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I didn’t need to be asked twice, so I jumped in the car and by the time I reached for my seatbelt, we were already speeding out of the lot. As Chief Jenning drove, I kept my mouth shut and watched the outside world pass by faster than I had ever before. Jennings slowed at intersections to ensure we’d get through safely, but only slightly. I sat in awe as we ran through red lights and as cars pulled over to let us pass. I took the ride as a proxy power trip.
Once we got outside of town, Jennings stomped the accelerator like he was executing a cockroach, and we shot through the scrubland like a rocket ship. I glimpsed another patrol car ahead and thought for sure Jennings wouldn’t be able to stop in time. But I admit, it impressed me when we came to a halt within a foot of the other car without so much as a squeal from the brakes.
The deputy came alongside, and Jennings rolled down his window. “She still up there?”
The deputy turned and looked up at the road and back at the chief. I noticed the deputy was a woman, tall, skinny. Her uniform shirt looked too large for her, and it billowed in the breeze like a ship’s sail.
“Yes, sir. Unless she drove off the road on the far side of the property, but I think there are still old cattle fences out that way, aren’t there?”
“I think so. Stay here in case she doubles back. I’m going up to find her. If you don’t hear from me in fifteen minutes, call dispatch for some backup.”
“Okay, Chief.”
The deputy backed away and watched us pass, and the chief turned onto a gravel road. Unlike before, when he drove fast enough to peel the paint from the car, this time he barely crept along.
“Does this road lead to the new resort?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“I thought it wasn’t under construction yet.”
“Most of it isn’t. The first phase is laying sewer and prepping the land for the building foundations,” the sheriff said as he steered around a pothole. “That’s where they are now.”
“Why would Shanna come up here?”
He didn’t answer. The only sounds came from the crunch of the gravel beneath the tires and the occasional chirp from the radio. We got to the top of a rise, and below I discovered where they laid out the bare bones of the resort. I saw stacks of unlaid sewer line, several trenches dug, and large machines lined up along the road. There were lots of stakes sticking out of the ground with pink ribbons waving in the breeze. Throughout the property, roads of gravel resembling tendrils spread out in several directions.
At the far end of the area, I spotted a construction trailer with the contractor’s name on the side, and two other sheds. As we drove closer and rounded a bend, I caught sight of Shanna’s truck parked behind a shed. I didn’t spot her, only the open door of her Ford. Jennings slowed the vehicle and pressed on until he parked on the opposite side of the shed from the truck.
“Stay here,” he ordered. The stare he gave me matched his stern words.
He opened the door, stepped outside, and I watched as he used the shed’s corner for cover, determined it was clear and slipped around to its side. Not wanting to miss anything, I disobeyed orders and followed his trail. I met up with him soon after, and when he discovered me coming, he put a hand up for me to stop and shook his head. He put a finger to his lips, so I tried to be quiet.
Jennings crouched behind Shanna’s truck. With his gun drawn and with a quick motion, he popped up, looked into the truck’s bed and got down when he realized it stood empty. Slowly, he made his way to the open door, peered in, and came back to me.
“She’s armed,” he whispered.
“How do you know?”
“The rifle rack is empty, so she must have it on her. You should get back in the car and drive back to the deputy. I made a mistake bringing you down here.”
“Well, I’m not going back. You should either arrest me, or let’s press on.” It was a tossup to which one he’d choose, but in the end, he nodded.
“At least stay behind me or something else. Stay out of the line of fire. I’m going into the construction trailer next. You stay outside. I mean it this time.”
We edged to the end of the shed, and I got a good view of the trailer. It looked like a manufactured home, but it stood on wheels and had cinderblocks beneath it to keep it level and steady. We were on the end of the trailer, which contained an air conditioner unit and no windows, so we made quick time hustling up against the building.
Jennings took a snap look around the corner. “There’s only one door in, and three small windows. I didn’t see any rifle barrels sticking out, so that’s a good sign. You stay here. I’m going in. Okay?”
I nodded, and Jennings crept around the corner. True to my word, I stayed put. Well, I kind of stayed put. I tiptoed to the corner and looked around it. Jennings stood still by the door with his hand on the knob. He opened the door an inch while I held my breath.
“Shanna? It’s me, it’s Jack. I want to come in there and talk to you, okay?”
“No.” Shanna screamed loud enough that I easily understood her.
Jennings opened the door wider so he could peek in. I worried he was making another mistake, especially if she really had a rifle.
“Shanna come on, put the gun down, and I’ll come in and we can talk about it, okay? Everything’s going to be fine. Look, I’m going to put my gun away, and you can put yours away, okay?”
If Shanna answered, I didn’t pick it up. She must have relented, though, because Chief Jennings holstered his sidearm and moved inside, leaving the door open.
I moved around the corner, so I had a better chance of eavesdropping.
“Shanna, put the rifle down. Daddy told you never to point a gun at a person, remember? Remember, he taught us both that? Do you remember how important that was to him? To never point a gun at someone? Put it down, Shanna.”
Shanna murmured something in response.
“Tell me, why did you run from the house? Why did you tell me Codi broke in on you? What’s going on? Talk to me Shanna.”
Again, I got no response.
“Shanna, NO!”
Chief Jennings screamed the last word, and I caught the rifle’s report. It hadn’t even finished ringing in my ears, and I was already trying to figure out what to do. Go back for the deputy? Run in like the savior? I seemed trapped between opposite reactions, but I decided quickly when I realized the chief might need immediate help, and I couldn’t leave him.
I reached around and pulled Betty from my holster and held her down by my side. When I moved, I positioned myself right in front of the door. Once there, I glanced inside where one of Chief Jennings’ legs stretched out in front of me, unmoving.
“Shanna? This is Codi Cassidy. I’m coming in now. I don’t mean you harm. Let me check on the chief, okay?”
I got no words, but a loud wail that transformed into a heavy sob. I stuck in my head far enough to peek and looked toward Shanna. She sat on top of a desk, her hands in front of her face, crying. The rifle stood on the floor in front of her. I kicked it into gear, rushed into the room, grabbed it by the still-warm barrel, and chucked it out of the trailer.
“I, I, I k-k-killed my only brother.” Shanna sobbed and bawled even harder.
I didn’t want to look, but I did. Chief Jennings laid face down in front of a filing cabinet. I thought he was dead, but I noticed his body shake, and he stirred slightly.
“Help me,” he sputtered.
I honored his soft plea and helped him roll onto his back. Shanna hadn’t killed him after all. The shot got him in the shoulder, and the impact spun him around and he fell, hitting his head against the file cabinet on his way down.
“Shanna. You didn’t kill him. He’s not dead. He’s moving.”
Shanna was still crying, but she dropped her hands and looked over at us. Chief Jennings threw her a half-hearted wave.
Without prompting, Shanna rambled. “I didn’t mean to do it. I just got so angry with him. He said he loved me. He said he’d take me away from here once the resort was done. But when he came to the bakery that morning, and didn’t even acknowledge me, I knew it was all a lie. I was just another toy to him.”
I helped the chief sit up, and he leaned his back against the cabinet. “Shanna, what did you do?”
“It was an accident. I had a knife from the bakery, and I was... practicing with it at home. I didn’t think Sam would even miss it, but then I felt guilty, and I was going to return it to her that night. There I was in the kitchen when Sam came bursting through the door and then Sherman came in after her. I took him into the pantry and I told him I loved him and that he should forget about the stupid bakery. But he said he didn’t love me. He wanted the bakery. He wanted her. Don’t you understand?”
Jennings and I looked at each other, then back at her.
Shanna sniffed, then wiped her nose on the sleeve of her denim jacket, and I noticed right then, that yes, the bottom button was gone.
No one said a word, but it was Shanna who lost the game of silence first. “When he tried to push his way past me, I got him. He fell, and I left the pantry and ran back to the kitchen. I was going nutty in there and didn’t know what to do, so I went back to the pantry, and that’s when I saw HER on the floor next to HIM, and I lost it. I refused to take it. She didn’t deserve him, only I did. I screamed, and when the others came, I went back to the kitchen.”
“Why did you stick around?” Jennings asked.
Shanna shrugged. “I wanted to see if he was still alive, and when I found out he wasn’t, the police were already there and wouldn’t let me leave. And then what did I see? I saw her talking to you!”
Shanna punctuated her sentence by pointing at me. I was glad I had the foresight to toss the rifle outside.
“The next thing I knew, you were waltzing around the room like the queen, asking stupid questions, and I knew you had to be dealt with, too. After you finished talking with me, I returned to the kitchen to find myself another knife, but I didn’t. The best I got was one of Sam’s pie cutters. I was so furious I couldn’t wait to get you outside.”
Shanna laughed to herself. “Do you get how happy it made me when you walked back to the bakery instead of riding in that big bus of yours? I was ecstatic.”
“It was you who followed me.”
Shanna nodded. “I almost got you, too, but then you turned that corner, and those kids were across the street. I knew I lost my chance when you ran into the ice cream parlor.”
For once, my intuition was on point.
“After that, every time I tried to find you, you weren’t alone. Lucky for you.”
I looked at Jennings. He didn’t look good. Nearby was a work shirt draped over a chair. It looked clean enough. I balled it up and applied pressure to his shoulder. His head was bleeding too, but I didn’t have another compress, and his shoulder was much worse. He gritted his teeth but otherwise took the pain without complaint.
“What about Hanson Johns? How did he fit in?” Jennings asked.
“Sunday morning, out of the blue, he called me and said he saw me there. He wanted me to give him five thousand dollars, or he was going to turn me over to you. Yeah. Like I have five thousand dollars just lying around. If I did, I wouldn’t have come back to Quincey, that’s for sure. We agreed to meet at the flower shop at one, and when we met, I lured him into that cooler and gave him the present I had meant for her.”
Again, she pointed at me. I got the feeling we wouldn’t be best friends.
“Then I thought, why don’t I get rid of her first, so I could get to you next, even though I had planned it the other way around? That was the easiest thing ever. I just made that fake note and got you to believe I was being threatened, and when I turned it over to Jacky here, he couldn’t arrest Sam fast enough. Good riddance. She deserved it for taking my man away, although I’d rather see her go to the cemetery than to prison.”
I was so concerned about Jennings’ shoulder that I had paid little attention to Shanna, other than passing glances. I looked over at her and saw she’d transformed. When I first entered the trailer, she was upset, almost hysterical about shooting the chief. Now she was sitting there calmly, relaying this story to us like we were chatting while having tea. Her tears had dried up, and although her eyes were red and puffy, they now had an appearance that leaned toward evil rather than sadness. She looked psychotic.
I leaned over and whispered into the chief’s ear. “Where are your handcuffs?”
“Left side.” His voice was weak. His shoulder wound didn’t appear fatal, so I guessed he’d suffered a concussion when he hit his head. I reached over his body and got his cuffs.
“Chief? Stay awake. Don’t go to sleep.” I yelled his name and shook him gently. His left eye opened and tried to focus on me but he couldn’t. “Shanna, your brother needs an ambulance. Can you call for help? There’s a deputy just up the road.”
“No. In fact, I’ve come up with a brand-new and improved plan. A much better one. I’ve decided you’re going to prison with Sam.”
“For what? I did nothing wrong.”
“For killing the chief of police. You’ll probably get the chair for that.”
I looked up and noticed that Shanna had Betty pointed in my direction. How in the world did I lose my gun? Then I remembered. I set Betty on the table when I grabbed the shirt. Dumb. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. Even if I lived through this.
“Although I have a better idea. I’ll explain you shot Chief Jennings when he confronted you about killing the others, then I shot you. It’s a winner-winner chicken dinner scenario for me. I’ll probably be a hero. I’ll have my picture in the paper and everything. Maybe Mayor Idiot will even give me a key to this stupid city.”
That story made no sense to me. Why would I shoot anyone? I have no motive since I’ve only known these people for three days.
I detected a faint siren in the distance. Finally, the posse was on the way.
“Hey, Shanna? The police are almost here. Drop my gun and step back. You’re finished.”
Shanna moved back and glanced out the window. “You’re right, time is running out. Say goodbye to the chief.” Shanna pulled the trigger.
In the tiny trailer, the sound was deafening, even though Betty was only a .22. As expected, the muzzle flashed when the gun erupted, but no bullet came whizzing by. Only the shell casing that did a lazy loop in the air and bounced off the wall and onto the floor.
It was my turn to grin. “You can’t kill him with blanks.” I got up and took a step toward her. “Give it up. You can’t hurt us anymore. Give me my gun back.”
It was a bluff. Only the first bullet in the clip was a blank, but she didn’t know that. I hoped she would drop the gun and give up. She didn’t. Instead, she pulled the trigger again, and this time I felt the bullet rush past my head and the chief yelped like a kicked dog behind me. There was a pair of scissors and a large stapler on the table next to me, so I grabbed the stapler and threw it with all my might in her direction. My plan involved causing enough distraction so I could run out of the open door to safety.
Shanna fired again when I made my move. She was the best shot in the world, or I was the luckiest person on the planet because the bullet clipped the stapler enough to change its direction slightly. Rather than take a round to the chest, I got hit in the shoulder. I didn’t have another chance to do anything else. Behind Shanna, a window broke, and then the world lit up.
I was only vaguely aware of the flurry of activity around me. I felt the trailer rock as several people entered, and I heard people screaming, although I couldn’t understand the words. As my vision came back, I saw Deputy Samuels had Shanna in custody and was escorting her from the building. I sensed someone nearby, and the deputy I had met only a few minutes earlier was at my side, helping me to my feet. With her help, I staggered outside and collapsed on the ground when I got a few feet from the door.
An ambulance arrived, and the paramedics rushed into the building to tend to Jennings, and I tried to get up, but I couldn’t.
“Whoa, there, tough girl.” The deputy held me down, and I blinked a few times and hoped my mind would clear enough to read her tag. She noticed my struggle. “Can you hear me?”
I nodded.
“You can call me Daisy. We threw in a flash-bang grenade when we heard the gunshots. You’ll be okay. You have some ringing in your ears?”
Ringing was an understatement. I nodded again.
“Don’t worry. That will go away in a few minutes. Your normal vision will return too. Are you injured?”
“I got a bullet to the shoulder,” I said.
“You don’t have to yell. Just use your normal speaking voice.” Daisy gave me a bottle of water, and I struggled to swallow the first mouthful. The fresh liquid helped clear my mind and my throat from the smoke created by the grenade. As I drank, Daisy tore my shirt and looked at my shoulder.
“You’re not bleeding, but you’ll probably have a hell of a bruise. Are you sure she shot you?”
I nodded for the third time. “Yes. It was a rubber bullet, though, and it hit something before it hit me, so I was doubly lucky. Is the chief going to be okay?”
“I don’t know. They’re working on him now.”
Daisy stayed with me, and together we watched the trailer’s door. After an eternity passed, two men carried the chief out through the narrow door, then put him on a gurney, and put the gurney on the ambulance. A few seconds later, the ambulance left, sirens blaring, leaving only a cloud of dust behind.
Deputy Samuels appeared and crouched down before me. “Chief Jennings will be fine, I think. He has a shoulder wound and a concussion for sure, and a possible broken rib or two. We’ll have to wait for the x-rays to see for sure. Are you okay?”
“I think so,” I said.
“Good. Deputy Daisy will take you to the hospital to get that shoulder checked out.”
I was going to argue that it was fine, but it started to throb and stiffen. “Okay.”
Daisy and Samuels helped me to my feet and into Daisy’s car. As Daisy got in the driver’s seat, Samuels buckled me in.
He gave me a smile. “It’ll all be okay. Oh, and don’t leave town. I’ll have some questions for you.”
I looked him in the eyes. As I focused, I noticed he had pretty green eyes, with a speck of gold in the bottom of one iris. “I should have left town three days ago.”
Samuels nodded and closed the door. I rested my head against the window and closed my eyes. A few moments later, we were on the move.
