Page 37 of Her Final Hours (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #3)

R ay gasped. His heart pounded in his chest as he awoke in the darkness of his truck.

The bitter cold seeped through his bones, and a shiver ran down his spine.

Disoriented for a moment, he glanced down, his tired eyes widening as an empty bottle of Jack Daniel’s slipped from his stomach, rattling against the icy cab floor.

The realization hit him like a jolt of electricity – he’d overslept.

Panic surged through him, fueling his urgency to get up. He groaned, climbing out of his sleeping bag and crawling from the cab to the front seats where he had left his boots.

He felt a chill grasp his toes as he pulled them on.

Peering through the frosted glass, Ray’s gaze fell upon Maddie’s house, a haven that would soon transform into a scene of terror.

The street lay eerily silent, a snowy blanket muffling any signs of life.

He coughed up phlegm, opened the door, and spat it into the deep snow.

He dropped into the powder and coughed again, his breath forming a fog in the frigid air.

The urge to urinate took hold, and he made his way around and pressed a trembling hand against the cold metal, seeking its support as he relieved himself.

While taking a piss, he instinctively cast a glance toward her house again.

She hadn’t wanted him to get involved.

He’d offered to stay there, but she refused, not wanting to feel like a victim of the past. Like any good Sutherland, she thought she could handle whatever came her way with little help from others. It was pride, but that pride could get them killed.

Ray’s heart lurched in his chest as he looked away, then swiftly turned back. The curtains, once open, were now drawn.

Something was amiss.

Memories of the night before flooded his mind — the curtains had been open long after midnight, even as the lights went out inside. He was pretty sure of that.

Then he saw it, a trail, it was barely visible with the continual downfall, but it was there, nonetheless.

That’s when the dreadful puzzle fell into place.

Finishing his business, Ray squinted into the snowflakes cascading around him; his steps were hurried as he made his way toward the house and, with a glance off to his right, followed the faint imprints.

Every nerve in his body screamed danger.

He turned toward where the trail came from, following it just a little down the road.

There, amid the freshly fallen snow, he discovered Tommy’s unmistakable truck — an ominous sign of what lay ahead.

A shiver ran down his spine from the chilling cold and the sheer dread that gripped him.

All of it disappeared into the backdrop of his mind as he rushed back to the truck, his hands trembling as he fumbled with his cell phone.

The instinct to call for backup surged within him, but at the last second, he hung up, realizing the urgency of the situation and the thought that maybe that’s what Tommy wanted – to go back to prison, but not before he harmed Maddie.

Ray leaned into his truck and collected his service weapon. He checked the magazine, put another in his pocket, and made sure there was one in the chamber before he steeled himself for the fight ahead.

With resolve in his eyes, he trudged through the snow, his footsteps growing heavier with each step. Ray skirted around the house, his eyes scanning the surroundings, aware that the freshly fallen snow could have concealed vital clues had he not awoken when he did.

As he approached, the faint sound of muffled cries pierced the air, a chilling reminder of the torment this asshole was putting her through.

Ray’s breath caught in his throat as he closed in on a lower window.

Through the slight gap between the curtains, a haunting scene unfolded before him — Maddie bound to a chair, her voice stifled by a gag, and Jake Randall, her current boyfriend, her protector, his face battered and bloody.

Tommy, an evil presence, paced before them, a rubber mallet held tightly in his hand. The scene was a nightmare in living color. Ray’s determination surged, overpowering the fear of being harmed.

Knowing time was running out, he skirted around, moving like a shadow, his every movement careful and calculated.

His hand reached out, gently testing the rear door, but it remained locked, denying entry.

Frustration gnawed at his nerves, but he refused to succumb to it.

He couldn’t use the front door even though he had a key — Tommy would hear the metal grind as the key entered, and the element of surprise would be lost.

Resolute, Ray turned his attention to the windows, his eyes desperately trying to make out the faint remnants of Tommy’s prints in the snow.

He had to have gotten in somewhere. Of course, he thought as he saw the window marked by shallow tracks in the snow.

That’s why you broke in. You were preparing.

You bastard. Anger surged, his heart racing as he discovered the window slightly ajar.

A glimmer of hope broke through the dark moment. The broken lock was an invitation, a path to end this. Without hesitation, he lifted the latch, his movements as silent as the falling snow, and cautiously he slipped inside.

As muffled screams grew louder, he could hear Tommy berating her.

“You brought this upon yourself. Four years. I did four years inside for you, and this is how you repay me with this sonofabitch!” Tommy reared back the mallet and brought it down on Jake’s kneecap. His head went back, a cry searing the air.

“What’s that? Huh?” he said, getting close to Maddie and removing her gag.

“Stop, Tommy. Please. I’ll do anything. You want me back. I’m back.”

“Oh, you’re back, are you?”

She nodded.

“See. I want to believe that, Maddie. I really do. But I think that you want me to stop hurting him. But the only way that happens is if you stop hurting me.”

“How?” she cried. “How can I stop? ”

“He needs to go. No more. It just needs to be you and I.”

“Okay. He’s gone. He’s out. Happy?” she said, looking at Jake with tears in her eyes. Even Jake nodded, a pitiful sight. Then again, he’d broken multiple bones in his body. Pain could do a lot to convince a man. Maddie looked back at Tommy. “Please.”

“How about we do this? I untie you, and you take this and beat him to death. How’s that sound?”

“What?”

“You said he’s gone.”

She shook her head. “No, I meant. Just let him go. Tommy, please. We…”

“You see, I don’t believe you, Maddie. I don’t think you love me. I think it’s all words.”

“I do. I do love you.”

“Then show me. Or you know what? How about I finish him now,” he said, raising the mallet.

“No. Stop.”

Tommy lowered it. “See. See, Maddie. You care for him. That’s going to be a problem.”

“No, it won’t. I promise. Things will be different this time.”

“I don’t believe you.” He reached out and gagged her again to avoid hearing her lies. He was so tired of the lies. So tired of people stringing him along. Tommy turned back to Jake and touched the mallet to the side of his arm.

“This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you,” he said before swinging it with bone-crushing power.

The cry cut through Ray, making him sick to his stomach. Every step he took was calculated, his adrenaline-fueled senses on high alert. He couldn’t tell if Tommy had a gun without seeing him fully. The last thing he wanted was to be heard and have Tommy shoot his sister before he reached her.

As he neared the source of the haunting cries, his heart hammered faster, a steady rhythm echoing the moment’s urgency.

Finally, he reached a partially open door, allowing a sliver of light to spill into the dimly lit room.

His eyes adjusted, revealing the nightmare before him.

Maddie, her eyes wide with terror, struggled against her restraints.

Though beaten and battered, Jake held onto his strength, silently pleading for Tommy to stop.

Ray’s jaw clenched, his grip tightening on his weapon.

This was his sister, his blood, and he wouldn’t allow her to suffer.

Now or in the future. Taking measured breaths to steady his nerves, he was about to step forward and confront the monster when Tommy pulled a gun.

He tapped it against his head like a lunatic.

“One shot. One shot. He’s gone. Maddie. Now, please tell me that you want him gone. If you don’t, you’re gone too. And if you are, so am I.”

Murder-suicide. It was becoming more common than ever.

Parents turning on their kids before turning the gun on themselves, jealous lovers seeking vengeance before ending their pitiful lives.

There was no logical reason. It was pure madness, but that was his life, career, and world — all he saw was the underbelly of society.

Tommy pulled at her gag.

Tears rolled down Maddie’s cheeks as she was pleading for him to stop this madness. But Tommy was too far gone. Ray could see it in his eyes. Even if he’d called for backup, it would have just turned into a drawn-out hostage situation ending the same way: three bullets and three lives lost.

Of course, Tommy would get what he wanted, the town’s attention, the nation’s even .

Fuck that.

He wasn’t giving him a chance.

Ray raised his gun to take the shot, hoping to clear the gap, but then Tommy would move out of the way again. Each time he tried, he could tell there was a chance it could strike Maddie or even Jake if he missed, or…

As Ray took one final step, the floorboard beneath his boot creaked.

It happened instantly; Tommy whirled around and fired multiple rounds at the partially closed French doors. Ray returned fire, striking him once, then twice. Tommy hit the floor; the gun flew out of his hand.

Ray slid open the door, one hand gripping his belly where a round had gone in just above his pelvis; the other held his Glock. He fired another round and struck Tommy in the back of the leg as he clawed toward his piece.

Crack.

Another, this time in his other leg. Ray stumbled in, his firearm aimed at Tommy’s head. A final shot. It would be over. He’d never be able to hurt her again.

“Ray. Please don’t do it. This is what he wants. This is what he wants!” she said again, raising her voice. “We can get him put away for the rest of his life. Don’t do it.”

Ray pressed a foot down hard on Tommy’s leg.

He squirmed beneath it, bleeding out, groaning but at the same time looking as if he was enjoying it all.

To him, this was the show. The conclusion he’d wanted.

To mark the name of the Sutherlands. To drag at least one of them into jail with him, if that was even possible.

In Ray’s mind, he heard his sister pleading with him not to kill but to let him be and let justice deal with it, but at the same time, his own voice was telling him to squeeze the trigger.

“Put it down, Ray. Please. We can send him away for good. ”

There was a pause.

“Only one problem with that is…” Ray muttered. Tommy looked at him, a smile lingering as blood stained his teeth. “He gets to live.”

With that said, Ray squeezed the trigger, and it was over.