
shoulder, and knocked Chicky’s gun from my hand. The two seconds it took to
bend down and retrieve it, were two seconds too long. Timing was everything.

The front door opened, and
Tyler and his men walked in. Someone turned on the living room lights. It was
at that precise moment that
Tyler
realized he had been double-crossed by Cole.

Cole and I were still
standing in the doorway to the kitchen when I saw the flicker of flame from the
barrel burst forth. I felt the whiz of the bullet brush past my ear before it
struck the wood, sending splinters through the air. Everything went crazy. A
hail of bullets, voices screaming, and flashing blue lights ensued, as I
tumbled to the floor from the grip of Cole’s hand dragging me down. I looked
over and stared into the lifeless face of the man I had once loved. Cole was
dead from a single shot to the head. At that moment, I lost yet another piece
of me.

I was crying hysterically
when the officer in blue walked over and pulled me away from Cole. “Come with
me, Miss,” he said. “We need to get you out of here.”

Paramedics rushed past us,
as I held onto the officer who was leading me away from the horrible clutches
of death that had seized my beloved Cole. But I knew their effort was in vain.
Cole was dead, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Nobody could
save him. I knew I would never be the same. I was lost in grief... until I saw
Billy.

My whole life changed in an
instant. I knew if Billy had died, somebody would have to take me out back and
shoot me, because I would never recover from the loss. I couldn’t live without
him. I broke away from the officer and ran to Billy’s side.

“Are you going to make it?”
I cried, brushing his long hair back out of his face. “You look bad.”

“Yeah, well, I feel like
it,” he said as his hand touched my face. “You don’t look too good yourself.
Where’s Cole?”

“I’m afraid he’s been shot.
He’s ...” I started to say, but was interrupted by the shout of one of the
paramedics.

“We’ve got a pulse.”

I jumped up and ran to them
as they carried Cole out on a stretcher. “Is he going to make it?” I cried.

“He’s still alive, ma’am,”
one of the men answered. “That’s all I can tell you now. We’ll know more as
soon as we get him to the hospital.”

“Thank God.” I put my hands
together in prayer. “Thank you, Lord.”

I turned my attention back
to Billy and to the scene within the room. Cops were everywhere. Clayton Tyler
was slumped over, handcuffed to the banister of the stairway while three of his
men lay dead in a pool of blood on the floor. His other cronies were down on
their knees cuffed to each other. Larry Hudgins was nowhere in sight.

Weak, but not totally out
of it, Billy stepped up to my side.

“How many times have I told
you not to pick up strangers? Am I going to have to keep you locked up in the
house all the time?”