“You hear somethin’?” Easy whispered.
Deacon swore everyone held their breath to listen.
“What is this?” came the muffled shout from inside. “Let me out!”
“Wanna push the button?” Shade asked, not a bit concerned that Warren was now conscious.
“Deke,” Judge murmured, concern etched in his face. It wasn’t concern for Warren, but for Deacon.
Deacon unstuck himself and began to move forward, but the sound of running feet coming from behind them made him hesitate.
“Fuck that motherfucker!” Reilly yelled as she barreled her way past Deacon, knocking him to the side. She ran up to the control panel and slammed her palm on the big red start button.
The loud whoosh of the gas burners firing froze everyone in place. Including Reese, who had followed Reilly into the furnace room.
She stood as still as a statue with a hand covering her mouth and her eyes squeezed shut.
They faintly heard a single scream and then nothing.
Strangely, that was the moment he noticed Reese’s feet were bare and filthy. Her hair now a loose mess around her shoulders, like she’d been tearing her fingers through it. Her mascara smeared. Her lipstick chewed off her bottom lip.
The woman who held tightly onto control had unraveled.
Her green eyes opened slowly and met his. He was afraid to read what was in them. He preferred not to know.
“Deke,” her strangled whisper sounded deafening to his ears, “he was still alive.”
He said the only thought that came to his mind. “You wanted him dead.”
“I—” Her face turned green and she rushed to the nearest garbage can and spilled the contents of her stomach.
He closed his eyes and listened to her retch, his fingers curling tightly against his thighs.
Fuck. He didn’t mean to put that on her. This had been his decision. No one else’s.
Once she was done, he opened them and turned back to stare at the furnace, his nostrils flaring. “Get them out of here.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw Judge jerk up his chin at someone Deacon couldn’t see. Not while his gaze was locked on the furnace.
“They got away from me.” Whip sounded worried. “Gonna get them back to your place and make sure they stay there.”
Deacon nodded without looking at him. Unfortunately, Whip learned how strong-willed those two women were. Even so, that was no excuse for failing to do what he’d been told.
Several sets of footsteps receded behind him.
Once gone, only the eerie sound of the gas burners surrounded who remained.
Reese had simply left without an argument.
That could mean a few things. None of them good for Deacon.
“How long does it take?” he asked, his voice flat.
“Programmed it for a two-hundred-pound animal, so a few hours. It’ll shut off on its own.”
“You know what to do with the ashes,” Judge said to Shade.
“Yeah, brother, I’ll handle it.”
Judge stepped in front of Deacon, blocking his locked view on the furnace. “Let’s go. I need a fuckin’ drink and you need about fifty, brother.”
Brother.
That was what they were. Cousins by blood, brothers by choice.
“Also need a new set of cuffs.”
“What just went down cost you more than a set of cuffs.”
Deacon was afraid of that.
Reese studied her sister calmly sipping on a beer she’d pulled from Deacon’s fridge.
As if what just happened hadn’t.
As if Reilly hadn’t just killed a man. Burned him alive.
Billy deserved to suffer, but even so...
It could have been Reese who killed him instead of her sister, if Deacon had handed over his gun when she’d demanded it. But then if he had, Billy wouldn’t have suffered. His death would’ve been quick and easy.
Easy for Billy.
Not so easy for Reese.
It shouldn’t be so easy for Reilly.
If it bothered her sister, Reese couldn’t tell. Maybe the reality hadn’t hit her yet. It could come later.
“We need to pack our stuff and go.”
Reilly was safe now. They could leave and head back to Mansfield without worry. Put the whole situation with Billy behind them.
They could borrow Deacon’s truck. Someone could come fetch it later.
Her sister took another sip of beer, then placed the bottle on the counter. She lifted her green eyes—without one tear in them—to Reese.
What Reilly had done hadn’t upset her sister. Surprisingly, it had strengthened her. Made her seem more mature. That couldn’t be right.
“I’m not leaving.”
“What?” Reese must have misheard.
“I like it here.”
No.
No, no, no. “You can’t stay here.”
“Why not?”
“This isn’t your home.”
“And where is my home, Reese? With you? Back in Philly?”
Yes! Any place but here. She tried another tactic. “You can’t stay in Deacon’s apartment.” She’d be homeless in Manning Grove.
“Then I’ll find my own place. I have a job. Dutch is willing to keep me on for now since he said I’m doing a fucktastic job.”
A burn started deep in Reese’s gut and began to rise. She couldn’t just watch her sister throw away her future. “You want to work in an auto repair shop? You have a damn college degree, Reilly. One I paid for. Not so you can be a fucking secretary.”