Page 88 of Jonny’s Redemption

“Yeah. I think he took her before Clifford could get to her.”

“Playing hero?”

Jonny inhaled a sharp breath and the anger he’d been keeping in check finally spilled over. Stupid fuck, Dick was playing some sort of twisted game. Jonny used the rest of the drive to the junkyard plotting all the ways he was going to torture Dick into telling him where Bobby was. It was highly debatable if Dick would be left breathing.

Unfortunately, as life was wont to do, the curveball came fast and sharp.

They heard the first gunshot from inside the cab of Jameson’s truck. Jameson hadn’t even rolled to a stop before Jonny jumped out and took off running across the parking lot of H&C’s. He noted Dick’s pickup was in the lot as was Anderson’s Honda. No other cars. Jonny and Jameson were the first to arrive.

The second gunshot was louder and when Jonny rounded the office building he knew why. Clifford and Dick were in a standoff. Candy was on the ground, blood oozing from her stomach.

“Stand down!” Jonny shouted and he couldn’t believe he was doing what he was doing but the barrel of his weapon was pointed at Clifford instead of the man who’d kidnapped his woman.

He needed to keep Dick alive if he wanted to know where the fucker had hidden her. Kent County wasn’t big by any stretch of the imagination but there were thousands of acres of woods where he could’ve parked his small pull-behind. That was if Jonny was even correct.

Dick looked his way and smirked. “Got here faster than I thought you would.”

Sick motherfucker planned this.

Forced Jonny to protect him.

“You had one job,” Clifford yelled at Dick. “One goddamn job.”

Sirens wailed in the distance, radically cutting Jonny’s time to get the situation under control.

“No, dumbfuck, you had one job and that was to move on. You got away with it, then you had to push it.”

“He killed my brother,” Clifford returned.

“No, he didn’t. Mark was just as lazy as you are and he didn’t take care—”

Jonny’s body jerked when the bullet exploded from the end of Clifford’s weapon.

Everything slowed as he watched Dick Dillinger’s legs give out.

No.

Fuck no.

In one fluid motion, Jonny pulled the trigger.

Jarrod Clifford dropped.

Jonny rushed to Dick’s side, rolled him to his back, and put pressure on the gaping chest wound.

“Where is she?” Jonny demanded.

“I…safe…”

Dick coughed and if the rattle coming from Dick’s chest wasn’t so concerning the blood bubbling from his mouth would’ve been cause for massive alarm.

“Where’d you put her?”

“Safe…” Christ Almighty, Jonny didn’t have time for Dick’s games. “Than…yo…”

Jonny never thought he’d be grateful for the years he’d had to listen to his mother’s drunken mumblings but right then he was thankful he could decipher the dying man’s rant.

“Thank you for keeping her safe,” Jonny ground out. “Now, where’d you put her?”