“She’s one of the dancers at the club I used to work at.” Braxton narrowed his gaze on Wendy. She’d always been slim; as a dancer it was a requirement. But standing in front of him was a ghost of the girl Braxton once knew. Her skinny jeans clung to legs that were nothing but skeletal, and he expected any moment for them to buckle and snap. Her dirty green jacket covered the rest of her, but her hollow cheekbones gave evidence of drug use. Probably meth, if he had to guess.
“Braxton got fired because of me.” Wendy’s hand trembled under the weight of the gun as her dilated pupils darted between them. “He came to my rescue after one of the customers hit me.”
“Why don’t you put down the gun and tell me why you’re here.” Braxton held his palms up, keeping his voice calm and even. The sky lightened slightly, slight streaks of pink and orange coming over the mountains.
“You need me, Braxton.” Wendy fixed her dilated gaze on him as she rambled. “I am the one who has set you free.”
“Set me free?”
Wendy‘s eyes darted from him to Kate and then back to him, her chest heaving with emotion, or maybe it was withdrawal.
“Yesss!” Wendy snarled, her lips drawing across her brown-tinged teeth. Were her teeth always this discolored?
“I saw how unhappy you were, having to deal with your abusive father. I understood you, Braxton. I know what it’s like wanting to leave, to escape, to run away to something better, something safe.” Wendy trembled, the gun wavering dangerously in the cold morning air.
“I know that you stayed in Shreveport for your mom, to try to protect her from that fucking monster.” Wendy gritted her teeth. “I did you and society a favor.”
Every muscle in his body tensed and his gut clenched tighter. “Wendy, what are you saying?”
Wendy jerked her gaze back to him. “I killed your father.”
Kate gasped. He reached back to take her hand, squeezing it.
“I killed him for you, Braxton. I did it so you would be free to leave and we could start a life together.” Wendy shot him an impatient glare.
“A life…together?” Braxton had always treated all the strippers with respect and never led any of them on. In fact, he’d made it a rule not to date anyone from work.
Wendy’s eyes glazed over. “You were the only man who’d ever protected me. You even got fired for me. And you didn’t get mad at me when you lost your job.” Wendy frowned, looking lost in her thoughts. “It was then I knew what I should do. It was almost like divine revelation.”
Or totally psychotic, Braxton thought to himself.
“I went over to your parents’ house. Your father was alone, drinking and watching TV. I went in through the back door, which happened to be unlocked. There was a hammer lying on the kitchen counter, so I grabbed it. He walked in on me in the kitchen and that’s when I attacked.” She shrugged. “It was easy enough, he’d had a lot of beers and after the second whack to the head, he fell to the ground. Every time I hit him I was thinking of you, Braxton. Only of you.”
“And because of you Braxton is accused of murder.” Kate poked her head around his chest.
Wendy shook her head. “I wasn’t counting on that part. I thought his mother would get blamed since everyone in town knew she was abused. I figured if it went to trial, the jury wouldn’t send her to jail. Juries are very sympathetic to battered women.”
“How did you find me?”
Wendy shrugged. “I’ve been following you since you escaped the cops. I lost you after you passed through Eureka Springs. But I went on ahead to Branson to wait for you. I figured we would find each other again.”
“Did you have anything to do with that construction worker?” Braxton shifted, easing a few inches closer. He needed to get closer. If he lunged now, she might shoot and hit Kate.
Wendy’s gaze hardened. “After a few days of waiting in Missouri, I decided to backtrack, to see if you headed in a different direction. I came back here. I met a guy there who said he knew who you were and offered to take me to you. I didn’t realize he was lying until he lured me out to some construction site and tried to force me to give him a blow job. I tried to get away but he hit me. I grabbed the first thing I could grab, which happened to be a nail gun. No man will ever lay a fucking hand on me, ever again.”
“So you killed two people.” Braxton shifted forward again.
“I killed two worthless shits,” Wendy shot back. Her gaze landed on Kate and she leveled the gun. “You would have come to me, Braxton, if she hadn’t gotten in the way.”
“Put the gun down and I’ll go with you now.” Braxton’s heart was hammering as he took a step toward Wendy. He’d never hurt a woman in his life, but if the drugged-out stripper took a shot at Kate, he was going to rip her to shreds.
Wendy looked from Kate to him and cocked the gun with shaky hands. Trembling, Wendy leveled the gun at him and shook her head. “You’re lying. You’re just like the rest of them.” Her shoulders shook as tears ran down her face. Her outstretched arm shook as she kept it aimed toward them.
It was light now and the ladies in the house would soon be waking up. If he didn’t do something quick, there would be more people put in danger.