He reached over to the passenger seat and put his hand on the address book. Everything he needed was right there.
After the graveside service ended and people began heading toward the hall or their cars, Alex took that opportunity to leave. He wanted to get out of there before he was spotted.
He’d enjoy the look of shock on her face when he caught up with her.
Chapter Fifteen
Despite desperately needing a break from Tyler’s incessant hovering around her when he wasn’t working, Nevvie wasn’t looking forward to this excursion with John. Not that she didn’t want to spend time with him, but she would have preferred a different activity.
John, on the other hand, thought it even more urgent than ever that she know how to shoot.
Peggy had politely declined their invitation to join them. Nevvie knew she was still struggling with Emily’s death, but had hoped she would go to get her mind off things for a while.
John checked in with the skeet club’s office, and they filled out forms to become members. When Nevvie went to pay, he stayed her hand.
“No you don’t. Put your wallet away.”
“But, Dad—”
“No buts, young lady.”
They looked at each other and burst out laughing. He hugged her. “Do you know how long I’ve wished I could say that to you?”
“All right, Dad. You win.”
They walked out to the skeet field with the range officer who would pull for them. They had the field to themselves. John took a few minutes to explain the procedure to Nevvie. “I’m going to shoot each station first so you can see how it’s done.”
“I’m probably not going to hit anything. You realize that, right?”
“You’d be surprised,” he said. “Don’t sell yourself short before you’ve even tried it.” To the range officer he said, “I’ll shoot full doubles, but can you pull on report for her?”
The man nodded. “Sure.”
“What’s that mean?” she asked.
“He won’t launch the second bird in the doubles until after you’ve fired at the first one. It’ll be easier for you.”
“Oh.” That still didn’t mean much to her.
She followed John and the range officer out to a small concrete pad on the far left side of the field, next to a small concrete block building. “That’s the high house,” John said. He and the range officer both donned their shooting muffs and safety glasses. Nevvie followed suit.
He broke the gun open and loaded one shell. “Load the bottom barrel when you’re shooting singles,” he told her. He closed the gun, mounted it to his shoulder, and took aim. “Pull!”
The range officer hit a button on a small remote control he carried that was tethered to a long cord.
Nevvie heard a whirring noise above them and realized a clay disk had been launched from the house they were standing against. Before the clay had reached the center of the field, John fired, shattering it.
He loaded another shell. “The next bird will come from the low house,” he said, pointing at another concrete building on the other end of the field. He aimed. “Pull!”
A clay disk shot out of the other building, coming toward them. Again, John fired before it crossed the center of the field, this time taking a chunk off the side of it, but not shattering it.
“Does that still count?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yep.” He loaded two shells. “This time I’m shooting doubles, so I loaded two shells.” He put the shotgun to his shoulder. “Pull!”
Nevvie heard birds launch out of both houses, flying toward each other in the field. He fired twice, taking one out and missing the second. She’d barely seen either one of them.
“That was great!”
“You want your option?” the range officer asked.
He shook his head. “No, not yet.”
“What’s that mean?” Nevvie asked.
“I missed one. You get one chance to make it up. It’s called the ‘option.’”
“Oh.”
He showed her how to stand and hold the gun. Then he stepped back. “Now load a shell in the bottom barrel.”
She carefully broke the gun open, pulled a shell out of the pocket of the shooting vest, and loaded it. Then she closed the gun and put it back to her shoulder.
“Take your time,” John said. “Get used to how it feels.”
“You want to see one first?” the range officer asked.
“Okay.”
“Take your finger off the trigger and don’t fire.”
When she did, he hit the button. She heard the mechanism in the high house launch a disk. It appeared above and in front of her, traveling away from her.
“Okay?” he asked.
She nodded and took a deep breath. “Pull!”
He did. It seemed like the bird flew twice as fast as it had when she watched it before, but she fired, flinching at the feel of the gun’s recoil into her shoulder.
And missed.
“That’s okay,” John said. “That was good. Try not to flinch next time.”
“You want your option?” the range officer asked.
“Might as well,” she said. “It’ll get used up regardless.”
She tried again and missed again.
By the time they’d worked their way around all the stations, she’d only hit four birds, which both men assured her was excellent considering she’d never even fired a shotgun before.
“You’re not flinching from the gun anymore,” John observed. “That’s good.”
She also felt more comfortable holding it, and confident in how to load it. “Can we shoot another round?”
“Absolutely.”
They shot a total of four rounds. Nevvie’s right shoulder hurt like hell by the time they finished, but she’d achieved a score of fourteen on the fourth round, which John told her was excellent for a newbie. The fact that he shot a twenty or higher on each round didn’t escape her notice.
“What’s a perfect round?” she asked.
“Twenty-five.” He put away their guns.
She thought about it. “Can we come back tomorrow?”
He grinned. “Addictive, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I don’t think I could ever hunt unless my kids were starving, but that was fun.” And it had been fun.
“And, even more important, now you’re comfortable shooting a shotgun. I have no doubts if you or the kids were in danger, you could safely shoot.”
“I still don’t think a shotgun is the most practical defensive weapon.”
“No. But until you let me talk you into a handgun, it’ll have to do.”
* * * *
When they returned to the house, they sat on the back porch, and he showed her how to clean the guns. While they were doing that, Kelly, Peggy, Andrew, and Laurie returned from their shopping trip.
Laurie ran up to them and kissed her dad. “Are we going skeet shooting?”
“We?” Nevvie asked.
“She shoots around a nineteen on average,” John said. “Sorry, honey. We already went. Want to go with us tomorrow?”
“Yes, duh. How’d you do?” she asked Nevvie.
Nevvie blushed. “I didn’t know you shot skeet.”
“Oh, yeah. Dad taught me last year. What’d you shoot?”
“Not as good as you, apparently.”
“Don’t tease your sister,” John playfully scolded Laurie. Then he grinned at Nevvie. “That’s another one I’ve always wanted to say.”
* * * *
April Kinsey lived in an apartment, but she was rarely there and Alex saw no signs of his quarry. One time he took the risk of following her to work. Later, she went to some guy’s place where she spent the night. Trying to get information out of her would put him at too much risk. He’d try the other names first.
He watched Karen Kinsey’s apartment for two days. She had a boyfriend or fuck buddy or someone living with her, but he saw no signs of Nevaeh or the fag boys. Unfortunately, t
he apartment complex was too busy for him to try to break in. Someone would call the police in no time.
Cheryl also had a guy, but they lived together in a house. She was never home alone. And after watching her place for a couple of days, he had to admit it didn’t look like anyone else was there with them.
Katie had two teenaged boys, a tiny house, and a very large and loud German Shepherd. Looked like there was barely room in it for them to live, much less extra people. He wouldn’t bother trying. It wasn’t worth risking getting caught or raising that cunt’s suspicions that he was after her. He knew she was in the area. He would find her. If he couldn’t locate her after his next target, then he’d have to rethink things, maybe go after April or Katie, even. Threaten her kids to get the info.
But not yet. He had one more chance before resorting to that.
That left him with the last name on the list—Peggy.
He liked that her house was in a rural area, until he realized how rural. He’d have to hide the car somewhere and hike in. The road she lived on dead-ended less than a mile past her drive, so he didn’t have the excuse of just driving through to avoid suspicion.
He was parked at a shopping center on the main road, trying to decide what to do, when the back end of a car that had just passed him caught his eye.
He grinned. He knew a Florida license plate when he saw one. Just to be sure, he quickly started the car and pulled out into traffic. He only got close enough to be able to see the plate for sure, then turned off onto a side street.
He would have also sworn the woman in the passenger seat was Nevaeh.
Fuckin’ jackpot!
He headed back to the house he’d been using for the past several days, another foreclosure in a rather desolate area. After grabbing his stuff, he made his way back to the shopping center to wait. There were a lot of woods in the area. He’d walk in and see if he could catch her alone, or if he’d have to wait. But if he could get her…
He grinned. He’d take care of her and haul ass west.
Being able to take out her fag boys would be a bonus.
Chapter Sixteen
Nearly two weeks after Emily’s funeral, life returned to something akin to normal in Peggy’s house. The police were still no closer to catching whoever committed the atrocity, and DNA results hadn’t come back yet.
Although in the back of Nevvie’s mind she remained convinced Alex was involved, she tried to heed Detective Platt’s words that it was highly unlikely.
Andrew somehow managed to coax a smile from Peggy. They started taking long afternoon walks every day with Adam, Mikey, and Harley. Nevvie usually didn’t join them and even offered to take care of the boys for them, but they enjoyed having the kids along.
Laurie started school, and John and Kelly relented to Peggy’s request for them to stay there until they found a permanent home, instead of just renting an apartment somewhere on a temporary basis. With Clay, Danny, and Elle no longer there, they had plenty of room. Danny and Elle decided they would still sell their mom’s house and use the money to pay off student loans they owed.
Tom and John had both made trips back to Florida, John for dealing with the insurance paperwork, and Tom for work and arranging the logistics of their impending move. Kyle and Jacob’s apartment wasn’t livable, so Tom had them move in permanently. They would pay rent and utilities, as well as keep the place up, which solved one issue for Nevvie and her men. It meant they could keep the Tampa house. They would also have a place to stay if they needed one.
They closed on Ben Jones’ property, but wouldn’t take possession of it until several weeks after Karen’s wedding. And even then, they wouldn’t be living there. Tom had already started drawing up plans for the addition, including guest rooms and offices for him and Tyler on the first floor, a master suite for them on the second floor, and additional bathrooms for their growing family. They would also put in a pool and a screened lanai and remodel the kitchen.
Nevvie would miss seeing Pete and Eddie and their other friends all the time, but knowing that Alex was still out there somewhere, it meant she didn’t have to live her life looking over her shoulder all the time.
It also meant she could let her kids play in the backyard without worrying if he would show up and hurt them.
That afternoon, Tyler had actually called it quits early, emerging from his RV office before Andrew and Peggy set off on their walk.
“Why don’t you join us, Ty?” Peggy said. “You hardly get any exercise.”
“Yeah, Daddy,” Adam chimed in. “Come walk with us.”
“Oh, all right. Let me put on some shorts.”
Nevvie was amused when, a few minutes later, Tyler emerged in shorts and what looked to be one of Tom’s T-shirts. It hung down past his hips.
“You’re certainly going native.”
“What?”
She pointed at his outfit. “I’ve rarely seen you so…disheveled.”
He arched an eyebrow at her. “I believe it’s called casual.”
“Okay. Whatever.” When she went to put her arms around his waist, he intercepted her and draped them over his shoulders before giving her a kiss.
“We shall return soon, love.”
“You’d better. I’m cooking a pot roast tonight.” She watched the five of them head out the door and down the driveway.
With Laurie at school and John and Kelly out shopping, it would have been a good chance for fooling around with Tommy. Except that he’d returned from Florida the evening before and his leg was hurting him. He’d taken a pain pill that morning and had to lie down for a nap before lunch. Nevvie grabbed her Kindle, her iPod and earbuds, and a beach towel. She headed down to the pond to read for a while. Mommy time would be a precious rarity in the early days once the twins were born.
* * * *
Alex had watched the house for several days and knew the path through the woods to reach it by heart. At night, there were always a bunch of people around. In the afternoon, around the same time, the old woman and man took a walk with the two little brats. From the Florida license plates on some of the vehicles, he guessed they were probably Nevaeh’s brats.
He watched as the man and woman he didn’t know, who also drove a car with Florida plates, left a while ago.
By his best reckoning, that meant this was the best chance he’d have at the cunt for a while. She might have her fag boys there, but if he could get in and get out fast, even if he didn’t get them, at least he could get her.
No stupid fucking cunt makes a fool out of me.
* * * *
Nevvie tried for the better part of twenty minutes to get into her book, but couldn’t. The day had turned hot. Even with a breeze and sitting in the shade of a giant oak tree, she wasn’t comfortable. She felt unsettled. There was something weird going on with Tyler, and she wanted to find out what. Today wasn’t the first time he’d stopped her from hugging him. She wondered if his back was bothering him and he wasn’t saying anything.
Wouldn’t be the first time he’d toughed out symptoms.
She gathered her things and trekked back up to the house. She would be in dire need of a shopping trip herself before long. She didn’t have any of her old maternity clothes anymore, and what she had with her soon wouldn’t fit.
She found Tom awake and in the kitchen, rummaging around in the fridge for something. “What are you looking for?”
“Are we out of Coke?”
“There’s some in the shed.” She saw he was using his cane. “Want me to go get it for you?”
He kissed her. “Naw, baby girl. I’ll do it. I need to stretch my legs.”
“Okay.”
* * * *
Tyler paid little attention to the conversation as they walked. His mind was torn between plot snags in his latest work in progress, their plans for the new house, and wondering what he was going to say to Nevvie when she eventually got around to confronting him about why he was dodging some of her hugs.
The look
in her eye in the kitchen before they left told him that much.
Part of him felt silly for still continuing to carry a gun. Part of him, that same part that warned him so many years ago that Nevvie was in trouble, told him he’d better keep his eyes open. Alex was still on the loose, and law enforcement in Florida had other priorities in light of the vast destruction Edgar left behind.
He held no illusions that finding one absconded parolee wasn’t their highest priority. Nor could he blame them.
He wanted to believe with all his heart that Alex was reasonable enough to simply flee the state and return to whatever bottom-dwelling origins he emerged from in Louisiana.
That was what reasonable, rational people would think.
Unfortunately, the pesky little paranoid warning alarm in his mind refused to be rational. The fact that he was a writer who’d made a name and living for himself writing about crime and the darker side of human nature led his imagination to also believe he shouldn’t let his guard down yet.
They slowly made their way down the lane, toward the dirt road that led from the main road. Mikey held on to Mom’s and Dad’s hands the entire way. He would soon be sprinting along after his big brother. When they finally reached the road, they turned around.
“Back to the house?” Tyler asked.
“No, we usually walk down to the other end,” Peggy said.
“Can we stop by and look at the new house, Daddy?” Adam asked.
He didn’t really want to. He felt the sweat running down his back as it was, the holster and weight of the gun chafing the hollow of his back, but his son looked so hopeful. “If Grandma and Grandpa want to, I suppose we can.”
“I don’t see why not,” Andrew said. “Ben loves it when we stop by with the boys.”
Thanks a lot, Dad. Tyler forced a smile. “Right. Then let’s get moving, shall we?”
* * * *