Free Off You Go by Boo Walker Page B

and pulled the trigger.
The shot rang out, but the bullet went too far right.
    Dewey started running at the two men, both
inches higher and many pounds heavier. Rowe’s wife came out,
screaming for everyone to stop.
    Rowe tackled Hammond and the gun fell off to
the side. Dewey jumped into the fray, going for Hammond, too. What
Rowe and Dewey encountered in Hammond was a mixture of old-man
strength and the power of anger. It was like wrestling something
superhuman.
    Rowe and Dewey worked together to pin
Hammond down, but he threw several heavy elbows and kicks and
pushed them off. Then he rolled in the direction of the gun and was
able to get his hand on it. Lying on his back, Hammond aimed at
Rowe, who put his hands in the air.
    He fired. Rowe’s right shoulder jerked
backwards as he grunted in pain.
    Dewey wasn’t done, though. He might have
been small and inexperienced in combat, but he could be scrappy if
he was forced to. He darted toward Hammond and kicked the gun with
everything he had, and it went flying into the marsh with a splash.
Hammond grabbed Dewey’s leg and pulled him down. As he fell, Dewey
threw a fist into Hammond’s crotch that made him wail out in
pain.
    Dewey pushed himself up
and stood over Hammond. “What I was trying to say, before you so rudely
interrupted, was that I think your daughter is still
alive.”
    Hammond let go of his midsection and looked
up. “What? How do you know?”
    Dewey heard cop cars pulling up. He said,
“I’ll have her come visit you in jail.”
    Hammond started crying.
    Police officers swarmed the backyard,
ordering the three men to the ground. Well, two of them already
were. Dewey dropped onto his stomach close to Rowe. As an officer
jumped on top of him and began to cuff him, he locked eyes with
Rowe. “I want my camera and my license back.”
    Rowe stared blankly at him as a medic tried
to stop the bleeding. “Is she really alive?”
    Dewey wanted to say something heartless and
cruel, but through Rowe’s facial expression and the tone of his
voice, Dewey could tell that he did care about Gina. So instead, he
said, “There’s a chance.”
    The officer jerked Dewey up by the arm and
walked him to the police cruiser.

CHAPTER 11

    After the fight with Hammond and Rowe, Dewey
hadn’t been able to leave the Tinsley residence until 9 p.m.
Luckily, T.A. Reddick had shown up and talked the police out of
taking him in. Back at home, Dewey finally went through the e-mail
packet Ashton had sent him on Rowe Tinsley. The Tinsleys had a
second home in Beaufort, which made sense. One thing that kept
bothering Dewey about an affair in Beaufort was its proximity to
Charleston. Sure, it’s a different town, but there’s a chance
you’ll run into someone you know. It was too close. But not if it’s
at your vacation home. It’s more private.
    Or so Rowe had thought. He couldn’t have
been more wrong. Dewey found out much later in a conversation with
Faye that one of Hammond’s oldest friends lived right down the
street from Rowe and happened to see Gina and Rowe drive into the
neighborhood together. He thought it was odd, so he mentioned it to
Hammond. That’s how Hammond found out. He’d confronted Rowe the
next day, and that’s why Rowe ended it so abruptly.
    Dewey hadn’t bothered
telling anyone but T.A. Reddick about his theory regarding Gina.
Yes, he thought she was alive. Because a few things hadn’t made
sense. The first had occurred to Dewey when he heard the young
mother speak at the AA meeting about her son. It was true: killing
yourself was difficult, but killing yourself when you’re
responsible for someone else was nearly impossible. Even for those
who were the worst off. Dewey couldn’t see a young woman like Gina
taking her child’s life, too, just because of heartache. What
he could see was
Gina faking it to prove a point. To see if she could break Rowe
Tinsley’s heart. To return the favor.
    How could she possibly fake it? It had
finally occurred