Twenty-Two
A Reason to Kill
Darkness, velvet in color like a night with no moon or a life with no hope, pulled me under. Then the knowing came. I knew I was going to die, knew that Max was probably dead, and I knew whatever this bastard had planned for me would pale in comparison to a life without my Thor. If Max was dead, he might as well stick that gun between my eyes and pull the trigger. I’d tasted beauty these past few weeks, tasted what it meant to love someone, to find your match in every sense of the word. As opposite as night and day, we fit together like two puzzle pieces, one clumsy and headstrong and one strong, brave and perfect in every particular.
A sense of floating, as if I lay adrift on an air mattress lazing away on the waves of an unknown lake had me jerking awake. My vision, though fuzzy, finally made out the face of my attacker as he carried me across the cabin and dropped me on the bed. His face was sinister backlit by the glow from the fireplace. If I hadn’t believed in evil before, I surely did now. His eyes were dead; no emotion played behind them as he grabbed my arm and secured it to the headboard with a plastic cuff. I didn’t fight him as he did this, I was too busy staring at Max’s lifeless body, at the blood that pooled around his head.
“Is he dead,” my voice trembled.
“Yes, the King of Trails End lives no more.”
Mia’s crying, Max realized. His beautiful, to the brink of distraction, too sexy for his own good woman, was crying, and he couldn’t stop the rumbling in his head to find out why.
Max’s head felt like the time he’d fallen from a tree, cracking it on the way down. When he tried to force his eyes open, they fluttered but wouldn’t fully open. Then Mia’s scared voice broke through the fog that invaded his headspace, clearing out the cobwebs, and they sprang open.
“Don’t touch me,” Mia shouted as Max tried to focus on the scene in front of him.
Stetson, who was shirtless, was straddling Mia on the bed as she tried to fight him off with one arm tied to the headboard. Max suppressed the urge to roar at the bastard. He needed time to get his arms and legs moving so he could kill that son of a bitch for laying his hands on her.
“That’s it, fight me, Mia. I love a good struggle before I ram myself in deep. I knew when I laid eyes on you you’d be a hellcat in the sack.”
Max jerked his hands, forming fists he intended to use on the bastard’s skull upon hearing his threat.
“Why are you doing this?” Mia cried out as Max focused on moving his arms.
“Revenge is a dish best served in blood,” Stetson hissed. “For a year I’ve had to put up with this hick town all because of that fuckin’ whore and her fuckin lies. I was a great cop,” he roared in her face, “and I got shipped off to fuckin’ purgatory while hiding behind my father’s reputation like a coward. Then Zimmer comes to town and threatens me with exposure? Fuck that,” he bellowed. “I’m done hiding, I’m done bein’ told to keep my head down or my fuckin’ father will write me off. He created this monster,” Stetson growled as his fists hit his chest. “He created me and I’m gonna show him once and for all that the son doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“You killed Donald?” Mia gasped.
“Keep up, sunshine, I killed them all. Zimmer, Curly, Hunter over there, and now I’m gonna feast on your body as I choke the life out of you.”
“You’re insane,” Mia screamed as she balled her fist and stuck Stetson in the face, sending his head back from the blow.
Stetson recovered, his eyes flashing in anger as he raised his fist. Max tried to get up, wanted to stop him, but his limbs weren’t cooperating. Feeling impotent, he bit his lips until the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. He couldn’t stop the blow and wanted to howl when Stetson’s fist connected with Mia’s gorgeous face.
“I’ll kill you for that,” Max whispered.
His eyes slammed shut, his jaw locked tight in rage when Mia cried out in pain. He felt less than a man as he fought for control of his body. How the hell had this bastard gotten the jump on me? Max’s tormented thoughts swirled.
He remembered climbing in his truck thinking about Mia, how she drove him nuts, how even though she drove him nuts he knew she was the other half of his soul. He’d been raised to believe by his crazy mother that each man and woman has a perfect match that God splits one soul into two bodies. That those souls always find one another again and like mercury, when they are close, the need to merge, to be whole, is elementary. She said you knew immediately when you met them that you were in the presence of your other half. He hadn’t understood that, not until he’d looked deep into Mia’s crystal pools and felt the earth move under his feet. He knew Mia was his other half and his need to merge with her, to be close was as fundamental as breathing.
All that had been running through his head when he’d come to her cabin instead of his own. Then he’d pulled the clothes from his body and showered while he waited for her to return. When he’d exited the bathroom with a towel in hand, drying water from his hair, he remembered hearing a click and then nothing.
Little by little, his arms and legs began to respond and his senses became sharper as he kept his eyes on the bed. Stetson was still ranting about the perceived wrongs inflicted upon him, so Max took that opportunity to move to his knees. Mia couldn’t see him because Stetson blocked her view and it was just as well, she’d react to seeing him alive. He needed the element of surprise if he was going to save them both in his weakened state.
Looking for a weapon, he saw his jeans on the floor and reached out, pulling his phone from the pocket. He dialed 911 and then lay the phone down.
Mia cried out when Stetson tore her shirt open, and Max knew he was out of time. He wasn’t about to let this fuck put his hands on her one more time. So, as her legs began to kick, Max stood, wobbled, and then he lunged at Stetson as Mia screamed his name.
“You headin’ home for the evening?” Ralph asked Chester Tallchief as he finished off the rest of his beer.
“Yep, been a long day and now that I’m the new chief I gotta get up early and be at the station by eight.”
“Heard they canned Stetson, about time I say. The guy was nothin’ but a drain on our tax dollars if you ask me. Been almost three weeks since Curly died and he’s done nothin’ to catch the killer.”
“Maxine caught up with me after we knew Mia was safe and told me she and my mother had been “workin’” the case,” Chester chuckled. “Seems they found a piece of black and red flannel in the woods and think it belongs to the killer. Get this; they’ve been pretending to sell their sex toys door-to-door so they could check out everyone who wore a red and black shirt on the day Zimmer died.”
Both men threw their heads back and laughed as Shane walked back into the bar. Having dropped off the lost hikers, Shane had headed back into town hoping to find some company for the night. Unfortunately, for him, the only warm bodies he’d find this evening were grizzled old men or his old friend. As he walked up and clapped Chester’s back, he grabbed the stool next to his friend and sat down, raising his finger to indicate he wanted a beer.
“What’s so funny?” Shane inquired.
“I was just lettin’ Ralph know that Stetson is out and that I’m in. Now I gotta run down leads that Maxine and Mom came up with or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Christ, what did those two come up with?” Shane chuckled.
“Get this . . . Mia found a piece of black and red flannel in the woods near Zimmer’s body. And for the past two weeks that band of misfits has been searchin’ the homes of all the men in Trails End.”
“They didn’t come to my door,” Shane replied.
“If you didn’t wear that shirt to the Founders Day celebration you were in the clear.”
“I was late comin’ down, missed all the fireworks,” Shane answered, “pity too. I would have loved to see Max take that bastard down a peg or two. I got to town just in time to see Zimmer makin’ . . . wait, did you say red and black flannel?”
“Yeah?”
“Fuck . . . I saw Zimmer and Stetson havin’ words, figured he was makin’ a complaint against Max.”
“So?”
“Stetson wasn’t in his uniform . . . he was in red and black flannel.”
“You’re sure?”
“You don’t suppose . . .”
“That my crazy mother and her crazy friend are right?”
“Would explain why he was hell bent on chargin’ Mia for the crime . . . It would ease everyone’s mind, get them off his back.”
“How’d he get the axe? Max thinks it’s one of his men since they had access,” Chester argued.
“Call Max, see if Stetson had access to them.”
Shrugging, Chester pulled out his cell and hit Max’s number. The call went to voice mail so he left a message. Turning back to Shane, he was about to call it an evening when his walkie-talkie crackled to life.
“Dispatch to Tallchief.”
Grabbing hold of the unit clipped to his belt, Chester answered.
“This is Tallchief, over.”
“Chief, we had a nine-one-one call come in from Max Hunter’s cell. No one is answering, but we can hear a disturbance and a woman screaming in the background.”
Shane, having just dropped Mia off, knew if Max was with a woman exactly where they were.
“Mia’s at her cabin.”
Chester’s eyes darted to Shane then both men jumped up and headed for the door as Chester instructed, “Send all available men to my mother’s house, the guest quarters in the back, and call Martha and tell her to stay inside.”
My scream fell on deaf ears as Max took Stetson to the floor. I jerked at my bound wrist to free myself, but the plastic cuff was too tight. As fucking scared as I was at that moment, I could have wept for joy when I saw Max rise from the floor like some avenging angel.
Naked for some reason and covered in blood, Max tangled arms with Stetson as each man threw blows at the other. Though Max outweighed Stetson, his obvious weakened state made it an even fight. Max landed a blow to Stetson’s jaw that no doubt loosened some teeth, and sent him flying into a rocking chair tripping over it. Max wobbled, then shook his head as if the clear it as Stetson righted himself from the floor.
I kept tugging at the cuff, trying to wiggle my hand out, cutting the flesh. Blood pooled on my wrist and I smeared it under the cuff hoping it would give me enough slickness I could free my hand.
Stetson stumbled to his feet, his face red with rage as he looked between Max and me. Max was calm in comparison, brows pinched in anger, saying nothing, just cold hard eyes that stayed on Stetson, calculating his next move. Stetson must have known the only way to me was through Max, so he lowered his shoulder and bellowed in anger as he ran at Max, trying to take him down. When they collided, both men went to the floor with Stetson on top. He raised his fist, threw a punch at Max’s temple, but it glanced off his blood soaked face. When he raised his fist again, Max’s hand shot up, caught the punch, and then he pitched his hips and rolled, disengaging Stetson from his body. When Stetson hit the ground, he kept rolling to keep from being pinned. Then he stood and rushed Max again while he was rising to his feet. As if he was expecting it, Max remained crouched and then dipped his shoulder and stood right as Stetson reached him. He picked Stetson up, and rammed him into the rock fireplace with the full force of his massive body. Stetson’s head cracked against the rock wall and his body went limp. Max let him go and watched as he slumped to the floor with a thud.
I gasped, my breath coming in rapid pants as I watched Max stumble, lean down and then grab hold of his hair as if to punch him. And he did, twice more, until his own strength depleted had Max dropping Stetson’s head. On his knees, his angry eyes on the man who had tried to kill us both, when he didn’t move I reached out to him.
“Max?”
He raised his head, looked at me and then I lost it.
I hated that I cried easily, it made me feel weak. However, when those green eyes bore into mine, the floodgates opened. Unfortunately, the more I tried to stop the worse they fell until I couldn’t breathe from holding back. My traitorous lips trembled and the hiccups began when Max pulled himself from the floor and made his way across the room. I reached out with my free hand as he collapsed on the bed, covering me with his body, his face pressed deep into my neck as his arms wound around my waist squeezing tight.
“I, I thought you were dead,” I hiccupped.
“Shh, I got you,” he mumbled.
“You, you were dead and I wanted to die too,” I choked out.
“I’m not goin’ anywhere, least not for another fifty years.”
“Is he dead?”
“No,” he growled as if he was disappointed. Then he leaned back, pulled his arms from my waist, and cupped my face while trying to dry my tears with his thumbs. I wanted to throw my arms around him, but the stupid cuff literally tied my hand.
“Can you get my hand free?”
He nodded, but didn’t move, he was too busy assessing the damage to my face. He ran a finger across the bruise forming at my temple and I winced slightly. His eyes closed and his nose flared, anger returning to his face at my wince. Taking a deep breath, no doubt to steady his temper, once in control, he looked at my wrist and then mumbled “I’ll get a knife,” as he unsteadily rose to his feet.
I watched him as he made his way to the kitchen, his eyes on Stetson as he moved. Then he leaned down, grabbed his phone, and put it to his ear speaking into it. He grabbed a towel from the floor, wiping the blood from his face as he spoke, and still keeping his attention on Stetson. When Max seemed sure he wouldn’t move, he turned his back on the man and opened one of the utensil draws. I knew the only sharp knives I had were large, I’d already made a note to buy steak knives. I was thinking scissors were a better choice, and was about to tell Max which drawer when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.
Stetson had been playing possum, looking for an opening to attack again. I opened my mouth and screamed “Max,” but inside of lunging at Max while his back was turned, Stetson darted towards the door as if to leave. Three feet from the door, he stopped suddenly and bent over as Max turned around, with a huge knife in hand. Like slow motion on the silver screen, Stetson raised his gun and aimed it at Max. Then, just like I’d seen Maxine do on Founders Day, Max’s arm came up, back, then he whipped it out, and let the knife fly.
Stetson never got a chance to pull the trigger; he was too shocked at having been out gunned, so to speak, by a knife welding Max. When the blade buried deep in his throat, he dropped the gun and both his hands came up as Max stalked towards him with fire in his eyes.
Stetson’s mouth opened, but he was unable to speak as he dropped to his knees. I turned my head, unable to watch, but heard the telltale thud of a body hitting the ground. Turning back to check on Max, I watched his face grow hard when he leaned over and put his finger to Stetson’s neck.
Then the cabin door burst open.
I know I should have been distressed about watching a man die in front of me, but when Chester and Shane burst through the door, guns drawn, staring at Naked Max as he stood over Stetson body, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing at the expressions on their face.
“Fuck me, Max. Did you kill him with that monster dick?” Shane asked suddenly.
“Jesus, Shane, a man is dead,” Chester scolded.
“A killer is dead, one who looked ready to kill two more. Explain why I need to shed tears?”
Chester holstered his gun turning towards Shane.
“Suspected killer, we don’t know that.”
“Look around, Chester. Does he look innocent?”
“Shane,” Max bit out suddenly as he wobbled and then went to his knees.
“Fuck,” both men said as they lunged forward and helped Max back to his feet and to the bed to lie down.
Shane examined Max’s head as Chester radioed dispatch they needed a mobile crime scene to the cabin. And I just sat there with my arm still pinned to the bed. I ran my free hand through Max’s hair as Shane covered him with a blanket.
“You need stitches, the bullet grazed your temple,” Shane announced. “Unfortunately, for me and my future happiness with Mia, you’ll live.”
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Max chuckled and then tried to pull me closer. Of course, I didn’t budge, because I will remind you I’m still attached to the bed.
“Um, guys, I’m still attached to the bed.”
Max looked up, studied my hand for a moment, then looked back at Shane and announced, “I’m thinkin’ that’s a good look for her. She can’t get into trouble if I keep her cuffed to the bed.”
“I have some cuffs with velvet on the inside, you wanna borrow them?” Shane replied as he threaded a needle.
“My mother?” Max asked.
“They were a welcome home gift.”
“Guys?” I broke in.
“You got the key?” Max asked.
“Max?”
“Still in the box, was waiting for the right woman to pull them out.”
“This isn’t funny,” I bit out.
They, of course, ignored me.
“I’d order you a new pair, but no way in hell am I ordering anything from my mother.”
“We’ll call it even for shooting you in the ass.”
“Chester?” I shouted.
He raised a finger since he was still on the phone, but I was saved from a lifetime of handcuffs when Martha came bounding up the stairs and into the cabin. She looked at the mess, looked down at Stetson and mumbled, “Hope it was painful,” before she made her way over to my side of the bed.
“Town was quiet till you came along,” Maratha smiled.
“Says the old woman who sells sex toys door-to-door. Can you please cut me loose?”
Nodding, she grabbed a pair of scissors from a drawer in the kitchen and then cut away at the plastic cuff until it gave and released my hand.
“That looks painful,” Martha mumbled as she examined my wrist. “Toss me some ointment, Doc.”
Shane worked on Max while Martha cleaned my wrist and bandaged it. Since Chester needed my clothes for evidence, he let me change in the bathroom as Max put his clothes back on. Then we all went to Martha’s house to wait for the mobile crime lab and give our statements.
It didn’t hit me until we were sitting in Martha’s living room, and when it did, it hit hard. As I played back the events of the evening and remembered Max lying on the floor in a pool of blood, I started shaking. One moment I was curled on the couch next to him, the next I was in his lap, my head buried in his neck.
“I got you,” he whispered.
“Don’t let go.”
“Not till the day I die.”
“I was so scared.”
“Let it go, baby, he’s gone.”
“You saved me.”
“Mia, stop.”
Then it hit me what he’d done to protect me and my tears turned to concern.
“You killed someone,” I whispered, “Are you ok?”
With his arms tight around me, I felt Max jerk. So, I pulled back and looked at his face. He ran his hands through my hair, watching as he smoothed it back, then touched his forehead to mine, held it there, and then told me “The only reason I would kill someone is to protect those I love. I’d have no problem killin’ him again and sleep easy knowin’ you were safe.”
Upon hearing that he loved me, I turned into a sniveling idiot again. When I burst into tears, Chester stood and left the room, giving us privacy. Max kept holding me until my tears were under control, giving me his strength like always. My life the past seventeen days flashed before my eyes and all I saw was Max. When I first laid eyes on him, my heart beat a little faster and now I knew why. I thought I was awkward with men because I had no experience that they intimidated me. Now know that wasn’t true. I was awkward with men because they weren’t Max. When you meet your other half, your heartbeat quickens, your palms sweat, and you’re irrational in the face of the obvious. You can fight it all you want, but when you find your other half it’s as if the planets align and you're finally home.
“Max?”
“Yeah, baby?” he whispered in my ear.
“You love me?” I whispered back, turning my head to look at him. With a gentle hand, Max brushed a tear from my cheek and spoke words of love from Lord Byron as goose bumps rose on my arm.
“She walks in beauty like the night, of cloudless climes and starry skies, and all that’s best of dark and bright meet in her aspect and her eyes.”
“Baby—”
“Loved that poem since I was in college and I swear he wrote that just for you. You asked if I loved you, but I think the better question is how can I not. Now, do you love me?”
More than anything, so I told him.
“Since I was old enough to know you existed, I’ve wanted nothing more than to find you, and here you are. But, Max, the reality of you, of how I feel now that I’ve found you . . . Honey, it far outweighs any dream,” I answered quietly repeating his words from the week before.
The words had barely left my mouth before Max captured it, sealing my fate once again. When he was done, he ripped his mouth from mine and then ordered.
“We’re gettin’ married.”
“Okay,” I answered breathlessly.
“Okay? Just like that. You don’t need a million fuckin’ years to think it over?”
“Nope.”
“Is this submissive Mia I’m dealing with?”
“I don’t have a submissive bone in my body,” I argued.
“You will,” Max grinned.
“Not in this lifetime.”
“Wanna bet?” he purred as he nuzzled my neck.
“Thor, God of Thunder you may be,” I breathed out, enjoying his lips, “but I’m, I’m Wonder Woman, Queen of Self-control. No way I’ll ever submit to you.”
“We’ll see….”
As the Northern Lights danced brilliantly across the sky, like an emerald stream flowing to an unknown destination, Max gazed upon Mia’s sleeping form. Her soft curves silhouetted by the lights glow made his heart beat faster. She was his to protect and to love for the rest of their lives.
His eyes scanned her body, one that he’d taken an hour before, and decided no time like the present. He figured one day that his need to be close to her, feel her sweetness wrapped around him as he glided into her wet depths would ease. However, tonight wasn’t that time, nor did he think in fifty years, it would it be either.
One soul split into two halves. Now they were joined and complete.