“But Travis, we’d already seen the body being dumped, and now we just witnessed the murder! We have to tell somebody. And we have to let them know Mr. Walters didn’t do it! He’s innocent and he doesn’t deserve to go to jail!” Autumn wailed.
“He deserves whatever he gets. I don’t want to hear another word about it!” Travis yelled and stormed out of the room.
Autumn reached into her purse and pulled out a flash drive. She plugged it into the computer and downloaded a copy of the video. She had to get it to someone. I know, Autumn thought. I’ll take it to Mr. Walters’ girlfriend. She’ll know what to do.
Autumn had wracked her brain, trying to figure out how she could get to Nikki. Travis kept tabs on Tony Walters and his girlfriend; while he was at work at the office supply store, she went through his notes. On the newest page of notes, he’d written that the girlfriend worked at the construction office now, but had gone back to her old job at the florist shop on the weekends. She didn’t know what their weekend hours were, but she decided eleven in the morning would be a pretty safe bet.
She thought for a few minutes, then decided she’d call to make sure. She dialed the number and waited, then heard a woman’s voice say, “Good morning! The Passionate Pansy. How can I help you?”
“Hi. Is Nikki there?” Autumn was trying to figure out what she was going to say if Nikki was there and especially if she was the one answering the phone.
“No, I’m sorry. She only works on Saturdays. Can I help you with something?” the woman asked.
“Oh, no thanks. She called me about something she wanted to buy from me, so I’ll call her back another time. Thank you.” Autumn hung up – fast. Whew, that was scary, she thought. So Saturday it is. Now I’ve got to work up some courage.
“Hi Dad!” Clayton turned to Nikki, smiled, and said, “This is pretty cool!” Turning to look back at the computer screen, he told Tony, “I wanted to show you this order, Dad. Something looks wrong, but I’m not sure what it is. Can you look at it for me?”
“Sure. Send it over and I’ll see what’s up with it. In the meantime, can you check with the site supervisor over at the university site, see why they haven’t gotten the framing done for those front windows for the library building? That should’ve been done several days ago.”
“Okay.” Clayton was beaming. “I’m really glad you’re back, well, sort of back. You know what I mean,” he laughed.
“I’m glad to be back too. Thanks for all your hard work, son. You did a really good job while I was gone. You do a really good job all the time. It’s going to pay off pretty soon.”
“What do you mean by that?” Clayton asked, one eyebrow cocked in question.
“Oh, nothing. So I’ll see you guys this weekend? Bring Stringer and Ella Jane over? Please?” he whined.
Clayton grinned. “Yes, I’ll bring your little playmate over, Dad. He’s driving us crazy wanting to see you too.”
“Ah, that’s my boy!” Tony crowed like a proud grandpa. “How’s the adoption thing going?”
“Going. I think it’s going to go through soon. Plus they’re working on getting Ella Jane’s mom to sign over parental rights. And since she’s the only living relative who has any contact, if she’ll do that, we can go straight to adoption.”
“Clayton, I want you to know,” Tony said, his eyes reddening, “that you’re turning out to be a great dad. I’m really proud of you.”
“Thanks, but it helps that I had the absolute best teacher in the world.” Clayton was getting a little misty-eyed himself. “I just love them the way you’ve always loved us. That way, I can’t go wrong,”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Thank god she decided to close this place next Friday. I don’t think I could work next Saturday – this has just been too much, Nikki thought. When she’d promised to help Marla out, Tony hadn’t been home and she was looking for something, anything, to help her get through the weekend. Now he was back and she was busier than ever. This was just one more drain on her mental and physical resources.
She got out the cash box and turned on the OPEN sign, hoping it would be a slow morning. Through the front window she could see the familiar sedan across the street; looked like it was Laura this morning. If she waved, Laura probably wouldn’t wave back. Even though Nikki felt she’d made some progress, the pretty brunette still had the personality of a twice-dead zombie.
Nikki took several phone orders for poinsettias and miniature Christmas trees, and one order for a dozen red roses for someone whose birthday was, bless their heart, on Christmas Eve. After watering everything, she swept up some dropped leaves and cleaned the customer restroom. Then she went to the workroom and cleaned out the refrigerator. A lady came in to see if they had any paper-white narcissus, but they were completely out. Oh, god, this morning is going so slow, Nikki thought. She was still so tired; maybe she could take a nap in the afternoon while Tony watched a game on TV. As she dusted she daydreamed, thinking about lying on the sofa with her head in his lap as he twisted his fingers into her hair while he watched the game.
At five after eleven, a young woman walked by the glass, looked in, and went on past. In a few seconds, she came back and walked in. Nikki greeted her with, “Good morning! Can I help you with anything?”
“Um, I hope so. Could I borrow your phone? My car won’t start. My phone’s battery ran down and I need to call my brother to pick me up,” the young woman explained.
“Sure!” Nikki handed her the shop’s cordless phone, but she shook her head.
“Oh, he has a cell with a long-distance number. I wouldn’t want to do that. Do you have a cell phone?”
“Well, yeah.” Nikki fished her phone out of her purse. She never let anyone use her phone, but this girl looked scared. “Here you go.” She handed over her phone.
Nikki watched as the girl dialed a number, then waited and hit END. “Straight to voicemail, and his inbox is full. I can’t even leave him a message. Oh, well,” the girl sighed, “guess I’ll start walking.”
“Can I call you a cab?” Nikki asked.
“No, thanks, I’ll be fine. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Hope your day gets better, hon.”
The girl had only been gone a few minutes when Nikki’s phone rang. She looked at the screen; an unfamiliar number. Must be the brother calling back, she thought, expecting to tell the stranger what his sister had wanted. Instead, before she could say “hello,” a woman’s voice said, “Nikki?” Nikki recognized the voice – it was the girl who’d been in the shop just minutes before. How did she know Nikki’s name?
“Yes, this is Nikki?” What was going on? The girl had said her phone was dead, but apparently she’d called it from Nikki’s phone to get Nikki’s number.
“I have something to prove Mr. Walters is innocent. I’d like to give it to you, but I’m scared to do it there; too much glass and too much of a chance of somebody walking in. You’ll have to meet me somewhere. Please, god, don’t bring anybody with you.”
The room seemed to tilt as Nikki tried to think. “You tell me where and when and I’ll meet you.” She knew it was crazy and dangerous, but she had to try. What if the girl had something that really would help? That was a chance Nikki couldn’t pass up.
“Now. I’ll text you the address. But you have to come alone.”
“I will – I promise. I’ll leave now. Text the address to me and I’ll be right there.”
“Okay. I just want to help, you know?”
“Yes, I understand, hon. I’m on my way,” she assured the girl, already pulling the cash drawer.
Nikki hit END, then stopped for a minute. Laura was sitting in the car across the street, but she couldn’t know what was going on. Nikki locked the door but didn’t turn off the OPEN sign. She grabbed her purse and dashed out the back door as the text notification on her phone chimed with the address. Looking at the location, she knew by the general area it would take about twenty minutes to get there; hopefully, La
ura wouldn’t notice she was gone until she was already there.
She programmed the address into her navigation system and took off. The Yukon was parked far enough down the block that Laura hadn’t noticed her leaving, and Nikki took a deep breath. What she was doing was risky, but it had to be done. If there was a chance someone had something to help Tony, she had to find out.
The longer she drove, the seedier the area looked, until she was genuinely frightened. An abandoned café was at the address the girl had given her, and Nikki circled around to park on the opposite side of the street. The entire block looked dilapidated and grimy, full of nothing but empty industrial-type buildings, and the windows on the old café building were so dirty that she couldn’t see inside. But when she tried the door, she found it unlocked, and she opened it as quietly as possible and slipped inside.
“Hello?” Nikki called out in little more than a whisper.
“In here,” the girl’s now-familiar voice called back.
Nikki walked through the front of what had apparently been the dining area, past several banks of tables, and found the girl sitting in a more private area to the rear of the counter where the cash register had been. “You got here really quick,” the girl said, motioning Nikki toward the chair opposite her. Nikki sat down at the table and pulled herself up, only to stick her hand in some gum under the table’s edge; even though it was probably fifteen years old, it was still sticky, and Nikki couldn’t help but think how gross people could be. The girl looked her over, then craned her neck to look out the dirty front window. “Anybody with you?”
“No. You said come alone, so I did,” Nikki assured her.
“Good. You’ll find everything you need to help your boyfriend on here. Travis said to not give this to you; he’ll kill me if he finds out I’ve given it to you. But I couldn’t stand to see Mr. Walters go to jail for something he didn’t do. I remember him, and he’s a very nice man.” From her jeans pocket she produced a small object she handed to Nikki, and Nikki looked at it in her palm – a flash drive. It was tiny, less than half the size of a regular pack of gum, and half as thick too. Nikki was struck by the marvel of technology, how something so small could keep Tony from spending the rest of his life in prison, or worse. Just as she started to slip it into her own pocket, a voice rang out from the hallway that came from the back of the building.
“Autumn, you bitch, what have you done?”
The girl’s face blanched and Nikki’s pulse doubled just seeing the fear there. “Travis, please . . .”
“You know, I hate to do this, but you’ve got it coming,” the young man growled and pulled a gun from his waistband. He had a weird look in his eyes, his dark hair was wild and unkempt, and his appearance was just generally dirty and disheveled. “You were a crappy girlfriend anyway.”
“Travis, no, I . . .” He pulled the trigger and, to Nikki’s horror, the projectile went straight into the girl’s forehead between her eyes and she dropped like a stone.
It took Laura about five minutes to realize something was amiss; she couldn’t see any movement in the shop, so she crossed the street and tried the door. It was locked. She looked behind her at the other side of the street; Nikki’s Yukon was gone.
Laura picked up her two-way radio and pressed the button. “Wendy,” she said to the tech working in the security company’s office that day, “does Nikki have one of the Walters key fobs for the Yukon with her?”
“Yep,” Wendy replied. “Steve made sure Mr. Walters gave her one. They have one for every vehicle they own. Need a location?”
“Yes, please.” Laura was fuming. She didn’t even know which direction she needed to go. Damn that hard-headed blond!
“Straight toward downtown and west. Pulling it up and sending it to your device now,” Wendy told her.
Laura followed the directions to find Nikki, and Wendy let her know when the Yukon became stationary. She barely knew the area, and was surprised to find it got more and more desolate as she drove. She pulled up across the street and in front of the building next door to the location showing on her device; sure enough, there was the white Yukon. Laura pulled out the rifle scope she kept in her gadget bag instead of binoculars; no infrareds or night-visions would work because even glass has a heat signature, and she’d found that rifle scopes were very clear, small, and easy to use. Not much chance of finding the wrong location, though. There was no one in these abandoned buildings except for the one right in front of her. Through the scope, she could make out two people, and they appeared to be sitting.
Then, from out of nowhere, she saw a third person, and saw the third figure raise an arm; that hand had to be holding a gun. Before she could process the whole scene, she heard a “pop” and one of the figures at the table fell to the floor. She hit the button on her two-way radio and yelled, “Get me some backup here – whoever you can find – and do it fast. And we’re probably going to need a bus,” she added, thinking someone would wind up needing an ambulance before this played out. As she opened the door of the sedan, she heard a gunshot. She dropped the radio and leaped out of the car.
When Autumn hit the floor, Nikki looked down and saw her face, the vacant eyes, and her mind went into hyperdrive. She looked back up at the young man. “What have you done?” she shrieked.
“Give me whatever Autumn gave you,” he ordered, pointing the gun at her, “and I won’t kill you.”
“She didn’t give me anything – she just wanted to talk to me! You didn’t give her a chance to do that, now did you? You go to hell!” Nikki screamed, and he fired.
Nikki tried to drop to the floor fast, but she felt a sharp pain in the left side of her chest and fell backward. When she hit the floor, taking the table with her, it felt like all of the air had escaped her body and she couldn’t catch her breath. She lay on the floor, gasping, and then, without warning, there was a sound like the whole world exploding around her.
Laura had a decision to make, so she pointed her weapon at the upper right corner of the huge window and fired. If she’d guessed right, it was safety glass, and she wasn’t disappointed. It exploded with a sound like a cannon blast and fell away, pebble-like pieces dropping in piles. The young man with the gun turned toward her and fired, and she leaned around the edge of the window opening and returned fire. He fired twice more, and Laura felt a searing pain in her left shoulder.
It was now or never, and Laura moved from her sheltered location and started firing. She couldn’t tell if she’d hit him, but the man returned fire, and Laura felt a burning, knife-like sensation in her lower left abdomen. She tried to fire again, but she felt herself sinking, and he took two more shots, hitting her with both. Just as she hit the ground, she heard a woman’s voice shout something.
Nikki heard the gunfire and knew someone was firing from outside the building toward Travis. She also knew when he finished firing at the person outside, he’d turn back to her and finish her off, so she did the only thing she could think of; she pulled her Walther three-eighty out of the back of her waistband, flipped the safety off, took aim, then yelled, “Travis!”
When Travis stopped firing and turned toward her, Nikki pulled the trigger. The look on his face was pure disbelief, and he pointed his weapon toward her, but she pulled the trigger on the small semi-automatic twice more, and he fell. She wondered if she’d wounded him enough to keep him down, and she tried to sit up, but the pain was too much and she couldn’t breathe.
Fighting unconsciousness, Nikki tried to think. Where was her phone? Who had been outside? Then she heard shouting; male voices. Someone yelled, “See to Laura; I’m going in.” Nikki heard movement and footsteps getting progressively closer. The voice outside said, “She’s alive, but she’s in pretty bad shape. I’ve got to apply pressure to this wound or she’ll bleed out. Where’s Nikki?” The first voice answered, “I don’t know. Nikki?” Then she could tell there was movement right beside her, and a voice cried out, “Nikki! Oh my god! Where are you hit?”
&
nbsp; Nikki forced her eyes open and looked up – a headful of curly blond hair and bright blue eyes. Peyton. “I. Don’t. Know. Peyton. Please. Help. Me. I. Can’t. Breathe.”
“José, I found her; sucking chest wound.” Nikki heard the static of a radio. “Wendy! Laura and Nikki both are seriously wounded. There’s a dead girl here and the gunman is wounded, and I don’t think he’ll make it. Where the hell is that bus?”
“ETA of two minutes, Peyton; got two in route. Hang in there,” a female voice replied, and in seconds Nikki could hear a siren.
“Nik, hang on, please! They’re coming,” Peyton pleaded, and she searched his face, looking for reassurance. There were things she needed to tell him, but she couldn’t get enough breath to say anything. “Don’t try to talk. They’ll be here in a minute and we’ll get you some help. You’ll be okay,” he repeated, his hand pressing on her ribcage.
Nikki felt cold, and it started to get dark around her, a buzzing sound setting up in her ears. She tried to make a sound and kept moving her mouth, making the shape of the word even if she couldn’t get her voice to work.
“I’m sorry, Nik. I don’t understand. Just try to stay calm – the EMTs are right down the block.” He watched her continue to mouth something. “What, hon?” he asked and put his ear to her lips.
Nikki tried one last time: “Gum.” Then everything got fuzzy, and she was out.
“Hey, baby, where’ve you been? I made us . . .” Tony rounded the corner coming out of the kitchen, only to find Steve and a pale, shaken Clayton standing in the foyer. “What the . . .”
“Tony, you need to sit down.” Steve was very matter-of-fact, but he had a very odd look on his face, and even the air around him felt crackly and strange. Clayton’s face was ashen.
“What’s going on? I thought you were Nikki coming in from . . .”
“Sit down, Dad,” Clayton ordered. “Now.”
Tony felt a chill come over him. “What’s going on? Where’s Nikki?” He sat down in the chair in the foyer. “What?” he practically screamed.