of this yet.”
“Sure you are,” Galen said. “We’ve already sent photos through satellite to our headquarters. They’ve contacted the police. Believe me. We’ll be adding kidnapping and murder charges, so good luck with that.”
“I didn’t kill anybody,” he said. “Certainly not my brother.”
“You killed Rebecca’s two goons back at the cabin. Maybe you didn’t kill your brother, but you ordered the killing, and that’ll go on you just the same.”
“No. I didn’t kill anyone. And I didn’t order any killing at all,” he protested. “I just responded to a SOS from Rebecca, saying she was in deep trouble and needed me.”
At that, Galen sat back on his heels, looked at her, and gave a sharp laugh. “You know what? That just might work. Because it will be—at least partially—the truth.”
“It’s more than partially the truth,” he said. “Unfortunately, just like my brother, I’ve been hooked on her ever since the beginning.”
Galen raised an eyebrow, looked at Zack, who stared at the old man in disgust. “See Zack? Not just you,” he said.
Zack shot him a hard look. “At least I’ve been away from her shit show for the last eight years,” he said.
“And I thought it was just Joe and I,” James said sadly. “I don’t even know why I’m here. I’m old enough to know better. Really.”
“To rescue her. Remember? But then again, she had already killed Joe.”
He looked at him in horror. “She killed my brother?”
“Of course, but I’m sure she told you somebody else did it.”
“Absolutely she did. She said it was a botched burglary attempt.”
“Of course,” Galen said. “Except for the fact that she was seen, by two eyewitnesses. And by the hired gun’s statement alone, when he balked and didn’t want to shoot Joe, she grabbed the gun and shot Joe herself.”
The old man just stared at him in shock.
“And if you don’t believe me, James,” he said, “maybe you’ll believe your niece, since Becky saw the whole thing.”
“My daughter saw it?”
“Your daughter?” Galen shook his head at that. “I hope you’ve had a DNA test done over that because Joe was positive she was his, and I know a couple other guys were at play around the same time. Becky could be anyone’s daughter at this point. But, back to the murder issue, yes, young Becky saw her mother shoot her father,” he said. “And believe me. She’s pretty torn up about it. Because her mother also kept lying, saying she didn’t do it and that Becky obviously didn’t see what she thought she saw.”
“Yeah, that’s Rebecca,” James said, looking down at the woman, still unconscious. “I don’t have a clue what hold this Lolita has on me, and every other man around her, but it’s a damn destructive one.”
“Well, if you hadn’t killed her two goons, you might be able to rebuild a life for yourself at some point in time, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
“Is that even possible?” he asked, filled with remorse. “I feel like an old fool.” He shook his head and added, “But I swear that I didn’t shoot anybody.”
“Like I said, it depends on if you had anything to do with the killing. If you did, well, no, you can’t rebuild your life. If you didn’t kill anybody, I’d give it a maybe. She, on the other hand, is going to jail for murdering her husband.”
Just then another vehicle slowed down on the side of the road above them. Zack immediately disappeared into the trees, and Galen whispered down at James, “I wouldn’t trust anybody, if I were you, so keep your mouth shut.” And, with that, he melted into the background. The vehicle pulled up to the side and called out, “Hey, Dad, is that you?”
“Yeah, it is,” he said. “Victor, is that you?”
“Yeah. Hey, Dad. Are you okay?”
Galen looked on, in absolute shock and horror, as out came a strapping young man from a large station wagon. He scrambled down the loose bank to where his father sat on the ground. “What the hell happened to you?”
“She happened,” he said, nodding toward Rebecca, still unconscious on the ground.
“Oh, my God. Is she okay?” he asked softly, as he quickly moved to her side. “How could this happen? Poor baby. Especially after what those assholes did to her …”
Even Galen could hear the absolute love-swept tone in his voice. With his heart sinking, he realized that yet another player was in this game.
Father stared at son. “Did you shoot anybody over this?” James asked hesitantly, his