Cherri seems pissed by Chopper’s insult and exclaims, “I’m your old lady, you’re supposed to protect me! He’s got a gun to my head, do something!”
Chopper’s next move is so casual yet abrupt that it catches us all off guard. I haven’t even registered that he’s fired his gun until I feel the impact.
Cherri’s body is thrown backward into me as the bullet hits her stomach. She cries out in pain and shock, and Naomi’s screams are muffled by Chopper’s hand. I struggle to hold herweight as Cherri sinks to the ground, losing consciousness as a bright bloom of blood grows from the bullet wound.
“What the fuck?” I cry.
“We both know you didn’t have the balls to shoot her, and she’s served her purpose to me. She was a bad fuck anyway. I thought I’d save us some time. Now, where were we?” Chopper says casually, like a drunk at a work party.
Naomi’s unaware that the guys are behind her, and she struggles even more. Kicking out her feet and connecting with Chopper’s meaty tree trunk legs. He laughs as he holds her still, squeezing her breast while looking at me triumphantly. “Maybe I’ll fuck your woman while you watch. I’ve heard you like that, you and your boyfriends,” he sneers. It seems as if it’s the first time in his dazed state that he’s realized I’m alone. “Where are they, anyway? Thought you couldn’t do anything alone.”
“Right here,” Cash says softly from behind him. The click as he takes off the safety catch echoing in the night. “Let her go, or I’ll blow your fucking head off.”
Even Chopper isn’t stupid enough to think Cash won’t hurt him. Despite that, he tries to argue. “If you shoot me, there’s a chance the bullet will go through and hit your precious whore,” he says, but the earlier confidence in his voice is gone. He’s afraid.
I try to focus on stemming the blood that keeps flowing from Cherri. Now that the guys have the situation handled, I can try to help her. She was right, I never wanted her dead. As much as I hate her for what she’s done, I’m not a monster who goes around killing everyone who’s wronged me.
“I’m willing to bet that the bullet will get stuck in that thick skull of yours,” Cash replies calmly. “Naomi is also much shorter than you. So I’d say my odds of successfully blowing your brains out without harming her are pretty good.”
Finally, Chopper admits defeat. “Alright, alright, I was just kidding around,” he says, releasing Naomi, dropping the gun, and holding up his hands in defeat.
Naomi races away from him and into Gage’s open arms, who appears from the corner and quickly gets her out of harm’s way.
“It’s over, Chopper. Hands behind your head. Eli, the zip ties,” Cash orders. Eli does as instructed, moving to tie Chopper’s hands together with several zip ties—you can’t be too careful.
Chopper doesn’t resist. “Eli, you sniveling coward, what are you doing here? I thought you’d have tried to get away from these three while you could, seeing as how you sold out your damn sister with your lies.”
Eli pulls the zip ties tighter, and Chopper winces as he hits him in the kidneys. “I didn’t lie. You’re just too fucking stupid to find a code that was on the gravestone.”
Chopper chuckles, surprised and a little amused to hear the thing he sought had been so close and yet he’d missed it. “Damn, Eli, if only you weren’t such a self-righteous prick, we could have done great things together.”
Eli moves to face his tormentor, his face screwed up in rage. “We could never. Not after what you did to my family.” Seeing the surprise on Chopper’s face, he continues. “That’s right, I knew how you murdered my parents. I always suspectedit. Why do you think I agreed to help you in the first place? I wanted to get as much dirt on you as I could so I could take you down and make you pay. I was planning to go to the police that night you found out, but then you beat me half to death and sold my sister. Then I decided I had a new plan. I was gonna kill you.” With that, Eli points the gun we gave him at Chopper. Chopper laughs, which only makes Eli step closer.
“Eli, don’t,” Cash warns.
“We’ve got him now. There’s no need to kill him,” I add.
Gage and Naomi appear from the shadows. Naomi’s voice is what makes Eli soften. “Eli, please, don’t. I know how much you want to. I do too. But death is too easy for him. He deserves to spend the rest of his life rotting behind bars. Plus, we’ll never find out who his accomplices were if we kill him. You’ll be the one who goes to jail. There’s no way we could call this self-defense. Please, put the gun down. It’s over.”
“Listen to your sister,” Gage says gently.
“Yeah, listen to your sister, you pussy,” Chopper taunts. But it’s clear he wants Eli to do it. He’d rather die than spend the rest of his life in jail.
“Eli, please, if you love me, you won’t,” Naomi says. In the distance, the sound of sirens approaching tells us the cops aren’t far away. It’s truly over. Despite what Eli said, he didn’t lie when he told us the code would contact the police.
Eli is sobbing now, his shoulders rising and falling with each labored breath. Chopper laughs again at him, and Eli steps forward, slamming the butt of his gun into Chopper’s nose with a satisfying crunch. “Fuck you, Chopper! I hope you enjoy beingtreated the way you treated others while you rot in jail.” He finally steps away, and we breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Chopper sinks to his knees, defeated. I continue to perform CPR on Cherri, losing myself in counting as I pump on her chest. Naomi, Gage, and Eli head toward the cops, ready to bring them to us. I hope they have an ambulance with them for Cherri’s sake. As the sounds of the sirens and the flashing blue lights near, I can finally breathe.
It’s over.
We’re safe. Naomi is safe. That’s all that matters.
That’s all that will ever matter.
Chapter 26
Naomi
