Page 68 of Homicide in Water Creek

The pressure on the gun eased visibly, and Keene’s finger searched for a pulse on Jackson. King noticed he caressed Jackson’s neck as his hand fell away. “He’s alive, but we need to get him help.”

“We need to wake him so he can sign the damn paperwork. Why couldn’t Vonita leave well enough alone? She made a mess of this. Now I have to clean it up.” He pointed his gun at Jacks. “You, Miss Sassy Pants. Sign the paperwork now, and you walk away. Simple as that. You’ll be under my protection for the rest of your life. No one can hurt you once you sign these papers.”

“She’s under my protection for the rest of her life,” King ground out. “Now, put the guns down and stop hurting people. We’ll sign the damn paperwork.”

“Ah, a smart and noble lawman. Don’t run into those very often. I’m glad you understand that no one can hurt you while Palatino Parenti has you under his wing.” Jackson moaned, drawing Parenti’s attention. “Come on, old man. Wakey wakey,” he sang, the gun still on Keene but not pressed as hard against his head. “We need you to wake up!” he yelled.

Everyone in the room jumped. King swallowed down the bile in the back of his throat. This had to end. One way or the other before someone ended up dead.

“Why this land?” King asked, trying to distract Parenti. “There is plenty of land for sale around here. Why do you need mine?”

“Location, location, location, my dear Watson,” Parenti said, kicking Jackson’s chair.

Jackson was holding the side of his head, blood dripping through his hair, turning the white a nasty red.

“This land is a literal gold mine. So much copper and trillium in this soil. Money and jobs galore for the people of this town. What more could you want?”

“My land untouched by assholes,” King said through clenched teeth. “But we’ll sign the paperwork because it’s not worth our lives. First, I want to know why Vonita was killed. She was never going to convince Keene to sign the paperwork. They couldn’t stand each other. He probably would have shot her on sight.”

Palatino grinned, revealing his creepy, sharp teeth. He was taking great pleasure in it all, and it made King’s blood boil. King did want to know how Vonita was involved, but he was also buying time until Maverick arrived.

“I killed her because it was fun. It was messy, and she took forever to die, but watching the lights go out in that bitch’s eyes was a pleasure.”

“So you knew my mother,” King said.

“Intimately,” Parenti agreed, that creepy smile back on his lips. “We met at my Vegas casino several years ago. She loved the glitz and glam of Hollywood, so it was easy to wine and dine her there. She told me about her kid back in Wisconsin and how proud she was of him. He was a small-town sheriff, but he’d been raised right. It didn’t take long to learn that the ranch he’d been raised on was worth billions.”

“Your mistake was leaving her here for me to find,” King hissed the moment he saw movement to his left.

“I don’t make mistakes—”

“But you do,” Maverick said from behind Parenti, his gun pressed against Parenti’s head. “You forgot to pay attention to your surroundings.”

“Put the gun down, or I’ll call my men in here to take you out.”

“Your men are being arrested. So are you,” Maverick said.

Parenti snorted. “You do know who I am, right?”

King smiled. “You came to the wrong town, Parenti.”

“Put the guns down,” Maverick repeated.

“Sheriff Joe Nash of the Wellspring Sheriff Department!” Joe yelled as he stepped into the room from the basement entrance. Chino’s head swung toward the door. “Put the guns down now!”

King saw it but couldn’t stop it. Chinos swung his gun toward Maverick and fired.

“Gun!” he yelled as shots filled the room. Then nothing. Just silence and the scent of gunpowder.

Staring at the carnage in the room, King knew one thing was true. They should have signed the papers and walked away.

“Hey, baby,” King said as she opened her eyes. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Jacks mumbled, her mouth full of cotton. He offered her a drink, and she swallowed, shifting her head to look out the window. “It’s still dark.”

“I may have exaggerated the morning part. It’s 2 a.m.”

As though everything that had happened came rushing back, she grabbed his arm. “Granddaddy!”