Part 315
"Bec?" Nick called out as he entered their suite. "Becca, where are you?"
A muffled reply came from the closet in the master bedroom.
"Bec?" Nick stopped in the doorway and began to laugh. All he could see of Becca was her rear end protruding from the closet door.
"What's so funny?" Becca stood up, her hands on her hips and her hair sticking out everywhere.
"Damn, I missed you," Nick said with a chuckle, crossing the room and folding her into his arms. "What were you doing?"
"Looking for something."
"What, Bec?"
"Your laptop, Nick, where is it?"
"Hell if I know, I've been using Sarah's."
"Nick, how can you lose a laptop?"
He shrugged guiltily. "I dunno. You weren't here to help keep me organized?" He grinned that cute, innocent, little boy grin.
Becca rolled her eyes. "Think, Nick. When was the last time you saw it?"
"Umm … Toronto, I guess, on my bus." He frowned, trying to remember.
"Oh god, spare me," she sighed. "Let's go." Grabbing his hand, she pulled him toward the door.
"Bec, where-"
"To your bus, I need to do something."
"But what about GT?"
Becca grinned. "Watch this." Stopping just outside their door, she smiled sweetly up at Billy. "Billy, I need a little favor."
He smiled down at her, an indulgent look on his normally tough face. Probably wanted him to run out for strawberry ice cream or something. "Sure, Bec, anything. Just name it."
"I was hoping you'd say that. We'll be back in half an hour, watch GT. If there's a problem call Nick's cell phone."
"But-"
"I promise, half an hour," she called over her shoulder. "Eddie, you're with us," she said, grabbing Nick's bodyguard by the wrist.
* * * *
"God, Nick, WHAT is that smell?" Becca's nose wrinkled with distaste as she attempted to walk down the aisle of Nick's bus, stepping over dirty socks and assorted food wrappers.
Nick wisely chose not to answer, and Eddie just grinned from the doorway.
"Nick, I'll be right outside," he said with a chuckle as he went to stand guard by the door.
"Gross," Becca mumbled. "Nick, this is just gross. You need a keeper."
"I married you, didn't I?" he asked with a cheeky grin.
"Oink, Nick." She dug through assorted papers and stuff in the dining area until she found the missing laptop, inside a pizza box. "Geezus …" she mumbled, rolling her eyes.
"Whatcha need the laptop for, Bec?"
"I had an idea and I need to type it up. Can I log on from here?"
"Sure, just plug it in over there."
"Okay, now shoo. Go clean up that disgusting mess in the bedroom."
Becca logged on to her email account and in no time found just what she was looking for. She copied it, then pasted it into a new document, closed out her email account and was all set. I'll fix her, Becca thought. She opened up the final chapter of "Dark Riders" and began to make changes.
"That’s NOT true, Sarah. He loved you with all his heart. He’s pined for you for ten years," sobbed Nick as he drew his gun.
"Nick, don’t do anything stupid," reasoned Sarah. "You know Howie is faster than you."
Faster? In a pig's eye, fumed Becca as she added to the next part.
"That's how little you know me, Howie. You've been gone for two years, how the hell do YOU know who I even AM anymore?" Aiming at Sarah, Nick said, "Put your hands where I can see them, Howie, or I’ll kill her… just like you killed Brian.
Howie eased his hands out leaving his gun where it was.
Alex tried to ease out but Nick shot him.
"ALEX!" cried Sarah as she watched him crumple. "Damnit, Nick! Don’t do this! Think about Rebecca and the baby…your new son! You know you won’t live. There’s still Kevin and you know he WILL kill you!"
Aiming at Howie, Nick wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "Brian was the only family I had…the only one who loved ME. You three saw me as a kid…you never respected me…you always thought I was a screw up! Brian…he believed in me. As his friend, I can’t let you go."
Okay, Becca thought. This part is okay, Nick would defend Brian, so that part can stay. But this next part … she shook her head as she plotted and schemed.
Howie and Sarah both saw how bad Nick’s hand was shaking and Howie whispered,
"Keep talking, baby."
"Nick…please…."
"SHUT UP!" screamed Nick as he pulled the trigger.
The shot rang out and Howie fell back onto the bed.
Reading on, Becca found it. Here. This is where the change needs to be. This next part has to go.
"NOOOOOOO!" screamed Sarah. In a split second without thinking, she pulled Howie’s gun and she fired hitting Nick in the chest.
Using her backspace key, she deleted the end of that sentence and changed it to her own liking.
"NOOOOOOO!" screamed Sarah. In a split second without thinking, she pulled Howie’s gun, but before she could aim it at Nick, the impact of a bullet, fired from the side doorway, sent the gun flying from her hands.
"Hold it right there. How could you do this?" Rebecca stood stiffly, Brian's hunting rifle aimed at Sarah, silent tears coursing down her cheeks.
"Rebecca?!" Sarah was in shock. Here was her meek, unassuming cook, prepared to kill her, and for what?
"You don't think I'd do it, do you," she cried. "But Nick and baby G.T. are all I have left in this world. I can't let you take that away from me."
Nick still aimed his gun at the couple, afraid to let his eyes waver for even just one second. He knew how heartless Howie and his gang could be, they'd been hardened over the years and would stop at nothing to achieve their nefarious goals. "Rebecca, put down the gun," he whispered.
"Nick?"
"Do it," he ordered, and as she did, he saw Sarah breathe sigh of relief. Leveling a steely gaze at Howie and Sarah, he gave them his final ultimatum. "Get out."
"What?" gasped Howie, his hand pressed to the wound on his shoulder.
"You have till daybreak tomorrow to get out of town, all of you. I'll look the other way until then, but if I come back and find you here, I swear I'll kill you."
Ooh yeah, Becca sighed. THIS is the Nick I know and love. She giggled as she stopped to think about the final ending.
"Bec? Whatcha doin'?" Nick had missed her and wandered back out from the bedroom to find her.
Becca giggled. "Just doing some editing."
Nick looked over her shoulder. "God, Bec, can't you just let it go?" He rubbed her shoulders and she winced as he soothed the tension.
"This is therapy, Nick. She KILLED you! I can't just let her get away with that."
"Bec, for god's sake, it's a fucking story."
"Maybe to YOU," she scowled. "Shoo, while I finish this."
Nick gave up, shaking his head and going back to cleaning up.
"Okay, where was I?" she mumbled, going back to re-read what she'd just done. "Okay, okay … right. Let's end this."
The next morning just as the sun was rising over the ridge, the sheriff and his wife, holding their baby son, stood silently on the outskirts of town. A movement to the west caught their eyes and they smiled, knowing that everything would soon be right with their world.
Save the file … done. Becca smirked. "So there. Take THAT you husband-killer…."