Page 38 of One Cry Too Loud (Coastal Crime Unit #9)

“ N o,” Holly said, looking down at the gun in her hand. “No. I’m not going to do that. Why would you even want me to do that?”

“You should ask your friend, Mr. Harrington. He made a good point earlier,” Caroline said. “He spoke about what it takes to earn back respect once it’s been lost. The cost is very high sometimes. For you, this is the cost, Holiday.”

“I was talking about you!” I shouted up into the air, as though the speakers above us were where the pair actually sat.

“You’re the ones who needed to earn respect back.

Not Holly! She hasn’t done anything wrong.

She never does anything wrong. She’s a good person. She might be the best person I know.”

Holly looked up at me and I caught her eyes. She stared at me for just a moment, just long enough for me to feel it. She then blinked and looked back down.

“Wonderful sentiment, Mr. Harrington,” Duncan said. “Let’s hope you feel the same way as she’s putting a bullet in your brain.”

“She’s not going to do that,” I replied confidently.

“Oh yes she is,” Duncan said, equally confident.

“Look at the device around her daughter’s neck.

Look at the clock ticking away, counting the seconds until that little girl breathes her last. I’m the only one in the world who can stop it from happening, and I’ll only do it once I see the three of you are dead. ”

“She’s not a killer,” I replied.

“We’re all killers for the right reasons,” Duncan answered.

“I know you think you know her, Mr. Harrington. I know you think the woman behind the computer screens with the quippy comment and brightly colored outfits is who she is. It isn’t.

I know the real her, the original Holly.

I know the girl she used to be, the girl she tries desperately to pretend she’s grown out of.

She will kill you. She’ll kill you all.”

“Why are you doing this?” I asked.

“I told you,” Carolien said. “It’s about family.”

“No. Not you. I know why you think this is right, as insane as your reasonings are. What I’m curious about is why Duncan is doing it.

Isn’t Nefarious supposed to be some kind of cyber vigilante?

Isn’t that your whole mission statement?

You do what you believe is good? You right what you perceive to be wrongs?

This can’t be what you believe in. This can’t be something you think is right. ”

“And you think you know me well enough to know that?” Duncan asked.

“I think there’s no moral compass in the world that could tell you killing an innocent child is okay,” I replied. “And what about Edie? Do you think she would want this? Do you think this is what she’d want her legacy to be? Death and constant mourning?”

“She’s gone. Mr. Harrington. It doesn’t much matter what she’d want,” Caroline said.

“What does matter is getting my family back. You see, Holiday seems to be lost in this new life she’s built for herself.

She seems to have forgotten where she’s come from.

Once you all are gone, once your buried in the backyard and she’s proven to be that she knows where her priorities should be, we can work together on becoming a family again. ”

“That’s why you want us dead?” I asked.

“Yes,” Duncan said. “Well, that and the fact that you know I’m Nefarious. It really is a two for one sort of thing.” He laughed just a little. “Clock’s ticking.”

I looked over at Cindy. Kat had her in her arms. She was patting her head and singing a song to her, probably to try and drown out the very troubling things that were being said.

The clock was ticking down quickly. I could see the silver bands that made up the necklace turning slowly.

Duncan may have lied about things before, but he wasn’t lying about this.

That necklace was tightening around that child’s windpipe.

We needed to find a way out of this. I needed to save everyone.

“Is this what you want your legacy to be, Duncan?” I asked.

“Because something tells me that it’s not.

I can’t imagine you’ve worked this hard and accomplished this much just to be known as the psychopath who murdered a child.

” I slammed my hand hard against the door.

“Because that’s what you’ll be. You won’t be Nefarious.

You won’t be some new age Robin Hood. You’ll be a monster. That’s all anyone will see.”

“Are you really trying to play on my sense of justice?” Duncan asked.

“Actually, I’m trying to play on your narcissism, because I’m betting that’s your real driving force,” I said. “You don’t be a hero, not even to those online zealots who worship your every move. You won’t be anything anymore. You’ll have given it all away, and for what?”

“For love,” he said. “My wife needs this to be happy, and I can’t be happy if she’s not.”

“And what about what you need?” I asked. “Have you thought about that? Have you thought about what will happen once the world knows what you are, once you’re thrown in prison?”

“I won’t be thrown in prison,” Duncan said. “You’re dying no matter what happens. This test is just to see if Holly is worthy of rejoining the family.”

“And if we do die, what will that change? We already know who you are. Do you really think we didn’t tell anyone where the point of origin was?

There are people who know, members of our team.

Once the local authorities have that information, they’ll start digging, and we both know they’ll find something. They always do.”

“But I-”

‘And if you do this, if you kill Cindy, you won’t go to jail as some folk hero. You’ll go to jail as the person who killed an innocent child. That’s all Nefarious will ever be. Is that what you want? Is it really?”

There was silence on the other end of the speaker. Then, suddenly, the countdown on the necklace stopped. It loosened and fell off. Did it work DId I actually convince him?

“Damn, I’m good!” A familiar voice shouted into my ear canal. “Took me half as long as last time.”

I had never been more happy to hear Tag’s self congratulatory tone.

“What the hell is going on?” Duncan asked over the speakers. “Why did my-”

“Because our amateur isn’t as amateurish as you thought,” I said, motioning to my ear so the others knew what was going on.

“You’re right about that,” Tag said. “I don’t know if I’m being paid for this, but if I am, I deserve a bonus.

When I couldn’t hear from you guys, I knew it wasn’t good.

So, I counted the area for cyber anomalies, and wouldn’t you know it.

There’s a big old one that I could trace back to Holly’s folks’ house.

I can’t believe that old dude is Nefarious.

I would have pegged him as someone younger.

I guess assuming really does make an ass out of you.

Anyway, the police are on the way. Also, the door's open.”

I looked up and watched as the red light above the door flickered off.

“Give me the gun and get to the sides of the room,” I said, grabbing the gun from Holly.

“Where are you-”

“They still have our weapons,” I said to Kat. “I’m going to end this.”

I moved to the door and pulled it open, ducking to the right side.

As I expected, bullets began flying through the open doorway. Thankfully, the others were on either side of the room, pressed against the walls and away from the bullets’ paths.

I reached around and shot a couple of times myself.

When I didn’t hear the return fire, I moved forward.

Walking through the door, I fired a few more times.

Duncan and Caroline were outside, running in the other direction.

Duncan fired back at me twice, but missed both times.

He tried once more, and the gun clicked, letting us all know that he was out of ammo.

Duncan turned quickly and started running as fast as he could.

For her part, Caroline darted in the other direction.

I still had the gun in my hand, and I assumed there were still bullets.

I didn’t need them, though. The old man might have been running as fast as he could, but he still had at least twenty years on me, and I had been chasing people my entire life. I was uniquely qualified for this.

My legs pumped hard as I bridged the gap between us. I hit Duncan hard in the back of the head with the butt of the gun. He went down.

Turning on his back, the old man put his hands out in front of him. “Don’t shoot!” He screamed as he looked up at me. I had the gun pointed on him as sirens filled the air. Looking up, I saw a few police officers coming toward me. Then, in the distance, I heard a gunshot.

My heart skipped a beat as I turned toward the source of the noise. It was coming from inside the shed, where everyone else was.

“God, no,” I said, and took off toward the shed.

Entering it, I saw that Kat had Caroline pushed against the far wall. A gun was on the floor. God, she’d had one of the guns.

Looking forward, I saw Joe sprawled across the floor. He was covered in blood and he had his head in Holly’s lap.

“She tried to kill me,” Holly said, weeping. “She said I wasn’t worthy of being her daughter and she shot at me.” She looked down at Joe. “He jumped in front. He saved me.” She was brushing his hair back with her hand as she continued. “You’re going to be okay. You’ve got to be okay.”

“I wa-want you to know,” he said weakly. “I might have done wrong, I know I did, but I-re-really did love…”

His eyes closed and his body went limp. He was gone.