“Look at the camera,” the voice said. “Tell your husband this is all his fault. He could have saved you.”
She slowly turned to me, her face wet and her sobs making it nearly impossible for her to speak. The man grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look at me. Tears leaked from my eyes as the reality of the situation set in. I was about to lose her. No, she was about to be taken from me. Everything was happening all at once. The senator was yelling, Cap and Hunter were threatening him, and my wife was pleading for her life. Everything spun out of control around me and I had no way to stop it. I gripped my hair in one hand as I watched Kate slowly look up at me again.
“Garrick,” her voice wobbled. “This is not your fault,” she rushed out. “I love you. I love you so-”
The gun fired and Kate went still, her body falling out of the chair, hitting the ground heavily. I fell to my knees, seeing it over and over again in my mind, but not really believing it. The camera panned down to her on the floor, zooming in on her face. Blood pooled around her head on the ground and her lifeless eyes stared straight ahead.
An animalistic roar tore through me, shredding me to pieces. I could feel the tears falling fast, but there was no stopping or controlling it. My heart had just shattered. The last good piece of me was gone. I should have left her alone, but I hadn’t and now she was dead.
I felt arms wrap around me, trying to hold me or control me, but the man that had friends and wanted this life was gone. All it took was a single shot, and my world vanished, just like that. I tore wildly at the hands holding me down, scratching and clawing until I could free myself enough to start punching. Cap and Hunter finally backed off, and then it was just me and the senator. I spun, kicking out at his face. Blood spurted from his nose, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. I released the chain from the hook and watched his body flop to the ground. I slammed my foot into his face until it was unrecognizable, and then I started in on his chest, cracking every fucking rib until there were none left to crack. He was dead. I could tell that, but it didn’t matter. I pulled out my gun and unloaded a clip into his face, hating that this was the man that brought me down.
I stood there, chest heaving and my mind crazed. All I could see was blood. All I could feel was revenge. I swiped at my face. This wasn’t the time for tears. Kate was gone, and crying over her wouldn’t make me feel better. But killing every single one of the fuckers that put her in this position would ease the pain a little. They would all pay. They wouldn’t see me coming, but they would feel me, and they would quake in terror until I ended their pitiful lives.
I glanced at Cap and Hunter, both of them staring at me in pity and something else. Blood dripped from my body where the senator’s blood had splashed onto me. There was nothing left here for me. All that was left was the killing. I spun on my heel and walked out of the room, making my way up to the parking garage. Cole came running out of the elevator, shouting at me to stop. I put my helmet on and swung my leg over the bike. I just had to get home and grab a few things, then I’d be on my way.
“Hey!” Cole said, grabbing onto my wrist. “I’m talking to you. What did you get out of the senator?”
Shit. I slowly turned to face him, pulling my helmet off. “She’s dead.” It sounded hollow to my own ears. Disbelief and anger filled his face and he stumbled back a step.
“No, she can’t be.”
“She is.”
“No…you have to go after her. This isn’t real. Knight, you have to-”
“I watched them do it!” I shouted. “They held a gun to her head and murdered her right in front of me!” My voice shook and my whole body vibrated. I was barely holding it together. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t comfort him when this was all my fault. I couldn’t explain myself in any way.
“I always knew this would happen,” he said quietly. “I knew that one day you would get her killed. It took longer than I thought.”
He was right, but that didn’t mean it didn’t cut deep. I thought that I was making life better for all of us. I thought that making her mine, we would have it all. I promised him I would take care of her. I swore nothing would ever happen to her. I broke that promise.
He suddenly had his hands on me, grabbing me off my bike. He shoved me to the ground and kicked me hard in the ribs. I could have fought back. I should have fought back. Nobody pushed me around and got away with it.
“You son of a bitch!” His foot connected again and again with my stomach, probably cracking ribs. Then his fist flew at me, connecting with my jaw, my eyes…he was beating the shit out of me, and I wasn’t even trying to defend myself. It was all my fault, and I deserved every second of this.
Hunter and Cap pulled him off me, but I just laid there for a second, relishing in the pain. It did nothing to dull the fact that I had gotten my wife killed, though. Finally, I rolled to my side and pushed myself up, spitting the blood out of my mouth. I snatched my helmet off the ground and shoved it on my head. With one last look at Cole, I got on my bike and took off.
When I got back to our house, I didn’t pay attention to anything around me. I ignored her curling iron on the bathroom counter. I stepped right over her nightgown on the bedroom floor. Hell, I didn’t even bother to look at the picture of us on her nightstand. All of those were painful reminders of what I once had, and I could no longer afford to pay attention to that shit.
I stuffed a duffel with my clothes and grabbed all my guns and magazines, fitting them into a second duffel. I packed any gear that I thought I might use, along with my cash from our wall safe. I wanted to take my bike, but a pickup truck would be more discreet and easier to carry everything with me. I snatched my keys off the counter and walked out of my house forever. I wouldn’t be coming back.
Chapter Nineteen
Cap
I watched as Knight drove away, still holding Cole back. I was still in shock. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. It didn’t seem possible, but yet I had seen it with my own eyes. There had been no way to stop it. We just stood there in horror as Kate was murdered in front of our very own eyes. I knew what Knight was thinking, what he was feeling. I had been there before, but I was lucky because Maggie survived. What was I supposed to do now?
Cole stood beside me, his body just seeming to stand by some unnatural force. He didn’t even seem like he was still there. I didn’t know what to do for him. Over the years, Kate and Cole had become extremely close. They were more like brother and sister than cousins. He had been protective of her since Knight came into her life, and even after seeing how much they loved each other, I knew he still had his reservations. Those reservations and fears were confirmed tonight.
“Cole-”
“Don’t,” he bit out. “I have to go see my niece and nephews.”
He turned and walked away from Hunter and I. We followed behind him, letting him into the elevator to get him to the panic room. Then, Hunter and I went upstairs and headed for the conference room. I called everyone in, sitting in my chair and trying to think of how the hell I was supposed to tell them. Slowly, they all filtered in. They all asked questions, but neither Hunter nor I answered. I don’t think either of us knew how to break the news.
“Bossman, what’s going on?” Becky asked, breaking through the noise in the room.
I shook my head, breaking myself out of my thoughts and stood. “We got the information we needed out of the senator.”
“That’s great,” Cazzo said, a smile on his face. “We should-”
“Kate’s dead.”
A heavy silence fell over the room as everyone stared at me. Caldwell stood in the corner of the room. He had been in the room when it happened, but he had kept his distance since. He wasn’t one of us and now that Knight had run off, he probably had no idea where he fit in.
“What? Are you sure?” Becky asked, her voice shaking.
I nodded solemnly. “When the senator called, he must have given some signal. Her captors called back and…we saw it h
appen.”
“Where’s Knight?” Lola asked.
“He took off,” Hunter answered.
“You shouldn’t have let him. He needs-”
“He needs to kill everyone involved,” Hunter cut in. “He just watched his wife being murdered. Are you going to go tell him to calm down?”
“We should have seen this coming,” Derek scoffed. “Knight’s always been out of control. It was only a matter of time before he put Kate in danger again.”
“This doesn’t have jack shit to do with Knight,” Hunter spat. “He loved Kate. You know he would do anything to protect her.”
“Except keep his nose out of everyone’s business,” Derek retorted.
“What’s going on here is not something Knight could ignore,” I said, stepping into the fray.
“We wouldn’t know,” Chance said, standing in the corner of the room. “You haven’t included all of us in what the hell is going on.”
“Yeah, we were attacked and we still don’t know why the fuck it happened,” Jackson said.
I nodded and stood. I had to take responsibility for how I handled this. I had made the decision not to bring everyone in on this because I thought it would be safer. But in doing so, I had alienated half the company.
“You’re right. I should have told everyone what was going on. Back when Knight paid a visit to Senator Blakely-”
“You mean killed him,” Derek chimed in.
I nodded slightly. There was no point in trying to cover up what had happened. “When he killed Senator Blakely, he found information the senator was using as blackmail. One of those documents was information on Senator Cortez. After doing some digging, it proved to be linked to a biotech company called SynGen. There was evidence of illegal funds being transferred and Knight brought Parker in at that point to investigate further. Parker and Blake met up when they were checking out Cortez’s house. After sending Parker and Blake into SynGen, we found out that they were developing a deadly virus, worse than anything we’ve ever seen. They had been testing it on patients- no subjects, people that were snatched off the streets. The mortality rate was severe and we assumed it was going to be used as a weapon. That was when the FBI raided our offices. We found out earlier today because of Agent Caldwell,” I said, nodding to him in the corner, “that there was talk of a plan to steal the election, and the virus was going to be used as the catalyst. Now, I know that all you want more information, and we’ll get into this further later. But when we found out what the plan was, we immediately went to confront Cortez. Knight was able to get names out of Cortez, who else was involved in the plot. But then the senator called for Kate to be released, and that’s when she was killed.”
My voice cracked as I revealed the last bit of information. I was ashamed that we hadn’t done more for her. I was angry at myself for not having protected her, the way we vow to protect all of the Reed Security family. In the end, nothing we did was enough. We had lost Kate, and as much as I knew Knight felt responsible for her death, I felt it equally. I was the one that initially brought her into the company. She met Knight because of me, and she died because we didn’t protect her. The weight of her death hung heavily on my shoulders, and as I looked around the room, I could see that they all felt it the same as me.
“Knight took off,” Hunter said, filling the silence. “We have to give him some time. He’s reckless right now, but…he needs this time. I’ll give him a few days and then I’ll go after him.”
“We should go after him now,” Cazzo grumbled. “I know what he’s feeling. When Vanessa was taken with Kate, I thought I would lose my mind. I thought she was going to die, and there’s nothing that would have stopped me from killing anyone that hurt her.” He glanced over at me, his jaw set in a hard line. “He’s going to get himself killed if we don’t go after him. And then his death is on all of us.”
“If you go after him now, all you’re doing is signing your own death warrant,” Hunter argued. “He won’t distinguish between friend and enemy right now. You didn’t see him in that room when that video came through. He wasn’t anything like the man we know. He was the killer again, and if you get in his way, he’ll kill you without a moment’s hesitation.”
“I agree with Hunter. As much as I want to go after Knight, we need to let him cool off for a few days. We need to focus on making sure this virus never gets out,” I continued. “We need to-”
“Whoa, back the fuck up,” Ice cut in. “Kate just fucking died. Knight is off God knows where, and you want to focus on the fucking virus?”
“What would you have me do?” I asked tiredly. “You know Knight doesn’t want help on this. He wants to track every one of those fuckers down and make them pay. He doesn’t want a big crusade from all of us. He wants them to suffer, and I’m not going to stand in his way. Besides, if this virus gets out, then what the fuck did Kate die for? If the virus gets out, then she was taken for no reason. We have Agent Caldwell here with us. He’s one of the good guys. Knight trusted him,” I said, swallowing hard. “And if Knight trusts him, then we should too. Right now, we need to focus on making sure that the job is finished. Caldwell, what can you do for us?”
He pushed off the wall and joined the rest of us around the table. “There are still one or two agents that I trust, but it’s going to be hard to get this into the right hands.”
“I talked with a friend that has contacts, good government contacts. Hopefully, she’ll have something soon for us.”
He nodded. “I’ll bring this to whoever I can, but honestly, with Knight going after all these senators, I’m not sure what anyone can do about it. If Knight wants you dead, nothing’s going to stop that.”
“We can let everyone know who they really are,” Chris said. “Knight’s form of justice is understandable, but there’s not a single fucking citizen who shouldn’t be aware of the schemes these assholes had in place. They need to be publicly humiliated before Knight even gets to them.”
“Good luck with that,” Hunter snorted. “I think our best bet is to make sure that everyone involved is dead, uncover the conspiracy, and let the people know. But getting any kind of justice? That’s only going to happen when Knight takes them out.”
“I have the journals,” Becky said helpfully. “I have copies of everything just in case, but that journal put in the right hands will do a lot of damage.”
“We also need to expose the lab. They need to be shut down by the government so an investigation can be done. If they were creating this virus, God knows what else they were doing there.”
Silence fell over the room for a moment. “Who’s going to tell everyone else about Kate?” Derek asked.
Chapter Twenty
Cole
Alex was in the panic room with everyone else. She didn’t know yet about Kate, and she would be devastated. Alex and Kate had become very close over the years. They got together for wine all the time and Alex was always hanging out with the kids. We never could have kids of our own, and while we were fine with that, it still always felt like there was something missing. With Knight on the run, who would look after those kids? I sure as hell wasn’t leaving them here.
Maggie opened the panic room door for me, a smile on her face. “Hey, Cole! Alex is in the other room with the kids.”
I couldn’t bring myself to smile back at her. All I felt inside was anguish. I could imagine the terror that Kate felt when she was being held. I could imagine the pain she felt, knowing she would never see her kids again. It wasn’t fair, and now I had to be the one to take those kids and give them the life they would never have. When Knight walked away, I had a feeling it would be forever. He loved his kids, but I knew that Kate was it for him. She was the last shred of humanity left in him, and not even those precious kids could pull him back from the edge.
“Hey,” she placed her hand on my arm and I just stared at it. I didn’t know what to say. “What happened?” She pulled me into the panic room and down the hallway to a deserted room. A
fter shutting the door, she turned to me and knew that something was wrong. Maggie was no fool, but she had no idea what was going on. I slowly looked up at her, tears shining bright in my eyes.
“Kate’s dead.”
She gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. She shook her head slightly. “That can’t be right. There has to be a mistake-”
“There’s no mistake,” I cut her off.
She stood there, her mouth gaping as she tried to process everything. “I don’t…when?”
I shook my head. Was I supposed to give a time and a place? Was twenty minutes ago too accurate or not accurate enough?
“Does Knight know?”
“He saw it happen.”
“It happened here?” she asked incredulously.
“No, they…on video.”
“Then, it might be fake.”
“Do you really think Knight would rush out of here, ready to kill anyone in his path if there was a chance it was fake?”
Maggie slowly moved to a chair and sat down, her legs seeming to just give out beneath her. “I don’t understand. How did this happen?”
“I didn’t see it. All I know is that Knight lost his shit. He didn’t even fight back.”
“Fight back?”
I sighed and dropped down in my own chair. “He didn’t protect her. He swore he would protect her and he failed. I lost it on him and he just laid there while I beat the shit out of him.”
In hindsight, I knew that he was blaming himself just as much as I was. Kate was his reason for living and he had let her down. I knew it wasn’t that simple, but the wounds were too fresh.
“What happens now?”
“I have to go find Alex. I have to let her know.”
“Are you going to tell the kids?”
Pain shot through my chest and I rubbed at it, trying to dull the ache. “Would it help? Raven is barely six years old. Griffin is still too young to understand and Cade is just a baby. Part of me says that it can’t be real, that I should wait. I can’t just tear their worlds apart like that.”
GoodKnight: A Reed Security Romance Page 10