Town Darling Part 25

"Traffic was bad," he scoffed. "I saw Dina along the road with the 'auto club'. She seemed fine, but Diesel's a little p.i.s.sed about the car." He then looked at his deputy and best friend. "You never were good at tying loose ends, Tucker. So I figured I'd help you out. You off my girlfriend; I off yours."

Casey and Grey stared at Vaughn with surprise.

"Really?" Casey gasped. "The mayor's wife and your deputy?" She managed to eye Tucker partially behind her and suddenly grimaced. "Ewe, you slept with your ex-girlfriend's mother! That is so nasty."

"Yeah," Vaughn announced and smirked. "She was surprisingly talkative after I bounced her head off the steering wheel. She was the driving force behind keeping her husband in office. It seems Lance had no clue what she and Tucker had been doing behind his back--in and out of the bedroom."

It seemed out of character for Vaughn to a.s.sault Mrs. Mayor, but he'd obviously had a rough night.

"When she stumbled upon my accident, something she said earlier about Casey's teenage crush on me finally registered. Half the town knew I had a thing for Casey many years ago, but only three people knew about her teenage crush on me. Casey, her mother, and Dina. Abby could only have known that if she read Catherine's journal, which she had stolen from my desk."

Casey stared at Vaughn with surprise and hostility. "She stole my mother's journal? When did you intend to tell me it was stolen?"

Vaughn sharply raised his brows at her. "I think we're getting a little off subject, Casey," he remarked.

She glared her disapproval. "Fine, but we'll finish this discussion later."

"Shut up, both of you!" Tucker appeared enraged while clutching the gun he held to Casey's head. "You won't shoot Abby, Vaughn, but you know I'll do Casey."

There was a tense moment. Casey stared at Vaughn and knew d.a.m.ned well Tucker was right. There was no way Vaughn would ever shoot Mrs. Mayor without being provoked. Casey showed no emotion while staring at Vaughn.

"Shoot him," she announced sternly.

Vaughn stared back at her and appeared stunned. "Are you crazy?" he gasped.

"I'm pretty sure she is," Grey remarked simply while casually leaning against the banister to which he was handcuffed.

"Do it," Casey said firmly.

"Shut up!" Tucker shouted while clutching her shoulder and dug the barrel of the gun into her temple.

Vaughn tensed but didn't take the gun from Abby's head. Casey stared into Vaughn's eyes from across the kitchen.

"There's one bullet in the chamber, but the clip is empty," she quickly informed Vaughn then raised her brows sharply. "Shoot him!"

Tucker suddenly appeared alarmed at the prospect of only having one bullet and aimed the gun at Vaughn. Vaughn shoved Abby aside and shot Tucker in the head as Casey ducked. Tucker's head snapped back as his gun clicked empty. Abby screamed and bolted toward the garage door just past Grey. Grey suddenly kicked her in the chest, throwing her backward. She roughly hit the floor and didn't move. There was a loud thump from upstairs. Mitch.e.l.l tumbled down the stairs, landed roughly at the bottom, and lay unconscious. Ruger casually walked down the steps and a.s.sessed the situation in the kitchen.

Vaughn stared at Ruger with surprise. "Where did you come from?"

"From upstairs," he said innocently while pointing up the steps, "just now." Ruger casually tossed Grey the handcuff keys.

Diesel entered from the living room with Dina just behind him and looked around. "What did I miss?" he asked then eyed Tucker lying on the floor as blood spilled from his head wound.

Dina saw Tucker and gasped with horror.

Diesel nodded his approval and grinned. "Nice shot."

While avoiding the spilling blood, Dina ran past Tucker's lifeless body and toward Grey, who removed the handcuffs. He gathered her into his arms and clung to her while sighing his relief. Vaughn approached the dead man and glared at Casey. She innocently watched him as he picked up the small gun by the barrel.

"Did you know the gun was empty?" he suddenly asked.

Casey casually shrugged, folded her arms across her chest, and maintained an innocent look. "No, I actually thought there was one in the chamber."

"What former Special Forces keeps a gun with a bullet in the chamber but an empty clip?" Vaughn demanded.

All four looked at him while smirking but none responded. His question was silently answered. Vaughn rolled his eyes and shook his head. He crouched down alongside Tucker and unb.u.t.toned his shirt to expose the bulletproof vest. He lightly ran his finger along the indents in the chest of the vest.

"Three indents," Vaughn remarked with a soft sigh. "Same vest he wore two years ago."

"Didn't do him much good tonight," Diesel muttered then grinned.

Vaughn stuck his finger in a hole near the side of the vest and glanced at Casey. "I think this was your handy work. Looks like a .357 Magnum. If he hadn't been wearing, he wouldn't have gotten up when you shot him."

"My shot was a little obstructed," she casually remarked. "If he had stuck his head out though, I would gladly have blown it off."

Vaughn slowly straightened and allowed his eyes to fall on her attire. He casually walked past her and murmured softly, "I like the outfit."

Casey grinned and raised her brows l.u.s.tfully.

Ruger rolled his eyes, turned away, and scoffed, "I'm going to be sick."

Chapter Thirty-one.

One week later. There was a large crowd standing before the stage at the fairgrounds. Just about the entire town had showed up for what would be the turning point in history of their small town. They had been under a cloud of corruption for decades and finally things were going to be different. Grey stood behind the podium as the crowd cheered and applauded. He proudly looked over the cheering crowd while realizing his father's dream. Brandon would have been proud of his son.

"As acting mayor, I'm making a promise to end corruption in our town," Grey announced. He barely got the words out when the crowd cheered wildly.

Ernest was seen off to the side with his three sons. Fred was conspicuously missing. He motioned to his sons and all four walked away.

"And in order to do that," Grey continued from behind the podium, "we need a strong police department. At this time, I'd like to call to the stage our very own Sheriff Holt, who bravely saved mine and Casey's life not once but twice now."

The crowd applauded and cheered as Vaughn made his way onto stage, once again embarra.s.sed by the spotlight. He approached Grey at the podium and shook his hand.

"Mayor Remington," Vaughn cheerfully announced.

Grey grinned in response. "Our town is going to be in the best of hands," he announced to the crowd then looked at Vaughn. "Sheriff Holt, would you please introduce our new deputies."

Vaughn stood behind the podium and looked out to the crowd, who waited anxiously for his announcement. "I'd like the good people of Darwood Falls to meet our new and improved police force," he announced cheerfully. "Please welcome Deputy Diesel Mann and Deputy Ruger Quinn."

Ruger and Diesel walked onto stage in their new police uniforms and badges. The crowd applauded wildly. Vaughn walked down the steps as both men soaked in the attention. Casey rode up to the stage on her gray horse and smiled at Vaughn. He grinned, climbed onto the horse behind her, and they rode across the fairgrounds as he clung to her. Grey watched them leave, smiled proudly, and stepped behind the podium.

"Let's hear it for Sheriff Holt," Grey announced cheerfully and clapped. "My soon-to-be future brother-in-law."

As the crowd cheered, Grey joined Dina offstage and hugged her affectionately. Diesel and Ruger also left stage. Melanie walked past Diesel, gave him a l.u.s.tful smile, and nodded toward the ticket booth. She flashed a box of doughnuts. Diesel grinned and nearly trampled Ruger to get to her and the doughnuts. A group of women approached Ruger and swarmed him. He appeared startled by all the female attention and looked at Grey with Dina.

"Grey, a little help?" Ruger announced.

Grey smiled deviously at him and gave his best royal wave. Casey and Vaughn were seen riding off on her gray horse across the field and out of sight.

Ernest entered the foyer of his mansion with Wayne, Ryan, and Blain following behind. All four appeared disgusted. Wayne slammed the door.

"Now what?" Wayne demanded.

"First, I want that traitorous brother of yours found," Ernest snapped then looked at his watch with a frown. "Lance has some nerve insisting he meet us here."

"I can't believe he resigned as mayor," Ryan snorted and collapsed onto a bench in the hallway. "Then to throw Aunt Abby under the bus like that--"

"I could kill him on that score alone," Ernest scoffed. "If Grey Remington gets his way, I'm going to be broke within a year."

"What can we do?" Blain demanded.

"We're going to finish what Abby and Tucker started," Ernest snapped. "We're going to get rid of those Remington kids once and for all. No kid gloves this time. I want them eliminated."

"That's not as easy as it sounds," Wayne retorted. "They don't roll over easily."

"So, we'll solicit some professional help," Ernest remarked. "I know some people. It won't be cheap, but it'll be worth it. I just need to make a few phone calls."

Blain suddenly sniffed the air and looked around. "Do you smell something?"

The other three looked at him then smelled the air. Ernest shook his head.

"You're imagining things," he remarked.

Blain walked into the living room, smelled the air, and approached the propane fireplace. "It's propane," Blain announced as the others approached. "There's something wrong with the fireplace."

Wayne looked at the coffee table and appeared puzzled. A cigarette rested on the ashtray with a book of matches holding it up.

"What the h.e.l.l--" Wayne began to speak.

The book of matches caught fire and the propane fumes suddenly ignited, turning the entire living room into a ball of fire. From outside Ernest's mansion, there was a loud explosion as the front windows shattered and flames shot out of the house. Wiley stood casually on the sidewalk while watching the flames engulf the front of the house. He looked at the gray cat in his arms, affectionately petted its coat, and continued on his way past the mansion.

The End.

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