Chapter 66

CHAPTER 66

I stood back, keeping an eye on Serena, letting Rose and Poppy do their mother-daughter bonding, re-bonding, whatever it was. I'd only known Poppy a couple of days, but Rose had given birth to her and raised her and I couldn't even begin to imagine the fear she'd felt for her daughter or the relief coursing through her right now. I had to admit that in the darkness of the shop, standing to the side, watching them, I'd felt a kind of relief that I had never experienced on a mission.

Luke's minivan was smashed into the front of Oddities. Yeah, it was a mess, and the crashing and shooting would call attention in any other town. But there'd only been a few unsuppressed shots, and this was Rocky Start. Outside, Pike was flashing his badge and telling the few people who had come to see what was going on that there had been an accident and everything was being taken care of. It wasn't like anyone was going to argue with Pike.

People began drifting away.

It had been a hell of a day and night.

Coral pulled up and Darius got out. She helped Pike disperse the crowd while Darius ran to Poppy. I spotted a familiar figure lurking in the remaining crowd. Junior. He was next to the black SUV .

"Pike!"

He turned and I pointed.

Junior realized he'd been spotted, but he made the smart move, jumping in the open door of the Mercedes and slamming it shut. The keys must have still been in the ignition because he cranked it and accelerated away.

Pike didn't shoot, both because of the people still standing around on State Street and the fact the Mercedes was armored. The taillights disappeared toward the highway. And then Melissa Merriweather pulled up in her hearse.

I turned to ask Rose if she'd called her, but then from behind me, a familiar deep voice said, "Excuse me," and I said, "Oh, fuck ."

Rose said, "What?" Then she saw the guy standing in the kitchen door. "Who the hell are you?"

Herc smiled, tall and slender, wearing a well-cut suit, all dimples and shiny white teeth, trimmed beard and styled gray hair, looking like the perfect male model for erectile dysfunction. The skin on his face was stretched way too tight from plastic surgery. The eyes were the same though: reptilian, taking in everything, calculating, scheming.

"A friend of yours," he said, smiling.

Rose took a step back to stand in front of Poppy as Melissa came through the broken doorway. "I don't think so."

"That's Herc," I said to Rose.

"Definitely not a friend," Rose said.

Herc raised an eyebrow. "You must be Rose." He nodded. "I can see why Max has stayed."

Rose pointed toward the broken front door. "Out, Limb of Satan."

But Herc was already done with her, turning toward Melissa. "Been a long time, Melissa."

"Not long enough," she replied, but I could tell she was shaken by his sudden appearance since she showed emotion for the first time since I'd known her. Fear.

Then Herc looked at Serena, tied on the floor. "I told you to stay away," he said to her, as if chastising a wayward school kid .

"I'm going to destroy you," Serena snarled at him.

Herc slapped her good shoulder, and she shuddered, and I knew what he'd done, the needle carefully hidden in his cupped hand.

And then her eyes rolled back, and it really was all over.