Chapter Fifty-eight
Darnell heard a snap. Holding his gun up, he slowly pushed the door in. It occurred to him that the rain outside might be heard from the inside. If only he could sneak in without making too much of a disturbance.
Darkness met him as he pushed the door open slowly. At any moment he expected a squeal from the door hinges or something would alert those inside that he was breaking into the salon. That was exactly what he was doing, breaking and entering. If Candace was in there, he would have a perfectly good reason for surprising her.
According to Beulah, Candace’s cell phone lay on the kitchen counter. He’d called the salon phone twice and been met with a busy signal both times. Beulah had reported the same.
Once he was inside, his eyes adjusted to his surroundings. There was light ahead. From his recollection, that was where the office would be. He moved ahead, toward the lighted area.
“Don’t move.”
He didn’t. Darnell looked around him and realized the woman’s voice he heard had come from the office area. That wasn’t Candace’s voice. He was sure of that.
With caution, he picked up his foot and moved closer to the sinks. A barrier separated the sinks from the other part of the salon. If he could get to where the dividers stopped, that would put him parallel to the office.
“For what purpose would you kill me, Hillary? This has got to stop.”
That was Candace talking. Darnell drew his gun out in front of him. He hoped Brunson was still on his way.
“You know the police are already onto your brother. You’re trying to protect him. Suppose he talks? What are you going to do then?”
“Shut up! Avante wouldn’t do that. We stick together. He knows I have taken care of everything for him. All of his life, I’ve cleaned up for him.”
Darnell didn’t like the escalating panic he heard from Hillary. He needed to do something. Soon.
“What about my children? They’re still young. They lost their father, and you want to take their mother.”
Darnell slipped closer to the two women, his heart aching for Candace’s pain. He was determined to save Candace.
“I don’t care about you or your children. Your husband started all of this. His carelessness wrecked my family forever. I’m going to finish it.”
Okay, he’d heard enough. Now he knew who he was dealing with. He moved up to the office area. Around the corner he saw Candace and the back of another woman.
“Ladies, is there a problem?” he called out.
Relief crossed Candace’s face, but it quickly changed to worry.
When Hillary spun around, he saw why.
“Hillary, why don’t you hand me that gun so we can talk?”
“Detective, I should have known you would show up. Now you’ve just made things more complicated for me.”
He frowned. “Really? Seems like you are doing that all by yourself. Let’s talk about this, Hillary.”
“No, there’s nothing to talk about.”
“Are you sure? Why else would you be in the salon? I’m assuming you didn’t just walk in here to make Candace do your hair.”
Hillary exhaled. “I had business to take care of.”
Candace spoke up. “She killed Pamela. And Mitch ...”
“That’s enough.” Hillary swung the gun wildly back and forth between Candace and Darnell. When it steadied, the gun pointed directly at Candace. “Why don’t you put your gun down, Detective? If not, it will be your fault if I accidentally pull the trigger on Candace here.”
Accidentally? No such thing. “All right. Just calm down, okay?” This was risky, and he was betting on the fact that Brunson would be there soon. Now he wished he’d requested more backup. “I’m going to put my gun down, and we’re going to talk this out. You know Avante is in enough trouble, and you’re not helping him.”
Hillary frowned. “Trouble? What trouble?”
Darnell placed his gun on the floor, stood, and then stepped back. Now was the time to be praying. “We took Avante into custody a few hours ago. I’m afraid if you keep this up, all your efforts will be in vain. Your brother will spend the rest of his life in prison or possibly will be put to death by the state.”
“No. Why would you do that? You’re just picking on him, like you did Sam. The cops just chased a poor, scared kid down and then shot him to death.” Hillary swung the gun around again. Darnell noticed her finger on the trigger. He needed to calm her down.
“I wasn’t here when your brother Sam died. I’m sorry about all of that, Hillary. But Avante has been up to his eyeballs in some stuff. He’s doing more than artwork at that gallery of his.”
Confusion showed on Hillary’s face.
He continued on. “We got him for money laundering, drug possession, and murder. Now, you know juries don’t especially look favorably on cop killers.”
“No. You can’t do that. You have no proof.”
“We’re getting all the evidence we need right now, as we speak. Cops are crawling over everything Avante owns. You got to know if they find a connection to you, well, it’ll be over.”
Hillary shook her head, her eyes wild. “No, no.” Her hair had been pinned up. One of the pins must have come loose, because her bun was now lopsided.
He encouraged her. “Why don’t you come to the station? You probably can help him. He needs family right now. All of you suffered a loss. It affected you all deeply. This can end now.”
Hillary shook her head vehemently. “No. This is a trick or something.” She threw her hands in the air, the gun pointed toward the ceiling. “None of this should’ve happened. I told him to be careful—”
Darnell interrupted. “You can’t help him. Just be there for him. We have no control over what another person does. Avante got greedy.”
He took one step toward the distraught woman. This needed to end. If he could just get her gun.
“No!” Hillary placed both hands on the gun. “Don’t move.”
“Please, let’s end this. We don’t need anyone else getting hurt.” Despite rain pouring down outside, he heard sirens in the distance. Please let that not be my imagination. “Let’s get you down to the station.”
“No!” Hillary yelled.
A loud blast shattered a mirror behind him. Candace screamed. His body jerked back, and pain exploded in his upper body region. He grabbed his shoulder and tried to retrieve his gun from the floor.
Something fast and sharp grazed his head, near his ear. Blood trickled down his neck. Intense pain blurred his vision. There were two Hillarys with a gun.
Wait. Two Candaces.
He wanted to tell her it would be all right, but his knees buckled under him. As his body hit the salon floor, the sirens grew louder. A deep drowsiness overtook him, and he thought of his mother. Mama was on the other side, waiting for him.
I did good, Mama. I did good.