Malice Times Page 29

  I turned to my Jeep and saw Elizabeth. She was panting. A large wound was open across her forehead. The driver’s side of the car had crumpled up and crushed her legs. She stared up at me with the look of a scared animal. I felt a twang of pity.

  "Help me," she whispered through cracked lips. She coughed and blood came up.

  I looked at her and then down the road to where I saw the figure of a running man. I walked away from the car.

  "Please," she said. "Don't leave me here. Please."

  I turned back to the car and walked back to the window. She looked up at me pleadingly.

  "I'm sorry," she said. "All I wanted to do was get even with them. To make things safe for me and Joshua, so that we could stop hiding. I didn't mean for everything else. I’m so sorry." Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

  "I know you are," I responded. "But that isn't going to bring anyone back."

  "Everything just got out of control," she said. "I didn't actually kill anyone.”

  "Things often get that way," I said. "Out of control I mean."

  "I don't want to die.” Tears covered her face. “Please, I’m not bad. I didn’t kill anyone. It was all just a big mistake. If Uncle Paul had just told us the truth. Why? Why did he have to kill him? What was his name?”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore. It never did. I do wish it hadn’t been you.” I reached out and touched her face. She was very cold, those sapphire eyes staring out into the distance. Every breath she took was a chore. “I've got to catch your brother. Goodbye."

  "Wait," she said. "Don't leave me, daddy. Please don’t leave me. We need you."

  "The police will be here soon," I said. I grabbed the duffel bag and walked to Archer's car knowing that she would die soon and that she would die alone. I got in and raced down the road. I found myself crying. Joshua ran onto the beach and turned right. A few moments later I was at the beach. I pulled the car up and got out.

  I ran on to the beach and saw Joshua two hundred yards in the distance. Where the hell did he think he was going? Just a scared little boy running away. A scared, but homicidal little boy. I jumped back into the car and raced down Main Street. I drove beyond him and stopped the car.

  I hopped out of the car and raced through some trees and out onto the beach. Joshua was about ten yards beyond where I was and I started running after him. He looked back and saw me. He stumbled a little, which allowed me to gain on him. Smoke hung in the air like fog.

  "Joshua," I said. "Stop or I'll shoot."

  I pulled the gun out and pointed it at him. He stopped and turned. I stopped as well. He bent over and put his hands on his knees. Malice Grove burned behind him.

  "Hold your arms above your head," I said.

  "I can’t," he said. "Besides, you know I'm not armed."

  "I didn't mean that. It's better for catching your breath. At least that's what my high school football coach told me."

  "I'm too tired," he said and looked up at me. "I guess it's over."

  "That's right," I said.

  "I'm not going to jail."

  "What do you mean? Of course, you're going to jail."

  He smiled at me and looked up at the sun. He ran right at me his hands raised in the air screaming a guttural cry. I pointed the gun at him and pulled the trigger. The gun gave a dull click and Joshua came to a stop.

  "Misfire?" he asked in astonishment.

  I looked at the gun and said, "I guess so."

  I removed the cartridge of the automatic. Empty. He started to laugh. God help me, I started to laugh.

  "I guess it's not over yet," he said and swung a right cross at my head.

  "Guess not," I said and ducked out of the way.

  I hit him in the stomach with the gun. He winced in pain and backed off. I brought the gun up in the air and smacked him across his face. Blood spurted from his mouth and nose. He fell backwards to the ground. I stood above him the gun in my hand. The terror in his eyes was satisfying.

  He kicked out a leg and caught me on the shin. It hurt like hell and I fell to the ground. He was still dazed, but managed to scurry away from me. I moved closer and he kicked out again, knocking the gun from my hand. I lunged at him and he kicked me in the face. The taste of blood filled my mouth and tears welled up in my eyes. Rage and anger overcame me and I lunged on top of him. We rolled around in the sand, wrestling for position. First I was on top, then he was and we went back and forth for a few seconds. I punched him in the ribs and could hear the wind escape through his parched lips. He head-butted me and elbowed me in my broken ribs. I howled in pain and rolled over onto the ground. Joshua got to his feet and started stumbling towards the lake. I shook my head and went after him. He kicked off his shoes and jumped in the lake. I did the same.

  He started swimming out in the lake. I followed him. He wasn't too far from me. He started removing his clothing as he was swimming. I caught up to him as he was trying to remove his shirt. I grabbed him by the ankle and he tried squirming away from me. It was impossible for him to do with only one leg free. He pulled his shirt back on and stood up in the lake. The water was up to his chest. He swung down on me, but I ducked under the water. The punch landed on my back. My shoulder screamed in agony. I swam up underneath him and lifted him up out of the water. He splashed down on his back. I jumped on top of him and we both went under the water. We fought under water. It was like fighting someone on a moonless night at midnight.

  He held me under water and I held him. It was a test of endurance. Which one of us would run out of oxygen first. I tried to squirm free, but couldn't. He tried to squirm to the surface, but he couldn't. We struggled underwater. Then, we both stopped struggling and pushed above the water gasping for air. Joshua turned and used my body to kick off swimming away. I swam my broken and sore body back to the beach. Where was he going?

  I crawled back on the beach and sat there watching him swim out into the lake. The heat of the burning town blew against my back. He swam for a few minutes and then he stopped. He turned and looked in my direction. I stood up. He waved at me. I waved back and then he was gone under the water. He never emerged.

  45

  My father’s Fourth of July celebration hadn’t exactly been cancelled. Now, it turned into a viewing party as Malice Grove burnt to the ground. It was better than fireworks. Fire departments from surrounding towns had flocked to Malice Grove to contain the fire to the downtown area. The residential area above the town was no longer in any danger.

  Rae saw Regina and went running over to her. I followed my father into his study. He lit up a cigar and poured us both a drink. I plopped myself down on a leather coach along the wall.

  “Here’s to lost friends,” my father said and raised his glass.

  “Lost friends,” I said and raised mine. We both took a slug. The bourbon lingered in my mouth. “How did you know where I was?”

  “A Ms. Chappel called very frantic on my personal line saying that something was wrong. She told me that you got off the phone abruptly and that you were at Archer’s house.”

  “Thank you for coming,” I said.

  “I don’t think your mother would survive losing you again.” He took a sip from his glass. “Me either.”

  “Have you ever considered going legitimate.”

  “I don’t think I have much choice,” he said. “Do you think anyone is ever going to do business in this town ever again?”

  “I think Malice Grove is dead,” I said.

  “I guess it is,” he said and laughed.

  “What are you laughing about?”

  “Just thinking of the all that beautiful insurance money,” he said.

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” I said. “I guess I’m going to be a rather wealthy man.”

  “I wouldn’t say wealthy, but certainly very well off. Tell me about Joshua.”

  I thought about Joshua and how he had lost his mind at the thought of his father raping Michael. I looked at my father. H
e looked at me expectantly. I said, “He was looking for the diamonds. He thought Michael had them. Michael came home early. Joshua panicked.”

  “I heard everything.” My father sat there with his glass in his hand and stared beyond me into the distant past. There was fog and darkness in his eyes. “I should have done a better job protecting the people I loved.”

  I looked down at the space between my feet. I thought about Michael and how I had failed him. If I hadn’t run away, things probably would have been much different for him. “Me too.”

  “Finally,” my father said. “Some common ground.”

  “Yeah, finally,” I said.

  “Where are you off to now?”

  “I’m not sure,” I said. “I’ll call and let you know.”

  “You have no idea how much that would mean to your mother,” he said. Then, there were tears on his cheeks. “And me.”

  I walked out into the back yard and found my mother sitting in a deck chair by the pool. I walked over. She looked over at me as the chair creaked beneath me.

  “Is your father okay?” she asked.

  “He’ll be fine. He’s a tough old guy.”

  “I’m sorry, Joey, about what I said earlier.”

  “Don’t be. Michael was trying to straighten himself out if that makes you feel better. He just grew up too hard and too fast.”

  “Do you have to leave?” she asked.

  “I do,” I said.

  “I wish you would stay. I have missed you so much.”

  “I missed you, too, mom,” I said and held her hand. We sat there and just watched the children play in the yard. It was the most peaceful moment that I can ever remember having. I stood up and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll be talking to you.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Regina and Rae were standing by the cliff watching the town smolder in the distance. I walked up next to them and took their hands. They didn’t say anything. We just stood there and held hands watching Malice Grove die for the longest time.

  Finally, Rae broke the silence. “We can build again.”

  I turned towards her. She had a determined glint in her eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “We can build this place again. Me, you, your father. Together. The way it was in the beginning.”

  “I don’t want this place built again,” I said confused. “Let it burn.”

  “Just think of it, Marchello and Dempsey working together again to build a bigger, better version of this town. With my business sense and your family’s connections, this place could prosper again.”

  I looked at Regina. She just lowered her head. “I don’t have any connections,” I said to Rae.

  “Regan. You have Regan,” Rae said.

  “I thought maybe you would leave with me,” I said. “We could start a new life somewhere else.”

  “And leave all of this behind?”

  “Leave what behind?” I asked in a raised voice, motioning to the burning town below. “There is nothing left.”

  Then, my father was at our sides looking very curiously at Rae. My body went tense. What the hell was happening? After everything, I was losing Rae all over again to Malice Grove.

  “Are you talking about a partnership?” my father said to Rae, the same ambitious glint in his eyes.

  “This town prospered in the beginning with Dempseys and Marchellos working together. It can again.”

  “That’s very interesting. We would need Paul Regan. I might be able to convince him.”

  I closed my eyes. Some things never go up in flames no matter how much you set them on fire. As the two of them talked, I started to hatch a plan in my mind. I wasn’t going to make it easy for them. I wanted this place to die.

  Then Rae said something very unexpectedly, “I think we may have something that might make Regan very happy to work with us.”

  She was talking about the diamonds. They both looked at me. I nodded my head. “I’ll go talk to him. Smooth things over. He asked me to bring him the diamonds. Plus, I’ll get a nice big reward out of it. One thing though. When you rebuild the Malice Times, Regina runs it.”

  Regina finally looked up at me. There was concern on her face.

  “What about you?” Rae asked.

  “I don’t want to run a newspaper. Regina will do a much better job.”

  “You’ll come back after talking to Regan?” Rae asked.

  “No,” I said. “I couldn’t stomach watching this place resurrected. I’m sorry. I’m going to go and get my reward and that will be the end of that.”

  “So this is good-bye,” she said. “Again.”

  “Yes,” I said and pulled her closer to me. I kissed her gently on the lips. “I’m sorry about your father.”

  “Thank you,” Rae said. “I’d gotten used to the fact that he was going to die soon. I guess it hasn’t hit me yet that he’s really gone.”

  “Let yourself mourn and give him the sendoff he deserves.”

  My father walked away from the meeting. Regina squeezed my hand. She looked up into my eyes searching for something. Whatever she was looking for, she found. She nodded her head and then kissed me on the cheek. She walked away. She couldn’t have guessed what I was planning, but there was recognition from her that I had been lying.

  I turned towards Rae and wrapped my arm around her waist. She leaned into me. My heart broke into a thousand pieces. You couldn’t take the girl out of Malice Grove or Malice Grove out of the girl. She belonged here, just as I didn’t. But for the next hour, we just held each other and watched the town smolder.

  ♦♦♦

  I left the next day for New York. I watched the Regan residence until I saw Elizabeth Regan, known affectionately as Lizzy by her husband, leave the residence alone. I followed her to an upscale store. I approached her at a perfume counter.

  “Hello, Mrs. Regan,” I said.

  She looked up at me. She searched my face for recognition and it finally came to her. “You’re a business associate of my husband.”

  “I wouldn’t call myself that, ma’am, no. I’m sorry about the loss of your niece and nephew.”

  She looked at me and tears welled up in her eyes. “You knew them?” she asked.

  “I did. She was named after you, wasn’t she?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I knew your brother, too.”

  “You knew Brian?”

  “In Malice Grove,” I said.

  “Malice Grove?” she asked.

  “You’ve never heard of it?” I asked.

  “Can’t say that I have.”

  “What did your husband tell you about how Elizabeth and Joshua died?”

  “They were in a car accident,” she said.

  “I’m afraid your husband lied to you, Mrs. Regan,” I said. “Is there somewhere that we can go and talk? I’d like to tell you the tragic story of Brian, Elizabeth and Joshua Prater.”

  She lowered her head. “I’m not sure I want to know.”

  “Well, that’s up to you, ma’am,” I said and waited expectantly for her to dismiss me. She could have and there would have been nothing that I could do about it. I would just have to walk away and that would be the end of that play. She didn’t though. She motioned for me to follow her and we went to a private room where I told her the entire story. She sat there in silence through the whole thing. Her face getting whiter and whiter with every word, every deceit.

  When I was finished, she sat there for the longest time composing herself. Again, I wondered if I had lost her and that I was going to be sent on my way. “So now what? Are you the police?” she asked.

  “No,” I said. “I have an idea about how to end this once and for all, but I need your help.”

  “How?”

  I told her my plan. When I was finished, she simply said, “Come by the house tonight at ten.”

  ♦♦♦

  Two weeks later, I was at another funeral. The last one. It took a long time before they would release the bodies and then lo
nger for them to be sent back home. The heat was so thick you could choke on it. This was a double funeral. Elizabeth and Joshua were being buried next to their dead mother, who had been killed in a car accident twelve years ago. Bruce Drake Costello’s had been earlier that day. I hadn’t attended that one. I looked down at the gravestones. Melissa Prater, Elizabeth Prater and Joshua Prater would forever be next to each other. People would pass them every day on their way to see loved ones and no one would even give them a second look. Maybe someone with a grave nearby would look at the two younger ones and see that they had died on the same day and wonder what had happened. House fire? Maybe a car accident. They’d be more than half right.

  I felt someone at my shoulder. I turned and saw Regan standing next to me. “Very sad that it had to end this way,” he said. “All I wanted was to protect them all.”

  “You played them all like pawns. If you wanted to protect them, you should have kept them out of it.”

  “Bruce wouldn’t stay out of it and neither would Elizabeth. They were scared and desperate to get even with Gordon. And apparently as Joshua grew, so did his anger. I had no idea the depth of that anger.”

  “You encouraged Joshua into becoming a deranged psychopath. He and Elizabeth are tragic victims of your greed and Bruce Drake’s desperate need for revenge.”

  “They were family,” he said.

  “Then, you should have treated them like family, not involved them in a diamond heist.”

  “Which reminds me, you owe me a considerable amount of diamonds,” Regan said. “I told you that if you didn’t get in touch with me that I would be getting in touch with you.”

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “You’ll get them. Where’s your wife?”

  “She said she couldn’t be here for this,” Regan said.

  As the funeral completed, I spotted two figures in black walking towards us. “I believe those two might be here for you,” I said. “I wonder if they found the diamonds at your home.”

  Regan looked up at the two figures. His eyes narrowed. “How much did they find?”