Steel Glances (Rocky Mountain Novella Series #1) by Rory Chambers

  Chapter 17

  Kristen listened intensely as she tried to wash the dishes quietly. She wanted to know what Steel was finding out, but he gave little clues to anything. His only replies on the phone were a bunch of ‘okays’ and ‘I sees’. She would have to wait for him to get off the phone to find out anything.

  Steel paced the living room floor as he listened to his buddy and ex-partner tell him what he had found out. “Apparently, everyone involved in the mafia organization at the time that Thomas Casey worked for them is locked away. It looks like whatever crimes your neighbor may have known about or had a paper trail on were already tried and justice had been served.”

  Unable to stand listening in any longer without hearing some real information, Kristen grabbed the trash containing the turkey carcass and headed outside to dispose of it.

  “So, no one had recently been paroled or released?” Steel asked, trying to figure out what could be going on. He was positive that the mafia could be the only explanation for everything that had been going on. It wasn’t the M.O. he was used to in cases where they were involved, but he had been out of the game for quite some time.

  “Nope. A few died but none have been released under any circumstances. I think you gotta start looking at other angles,” his friend answered.

  Frustrated, Steel thanked his buddy and hung up the phone. “What is going on?” he asked himself.

  As Kristen rounded the corner of the cabin to place the garbage bag in the trash can, she heard the cracking of a branch in the distance. She stopped in her tracks and turned towards the sound, but couldn’t see anything now that it was dark again. She knew it was probably a deer or other animal, but she didn’t want to stick around to find out.

  As quickly as she could, she opened the garbage can lid and threw the bag inside. As she turned around to head back inside, she heard a voice.

  “You shouldn’t have left me,” the familiar voice said. It was Adam. She couldn’t see him but he sounded close.

  “What are you doing here, Adam?” she asked. She wasn’t happy about his arrival, but at least it was just a jealous ex-boyfriend and not the killer.

  “It all could’ve been so perfect. We could’ve gotten married and lived together, never having to worry about money…but, you ruined all that.”

  Adam’s voice sounded creepy. Kristen wondered if he had been drinking. Either way, she needed to get him inside so they’d be safe, and let Steel decide where they should go from that point.

  “We’ve got to get inside. It’s not safe here,” she urged. As she listened to the crackling of more tree limbs, Adam came into view. He was holding a gun and had an expression on his face that Kristen had never seen before.

  Inside, at the same time, Steel headed into the kitchen to tell Kristen what his buddy told him about the mafia, only there was no sign of her. He checked the other rooms, thinking maybe she went upstairs. Still, there was no sign of her. It wasn’t until he re-checked the kitchen did he see the back door was cracked.

  Steel headed outside, but as he was about to round the corner of the house, he heard voices. One belonged to Kristen, but who was she talking to. He tried to proceed as quietly as possible. As he got closer, he could tell the other voice belonged to a man, and angry sounding man.

  “Drop the gun!” Steel yelled as he turned the corner.

  “Stop, it’s just Adam!” Kristen told Steel. She knew he was just looking out for her, but she certainly didn’t want him shooting Adam, even if he was carrying a gun. “Let’s just all go inside and talk about this,” she suggested…hoping to keep the peace between her two ex-fiancé and new lover.

  “I don’t think he’s here because he’s jealous,” Steel replied to Kristen before turning his attention back to Adam. “I said drop the gun!”

  Without warning, Adam quickly retreated back into the shadows, making it hard for Steel to locate him. Kristen, confused, demanded to know what was going on.

  “Get inside, now!” Steel ordered, but before they could even round the corner, a gun fired and Kristen watched as Steel fell forward. She screamed.

  “Get away from him,” she heard Adam say as he stepped forward and kicked Steel’s gun away from his hand.

  Kristen was frozen in fear and couldn’t take her eyes off of Steel. He wasn’t moving or even uttering a sound. Was he dead?

  Adam grabbed her by the arm and forced her back inside the cabin. “Why are you doing this?” she cried once they were inside.

  “Because of the inheritance, you stupid bitch,” Adam answered as he looked through the kitchen drawers. Keeping one eye on Kristen he never lowered the gun. He was able to find that he was looking for, though. As he tossed a ball of twine at Kristen, he ordered her to tie her feet together.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Kristen yelled back. None of it was making sense to her.

  Outside, Steel struggled to get to his feet. He had been shot in the shoulder and the pain was intense. It was nothing he hadn’t suffered from before, though. Still, he was losing blood and felt his strength fading. “I’ve got to save Kristen,” he kept telling himself as he tried to scoot closer to where Adam had kicked his gun.