Dirty Secrets

Part 43

Lying in her bed, she remembered. Lyla recounted the details that she would never forget, the shrieking secrets that she would keep locked tight for the rest of her life. 

In the thick of the night, at the top of the hill beneath a cluster of oak trees with spider-like branches, she watched Jack shovel the remaining dirt into a mound atop the corpse. Keenan Ames lay three feet underground a short distance from the remains of his relatives.

Jack shook the dirt from his shirt and slid his arms into the sleeves. Having finally completed the grueling, morbid mission, he breathed an exhausted sigh of relief. His heavy breaths set the tempo for the song of droning cicadas and the gentle rustling of leaves.

Harsh distorted music erupted, obliterating the tranquility. From their position at the crest of the hill, Lyla and Jack watched in horror as a pickup truck accelerated up the hill spitting clods of turf. As the truck's bouncing headlights found them in the dark, she froze.

JoJo, a brutish guy with tatted arms and broad shoulders, jumped down from the truck followed by his partner, Taj, a 300-pound bear of a man with a scruffy mountain man beard. 

"Tell me, how you know this place, you little bitch!" JoJo roared.

Lyla put on her bravest face. "Your mother, Rose," she stammered. "She told me about your family's--"

"Bullshit!"

She took cover behind Jack as JoJo advanced. 

His eyes came to rest on the mound of dirt within the circle of gravestones. "Is that a fresh grave I see?"

She tasted the metallic flavor that coated her tongue when she sensed the rising tide of violence.

JoJo shouted, "Hey, Taj, that look like a fresh grave to you?"

"Sure does."

"Could be my little brother's just been laid to rest. Am I right?"

No reply from either Lyla or Jack.

"Where you been keeping him?"

Not a word.

"You freaks! What did you do to him?" The vein bulged in JoJo's forehead. He closed in on Jack. "Dig!" he ordered.

Jack raised the shovel. "Take another step, I'll knock your damn head off."

JoJo kicked dirt at him. "I said dig."

"Leave him alone!" Lyla shouted.

They eyed one another during a momentary stand-off before JoJo's rage erupted. He charged. Jack swung the shovel as though he were chasing a fastball. Instinctively, JoJo raised his arm for protection. The shovel cracked his bones on its route to his head. He went down like a bloodied sack of bricks.

Taj moved in. Jack swung wildly, striking his assailant with a looping blow that found its mark against the side of Taj's head. He wobbled and took a faltering step backward. Jack swung again, but this time Taj ripped the shovel out of his hands and tossed it over his broad shoulder.

JoJo rose to his unsteady feet, cradling his broken arm against his chest. He wiped the blood from a gash on his face then pointed a crooked finger at Jack. "You're a dead man."

While retreating, Jack stumbled over a grave marker, losing his balance. JoJo and Taj were on him before he landed among the gravestones. Jack covered his face as hard punches rained down. Fists flew, boots swung.

"Stop! Get off of him!" Lyla wailed.

Jack uttered a gut-wrenching cry of pain before he lost consciousness. JoJo applied two more wicked kicks to ensure that he would not get up then set his sights on Lyla. "Get over here, girl." He waved. "Come and give me a taste of that."