Epilogue

Epilogue


VD gave us one last glare before heading up the hidden stairs into the house. Elle and I exchanged looks. I pursed my lips.

“I’ll stay down here like I promised. But no way am I sitting on this tainted couch.” I stood up with a snicker. “Lets go get my furniture from the barn.”

Elle nodded like the good side kick she was. We opened the door into the hidden trauma room. Looking back over our shoulder to make sure VD wasn’t waiting for this move, we went on inside. Snickering again, we slid open the door that lead to the tunnel.

We stepped inside it and closed the door. Facing the tunnel, we turned on our camera flashlights.

SCREAM

“Ladies.” Jackson was leaning with his back against the cinder block wall. His arms crossed against his chest, long wrangler covered legs stretched out in front of him. Stetson pulled low. From our viewpoint, he looked like the cut out of a cowboy. “Going somewhere?”

He straightened, using a single finger to push the rim of his Stetson up where it belonged. Both of us smacked him on the arm.

“Hey!” He moved to protect himself. “Chief warned me you two had no respect for law enforcement, but dude!”

“What are you doing in here?” I asked with clenched teeth, smacking him again.

“Vince asked me to make sure you didn’t sneak out.” He loomed over us. “Now, I’m going to have to ask you to return to the safety of the basement.”

He extended an arm towards the wall with the hidden door. We shook our heads. “Nope. Not sitting on the couch my ghost mother has been getting busy on with that tramp’s great uncle!”

He blinked at us then asked what our plan was. Once we explained we weren’t escaping, just redecorating, he agreed to help. So long as we stayed inside the barn office. We agreed. The three of us traipsed up the tunnel to the barn.

My thighs burned as we climbed the ramp to bring us up to ground level. I so needed to get in better shape or get Markus dealt with. Preferably getting Markus off the street. Panting, from the climb, we reached the barn office. Once inside we took stock of my furniture.

We decided quickly that the couch was going to be heavy to move down there. Thankfully I had noticed some furniture dollies in the storage stall. Jackson went and fetched it for us since we couldn’t leave the room. He quickly returned with three of them.

We loaded the couch on two of them and the armchair on one. Stacked my tables on the couch and then went back into the tunnel. It was so much easier going downhill. Once back inside the basement, Jackson loaded the old furniture on the dollies to take to the barn.

“Ladies.” He tipped his hat at us. “It would be a shame if something happened to such lovely ladies. Please stay in here until it’s safe.”

With a nod, we closed the door after him to the trauma room. I went to the jukebox and put it on random so we could have some music to work to. Smiling, we began to arrange the furniture around the space. I loved that my expensive leather set wasn’t going to be in the barn. It looked so much nicer than the man couches Pops had but in here. As we worked, we chatted.

“Can you believe we got busted sneaking out because a deputy needed a doughnut?” I shook my head as I frowned at the current placement. “How cliché.”

“What in Jake Day Hill are you talking about?” Elle looked at me in confusion.

I explained about her being busted at the Fuel Up getting the kolaches. How one of the deputies doing drive bys had seen her and alerted VD that we were sneaking out. All though to be fair, I didn’t know it was going to be a we situation at the time.

She scoffed and put her hands on her curvy hips. “We got out clean!”

“But-“ I started. She cut me off with a huff.

“I sent Max!” She put the table she was moving around down with a little more force than necessary. “I knew if I was spotted out and about at that time of day it would be sus. Max still goes there in the middle of the night, especially when he’s going fishing.”

She went on to explain that she had waited for him to come back with the goodies to their house, which was only a street over. They shared a fence with VD. Once Max brought her the treats, she had snuck through the shadows to get to my house unseen. No cars had come by and no lights had been on other than VD’s. She shook her head. “We got out clean.”

We were standing there squinting at each other when we heard the door from the house slide open. Turning with our arms crossed, we saw VD coming in carrying bags of food.

“Dinner time for the prisoners!” He called as he crossed to the bar without really looking at us. Fool.

As soon as the food was safe, Elle had that boy by his ear. She had to stretch given she was just under six foot and he was six three.

“OW OW OW!” He cried as she tugged him over to me by his earlobe. “You are assaulting a law enforcement officer!”

“Nope. I’m forcing a naughty boy to tell the truth.” She shoved him towards the corner where the jukebox was in. “Tell the truth.”

“About what?” He was rubbing his ear, looking sullen. “When did you get so mean, Bells?”

“You lied to Tosh!” She admonished a finger at him. “I didn’t go to the Fuel Up. Max did.”

VD froze with his hand still on his abused ear. Then he grinned. I wanted to slap his smug face. He started guffawing so hard he doubled over.

“When did you know we left?” I demanded as I stepped towards him. The urge to smack his round Lego shaped head was strong.

He managed to speak between laughs. “When I brought breakfast over and no one was here. Betty was gone too.”

Elle and I looked at each other. In sync we nodded. We would be getting payback. Best we do not try anything while we were in lock down. Haughtily, we turned from him to go accept his food offerings. At least he was good for something.

As we sat down to eat, I causally asked him how he got Leon here so fast. He snickered and told us he had called in a favor to get the job moved to the top of the list.

Oh yeah, we were totally flooding his house.