28.
Leah decided to go home and take some of the focus off of Mark. She figured if at least one of them were there to explain things publicly, they wouldn't give Mark too much grief for sticking around. As soon as they were done with lunch she was packed and ready to go.
That left a long, slow, rainy afternoon to kill. Storms had moved in and were expected to stay through the night. Avery honestly couldn't remember how the hell she had spent other days when school was out. Her mind kept going to the night before. She couldn't believe how well she had handled it as it happened. Too bad the aftermath was shaking her so badly. She supposed that was normal though.
Mark was handling it much better. Of course, he had more to keep him occupied. Rogers called several times to update him on the progress of questioning the deputies. And Avery could tell it was just about killing Mark to hear about it all second-hand.
"You know, I have a babysitter installed. You can go to the station." They state cops were working out of the sheriff's station for the time being. It was a closer base of operations.
"I said I wasn't going to leave you. And I'm not."
"You wouldn't be leaving. You'd be ten minutes away." Avery pointed out. It was sweet he wanted to stay but honestly, his relentless pacing was setting her nerves on edge. "I might go see dad anyway. Let him know what's going on so he doesn't worry. Unless you want to go with me..." Avery left it hanging there.
Mark had looked at her for a minute, frowning thoughtfully. "I've met your dad."
"Right. 20 years ago. Before we started whatever this is. He already knows we've been seeing each other. Don't tell me he still intimidates you after all this time."
"No." But he had the start of a smile on his lips. "Maybe a little."
"You'll have to face him eventually." Avery smirked. In the end, she talked Mark into going down to the station. He needed to keep busy, and work, and they were willing to let him join in. She thought he'd be wasting an opportunity if he didn't take it.
Her assigned trooper was a young guy name Tom Cooper. Avery told him about her plan of going to her dad's and he offered to drive her so he wouldn't have to follow her out there. She couldn't find a reason to argue with him. Tom kept up chatter during the short drive. Asking her questions about her dad, his place. She got that he was fishing for information to help keep an eye on things, and appreciated the approach.
"You want to come in?" Avery asked when they got to the house. Tom was looking around the wooded lot, taking in the view of the lake to the back. It was nearly dusk. The rain had made it a bit darker than normal. There wouldn't be any fancy sunset over the lake that night. Her dad's car was parked right by the front porch. It meant he was home. Avery hadn't expected him to be gone. He usually stuck close to house unless the school board was having a meeting.
"Nah. Can't keep an eye on things in a closed space. I'll be right out here. Gonna do a walk around, get to know the place."
Avery nodded and headed around the house. Normally Ted would be on the back deck reading, but not with the rain falling steadily. Avery went to the door and let herself in. "Hey Dad!" She called out, glancing around the kitchen. Other than the tick of the clock it was pretty quiet. Ted tended to like it that way. He didn't usually bother with the TV unless it was raining and he was watching a movie. But there was no TV noise. No lights were on either. The light was gray through the house. The power wasn't out. She could hear the hum of the fridge and the soft thump of the air conditioning kicking on.
"Dad?" Avery called again as she went into the living room. Something cold pressed into the side of her neck as she moved past the fridge and paused in the doorway.
"Afternoon, Ms. Landry." Walls was standing there, small handgun pointed at her throat. Avery looked back at him, somehow utterly unsurprised. Like part of her had been expecting this. She figured it had to be shock again.
"Where's my dad?" Avery asked. Walls smiled but it didn't touch his eyes.
"Don't you worry about that. You've brought a lot of trouble into my town."
"I can't take all the credit for that. You helped." Avery couldn't believe that sarcasm was once again rearing its head. She blamed it on being tired. She knew she was provoking him but couldn't seem to help it. She also couldn't let herself think about her dad. She needed to stay focused.
"True. And it was a good long run, wasn't it? Too bad, I don't see a way out if it now." Walls sighed but it was done more for dramatic effect. "I already know there's no way out of here for me. You could holler for the kid that drove you in to come help, but I'll shoot you for the effort. Then maybe shoot him when he comes in. More likely scenaria, he'll end up killing me because he's younger and faster. I could just let you walk out of here..." He waited to see her response. Avery merely looked at him, expression unchanged. "If I thought you'd take your trooper friend and go, and not tell anybody I was here, I would do it. But we both know better."
"And that's not what you what. So..." Avery dragged the word out.
"What I want..." He emphasized the word by poking her in the neck with the cold barrel of the gun. "If for you to call Calaway. Get him down here. Then I can end them for all of us."
"What is your problem with him, anyway?"
"Just need to finish teachin' that snot nosed brat a lesson. One I thought he learned a long time ago." Walls was looking at her again. Studying her. "You really don't know, do you?"
"Don't know what?" Avery braced for it. Whatever it is, Walls meant to use it to shock her. Which meant she could already assume it would not be true.
"We wanted Calaway to be one of us, of course. Took him through all the steps. Toughened him up. And then on the night of his first kill, he folded like a cheap suit. Went runnin' to you, didn't he?" Walls snorted. "Figured. Always tended to be somethin' of a momma's boy. Which is why we picked her for him to take out."
To her credit, Avery didn't even raise an eyebrow. She refused to take the bait, to fall for it. "He won't come out here."
"Of course he will. If you ask him nicely." At the word he slid the gun down her skin until it was pressed, hard, against the side of her breast.
"I did ask him. Nicely." Avery mimicked his tone. "He has to go back to Houston."
Walls tilted his head and stared at her. That empty, nobody home stare again. "Lyin' doesn't suit you, Ms. Landry." He spat the name out at her.
"I'm not lying. His bosses told him he had to. For press conferences or publicity or something."
"I know better. He's in town. Questioning some of the deputies."
"He might be. All I know is that he left an hour before I did. I didn't get his itenarary."
"Let's find out, shall we?" Walls wasn't wavering. He wouldn't believe it until he heard it himself. "Consider yourself under arrest, Ms. Landry. You get one phone call. Fuck it up, I will shoot you in the head. I don't want to." At that he dragged the gun up along the side of her breast to rest on her neck again. "Guns aren't really my purview. A little too impersonal. But at least Calaway would hear you die. Which will have the same effect to get him here if you ask my opinion. So play nice. I just want Calaway. You...I'll let you walk away as soon as he gets here."
"Now look who's lying." Avery said softly. "Call him yourself. You honestly think he won't show up here once he knows where you are?" She knew Walls wouldn't do that. He wanted to have the element of surprise on his side. And he couldn't very well do that if he were the one issuing the undeclinable invitation to Mark.
"Mm. And bring down the state police on my head? I'm not quite ready for that." Again the gun moved and pressed into her breast. Avery frowned but didn't make a noise as he dug the barrell into her. "Last chance, Ms. Landry. The phone is right there on the table. I know Calaway keeps a cell phone on him."
Avery glanced over her shoulder at the kitchen table. Sure enough, her dad's cordless was there. Probably because Walls had put it there in anticipation. She doubted he'd had time to check the place to make sure there wouldn't be any surprises. She knew of one that Ted kept handy. Nothing so helpful as a gun though. But if she was fast enough it just might help.
And lord help her, she couldn't help but mess with him again. It was like she was being controlled by an outside force.
"Couple of things you might want to consider, Travis." She would have smiled at the way his eyes narrowed when she used his name. "First, the trooper outside is going to think it's weird that my dad and I would sit here in the dark for so fucking long." She could see the way that observation hit him. And while he was distracted, she slid a hand along the wall, behind the fridge, and felt her fingers brush smooth wood. Some things never changed. While her dad hadn't minded guns, Suzanne had absolutely refused to have them in the house. So Ted had compromised. Kind of. Avery wrapped her fingers around the handle of the baseball bat that her dad had tucked behind the fridge, just in case it would come in handy.
Walls was reaching for the light switch over his shoulder. Avery didn't give him time to flick it. As soon as the gunshifted and moved off of her breast, she pulled the bat out from its hiding spot and turned, swinging it upward. She wouldn't have time for a proper swing but she figured if she could put enough energy into it...
There was a satisfying, solid thump as the bat struck the underside of the wrist that held the gun. Walls cried out hoarseley and impusively squeezed, firing off a shot. Avery would have sworn she felt the wind from the bullet as it went wide, missing her by inches, blowing out one of the living room windows. She had hoped he'd drop the gun but his instinct to hold on had won out. She didn't give him time to correct. She took off running for the back door.
