Virgo's Vice (26 page)

Chapter 50

I know I’m in for the fight of my life. I try to remember the self-defense techniques Billy tried to teach me. I wish I had gone to classes. He’s coming for me. I stab at his eyes with forked fingers. Yes. I must have made contact because he jerks his head back and curses, and I feel wetness on my fingers.

“Bitch!” Trip yells.

I only got one eye. He keeps a hold of my arm. I twist my body and try to wrench myself free but he won’t let go. I kick at his shins and try to stomp on his feet. I can’t get to his balls. He’s too cunning for that.

Someone is screaming. Is it me?

Trip is getting the better of me. I can’t let him. I cannot allow him to win. I land on my back with a thud. It hurts and winds me a little, and before I can scramble out of the way, he lands with the bulk of his weight on top of me. He pushes my hands down onto the ground and leans over me.

I spit into his face.

It’s like slow motion. I see his arm go back, the fist bunch, and he punches my stomach. I can’t breathe. Everything starts to go black. I can’t let this happen. Have to fight and never give up.

What’s that sound?

Jake. Barking.

Don’t hurt him. Please don’t hurt Jake.

Trip grunts and flies off me.

I open my eyes and blink. I suck in a huge gulp of air and gasp. Billy.

“Trip has the knife. He’ll kill you, Billy. Oh, God no.”

Trip punches Billy in his face but Billy ducks and the punch only grazes his cheek.

He lifts the pole he is using as a crutch and strikes Trip.

Trip deflects the crutch with an arm across his face, and moves away. I can see his face, the murderous glower, and one closed eye. Oh God, he’s taking the knife out of his belt.

I have to get up. It hurts so bad but I struggle to my knees and use all my strength to stand up. I kick his leg out from behind him and bend forward and clutch my stomach where he hit me.

Jake bares his teeth and growls and leaps to snap at Trip’s face as he goes down on one knee.

Billy can’t move quickly, and Trip stands, lashes out at Jake and stands up again. He charges Billy and crashes into him with his head in Billy’s sternum. They both fall to the ground and Billy yells. Trip drags himself up and lifts the knife over his head.

Oh God, Trip’s going to kill Billy. I have to help him.

I rush at Trip and try to knock him over, but he’s wise to me this time and he grips hold of my shoulders and turns me to face Billy. He’s using me as a shield. He has the knife in his hand. He’s holding it under my chin. The cold steel is pressed against my throat.

I’m panting and struggling for breath. “I’ll kill her,” Trip says with an evil chuckle. “Go away or I swear I’ll kill Lexie. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

Billy drags himself up and stands a short distance away and stares, breathing hard, his face covered with mud and dust and bruises. Jake is baring his teeth and barking ferociously. Billy puts a restraining hand on his collar. My heart goes out to him. I know his knee can’t hold out for much longer. I have to help him.

A strong gust of wind blasts into me and heavy raindrops sting my face. A huge flash of lightning splits the sky. Thunder cracks so loudly it makes me jump. Jake leaps at Trip and knocks the knife from his hand. I try to wrench myself free, but Trip holds onto my arm with a painful grip.

Jake has hold of his jeans and is growling and snarling and is trying to bite through the fabric.

Another bright flash of lightning lights up the sky and the knife glints in the grass
. I don’t know if Billy can see it.

I chin-cock and open my eyes wide, and mouth the word “knife.” Trip can’t see my face. He is too busy fighting off Jake. He tries to punch him on his nose, but Jake leaps away and charges again, and I’m screaming at Trip and doing everything I can to get away from him. “Let me go, you fucking asshole!”

Billy lunges for the knife.

Trip tries to stop him, but Billy gets his hands on the knife, and lifts it. “Let her go.”

The wind whips my hair around and the rain sheets down. The thunder and lightning are getting closer.

“Go ahead,” Trip says. “You’ll get her before you get me.”

“You’d like that wouldn’t you? Just let her go, you sick fuck.”

Trip lunges for Billy, and to my horror, kicks Billy’s injured knee.

Billy screams, drops to the ground, and grips his knee.

Trip has the knife. He holds the blade at Billy’s throat.

“No!” I hear myself shout. “Please, no.”

Trip is going to kill Billy like he killed the others. I kick the knife out of his hand. He grabs my foot and drags me down and we grapple. He twists my arm back and I scream. The pain!

What’s that sound? I look up into the dark swirling sky. An airplane. The wind is buffeting it around and for a moment I’m afraid it will fall out of the sky. Its wing dips and in that instant, I know the pilot has seen us.

“Now you’re going down for all those murders,” Billy says, and lunges. Trip is wrenched away from me. Billy throws him to the ground and has him pinned down, with the knife at his throat.

“Kill him, Billy,” I yell. “Kill him.” I sob. “Don’t give him another chance.”

Billy raises the knife and I see death in his eyes. He holds it up there and I grind my teeth and my fingernails dig into my hands. Lightning flashes brightly and distracts him for a moment. Trip twists his body and rolls away. He leaps up. Thunder booms and echoes around the hills.

“You’ll never get me.” Trip stares after the airplane and moves away from us, breathing hard. The rain pours down his face. His clothes are sodden. “Now see what you’ve done,” he yells. “I’m not going to prison. Never. You could have come with me, Lexie. We could have made a new life in a new country. I’ll come back for you. I’ll never stop until I have you.”

He starts to run away.

Jake strains at his collar and I tighten my grip on it as I stand in the sheeting rain trying to get my breath back. I can’t think of anything except that Billy is alive.

A searing flash of lightning splits the sky and is immediately followed by a clap of thunder so loud I scream and close my eyes.

Jake breaks free and runs around, barking wildly.

When I open my eyes, flames are shooting out of a nearby tree. “Oh my God,” I shriek.

Something charred and black is lying on the ground near the tree. Acrid smoke is curling up from it. “What . . .?” I put my hand to my mouth.

The rain slows. The storm is moving away. Thunder rumbles in the distance.

“Help me up,” Billy says.

I hear the pain in his voice. His knee must have taken a terrible beating. I find the crutch, pick it up, and offer Billy my hand. My stomach still hurts. I must be caught in some terrible nightmare.

Billy slides the crutch under his arm and hobbles slowly toward the tree. I follow, afraid of what I might see.

Shoulder to shoulder, we stare down at what’s left of Trip. His skin is scorched black and still smoldering despite the light drizzle. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s dead.

We stand there in silence for a long time.

Chapter 51

The airplane doesn’t come back right away, but I know it will. We sit under a tree and wait.

The storm is drifting away.

Billy’s face is bruised and his hat is gone. He rakes his fingers through his hair. His face is so pale under the dark beard stubble and for the first time I see how thin he has gotten. He notices me staring at him and grins.

I can’t help smiling back, even though everything is so weird. It’s so surreal. Trip’s body is lying there so close to us, burned beyond recognition. He will never bother me again. I feel a strange sense of loss. I’ve seen a lot of death this past week, and it’s always a shock.

“What are you staring at?” Billy says.

“You.”

“Well don’t. It makes me nervous.”

“I’m looking at you and thinking even after everything you are still handsome, and you have that naughty glint in your eyes.”

“You’d better believe it,” he says. “Now will you marry me?”

I sit there, my wet hair hangs down limply and my sodden clothes cling to my body. I watch his grin widen and he shakes his head.

“Hello. Anyone home?”

“Billy, do you really want me after—”

“Stop. Stop right there. I don’t care what that asshole did. You’re you and I love you. I miss you when you’re away from me for even one minute.”

I smile and my heart fills with joy. “I love you too, Billy Murphy. I love you too, more than you could ever know, and yes, I will marry you.” I place my lips on his for a long, long kiss.

It was almost dark when the rescuers came. The storm had passed, and the pain in Billy’s knee had abated to a dull ache. He wondered if Trip had done some permanent damage to it.

The pilot told them his story about how he’d come to rescue them during the flight back to civilization.

Jake had settled on the floor beside Billy, his nose resting on his front legs.

It was late that night when they finally made it back to safety. Billy was happy when Lexie accompanied him to the hospital in a city called Harare. They held hands all the way in the ambulance ride. He wished she could have stayed with him during the surgery where they did what had to be done to his knee, but they told her to wait out in the waiting area.

He didn’t care about the pain. All he could think about was the fact that Lexie had agreed to marry him. She had said the three magic words, “I love you.”

Epilogue

I can’t believe this is my wedding day. I am Mrs. Billy Murphy. Everything is so surreal as I gaze upon all the people sitting around picnic tables in the barn at the Murphy family ranch.

The décor is perfect for me, with all the beautiful wildflowers and the perfume of fresh hay.

Billy slides his arm around my waist and guides me out of a side entrance. Once we are away from prying eyes he bends and kisses me. Long and deep. Eventually, I pull away. “We’d better get back before they miss us.”

“I guess you’re right. We are the stars of the show.” Billy takes my hand and we head over to the table in the corner closest to the band.

Stretch, dapper in his black pants and shirt with a white tie, stands up. “Let me kiss this beautiful bride.” He throws his arms around me and plants a kiss on my cheek before he turns to Billy and shakes his hand.

“That’s my wife over there.” He points to a tall woman in a green dress. “And that’s my son beside her.” A tear glistens in his eye. “Dockery was bankrupt and deeply in debt. He hadn’t even paid his insurance premiums, but I sold my, our story, to NBC and my son’s cancer treatment seems to have worked. He’s in remission now.”

Jared is beside him. They were able to save one of his feet, and you would never know he had one prosthetic. He introduces us to Judy, one of the therapists who had helped him learn to walk again. The way she gazes into his eyes, I am sure it won’t be long before we get an invitation to their wedding.

After hugging and kissing Rodriguez and his wife, and Maria and Lela, we sit at the table. A server places full champagne glasses in front of us, and tops up the other glasses.

A little boy with tousled blond hair rushes up to us. “Uncle Billy, Uncle Billy,” he says.

Billy leans down. “I’m here, buddy. What’s up?”

The child points. “Jake is over there with the other dog and they’re breaking his tuxedo.”

We all turn our attention to Jake, who is having a tug of war with our little girl dog, using his tux as the rope.

“It’s okay, buddy,” Billy says to the boy. “He’s done with it now. He just needed to look good in the church.”

We all watch the child as he trots off toward the dogs.

“So I went back last month,” Stretch said. “The families wanted to see where their loved ones were buried, you know. It was very emotional as you can imagine, but I didn’t mind. Mark’s wife and kids came with me. They decided to leave him there, right where we buried him, because it’s such a beautiful and peaceful place. I see them over there.” He points. “I spoke with them a little while ago and they seem to be doing okay considering. Andy’s mom also came. It turns out he had split with his wife, but there hadn’t been a divorce or anything yet. She didn’t want to come. Sam and Kelli’s families have asked for their loved ones’ remains to be sent home to them so they can bury them here in the U.S. and Eve’s family are taking her back to China.”

“I can’t believe Faith killed Andy and Kelli,” I say.

“Yeah. She’s in the nuthouse. I don’t think they’ll ever let her out. You could have lost your arm.” Jared stares at Maria.

“I know. I heard that she had been in a mental institution before. I don’t know if Andy or Kelli did something to upset her. I do remember she was quick to get into an argument with any one of us.” Maria rubs her arm. “I’m lucky we were rescued so soon after I got the injury.”

“That dude Trip, why did he kill Eve and Mark?” Jared smiles at his girl, who snuggles up against him.

“The footage on his camera showed an argument Mark had with Trip. He somehow found out Trip had taken the sat phone. That’s what he wanted to tell me that night, the night he died. Trip must have realized the camera was rolling at the time, and that’s why he took it. Only, he took the wrong one.” I wipe a tear from my eyes.

“And we figure Eve probably saw something. Maybe she saw him hiding the sat phone. She was pretty crafty. She probably told him she wouldn’t tell if he would do something for her to further her chances in the game.” Billy squeezes my hand and winks at me and my legs turn to jelly. He will always have a way of doing that to me.

“I can’t believe that phone was there all the time, and in working order in his backpack.” I shake my head. Billy kisses me on my cheek and I know what he’s thinking. I can’t hide my grin. He winks at me.

“How did it feel? To be back there?” I ask Stretch.

“It was weird. I thought I’d be distressed, but all that is gone. I saw a beautiful, lonely place, where I shared some good and bad experiences with some good friends, who will be my friends forever.

“I’ll drink to that,” Jared says, raising his glass.

“Friends forever,” we all say together.

I turn to Billy and whisper, “We’ll be lovers forever, too.”