Page 99 of No Fear
Chapter Nineteen
Remy tightened his fists on the steering wheel and focused on breathing. He’d just killed a man. It wasn’t the first time. He’d killed men when he was in the Army, when he was deployed. He’d used a much bigger gun and he’d done it from a much further distance but he had taken lives before tonight. This one though, this was the first time it had been personal.
He’d wanted to kill Craig Grant and he had. He’d seen that piece of shit sitting on top of Rachel, hurting the woman Remy loved, and he’d pulled the trigger without a second thought. He couldn’t claim he’d done it on orders or because it had been the only way. He may have been able to fight the other man off of Rachel if he’d tried but he hadn’t tried.
He’d shot him at point blank range with every intention of killing him and he didn’t regret it for a second.
Remy only regret that he hadn’t gotten there sooner. If he’d gotten there sooner, maybe he could have stopped it before it got that far. If they’d realized Craig managed to sneak past them before he heard Rachel screaming, he might have been able to slow down and think rationally. But all of theif only’sin the world wouldn’t change the fact that Rachel’s brother was dead, Remy had pulled the trigger and Rachel had seen all of it happen.
He glanced at her as he sped down the abandoned highway and felt his stomach turn. She was curled into the fetal position again. Her back was to him and she was shaking though there were no sobs to tell him if she was crying again. He didn’t need to see her face to know she was black and blue. Didn’t need to see the ripped clothes to know what that bastard had been trying to do to her. And knowing that he had killed the man that hurt her was the only thing keeping him sane in that moment.
Craig was dead. He wouldn’t hurt Rachel ever again. He couldn’t hurt Colt or any of Remy’s family ever again. He was gone and even if Remy would have to deal with the fallout of taking another human life, he would never regret pulling that trigger.
His phone rang as he made the turn onto the narrow gravel road that led to his trailer and he groaned as he tugged it out of his pocket, “What?”
“Where the fuck are you Remington?”
“Headed home.”
“What the…”
“I’m taking Rachel home.” He cut his cousin off with a curse and lowered his voice, “This car is a mess, Lincoln. You’ll have to send one of the boys to pick it up. Clean it up or get rid of it. I don’t care. Just send someone tonight.”
“Remy…”
“Don’t.”
“Remy.” Lincoln said his name again, the one he went by, the one that his cousin never used because he preferred to annoy him by using his full name. Lincoln used his nickname now and for reasons Remy couldn’t explain, tears blurred his vision. He couldn’t remember the last time Lincoln had called him that. Maybe the day he’d drive him to Falls Lake to sign up with that Army recruiter and get him the hell out of dodge? It had been years and it felt personal in ways he couldn’t describe.
“What?” He finally bit out.
“I’m sorry.”
A tear rolled down his cheek and he swiped at it with the back of his hand, “I know.”
And he did. As much as he might hate Lincoln for letting Colt get involved in the family business, he knew why his cousin had done it. To keep him close. It was the only way Lincoln knew how to take care of people.
He hadn’t meant for anything bad to happen to Colt just like he hadn’t meant for anything to happen to Rachel tonight. He’d been doing what he thought needed to be done and now that it had all gone to hell, nobody would feel worse about it than Lincoln because it meant that he had failed. He hadn’t been able to protect his family. He hadn’t been able to keep them safe. It would haunt him and no doubt, someone would end up paying the price for Lincoln’s anger.
“I’ll clean it up.”
“I know.” Remy said again.
“How’s Rachel?”
Remy glanced at her again, watching her tiny back heave with breaths and struggled for his own, “Not good.”
“Take care of her.”
“I will.”
“I can’t leave the bar for a while. I’ll need the alibi if anyone asks questions. But I’ll come by later to talk to her if that’s okay with you. To apologize to her myself. I don’t know exactly what all happened tonight but I know it was bad and you didn’t want her there so…”
“Yeah, I… just hold off until tomorrow. We need some time.”
“Understood.” Lincoln cleared his throat, “I’ll leave you to it then.”
Remy hung up without saying goodbye and silently cursed the glimmer of blood on the screen in the light of the dash. The phone would have to go too. Right along with the car and their clothes and everything else. They’d have to get rid of everything this night had destroyed and as he glanced over at his girlfriend, he only hoped that wouldn’t mean she needed to get rid of him to wipe out the memories of what he’d done too.
