Chapter 18

18

"There was someone out in that tree line on the front of the property," Coy spoke as they gathered around the outdoor table, recounting the recent events while Kenzie and Charlotte tended to Glen's wounds.

"That's the fella over there on the ground." Glen motioned towards the man he had shot outside the barn while holding an ice pack to his head.

"He's the one who grabbed you from the hospital?" Nash asked.

"Y-yes. He is." Glen recounted the event, his voice strained with emotion. "You have evidence? I'm going to need it to prove this was a lawful kill."

"There's a video, yes," Coy said.

"You see him clearly?" Glen asked.

Nash nodded, "Sure do."

"That's a relief." Glen sighed.

"You said you killed Owen Bridges," Coy inquired, "Where's the body."

"Out there in the barn." Glen hung his head in shame, "I-I didn't want it to come to that. I thought I'd get the upper hand and this could end peacefully. I guess I just keep forgetting I'm out of practice and not the spritely deputy I once was."

"He's… in your barn?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm so sorry, Charlotte. I don't mean to sound so cold and crass answering these questions." Glen said, taking her hand between his, "Your daddy was a good man once. A damn good man. Sometimes, the world gets its grips on the best of them, and it's an unfortunate thing. I'd like to think of the good times. Maybe we should postpone the questioning, Coy. I hate to be insensitive."

"It's fine." Charlotte said, wearing a brave face, "I'll be fine. We need to get to the bottom of all this and put it all to rest. What about that Steele fella?"

"I have no idea where Ellis Steele is." Glen admitted, "I suppose in the wind, and that means we are all in danger until we find him and end him too. He will not stop until he gets what he wants otherwise."

"You're staying out at the Stone ranch with the rest of us," Kenzie informed.

"I couldn't do that. I'll be fine here," Glen informed.

"By yourself? Not a chance." Kenzie scolded. "You're coming with us, and that's final."

"Glen, it really is the best option." Coy said, "We can protect you and keep an eye on you while you're healing."

"Well, I suppose that would make things easier, huh?" Glen chuckled. "Okay. I'll give you this. I know I can be a bit stubborn, but I won't be on this issue. I'll be able to keep an eye on y'all myself. There was nothing more terrifying than thinking he'd already gotten to you and hurt or killed each of you like he promised."

"You really think Steele will stick around?" Coy asked.

"Definitely. There's a lot of money to be made here. You know what he's doing with all this land in our rural, off- the-beaten-path county? Growing poppies." Glen shared, but nobody said a word or acknowledged the fact that they already knew, "You know what that means, don't you? He's into the drug trade. Manufacturing out in these random barns in the middle of nowhere and shipping it south of the border. Dealing with some really dangerous people down there."

"You know this for a fact?" Coy asked.

"I do." Glen said, "He told me so. You know how it goes when you got one by the balls, and they know their timer is about to ding –– they spill their guts. Told me everything."

"Including where we might find Steele?" Coy quizzed.

"That he didn't share, unfortunately. I think we're going to have to find him ourselves. A good old-fashioned manhunt." Glen said. "I believe he holds the keys to the kingdom. Knows where all the bodies are buried, so to speak, and where the money is."

"He's valuable."

"Sounds like he's the key to cracking this thing wide open now that Bridges is out of the way." Glen rested his face in his hands for a moment, then ran them down his face as he contemplated his words. "I hope I did the right thing. I grilled him the best I could, but when he came at me the way he did… I was tired, growing weak. They'd gotten a good beat down on me already. It was kill or be killed, and I couldn't go out like that –– not with the information I had. I needed to get it to you, Kenzie."

"Did you, now?" From the shadows emerged a familiar voice echoing in the distance.

Coy rose to his feet, weapon at the ready, aiming in the direction of the unmistakable voice, seemingly resurrected to haunt them once more. The others mirrored his stance, and Diesel positioned himself at the forefront, crouching low with bared teeth as he emitted a menacing growl.

"Daddy," Charlotte murmured, her weapon dropping slightly in shock and disbelief at the sight of her father, bleeding out, shot but alive. Yet, she quickly regained her composure, realigning her weapon to target her father with steely resolve.

"Charlotte, honey. I'm sorry I put you through this."

"Murder? You're sorry you put me through that? Killing our friends and neighbors for… land? Drugs? Money?"

"It's not what you think, sweetheart." Owen said, "I've been working this case right along with you, just from a distance."

"A distance? Really?" Charlotte chuckled maniacally, "Is that what you call all this? Working a case?"

"Tell them, Glen." Owen challenged with his weapon solely fixed on Glen Stoddard. "Tell them the truth –– the whole truth."

"I have. They know everything, you treasonous son of a bitch."

"No, you told them your version –– tell them the truth, I said. The one about how you found Ellis Steele and recruited him a decade ago. Used your position as Sheriff to conspire to kill, cheat, and steal. And how you killed all your friends but me…"

"You were never my friend," Glen said. "You're delusional."

"Really? Never your friend?" Owen chuckled, "It was the four of us growing up. You, George, Ben, and… me. You see, I remember those days clearly. They haunt me constantly because I knew better than to let you off the hook like we did back then, and I've been paying the price with deep-seated guilt ever since. I know what you did, Stoddard."

"Glen, what's he talking about?" Coy asked, eerily calm and unsurprised.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure, you do. The night of the branding."

"The picture," Devyn muttered. "Owen was in it too."

Glen whipped his head in Devyn's direction, "What picture?"

"The one I planted in Lilah's things." Owen smiled. "Surprised you didn't find it when you went through her journals."

Devyn wore a look of disgust, "You went through our mother's journals?"

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about," Glen claimed.

"Coy," Owen said, "I'm going to reach inside my jacket and pull out something you all might want to see. I'd be mighty obliged if you'd hold your fire while I do so. You are in no danger, not from me. I have snipers surrounding this place to keep you all safe. We're just here for old Glen."

"He's right," Rip said, approaching from just beyond the hedges, his gun aimed right at Glen. "You all need to hear this."

"Rip?" Devyn questioned. "You're… with Owen? You double-crossed us?"

"Let them talk, Dev," Coy warned.

"Kenzie?" Glen pleaded. "What's going on, honey?"

"I-I don't know, Uncle Glen. Let's hear what he has to say."

Anger filled Glen's expression, and he whipped his gun in Devyn's direction, finger on the trigger. "You do anything stupid, and that one won't be going home tonight."

"Lower your weapon, Stoddard," Rip yelled.

"You first, you fucking thug."

Kenzie's shoulders sank, "Uncle Glen…"

"Don't you see? He's setting me up. Bridges is the backbone of this drug ring, and he's trying to pin it on me. Aren't you, Owen?"

Owen slowly pulled his hand from his jacket, holding a leather-bound journal just like the one Lilah had kept.

"Tell them what's in here, Glen." Owen seethed. "Then tell them why you stole it from her."

"You're a lying piece of shit, Owen. I will not confess to your sins."

"I didn't ask you to… I asked you to tell them why you killed their fathers, their mother, and tried to kill me, then cover it all up."

Gasps filled the space as Owen's words told a story none of them had been expecting.

"I did no such thing, and you can't prove it. I, however, can prove it was all you. Starting with the dead body out by my barn, and there's a trail of others that back up my story."

"Dead body by the barn. You mean Tucker, the man I planted in your organization that you thought was double-crossing me as a dirty security agent?"

"What are you talking about?" Glen asked, coming completely unhinged.

"He was undercover. Wow, you really are losing your touch. I've been trying to nail your ass for years, and I am so glad I'm a patient man. Now, there can be justice for what you did to these families and this county."

"Fuck off, Owen. You're all talk. I haven't heard a single word about what you think you have on me. Just a bunch of bullshit banter. You don't have shit."

"You killed my father?" Kenzie asked. "Your twin brother –– you killed him?"

"No, honey. He's… Can't you see… he's desperate, he's reaching here." Glen pleaded.

"The journal?" Devyn asked.

"I've never seen that in my life. Didn't even know Lilah journaled." Glen answered.

"Finally, a truth." Owen chuckled. "You see, he didn't know about Lilah's journals until you told him about them, Devyn."

"I told him?" Devyn inquired.

"The night he came over to tell you about Tommy. You see, you were all getting far too close when you found his remains and the story he gave you… it was only half true. Tommy did attack your mother, but it wasn't your father who shot him. It was Glen. They didn't cover it up to protect Ben. They covered it up to protect Glen."

"How do you know this?" Devyn whispered tearfully.

"Because I was there. For all of it. I refused to take part in protecting him though ––I did it for Lilah. I knew Lilah before I knew Ben. Our mamas were best friends. She's the reason I became friends with him and the twins, as we all called them. She was like a sister to me."

"The journal tells you the whole story. Lilah's journal was kept in an area that suffered a flood, resulting in extensive damage to its contents. To preserve the information, she spent the last year meticulously documenting everything in a new journal, ensuring that you would know the events that transpired after her passing."

"They were damaged. You couldn't have known that unless…"

"Unless I knew about the journals. Your Mama journaled from the time she could read and write until the day she died. When you mentioned them around the firepit with Glen that night, he panicked. He knew what was in there because there was no way she'd not write about the biggest secret of all… So, he stole it. The night of the murders in the garden when he set up Nora. That wasn't even part of his plan. It just worked to his benefit. You were all distracted, and it worked out for him."

"Tell them, Glen. Tell them why you didn't want them to know the truth."

"I told them the truth. They know about Tommy."

"No, tell them the rest."

"Uncle Glen?" Kenzie begged. "Please."

"I found that journal here, on the ranch. He hid it on the boat, where you'll find the remains of Ellis Steele wrapped in plastic and duct tape. The journal was going out to sea with Glen and Ellis where it would have been buried at the bottom of the ocean with God knows how many other corpses, including Steele's." Owen seethed. "The thing in this journal he couldn't let you figure out was that your Mama took out a large loan she couldn't afford, bought land she didn't need, and grew crops she didn't even know about because this bastard blackmailed her."

"Uncle Glen." Kenzie pleaded. "Please say it isn't true."

"Rip?" Coy questioned.

"It's all true and verified. I followed a series of leads, and I was able to confirm all of it." Rip said. "Including Steele's death and whereabouts, the other murders and deed transfers, the drug ring, and the pharmaceutical receipts we found. Owen was able to give me the rundown. It was the missing piece to the puzzle he'd already put together… he used those pharmaceuticals to advance his plans and grow his business by obtaining lands left in trusts to him. Those murders include Ben Stone, George Stoddard, and Emily Bridges."

"My mother," Charlotte stated.

"I've been suspicious for a long time and never quite had what I needed to bring him and his crime ring to its knees until now. Every time I got close, I had to pull back and find a new way because I didn't want it to come back on you kids or Delilah."

"You were protecting her and us," Devyn said.

"Honey, I have been for years. I've watched you all grow up and kept you safe from the sidelines the best I could. Delilah and Ben Stone are the best friends I've ever had. It was the least I could do. Lilah and I, well, we had a standing weekly coffee date that would always end a lunch date for years. And when she fell ill, we still made time in those final days. I promised her to see this through."

Glen clapped his hands slowly, "Wow, hand this guy an Oscar. That was… beautiful. I'd say a large percentage of that was true, except you have the wrong guy. This is nothing but a desperate attempt to deflect blame and responsibility and smear my name to try and salvage yours. Owen, fess up. Tell them what you did."

"Coy, I'm having a real hard time trying to figure out who the bad guy is here," Nash said. "Who should I have in my crosshairs, brother?"

"Son, I've been particularly hard on you." Owen said to Nash, "And this here is why. I knew this day would come, and I wanted Charlotte far away from it because I knew it would end in a blood bath. I know you're a good man, son. You're the spitting image of Ben at your age, and he was one of the best men I knew."

"Then why weren't you around?" Nash asked, finding Owen's story suspicious. "I don't have a single memory of you from back then or in recent years, for that matter."

"Because of this man. Or should I say coward because of what he did and how he liked to drag people down with him? Look what he did to your daddy, son. I stayed away to protect what was left of my family so someone would be around to protect yours when the time came."

"Yet, I've been the one seeing that these kids grew up with a male figure in their lives and supported Lilah through the ups and downs that came with being a single mother and a rancher." Glen shrugged. "Are they really supposed to believe that the man who was a constant in their lives is the monster and the man they barely knew was their savior?"

"I'm not trying to convince them of anything other than to trust their mother." Owen held up the journal. "They know her words, and they know her heart. This journal tells them everything. They'll make their own decision. The evidence at this point is indisputable."

"How much more of this monologuing martyr shit are we going to have to endure?" Glen seethed. "It's getting old and fast. Kenzie, you need to arrest this man. I'm sure you have all the evidence you need now, given all I shared."

"You did seem to have quite a bit of… evidence," Coy said. "Pretty fast investigation."

Kenzie turned to Coy, surprised by his insinuation, "Coy?"

"There's more… evidence, Sheriff," Rip's tone carried accusation as he delivered the information. Rip shifted his gaze briefly to Devyn. "A lot more."

Glen laughed boisterously, "There's more? Oh, I can't wait to hear this."

"Owen is the reason we found Lucy's remains." Rip shared.

"I-I don't understand." Devyn stammered.

"I told Coy to let me know if he needed my help or resources that day out at the ranch and at my place. He took me up on it." Owen admitted with a devilish smirk.

Coy nodded, "We had to keep it quiet to protect Owen and his people while they did some of the digging. We couldn't because we knew we had eyes on us. We needed it to play out just like this."

"Revealing Lucy was the ace in my pocket. I didn't want you to find out the way you did, Devyn… that she was your biological mother, but it had to happen to stop all of this once and for all. I knew Coy and Rip needed that bit of evidence, too."

"We recovered DNA from the burial sites, and ballistics from both Tommy and Lucy match and the ballistics from the two men found on our ranch match one another. Both sets belong to weapons registered to Glen. He's probably got one of the guns in his hand right now. I'm sure the other will turn up with a thorough search." Rip shared.

"The truth is," Owen said, "Lucy was also here the night Tommy was killed. When Tommy didn't come home, she came looking for him and saw Glen shoot him. She confronted him, threatened him, and even attacked him in a grief-filled fury. That's when he shot her, too. To silence her. He convinced everyone that it had to be done, or they'd all go to prison, even Lilah. So, we kept the secret."

"That's the boldest story yet, Bridges. Did you just now make that up?" Glen shook his head. "You're getting desperate."

"Lilah ran out in the dark, looking for Lucy's car because she kept screaming something about a baby to Glen. Lilah found you, Devyn. She found you in the car up the road from the ranch." Owen shared, "That changed everything. We had to protect you, Devyn."

"And how on earth do you plan to prove all of this?" Glen asked.

"Lucy's car is at the bottom of the lake behind your property, Glen," Rip added, earning a grin from Owen.

"In the lake?" Glen questioned. "How on earth… This was you, Owen. This was all you."

"I had no idea where the car was, just that you'd taken care of it," Owen said. "That's not even the worst of it, though, is it, Glen? Do you want to tell Devyn, or should I?"

"Tell her what?" Glen chided. "What more can you possibly concoct at this point? It's already pretty unbelievable."

"Tell her you found the money, Glen. Her money." Owen grinned.

"Money?" Devyn asked.

"Tommy might have found himself in trouble often, but Lucy wasn't," Rip said. "She just fell in love with someone from the wrong side of the tracks and had a child with him. Your mother was the sole heir of an affluent oil family. She was worth quite a bit of money. Money that's just been sitting there all these years, in a trust. Glen found it and led us right to it."

"I have… money?" Devyn shook her head, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"That's how he wanted it," Owen said. "The walls are closing in on him, and he wanted a faster way out of here. He found your money, and he's slowly been funneling it out of your trust and into his bogus accounts, trying to bury it so it can't be found and he can drift off into the sunset on his damn boat and live happily ever after and not have to answer to the cartel ever again."

"I-I think I'm with Glen on this one. That seems…"

Rip reached out and swiped away the tear racing down her cheek, "It's true. I saw it for myself. He's been stealing from you, from your family, and blackmailed your mother for millions of dollars she didn't even have, all because he got into business with people way above his head. He was going to start selling off the properties, funnel the money in that dummy shell corporation, wipe out your trust, and kill the last few loose ends that are standing right here. That's why he killed Steele. So he could run and not have any ties anywhere. Untraceable and in the wind before his bosses were any wiser."

"Dev," Coy spoke calmly, aiming to appeal to his sister and the others grappling with the horrific and evil revelation, "He's telling the truth. Saw it all with my own eyes. We just couldn't tell you guys what was going on until we knew for sure. We were too close, and this was too dangerous."

"Devyn," Owen interrupted, offering the final detail that was sure to sell them all on the truth, "The name of Glen's boat is… Blue Horizon."

She gasped, tears spilling over, and Devyn swiftly turned her weapon on Glen. "You son of a bitch. It's true. It's all true."

Glen slumped his shoulders and tried to appeal to Devyn as desperate and honest, "You don't understand…"

"Oh, I understand perfectly well. There was one piece missing all along, and it was who was behind the last dummy corporation stealing all that money. The company name was Blue Horizon. You lying son of a bitch. You killed our mother, too, didn't you? The extra morphine and other drugs… she wasn't terminal. You killed her."

Glen's expression morphed into something both menacing and maniacal, "You spoiled, self-righteous little bitch. You think you have it all figured out, don't you? You don't know the half of it. None of you do, or just how deep half this town is in bullshit."

"We do, actually," Coy warned. "We have a task force, thanks to Owen, making arrests as we speak."

"Uncle Glen…"

"You're the Sheriff, Kenzie. Do something. Get us out of here. Don't you see? Owen is trying to lay this on us because we go too close to his truth."

"No." She murmured softly, shaking her head, overwhelmed with emotion. "It's over. You're lying."

"Kenzie…"

"I said no. You don't get to manipulate me any more than you already have. You were all that I had left, and you tried to have me killed? That was you, behind the attack at the station, wasn't it?" she said. "It's all making sense now."

Glen held up a hand, "Honey, come on now. It's me. Your Uncle Glen. I've been like a second father to you."

"Because you killed mine. He was working with Owen, wasn't he? He figured it out, and you had to stop him."

"Your daddy wasn't friends with Owen any more than I was," Glen said. "It was Owen…"

"It was you, Glen." Kenzie tearfully said, "You know how I know? Besides all the overwhelming evidence? You left the hospital in a gown, and you're fully dressed in fresh clothing. What kidnapping victim is returned to their home so they can change real quick? You didn't think that through."

"My ass was flying out of that thing. He threw clothes at me and…"

"And the jacket. You wore that jacket in the picture with Steele. The one that's hanging in his office. I thought it was my father, but it was you."

"Owen is in plenty of pictures with Steele…"

"I sure was. He was ready to flip on you." Owen said, "But then you probably already know that. That's why you killed him. Same as everyone else that got too close to the truth and threatened the empire."

"Glen. It's over." Kenzie said. "The only honest thing out of your mouth is that Steele was the one who shot you, but only because he knew you were there to kill him. Stop. Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

When Glen laughed, there was something sinister about it, as if the truth swirled in every evil chuckle. "Good luck with that. You won't get off this property alive, and that task force will never find me. You're all sitting ducks caught in the crosshairs. You think you have snipers planted on the property? I have more."

Glen raised his hand and made a signal, prompting red lasers to appear, marking targets on each of them.

Coy mimicked Glen, making a similar gesture and suddenly all of the lasers shifted and it was Glen in their crosshairs.

"Game over, Glen," Coy said, stepping in front of Kenzie protectively, shielding her from stray bullets and the impending bloodbath.

"Over my… dead… body." He proclaimed as he whipped his gun in Devyn's direction, a seething look on his face, and he fired.

Rip rushed to her, pushing her out of the way, but Diesel beat him to her, lunging in the air toward Glen, taking the bullet meant for Devyn. Diesel yelped, writhing in pain.

Amidst pure pandemonium, gunfire erupted, echoing across the space. Glen, unfazed, turned his weapon on everyone in his path — Coy, Nash, Charlotte, Owen, Rip, and even Kenzie. Despite being repeatedly hit by snipers hidden in plain sight, Glen continued firing, inflicting damage until a fatal shot to the head from Coy's weapon finally stopped him, and he fell to the ground among the sea of bodies he was responsible for.

A bloodbath, indeed.