Page 84 of Kill Me Sweetly

“Sure, Mom. You can’t be seen there because you and Gabe went allNatural Born Killersat the creepy house.”

“Okay, I’ll be close by.”

I followed Noel out and got into a separate car. The shop wasn’t too far from the Harper Reese Building. I parked across the street and watched as Noel strolled in.

While I waited, I called Mason.

“Hey,” he answered.

“Hi, you at the hospital?”

“Gabe and I just arrived. JJ’s parents will be here soon; I just got off the phone with them.”

Shit. “What are you going to tell them?”

“The truth, Shep. JJ was hurt trying to save kids. Trevor and Melody aren’t stupid. They know we aren’t just running a bakery.”

“Fine. When you hear something, let me know. I need to follow through on everything to make sure Harper Reese doesn’t survive this.”

“I understand.”

After hanging up, it was another twenty minutes before Noel came back out emptyhanded. He drove off, but I stayed. I was listening to our scanner to see if 9-1-1 would be called to the building.

Noel drove around the corner and parked behind me. He hopped into the passenger seat.

“That was easy. I was asked who I was, and I said new driver. No one cared. I didn’t see if Harper ate any, but he got them. This could take a while.”

I nodded. “I’m aware. But when I face JJ, I want to be able to tell him Harper Reese is dead, and all that man loved is dying with him.”

Noel didn’t say much. We listened to the scanner. Mason called with updates on JJ. He was still in a medically induced coma. The doctor had allowed his mom and dad to see him.

“Melody was crying so hard, Shep. With Trevor being a doctor, he understood the seriousness and did ask what happened. I told him enough that while angry, he sort of understood. I don’t know.”

I knew what JJ’s body had gone through; I’d carried him out of that place. Add bandages, him being unmoving—a mother could only stand so much. Trevor was a good man and like Mason said, he knew we did more than run a bakery. That would be a long conversation someday.

At the fourth hour, Noel raced to the burger joint nearby for food. We sat, we ate, we waited. My mind wandered to the carnage at the building. Having to kill those boys would haunt me until the day I died. When I’d tried just subduing them, it had done no good. They’d get up and charge…Why wouldn’t they stop when I told them I wasn’t the bad guy?

It was coming to the end of the day; Harper had been up there for almost nine hours. My ass was falling asleep, and if I played one more word game with Noel I was going to scream.

Less than five minutes later, right out the front door was Harper Reese, and he looked like shit. Coughing, hunched over. His suit was a mess.

A large man was waving a car to come to them. So not 9-1-1. Even better. The car drove up fast, and Harper was ushered into the vehicle.

Noel got out of my car and into his. The object was to stop Harper from getting medical attention. Noel drove around me to get ahead of Harper. I’d follow behind, and we’d box him in.

I laughed when Noel decided to change it up, reversing his car as soon as Harper’s advanced. Andbang, that was a car crash. The driver was yelling, and he tried reversing to go the opposite way. Nope. I brought my vehicle to the exit where the car was currently trying to leave.

“Move your fucking car!” he shouted. He tried banging into my car, and I got out.

“Hit my car again, and see what happens.” I lifted my shirt, giving him a glimpse of my gun.

The back door opened, and a large man stepped out. “Move your fucking car.”

“No. See, that would mess with my plans to kill your boss.”

He scrambled but wasn’t fast enough. I pointed and shot. Repeated the same to the driver.

“Not part of the plan.” Noel was racing over to me.

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