Just Between Us (The Kings)

Standingon the shores of Wabash Lake with Russell King coming unglued in front of me was not on my bingo card. My high heels sank into the soft earth.

Well, fucking great—these shoes are ruined.

My head throbbed, and when I touched the source, my fingers came back dry, thankfully. I squeezed my eyes and tried to orient myself.

“You stupid little bitch.” My attention whipped up to the man in front of me. Russell’s face was a splotchy maroon. He was sweaty, and his thinning hair was a mess of damp tangles.

I’d been called much worse, so his words meant nothing to me. His control was steadily unraveling, and I used that knowledge to tamp down my fear and appear totally unaffected.

Inside, though, my heart rate was through the roof.

I placed a hand across my chest. “Oh, I’m sorry. Were you talking to me? My name is Veda, but you can call me Miss Bauer.”

His nostrils flared before the back of his hand cracked across my face. As I bent, my purse slipped from my shoulder, landing in the dirt and spilling the contents.

Shit, that hurt.

Heat bloomed from the strike, and my hand moved up to check where he’d hit me. His blow was so hard it made my eye feel like it had popped out. Relieved it was still in place, I pressed the back of my hand against the sting as hot tears pressed at the corners of my eyes.

“Not so mouthy now, are you?” Russell scoffed as he looked around. He motioned behind me. “Go through her shit. See what she has.”

There was a rustling behind me, and Bowlegs emerged. His eyes flicked to mine, but then darted to the ground.

“Ah, I see,” I said with a wry laugh. “So Bowlegs is the muscle, I take it?” I turned to the old man and wondered how I could have ever thought he and Bootsy were the same person. Bowlegs’s eyes held a deep darkness that was bone chilling.

“Nice to officially meet you, I guess.” The man ignored me and continued rifling through the contents of my leather bag.

I sighed and turned back to Russell, then raised my hand. “So let me get this straight. Maryann found out she wasn’t the only woman in your life. Maybe she started asking questions? Making demands?” I pointed a finger in his direction and looked out of my good eye. “A powerful man like you doesn’t like a woman who asks questions.”

Russell’s eyes turned to slits as he pointed a fat finger in my face. “She knew her place. Which is more than I can say for you.”

A brief hit of surprise washed over me. There was a tiny hint of affection laced in his words.

I shook my head in disbelief. “She wanted you to choose, then. Didn’t she? Maryann found out about your wife and was willing to forgive you, but you had to choose her.”

His nostrils flared, and I knew I was getting dangerously close to the truth.

Then it all clicked into place.

“No . . .” I tucked my tongue into my cheek. “That isn’t it.” The truth was right there. “She chose the children over you.”

When his jaw flexed, I knew my words had hit their target.

I sneered in disgust. “Maryann was going to leave you to protect her children, and you killed her because of it. My guess is you got these two idiots to clean up the mess.” I flicked my hand in Bowlegs’s direction. “Or did you somehow convince one of them to do the dirty work for you?”

Russell stopped to stare at me, his chest heaving with ragged breaths. “You know, I didn’t think someone who’d spread her legs for my fuckup of a son would be such a pain in my ass. You’re a lot smarter than I expected.” His sneer was laced with contempt.

“And yet you’re not quite as smart as I expected. The money trail makes connecting the dots pretty obvious.” I pressed a finger to my tender cheek. “You know, you could always say the Sinclair twins were blackmailing you.”

Bowlegs stood and handed Russell my phone. My heart raced as I considered using the code word I’d established with John in case I found myself in too deep of trouble.

“It’s recording, sir.” Bowlegs stepped back, and I ground my teeth together as Russell looked at me and sneered.

He tsked. “Trying to record me? Really?” Russell dropped my phone to the ground and stomped it beneath his heel, cracking the screen and breaking it into several pieces. He bent down to remove the SIM card and, with a flick, tossed the tiny chip into the lake. It clung to the surface for a moment before disappearing into the black depths.

“You really think I would have confessed anything?” Disdain dripped from his angry words. “Please.”

He smoothed back his disheveled hair. “I’ve been playing this game for years. Face it—you’re outsmarted and outmaneuvered.”

I lifted my chin despite the swelling that had begun around my eye. “Then why are you still sweating?”

He ignored my question as his stale breath floated across my cheek. “I just want to know how you did it. How you unearthed the pieces I’ve worked my entire life to keep buried.”

I glanced around, the solitude of the setting sun creeping in on the secluded lake like a heavy blanket. Even if I screamed, it was unlikely anyone would hear me.

“It wasn’t easy, I’ll give you credit for that.” I adjusted the hem of my skirt and cursed myself for not wearing something that would have been easier to run in. I swept my hand toward the crushed-limestone trail. “It was this.”

His brow creased as he took one step back to survey the forest around us.

“I know what you did to her,” I lied. A flicker of fear flashed in his eyes, and I pressed on. “You made sure that no one would find her. The poor, selfless man who was given the burden of raising his children. It certainly fit the narrative you were creating for yourself. If everyone in town saw your devotion and benevolence, they wouldn’t ask questions. No one would suspect this wasn’t even your real life.” I slowly clapped as Russell’s breaths heaved.

My words had hit their mark.

Emboldened, I pointed a finger at him and looked out of my good eye. “The one thing you didn’t count on was June Sullivan. You made sure no one would find Maryann, and you thought you could buy your way out of it by purchasing this land. But June saw you, just like I see you. You’re a bully and a coward.”

A hysterical laugh bubbled up from my chest. “You were probably right. No one would have found her here, except for the fact that the Department of Natural Resources preserved it as a state park heritage trail. Instead of keeping your head down and your mouth shut, you tried to flex your power, and June made it so that people walked right through it all the time. Thanks to her, you can never know peace, worrying that someone could find out. I bet that’s why you have the Sinclairs checking to make sure nothing washes ashore. But they’re stomping all over Sullivan land to do it.” A hysterical, unhinged laugh cracked out of me.

Russell crowded my space as a frustrated growl tore through him. His face was inches from mine.

I raised my chin in defiance. “Are you going to make me disappear, just like you did to Maryann?”

His face was nearly purple with rage. “You are nothing more than an inconvenience. One who knows too much.”

My breath was shaky. “How could you do it? To your wife? To your children?”

Russell straightened. He brushed off his sleeve as he shook his head and looked down at me. “I have a wife and children, and they certainly don’t live in some fucking tourist trap in Michigan.”

He motioned his chin to signal Bowlegs, who stepped beside me and clamped his hand around my arm.

“No one will miss you when you’re gone. You’re not the first woman to leave a King, and you likely won’t be the last.” He shook his head. “Those kids are just like her. If only they knew their places, none of this would have happened. When you’re a King, you show up, you shut up.” His arms spread, his composure hanging on by a thread as he paced. “And you rake in the benefits of being associated with me. It was simple, really.”

My head shook. I lifted my chin, anger and defiance glittering in my eye as I stared at him. “You let them all believe their mother had abandoned them, but I know the truth. She’s the one who got away from you. I won’t stop. I will spend every day of my life hounding you until I find out the truth about what really happened to her.”

“You want the truth?” Russell’s angry voice boomed into the shadowy forest. “Yes, she knew about my family in Chicago. Yes, she was willing to forgive me and keep my secret, but she was leaving with the children. She was choosing them over the life I would give her.”

His face got redder and angrier, as if he was reliving the betrayal he felt that his mistress would dare choose their children over him. “She just couldn’t let it go. So I silenced her. I choked the life out of her with my bare hands. I watched the light flicker out of her eyes, and when it was done, I laughed.”

His hands were curled into a gnarled shape before he gripped my arm and yanked me forward. Hot, shocked tears welled in my eyes. I pulled at my arm and scoffed at his arrogance despite the intense fear creeping up my back. I resisted as he tried to pull me closer to the water’s edge.

Royal.

My eyes slammed shut. I had to keep going—to see this through to the end. For him. If something were to happen to me, would he believe I’d left him like his mother?

I would never allow that to happen.

My fists clenched and I found my footing. “You went about it all wrong, though.”

I prayed my voice didn’t shake as he shoved me to the ground. Dirt and gravel bit into my knees. “All the power moves, the cloak-and-dagger routine. If it’s all a secret, no one gets to see how smart you really were.”

He loosened his grip and stared down at me as though he was letting my words sink in. Finally, he shrugged and wiped his chin with the back of his hand. “Some things are best left behind the curtain. The public sees what I want them to see. In their eyes, I’m a man who cares deeply about his community.”

Goose bumps tingled across my arms as I summoned every ounce of my strength. “Sure, I get that . . . but the only way to really make an impact—to demonstrate your true strength and prowess—would be to show the world how powerful Russell King really is.”

My stomach somersaulted as my courage grew. “Like, for example, if you were to be live-streamed. Then everyone would see the man you are.”

He looked down at me in confusion. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Russell growled and his head swiveled, sweeping over heavy darkness that seeped through the swaying trees.

“Oh, did I not mention that? Shit, I’m sorry.” I pointed to the small jeweled brooch at my shoulder. In the center was a tiny camera.

Russell’s eyes zeroed in on the camera. He stammered and stumbled two steps backward.

“This thing is really handy.” I shakily got to my feet and planted my hands on my hips. “They make cameras so small these days.”

“You can’t do that.” Russell continued to retreat as panic seeped in. “You cannot record someone without their permission!” His hands were waving wildly. “Nothing I said is admissible.”

I grimaced and scrunched my nose. “Oh, actually you can. Didn’t do your research on that, I guess,” I mocked, bravery filling my soul. “You see, in Michigan you can record a conversation you are a part of without permission of the other individual. You brought me here to talk so . . .” I raised my palms and looked around. “Say hi.”

The crunch of boots on the limestone path grew closer, and my resolve strengthened.

Russell looked at Bowlegs as he pointed at me. “Get her the fuck out of here. Take care of it!”

I glanced at Bowlegs, who didn’t move and only stared at his boss. The hard lines in his face deepened, but he didn’t move toward me.

In his panicked retreat, Russell tripped and fell backward, slamming into the soupy mud. He scrambled to his feet as police officers came into view with their weapons drawn.

“Police! Hands where I can see them!” An officer had her weapon pointed directly at him. Russell turned and ran toward the tree line in an attempt to flee, but the electric crack of a Taser broke through the air. I watched in sick fascination as he crumpled to the ground.

Chaos erupted around us.

From the tree line, my eyes caught sight of Royal running across the limestone path. His gait was hobbled by his cast, but he was laser focused on barreling toward me. His muscles strained as he pushed through the officers. He leaped over a log, and as soon as his arms wrapped around me, I crumpled to my knees and sobbed.