Focusing her vision on the soiled mattress she lay on, she attempted to pull her left arm out from behind her back so she could read her watch, but it wouldn’t move.
Reality drummed in her brain. Her hands were tied, the rope biting into her flesh with every attempt to move.
One by one she put the events together through a haze that blanketed her mind. She’d been dragged into the room, her ankles and hands bound. She could feel the pressure of duct tape on her mouth, smell the chemical odor of adhesive.
Struggling to the edge of the bed, she swung her legs off and pushed herself into an upright position. The taste of blood in her mouth turned her stomach. She swallowed and scanned the room. It was somehow familiar. Byer had said he was taking her to Bayou Gauche. Otis Whittley. He’d brought her to Otis Whittley’s shack?
She surveyed the room in the fading light and saw a miracle. Her heart jumped into her throat. Her backpack lay in the corner behind the closed door. If she could get her backpack, she could access her knife, cut her hands loose…
Slowly, she stood up, but the room began to spin and she rocked like a toy horse. She sat back down, fought for balance and staved off a wave of nausea. A string of memories cut through the cloud in her mind. Ether.
A couple of deep breaths helped to clear her head. Physically she was in tact, but she’d have to crawl to her backpack or risk having Byer hear her fall and come into the room.
Kendall slid off the bed and balanced her weight until she touched down on the floor. She lay down on her side. With her feet she pushed against the floor and slid, inch by inch, toward the corner. Another round of nausea swept over her. She let it pass and bent her knees and extended them, every push bringing her closer to escape.
Halfway there, she caught sight of movement outside the window. Kendall froze, watching as a face peered through the glass and into the room. Brian?
She blinked hard, praying it was really him and not a hallucination. She was glad the tape held his name in, but her mind screamed caution.
Byer was waiting for him. Did he have any idea how sick Byer was?
Pushing off again, she watched his shadow move away from the window. Panic drove her harder and beads of sweat formed on her forehead. He was walking into Byer’s trap. She couldn’t let it happen.
The tap of Byer’s footsteps in the living room stopped. She went still. Waiting. Listening. Any minute she expected the crack of gunfire. Closing her eyes she tried to focus, but the pounding of Byer’s footsteps coming down the hall drove terror through her heart.
Was he coming for her?
Curling into a ball, she held the cry in her throat
The footsteps stopped.
She opened her eyes and spotted the toes of Byer’s boots through the crack at the bottom of the door. Did he know Brian was outside? She lay so still she could hear the sound of her heartbeat in her ears.
The door creaked open.
She held her breath.
Byer stalked into the room and stopped at the bed. “Where are you!” he yelled.
The splintering of wood pulled his head around and he bolted out of the room.
“You son of a bitch,” Brian’s voice raised into a roar. “Where is she?”
His entrance drove her forward. She shuffled to her backpack as all hell broke loose in the living room. Grunts of mortal combat cemented her determination. She wasn’t going to lose the man she loved to his rage or a madman.
With her hands tied she slid the zipper.
A shot went off in the living room.
She froze; dread danced inside of her. Come on...come on... She put her hands into her backpack, fishing until she found her Swiss Army knife. In four slices she cut through the rope. She sat up, clarity replacing cloudiness.
Another shot went off.
Kendall sawed through the rope binding her ankles and pulled the tape off her mouth. Reaching into the backpack she pulled out her Taser, cupped it in her hand and crawled toward the open door. Poking her head out she tried to see down the hallway.
Reality invaded her mind and she felt herself being hauled up from the floor. She’d neglected to check behind her.
Kendall looked down at Byer’s boots, felt his arm around her waist as he crushed her against him for a shield, but there was something next to his feet.
Red and spreading fast.
Blood.
“Here she is, Littrell. What’s left.” His chest heaved against her back. Wetness soaked her shirt. It was coming from him. She positioned the Taser in her hand.
“She’s not as good as Natalie. She was the only woman I ever loved and you took her.” He pushed Kendall into the living room.
Brian stood in the ready position, his focus locked on the gun muzzle against Kendall’s temple. His heart pounded in his ears.
“Let her go, Liam. I’m the one you want. Don’t take it out on her.”
“You’ve got a hell of a mouth, Littrell. I always hated it when you were right, but I didn’t get you out here to kill you first. I’ve got my favorite knife, saved it just for her.”
Brian sized up the length of the leather sheath strapped onto Byer’s right thigh. It was a hell of a knife. He swallowed. “Why’d you do it, Liam? Why’d you kill Natalie and Megan?”
“She didn’t want me anymore.” He paused for a minute, his face contorted by madness. “She threatened to tell you all about me. I couldn’t let her do it. There wasn’t any other way.”
“What about Whittley and Romaro? Was that the only way you had to deal with them?”
“Double-crossing scum. Whittley put the screws to me with that car. Everyone wanted something that was mine.” Byer’s eyes went wide and wild as he fixed a stare on Brian.
“The only woman I loved was yours. Once again the pretty boy, Brian, had it all, but I had her right under your nose. In your own damn bed.”
Brian remembered the picture in Byer’s trophy gallery. Natalie’s inviting smile. The truth penetrated him like a dagger, but the pain was fleeting. Byer and Natalie were lovers, he had taken the picture as a trophy.
“What are you going to do with Kendall?”
“Don’t you get it? I picked her to bring you to me. I planted the McKinley name on the street and watched it grow. I even used her car to level your family, and it worked, didn’t it? Here you are, and she’s about to die. I bested you. For payback, she goes first.”
“No!” Kendall ducked away from the gun muzzle and jammed the Taser against Liam’s side and pressed the button.
The gun went off, piercing her eardrums and singeing her nostrils with the smell of gunpowder.
In slow motion she watched a bullet slam into Brian’s chest and blow him backward.
Byer released her and collapsed on the floor.
“Brian!” Kendall raced to his side. He was already trying to sit up. Her heart hammered in her chest. “You’re hit!”
“I wore my vest.”
“I knew you’d come.”
Brian leaned close to Byer and kicked his gun away. “Wouldn’t have missed it, babe.” He kissed her, then looked her over. “Ouch.” Brian brushed the goose egg on the side of her head. “We’d better get that looked at.”
The flash of a knife blade low and right grabbed his focus. Seconds clicked in his mind; Byer’s intention was clear.
Kendall...he had to save Kendall.
Brian squeezed her against him and rolled hard to the left as Byer’s knife blade sliced toward her.
Her scream of pain and surprise rattled his eardrums, but he’d put some distance between them.
“Hang on.” He jumped to his feet and raised his gun. “Stop, Byer!”
“Go to hell!” Byer bellowed and charged forward, the knife raised high, hatred burning in his eyes.
Brian squeezed the trigger in rapid succession.
Bullets split the air in the room.
Byer’s face contorted in pain, then a victorious smile spread over his lips. He hit the floor like a rock.
Kendall’s gasps pulled Brian back into real time.
He knelt next to her, assessing the volume of blood soaking the sleeve of her shirt from the slice of Byer’s knife. “We got him, Kendall. We got him.” He pulled her into his arms, rocking her like a child.
Relief spread through his body as he spoke into the concealed microphone. “We need an ambulance out here. Kendall’s been injured.”
She lay in Brian’s arms letting his warmth and nearness calm her fears. The sight of Liam Byer sprawled next to them was unnerving, but he wasn’t going to hurt them ever again. “We’re a good team, Brian.”
He kissed her forehead. “I’d say we’re a winning team tonight.”
“I’m glad it’s over.” She didn’t want them to be over.
She watched him pull the top buttons on his shirt open and jerk out a thin wire with a round device on the end.
“Eavesdroppers. Byer’s confession will clear you.” He pulled the leads out of the microphone and tossed it across the room.
“I’ve been thinking...I don’t know what I’d do without you, and I just came too close to finding out.”
She looked into his face, saw the question in his eyes and knew the answer. “I had the same thought.”
He kissed her again. In the distance he heard the wail of sirens.
“There’s this little cottage I have the use of out in Slidell...”
“Can I come?”
“I’ve been taken for a ride by a McKinley, but I didn’t plan on having my heart dragged along.”
“It’s not so bad, is it?”
He lowered his mouth to hers, tasting the sweetness of her kiss, letting the surge of desire go unchecked. “No, but it looks like the hunt is over, and as impossible as it seems, I finally caught one.”
She smiled up at him and he brushed her cheek with his fingers. Love pulsed in his veins, a love he wanted to share with her. “I love you, Kendall.”
Her eyes took on a misty glow, a glitter of excitement.
“Can I sentence you to a life term with me?”
“Only if I’m guilty.”
“Are you?” he asked. She looked away, but he pulled her chin back toward him and searched her face.
“My only crime, Officer, is loving you. The statute of limitations has expired on everything else.”
Brian scooped Kaden into his arms as they made their way to the front entrance of the nursing home.
Kendall managed a smile for both of the guys in her life, even though her stomach churned. They were here to see Jake. She was there to say goodbye. Seth was going to take over responsibility for Jake’s care.
She took Brian’s hand, feeling the surge of gumption. He’d managed to convince her that Jake had taken her dare on his own. She was slowly beginning to believe it was true. Everyone was responsible for their decisions, good or bad, and the consequences of those decisions in the end.
“It’s down here.” She led Brian to the end of the hall and into a room. The blinds were drawn. Jake’s wheelchair was in the corner.
“Jake, Kaden’s here to see you.”
The hum of the automatic chair stopped her and she watched it turn.
Brian was next to her. He let go of her hand and put Kaden down. “I’m going to go get coffee. Do you want anything?”
“No, thank you.” She watched him leave, knowing he’d sensed her discomfort with the situation. He was giving her the space she needed. When she turned back around, Jake was looking at her. She saw his gaze drift to Brian’s retreating back and then he looked back to her, a half grin on his face.
“Seth told me...” he whispered. The respirator forced another whoosh of air into his lungs. “I want you to be happy.” His voice faded with an exhale. “Go, Kendall. Go to him.”
Warm tears, grateful tears, stung her eyes. She touched his cheek and put Kaden’s hand onto his. “Thank you.”
She fled the room, overwhelmed by the weight of Jake’s forgiveness.
“Brian...” She spotted him at the vending machine, dropping in some change. Hurrying to him, she put her arms around his neck.
He held her close as she sobbed against him. “It’s going to work out, Kendall.” Brian soothed her, knowing the battle of emotions that raged inside of her. The line she’d connected between herself and Jake had evaporated. And with it, her reasons for being bound to him.
“He’s receiving the best possible care. He’ll continue to get good care. You can let go.”
She stepped back from him and smiled, wiping her eyes. “I know.”
“We’ll get Kade out here every chance we get.”
“Thank you.”
He stroked her cheek, overcome with need. They’d been together every night since Byer died and he never wanted to spend a night without her.
“Want a cup?” He selected his choice and pushed the button.
“No...thank you. My nerves are shot.”
Brian fingered the diamond solitaire he’d slid onto her left hand. “They found a stack of cash at Whittley’s place. He rat-holed it in the bathroom floor. After your testimony next week, you can walk out of the courtroom and never look back.” She squeezed his hand and he worked to keep his desire under control.
“Thank God. It proves I didn’t take it.”
“What do you say we pack up and spend some time at the cottage? I’ve got some leave coming.”
“I’d like that.” She brushed the rest of her tears away and stared into his eyes. A mixture of happiness and relief spread through her, working its way into her soul. Jake had given her Kaden and now his forgiveness; the justice system, immunity, but Brian had given her his heart, and there wasn’t anything else she needed in this life.
