Lucky Forever - Cee Bowerman Page 0,63

sitting on a hay bale, just listening. She’s not talking at all, so you haven’t missed anything,” I reassured her. “Do you know what’s wrong with that baby?”

“His diaper is wet - well, I think it’s a he. He’s only got on one of those white baby shirts. I don’t have another diaper to change him, so I haven’t looked,” Lexi explained. “He’s got his whole hand in his mouth, so he might be hungry.”

“Did she say who… ,” I didn’t finish because I was watching Sierra explode into action. I knew exactly what her plan was when she tossed Beverly over into the new horse’s stall.

“Holy shit!” Kale yelled. “Did you see that?”

“Whoa,” Lout nodded his head slowly, the expression on his face showed that he was suitably impressed. “Good strength there as she pushed up with her legs.”

I heard and saw this as I was maneuvering my way around my friend to get to the door of Nicole’s covered porch. I sprinted across the open field that was between my house and Nicole’s. My only goal right now was to get to my girls.

I vaguely realized that my friends were running behind me as I kept up my sprint all the way to the doors of my barn. I didn’t pause when I hit the concrete because Sierra was in my sights. She was whole and healthy, sitting there on top of the storm shelter with a gun in her lap. She looked completely shocked to see me screeching to a halt in front of her.

“Are you okay?” I gasped as I bent and put my hands on my knees, trying in vain to catch my breath. “Did she hurt you?”

“She didn’t hurt me, really,” Sierra admitted. “She just slapped me once and then pulled me around a little bit by the arm. I don’t know if she hurt the girls.’

“Let me get in there,” I told her, reaching for her hand to pull her up.

“No,” Sierra shook her head and pulled her hand back. “See if that bitch is dead. If she isn’t, call an ambulance and we’ll wait until she’s gone before the girls come up. If she is, take off her head and set her body on fire to make sure there’s no chance of her coming back somehow.”

I worried because Sierra’s face was slack and pale, her eyes showing absolutely no emotion.

“Oh, she’s dead,” Kale said from behind me. “All kinds of dead.”

“Then cut her head off and burn the body,” Sierra ordered him. “She tried to take one of our daughters and God knows what she would have done to our other one. And she was ranting that they have her baby down there, so I don’t even know what that’s about.”

“Honey, dead is dead,” I told her gently. “There’s no coming back from getting trampled by an out of control horse.”

“The horse shouldn’t be in trouble for killing her, Rowdy,” Sierra pleaded. “Make sure she doesn’t get put down for it, okay? I made her do it. I threw her in there knowing what would happen.”

“The horse won’t be punished for it, baby,” I reached out and took the gun from her and handed it to Kale. “Hop up and let me get to the girls.”

“Cops are on their way,” I heard Hank say from behind us. “I called Nicole and Shannon, too. I think Sierra is in shock.”

“The girls can’t come up until the body is gone and everything is cleaned up. I don’t want that crazy bitch to taint their sanctuary any more than she already has.”

“Okay, I hear you, honey,” I told Sierra. “That makes sense.”

“Talk to her,” Grunt told me as he handed me the radio that I had dropped on the porch before I took off running.

“Leia, sweetheart?”

“Daddy? What’s going on? We can hear you out there! I tried to push open the door but it won’t move!” Leia said frantically. “Help me get out!”

“Not yet, sweetheart. Give us just a minute to get things settled up here. We don’t want you to come out yet.”

“Well, can one of you come down here?” Lexi wailed through the radio. “Or at least get this goddamn baby out of here? He’s making my teeth hurt with his screaming.”

I heard the men behind me laugh.

“Now she knows how I feel when the two of them get going,” I joked to the adults around me without pressing down the button on the radio for the girls to hear. I felt better