Another hit and Zoe had to do something.
She rushed in, knowing the blow would come to her. But her little brother was hardly moving. Standing by and watching her father beat one of them, any of them, was something she vowed she’d never do again without a fight.
Ziggy laughed like a sick man on the edge of a complete breakdown and grabbed a fallen lamp.
Zoe charged before he could deliver a final blow to her brother.
She caught part of the lamp with her shoulder, but stopped it from hitting its mark.
First came a fist to her face, and when she fell, Ziggy’s foot met her ribs.
Coughing hard, she rolled over beside Zane and covered her face when Ziggy lifted the lamp over his head.
Then the room exploded.
Jo saw blinders. Her speedometer shot past one hundred on the straights and sixty-five on the corners.
Luke white-knuckled it in the passenger seat, neither of them saying a thing.
The rain threatened their safety on more than one turn. The final stretch to the Brown home was open road.
Lights from the trailer spilled into the rain, cars were everywhere.
Their seat belts were off before they skidded to a stop.
“I go in first!” Her gun was already out, her feet running.
She heard Zoe scream, saw through the door when Zoe lifted her arms as Ziggy stood over her with something in his hands.
Before Jo could fire off a round, an explosion from inside the home stopped her feet at the door.
Luke ran into her back.
Ziggy dropped the lamp and looked down at his chest.
Blood pooled in the center.
Ziggy turned white, his face tilted up. “You bitch.” He attempted a step, and another round caught him as he took his last breath and fell on top of Zoe and Zane.
Sheryl stood there, her eyes glossed over, her face void of expression.
“Zoe?”
Jo kept an arm out, keeping Luke back.
“Sheryl?” Jo kept her gun in her hand until Sheryl lowered hers.
Jo moved quickly, capturing Sheryl before she collapsed and removing the revolver from her hand.
Behind her, Zoe screamed, “Get him off me.”
Luke pushed Ziggy’s body away and pulled Zoe into his arms. “I’ve got you, Zoe. It’s okay. It’s over.”
She moved to Ziggy’s sprawled body, checked his neck for a pulse. Not that she needed to, his dead stare told her it was over.
Jo met Luke’s horrified gaze then reached for the radio pinned to her chest. “Glynis, you there?”
“That’s a big ten-four, Sheriff.”
Glynis’s jovial voice stood in stark contrast to the scene in front of her. “We need an ambulance at the Brown residence.”
“An ambulance?”
Jo turned her stare to the unmoving bastard in the room. “And the coroner.”
Zoe didn’t want the attention, or the cameras.
It appeared she wasn’t going to get what she wanted, so she moved through the days that followed Ziggy’s death, ignoring everyone that wasn’t part of her core family.
Sheryl sat in a temporary cell in Eugene pending second-degree murder charges. While she may have been trying to protect her adult children, her life at the time of Ziggy’s shooting wasn’t a cut-and-dried case of self-defense. She’d purchased the gun before Ziggy was put away the first time. He didn’t know she had it hidden in a heating vent in her bedroom.
Zoe was confident that in time, her mother would be free.
Or would she?
The image of Ziggy falling on Zoe in a bloody heap woke her up every night. If it wasn’t for Luke being there, holding her, she would probably need inpatient therapy. Zoe could only imagine what her mother was going through.
Zane spent three days in ICU and the next few on an orthopedic unit, nursing a broken collarbone and wrist, and a concussion.
Miss Gina pulled in Zanya and Blaze, put them in the blue room on the third floor to keep the guests on the lower floors from complaining about a baby crying.
The day Zoe put her father in the ground, the sun was unusually warm.
More than one person told her she didn’t need to go through the effort. What they didn’t understand was that she wasn’t burying him for his sake, but for hers . . . and her siblings’.
Luke drove her Land Rover with Zanya, Zane, and Blaze in the back.
A caravan of cars followed them to the cemetery. There wouldn’t be a service, for no one had anything good to say about the soul that once filled the dead man’s body.
The minister of the Little White Church told her he’d be at the site to say a few words to help them with this day.
Zoe agreed and said nothing more.
Zane carried Blaze in his baby carrier with Zanya by his side as they walked over graves to the site destined to hold Ziggy forever.
Dark sunglasses gave Zoe the ability to look around and not be forced to talk to people after making eye contact. They also aided in covering the green and yellow bruise on her face that makeup didn’t hide.
Jo and Mel flanked her and Luke as they left the cars.
Wyatt took Miss Gina’s arm and followed close behind.
Zoe saw the lone casket and tuned out those around her.
She stopped at the edge of the dozen chairs set up for people to sit in. Only she didn’t want to stay that long.
When she looked up, car upon car pulled along the cemetery drive.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller, Principal Mason and his wife. Teachers, Deputy Emery, Sam, Brenda, Josie . . . the whole town poured in. One by one, they stood on the edges of the dug up earth in silence. A dark sedan opened, and out of it came Felix, September, and a few faces from her on-screen crew.
Zoe reached for Luke’s hand, which was never far away, and squeezed.
He kissed the side of her head.
She kissed his hand and moved between her brother and sister. Together they linked arms but stayed standing.
Zane nodded to Minister Imman.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming today to show your support to the children of Ziggy Brown. While every funeral has its own set of difficult circumstances, this one stands out. This man’s troubled life fell on his children in ways none of us could ever imagine. While the support of your community is welcome now, may it be a reminder to us all to find that support earlier.”
Zoe finally looked at Minister Imman.
“Many of you will say this man deserves to be in this grave. God forgive me, the thought has entered my own heart. But it could have just as easily been any one of the Brown family. While I have been called to help save the souls of River Bend, I found in this man’s passing I must first do my part in saving the lives of those souls as well. I know that lesson was not given to me alone.” Minister Imman scanned the crowd, and more than one head bowed.
Zanya squeezed Zoe’s hand, tears in her eyes.
Zane stood stoic, his eyes never leaving the casket.
“Let us pray. Dear Father, please stand beside your children left in the wake of their father’s passing. May you enter their hearts and help them find forgiveness so that they might move from this difficult time with joy in their hearts. And Father, please reach out to Sheryl Brown so she can feel your mercy. Amen.”