Even with the air-conditioning on full blast it was still too hot in my car. The car still reeked of cheap scotch even though it had been weeks since Doc Lincoln was in my car. Every so often I would lean forward to pull my sweaty back off the dampened seat so a little cold air could get between them. It was a small relief.
I picked up a water bottle from the passenger seat and squeezed it. Only a small spatter of water came out. The warm water did nothing to relieve any thirst; I came away feeling even less refreshed. Once I got to Beth's ranch I was going to go to the kitchen and drink water straight from the spout until I made myself sick.
Thinking about ice cold water made my mouth feel even drier. I smacked my lips together. They felt brittle and ready to crack. I normally never drove out to her ranch myself because Beth usually drove. Her truck was always nice and cold. I needed a new car, which was another thing to add to the list of crap I needed. I had to be careful not to mention it around Beth. She would run out and buy me a one, and not the type of car befitting a college student and part-time greens keeper. No, I would walk outside my apartment and find a Bugatti with a big bow on it parked in the street. Actually, that wasn't her style, I'd more likely find a high-end pickup truck.
Anyway, today Beth called me right as I woke up to tell me that she had some customers coming out late to drop off some horses so she wasn't going to have time to drive back to the city that night. That meant if I wanted to see her, which I absolutely did, I would have to head out to the ranch myself. I got off work, rinsed off in the shower, packed an overnight bag, and headed out.
Needed to get used to driving out anyway. Beth was spending a lot more time out at the ranch since she got out of prison. Had to be all the wide open spaces. She got antsy when she stayed at my apartment and was only slightly better at her penthouse. When she was at the ranch she kept all the doors and windows open. There was only one room at the ranch she didn't. It was a study where I could crank the A/C so I wouldn't melt and I could get work done for class.
Between Beth and my new job it felt like I was outside almost all the time. Her new hobby was taking long walks with me, also hiking. I lived in Paradiso my entire life, but had never been to many of the parks in the city. In the time Beth had been free we'd been to nearly all of them three times.
I was worried about her. As much as she told me prison hadn't been as bad as I imagined it had still changed her. She kept putting on a happy face around me, but I often saw her mask slip. I didn't think she knew I knew. When she thought I wasn't looking I would see her face melt from her normally happy smiling one to a pensive look as she stared at nothing in the distance. I would catch her every so often dabbing at her eyes with a hankie. She claimed allergies, but never specified what she was allergic to, nor with any consistency. She was pretty old in life to suddenly develop allergies to everything.
She also wasn't handling all the betrayal well either. She still wasn't talking to Sarah at all, wouldn't even consider it. I was okay with that. As much as I understood Sarah's problems on a cerebral level I couldn't excuse her actions towards me. I was more comfortable not having to worry about seeing her again. The others knew how to compartmentalize, I didn't.
I was still uncomfortable with what Beth did to her lawyer, Jessi. There had to have been another way to get her point across without nearly putting that woman into an emergency room. I'd been on edge ever since. I expected the police to show up at my door every day. Nothing came about of it other than what Beth wanted. She hired a new lawyer, vetted him through her villain contacts, made sure he knew the consequences of fucking her over, and went about her business.
Still, Beth wasn't coping with that as well as she told me she was.
The worst were Beth's nightmares. That was a topic I wasn’t brave enough to breach yet. They happened with regularity. I'd come to expect that when we shared a bed now I was not going to get any rest. Her nightmares weren't overly-dramatic, not like ones in movies where she bolted upright, covered in sweat, crying or screaming. Hers were more like a dog dreaming. She stayed asleep through it all, but would wake me up by whimpering. She used to sleep straight on her back, now she shifted around constantly, she punched me a few times in her sleep.
There was nothing I could do for her. I tried cuddling up to her once and she freaked out. She tried fighting me off like I was an intruder even though she slept through it all. In the morning she had no recollection of it happening at all. Or said she didn't. I told her that she hit me while she was asleep and she called me a liar. She didn't believe me until I showed her the fist-sized bruises on my chest. She laughed it off.
Still, the nightmares didn't stop. They kept me awake and didn't allow her any rest. The mornings following we both walked around like zombies with giant bags under our eyes. I crashed my riding mower into a rock once since I fell asleep while cutting the grass. The old men teeing off on sixteen had a good laugh about it.
I would have to do something about it, address it in some way. Do it in some way she could safely admit there was a problem. As it was, all I could do was sit in a chair and watch her struggle in her sleep. I would have asked Dana for help, except she was busy trying to make sure Sarah didn't kill herself. I needed to figure out how to convince Beth to see a therapist. Lord knows that even though I never got around to going myself I did enough research that I was reasonably sure I could find Beth a good one.
I pulled up to the ranch. I felt I could talk to her right then since it was on my mind and I was all set to do it, but Jeremy, one of the ranch hands, told me that she'd gone on a trail ride and wouldn't be back for a while. Kind of shitty since she was expecting me to show up. Oh, well, it made her happy and it wasn’t like there were any firm plans for the night. If she got out and enjoyed herself on her horse that meant I probably wouldn't be dragged out for a hike later.
Thank God for small favors.
After thanking Jeremy I threw my overnight bag into the main bedroom then I went to my cold room. I cranked up the A/C to full blast and sat down in a recliner to read a novel. I should've been reading my textbooks, but was too mentally dull from the drive and lack of sleep.
I must've fallen asleep because the next thing I knew Jeremy was shaking me awake. I quickly moved from sluggish unconsciousness to heart-pounding fear. Something happened to Beth! Her horse threw her and she broke her neck! That was the only reason to wake me up. The ranch hands had their own cabin and almost never came into the main house except for good reason.
"Luke, uh, sir, I need you to wake up. We have, er, a possible situation developing."
"What's the, uh, situation, Jeremy?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.
"I was out repairing a fence when I saw a truck approaching. Didn't look familiar."
"Beth said she had customers coming tonight. It's probably theirs."
"No, sir. I know who's coming tonight and this ain't their truck. Wrong make an' color and it doesn't have a trailer."
"I don't know why you're telling me this."
"You know that Ms. Amarillo likes her privacy, especially after...well. She's always wanted us to be vigilant about uninvited guests. So I took out my binoculars. He's still a long way off and my binoculars aren't the best, but I'm pretty sure it's Ms. Amarillo's husband."
"Ex-husband," I said reflexively, "Wait, Wyatt's coming here?" I stood up out of the chair.
"I think so."
"Oh, fuck."
"What are we gonna' do about this?" Jeremy asked.
"What do you mean? Don't you have anything planned for something like this? Beth wasn't have you keeping an eye on the road for nothing."
"And normally we'd have a word with anyone ignored the no trespassing signs. Except...you know that he's a super hero right? I ain't gonna' fight him."
"He doesn't have any powers. He's just a normal guy. You've got to have at least fifty pounds of muscle on him."
"Sorry, you're misunderstanding my reason. What I mean to say is that me an' Peter, that's the other hand, we got some problems with the law in our past. Now Ms. Amarillo has been real good to us over the years, but I don't want to get involved with any a' this hero business. That's even worse than starting something with the law. Police have rules they gotta' follow. The heroes will rough you up bad and then turn you in. Ms. Amarillo is paying us better than any other boss I've worked for, but she ain't paying me that much."
"That sounds about right," I unconsciously felt the bridge of my nose where Wyatt broke it. There was no bump, no indication that he'd ever done it thanks to the Psycho Surgeon, but I still remembered how it felt, "Where's Beth? We need to her here."
"Still out on her ride. We've tried raising her on the radio, but she's not responding. She might've taken one that wasn't fully charged."
"But she should be back soon," I said.
"Yeah, she's been gone for a while. She's due back any minute."
I rubbed my chin. It still felt weird not having a beard there. I didn't know what to do. Wyatt was here to cause trouble, Beth was unavailable. I caught the first signs of panic bubbling up in my chest and squelched them back down. It wouldn't do anyone any good to freak out now.
Still, I didn't want Beth to return from her relaxing ride to find me beaten and bloody at Wyatt's feet.
Staring out the window I saw the plume of dust kicked up by Wyatt's truck in the distance. I didn't have long to figure out what I was going to do.
I pushed past Jeremy and walked down the hallway. There was actually one other room in the ranch house which was sealed: Beth's armory. I'd only been in it a handful of times. Always with Beth, mostly hanging out with her after she did a job and needed to clean her guns. I punched in the pass code for the door. My cheeks felt hot, I felt guilty. It was like when I was younger and would dig around my parents' room when they were gone looking for pornography or something cool to play with.
The reinforced door slid open silently. The air around me grew cooler. Inside was a steel room with fencing on every wall. Hanging on hooks everywhere were guns of all sorts. When she first told me about this room I thought she was joking. I imagined a single gun rack with cowboy guns on it: lever-action rifles, sawed-off shotguns, and more revolvers. Those were in the collection but mixed in with assault rifles, tactical shotguns, and semi-automatic pistols. There were also fully-automatic machine guns and high-powered sniper rifles. She even had three RPGs and a surface-to-air missile launcher.
I wasn't going to use that on Wyatt. As much as I hated him it seemed like overkill to blow him up.
I also didn't how to use those. Or most of the guns.
I picked up a Glock 19, the same model I had in my apartment. I was comfortable with it. I really wished I wouldn't have to use it, but if I learned anything in the past few years it was that I couldn't wish my problems away.
I ejected the magazine and loaded it with rounds. I racked the slide then placed it in a holster I slipped into the back of my pants at the small of my back. I covered it with my shirt like Blood Shadow showed me.
Wyatt definitely wouldn't expect me to be armed. Better to let him think I had no way of defending myself. If this all worked out well he would leave peacefully and never know. I wanted to keep it that way. I didn't think he would take it too well that I brought a gun to meet him.
Jeremy was on the porch looking down the road with his binoculars. The approaching truck had reached the fence line.
"Yep, that is definitely Ms. Amarillo's husband."
"Ex-husband. Have you ever met him before?" I asked.
"Once. He was a real asshole to me. Came out just like he is now to scream at me. Course, that's when he thought I was fucking his wife, beg your pardon. Once I calmed him down enough to explain I was only working the ranch for her he eased back. Not a whole lot, but we never came to blows."
"Could you take him in a fight? If you had to?"
Jeremy ran his hand through his red hair a few times as he thought. I wasn't a fan of his answer, "Don't really know. I'd like to think I could give him an ass kicking if I had to. But that's my pride talking. No man likes to think he's going into a fight to lose it. But he is a super hero. He might look like a jumped-up shitkicker to you and me, but he's probably learned a few martial arts from his buddies. That's why I think he'd win."
That was something I'd never considered. All I'd experienced were straight punches more out of a barroom brawl than a dojo. If I used some of the moves Dana taught me then would he be able to counter them? Now I was very glad I had the gun even if I didn't want to use it.
I tried to swallow, my mouth was completely dry again, "And you still can't get a hold of Beth?"
"No, sir, can't raise her at all," Jeremy said.
"Shit."
I walked out into the sun. The ranch didn't have what you could exactly call a driveway, but Wyatt would have to drive up to it to get to the house. I positioned myself in the center. A potentially stupid move. Depending on his state of mind he could very well just run me over. I didn't take my eyes off his truck.
The closer he got the more sure I was that he decided to hit me with his truck. He didn't seem to be slowing down at all. I couldn't lose my nerve. Not now. I stood and watched my possible doom speed directly at me.
The brakes squealed and the truck slid towards me unable to get a grip on the dirt so it skidded. The only microscopic amount of fear I let myself show was briefly closing my eyes when the truck was a foot away. I expected to feel the grill of the truck smack into my chest, followed by my head cracking onto the hood and my body flying into the air.
Instead there was nothing but a gust of hot air from the engine. I opened my eyes. The dust settled all around me and the truck. Wyatt stayed in the cab, glaring at me with nothing but hate in his eyes. I breathed through my nose, trying not to cough at the dust, and stared right back.
Wyatt put his foot down and revved the engine. I didn't move. What looked like absolute bravery, or stupidity, to him was only fear for me. There were three types of response to danger: fight, flight, or freeze. I absolutely fell into that third type. Even if I tried to move I was sure my knees would buckle and I would tumble to the ground.
He stared at me a while longer until slowly his angry face turned into a smile. He took the keys out of the ignition. As he slid out of his truck he grabbed his white cowboy hat off his dashboard. By the time his feet hit the ground the hat was resting on his head.
Wyatt didn't immediately walk towards me. Instead he walked a slow circle, stretching out his arms, cracking his back, like he'd just stopped at a gas station to take a rest from driving. All I really saw was the pistol on his hip. It was hard not to. The gun was bigger, flashier than mine, all silver-plated. I was still studying up on different types with Blood Shadow, but I knew it was a .45. If he shot me with that I'd have an exit wound the size of a fist.
He turned around to face me, still casual about it. While I was ready to spring into a fight if he started one he had his thumbs pushed through his front belt loops. Before he spoke he nodded at Jeremy, who was still on the porch.
"This is a pretty fancy place. I've always liked it. Reminds me a' home. I can see why Lizzie chose ta' settle down here. Shame she's gonna' have ta' leave it. But that's the way a' things," he said.
"Beth isn't going anywhere. Especially not with you," I replied.
"She's a wanted criminal. She has ta' serve her sentence. God willing, during that time she'll find salvation. Once she's free, her and I'll move back ta' Texas."
"She's already free and she's staying right where she is."
"It'd be better if she came with me. Right now. Had a talk with the warden and with the judge. Since she didn't hurt anyone when she escaped they're gonna' let her return with no penalty. Just a slap on the wrist. I explained that you got her head all turned around, that she needed ta' be back under the watchful eye a' the law. I won't even tell them what she did to that pretty little lawyer. Since she won't press charges I don't see the need ta' add that to her problems."
"You should go back there, tell them you couldn't find her. Cut your losses. Go home to Texas and find somebody else. She's not interested in you. Not anymore."
Wyatt threw his head back and laughed, "I'm not sure ya' understand. I'm gonna' explain it real slow. See, if I don't come back with Lizzie then the prison is gonna' send the police after her. This place is gonna' look like Waco. Hell, they might even send the Rescueteers out here ta' bring her back."
"Now you're lying. There's no way they would waste their time," I said.
"Ya' really think that? No, they're real keen on getting her back. They wanna' recover every villain, big or small, powered or no, who escaped the Iron Kitchen. We gotta' restore the public's trust in us after that fuck up. Recovering Lizzie wouldn't be that big a' deal in the grand scheme a' things, but I think my buddies would be up for it. Real easy job, might not have ta' use the whole team. It would be like a vacation. We'll send Mr. Mystic. He could level this whole place by himself.
"Do you want that? Because we're not gonna' stop with her. We'll get all y'all in chains. Those two boys Lizzie hired on have warrants out in a few states. And you, Luke, being out here ain't gonna' look so good since last time you told the police you didn't know anything."
"I'll face the consequences of my actions," I said, "Just not today. Go ahead. Bring the cops, call in the heroes. Beth isn't going back to prison and she's definitely not leaving here with you."
"Ain't your decision ta' make. I want ta' talk ta' Lizzie."
"Not going to happen," I said.
"Don't mouth off ta' me again," he snarled, "Lizzie! Get on out here, Lizzie!"
"She's not even here right now. You'll have to try again later."
"Where the fuck is she then? I'm wasting my time here with your bullshit."
He tried moving around me so I stepped in his way. The surprised look on his face was like a wall magically appeared in front of him. When he moved to other side I stepped in front of him again. I found myself naturally standing in the fighter's stance Dana drilled into me with my right foot back a bit. If he shoved me I wouldn't be off balance and I wouldn't falter. I didn't want him to take me to the ground.
Wyatt grinned again, "Looks like you grew some balls."
"Love is funny like that," I replied.
"Heh. Love. You think she really loves you?"
"Absolutely. With all her heart."
"I thought the same thing, too. Look how that turned out."
"You're still here, trying to get her back."
"I'm not willing ta' let her go as easily as you did. I ain't gonna' go off and find some good-time gal ta' replace her. We made us some vows. I aim ta' keep my word. She's got a sickness in her head and I will get her help."
"You're making that whole 'until death do us part' aspect of our lives a whole lot more appealing," Beth said.
She was coming from the direction of the barn. I didn't know how much she heard. Didn't seem to matter. She walked up and stood by my side, not his. That made all the difference. I felt my chest puffing up reflexively. Finally Wyatt wasn't the one in charge. He wasn't in the parking lot, we weren't in the prison where he paid off all the guards, we were in the middle of the desert with only him by himself and the rest of the people on Beth's side.
Unless he could somehow summon Roboticus down from space.
Then we were all fucked.
"Lizzie, you have ta' come back ta' prison," Wyatt said. There was a slight whine in his voice. I wasn't the only person to pick up on it.
"Go back to prison? Or go back to you? Either way, it ain't happening. So I suggest ya' get back in your truck and drive away. Don't come back."
"I can't do that. I made a deal. If I come back without you then the next time you get pinched they're gonna' lock you up and throw away the key."
"I ain't gonna' get pinched again," she said, "Never again," a bit softer.
"You will if you keep this life up. You definitely will if you keep hanging around with this loser," Wyatt said.
"Fuck you," I replied, "It was your fault she got arrested!"
"He's right, Wyatt. If ya' hadn't been such an idiot I woulda' gone to Vegas and had a fun weekend. Instead I spent all that time in prison, all thanks to you."
"I'm trying ta' help you, Lizzie. I want things ta' go back to the way we were. We were happy!"
"Yeah, we were happy. Emphasis on 'were.' By the time I left ya' we were miserable. I don't want to go back to that. I'm happy now with Luke. And without you."
Wyatt's face scrunched up like someone physically punched him in the stomach, "Don't say that! I've loved you since we were little kids!"
Beth crossed her arms. She looked off into the distance where the sun was starting to set. Her eyes had the telltale glisten of someone about to cry.
"People change. I did. I ain't the same little girl ya' fell in love with. We ain't married, not in my eyes. We ain't even friends. I tried my best to stay away from ya', but ya' kept pushing me. The closer ya' tried to hold onta' me the more I resented ya' for it. All that time I spent in prison listening to ya' yammering on didn't bring us any closer. Pretty much did the opposite.
"Now get off my property, ya' sonnuvabitch. Next time I see ya' then ya' better have your super friends or a gun in your hand, because I ain't gonna' be nice. I'll show ya' just what I've turned into."
Wyatt scowled, "If this is how you wanna' do it, Lizzie, then that's fine. I gave you the choice a' coming along peacefully. Remember that."
He reached behind his back and came out with a pair of handcuffs. I put my right arm out protectively in front of Beth and my left arm straight out to keep Wyatt at a distance. It was a futile gesture, done out of reflex. I was the least trained out of all three of us, four if you counted Jeremy. Any one of them could take me apart.
Wyatt knew this, "Don't worry, I got more cuffs in the truck for you if'n you really want it."
He moved toward my hand. I shoved him back, but there wasn't much force behind it and he only rocked backwards about an inch. That was enough to spur him to action.
He swung his fist. I wasn't quick enough to block it like I trained to. He had the loops of the cuffs around his knuckles, making them into impromptu knuckle dusters. The memory of him breaking my nose was not nearly as painful as him doing it again this time. This was a pain I couldn't even begin to describe in words.
There was a sickening crunch as the cartilage broke. Instantly I couldn't breathe as blood flooded the back of my throat. I gagged and sputtered and coughed out a stream of red. I tried to clear my eyes. It felt like someone stuck an ice pick into my brain. If I made it through this I was going to train hard so I would never get my nose broken again.
I fell to my knees. I wanted to crawl away. I didn't want him to hit me again. Not very brave, but I honestly thought all I needed was a moment to catch my breath and then I could get back into the fight. It didn't matter that my nose was practically hanging off my face.
Beth held me up. At first I thought she only meant to prop me up so that I didn't fall into the dirt. That was until I felt her digging around my belt, at the small of my back. I knew what she was planning, but I was too slow. I couldn't stop her. She drew my, well technically her, pistol from the holster and aimed it at Wyatt, letting me drop to the ground.
All I heard before the shot was Wyatt saying, "Now, Lizzie, think about this for a mo..."
I didn't actually see the shot. I turned my head away. When I turned back I saw his body hit the ground. She shot him just above his left eye. He stared at me, which was disturbing, but I was thankful his head was turned away from me. The exit wound was not something I cared to see.
I stood up shakily. My legs wobbled, but I found my balance. Beth was still holding the gun straight out, a little smoke drifted out of the barrel. She looked shocked, like she didn't expect to actually pull the trigger. What would she do now? I expected tears. They were still married, she loved him once, even if he turned into an asshole towards the end, they still had a connection.
She smiled.
"Are you alright, Beth?" I asked. My nose was clogged and it sounded like I had a cold.
She looked at me and laughed. She laughed so hard she started crying. Or she was crying so hard she started laughing. I waited it out even though I was in extreme pain. The last time he broke my nose, Wyatt was considerate enough to put me into a small coma afterwards so I didn't have to deal with the waves of pain radiating from my nose throughout my entire skull.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
She snorted. I had to wait until her laughter died down to only giggles before I could ask her again.
"Luke, I swear to God and the baby Jesus that not all my relationships end with me shooting him in the head."
