With a curt nod, he put his back to her and turned on his cell, which rang almost as soon as he hit the Power button. “Yeah?”
“Rex is here with the kids. I just wanted you to know.”
It was Peyton. She’d dropped him off at the airport, then had to wait another hour before she could pick up Rex and Jake and Mia.
Head bent, he lowered his voice so he wouldn’t disturb the other passengers. “How are they?”
“The kids? Great. Excited. This is a party for them.”
“And Rex?”
She took a deep breath; he could hear it through the phone. “I think he needs a doctor.”
Virgil would’ve cursed if he’d had any space to himself. This wasn’t a good time for Rex to be ill. “It’s that bad, huh?”
“It’s that bad.”
“God, if anything happens to him…” Rex was the brother he’d never had. The only person he’d ever really trusted, other than Laurel and Peyton.
“He’ll be fine. I just… I wanted to tell you that I’m not letting him go back to Montana. Not if I can stop him. I’m going to take him to the hospital.”
Peyton didn’t need any additional worries. The pressure of everything already going on was bad enough. “Laurel tried to tell me,” he said.
“She was right. But if he won’t cooperate, there won’t be a lot I can do.”
Virgil imagined the concern on her face, feared what the stress of this was doing to her and the baby. “Pey, don’t let any of this upset you, okay?”
“How can I avoid that with you in L.A., heading straight back to the people who want to kill you?”
Hearing the tears in her voice, he began to knead his forehead. He wished he could be in two places at once.
“I don’t even know if you’ll survive,” she added.
“Have I ever let you down before?”
“You’ll come through if you can, Virgil. There’s no question about that. It’s just—”
“Quit thinking the worst,” he broke in. “I need you to have faith.”
There was a brief moment of silence during which she seemed to muster her strength, and he prayed she’d be able to hang on—and keep all the children safe. “Okay. I can do that. I’m with you. You know that, don’t you?”
“You’re always with me, babe. Just take it easy until I get back.”
“I understand.”
“Can I talk to Rex?”
“Hang on.”
Rex’s deeper voice came across the line a second later. “Hey, buddy.”
“You’re sick, huh?”
“Hell, no. I’m fine.”
“Let her take you to the hospital.”
“What? No way! I’m going back to Montana as soon as I can get a change of clothes and buy a ticket. I left all the shit I took to L.A. at some motel.”
They’d opened the plane door. The line was finally beginning to move. Virgil could feel the balmy evening air so distinctive to this part of the country waft into the aircraft.
Hefting his bag over one shoulder, he nodded at the flight attendant who wished him a good night. “You must’ve been out of your mind in L.A.,” he murmured to Rex.
“Sort of,” came the response.
“Listen, I really need you to do something.”
“What’s that?”
“I need you to let Peyton take you to the emergency room and get you some help.”
“No. I just told you—”
“Rex, please. Will you do it? For me?” Virgil couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever had to plead with Rex about anything. They always understood each other. He knew about Jack, doubted he could’ve handled what had happened himself. So he gave Rex a lot of latitude and tried not to ask for much. But he was pleading with him now.
It obviously set Rex back on his heels, made him go silent.
“You still there?” Virgil asked at length.
He made a sound of frustration. “Yeah, I’m here. I’m trying to decide what the hell to do. I can’t leave Laurel alone. Not against Ink and whoever else he has with him.”
“I’m going to cut off Ink’s support and direction just as soon as possible. That way he’ll be left without reinforcements if he fails and no one to report to for praise or promotion. I doubt it’ll remove all his incentive, but if Laurel and the sheriff can take care of what’s happening in Pineview, we’ll make it through this. All of us. Peyton’s about to have a baby, one that’s been trying to come early. She can’t look after all three kids and worry about you, too, not if she goes into labor. So I need you to step up, and the way you can do that is to get yourself some help so I can rest assured that she and the kids are in good hands. You feel me?”
There was another long silence.
“Rex?”
“But this town. Pineview. You should see it. It’s not prepared for what Ink is capable of doing.”
“Just stay in Buffalo with Peyton until I call. Then one of us will go to Pineview. Laurel means as much to me as she does to you, but this has to happen in a certain way or we’re all screwed.”
Rex’s response, when it finally came, was grudging. But an agreement from him was an agreement. Virgil trusted him to stand by his word. “Okay.”
The terminal opened up ahead of him, wide and cavernous, with people flowing in both directions, and he lengthened his stride. “Thanks,” he said, and he meant it.
“So what are you going to do now?” Rex asked.
“First thing? I’ve got to buy a gun. I couldn’t exactly bring one on the plane.”
“From where?”
“A few bucks spread around the right neighborhood, and I should be able to come up with something.”
“I’ve got a friend,” Rex said. “He’ll fix you up if you call him.”
“Can I trust this guy?”
“Completely. He doesn’t even know any of The Crew.”
Which meant Rex’s contact with this guy came before his gang involvement, before he went to prison. “What’s his name and number?”
As Rex gave it to him, Virgil put the information in his phone.
“And once you have…what you need?” Rex said.
“It’ll be time to pay Horse a little visit.”
Rex’s voice, which was muffled now, told Virgil he’d turned or moved away from Peyton, and for that, he was grateful. “What you’re planning—it’s suicide, you know that, right? You don’t have a prayer of pulling it off. Not alone.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said, and pushed the End button.
24
Myles checked outside his front windows. He saw no truck parked at Vivian’s, no vehicle at all, except for hers, which was in the drive. From what he could tell, there were no lights on in the front of her house, and no squad car rolling down the street. The view looked exactly like it did every other night. The houses sat dark and quiet, the lake glimmered, placid, beneath the moon, and the stars dangled like Christmas ornaments above.
