There was a difference, however, in that Liz was - supposedly - more prepared for this moment than she had been that day two years ago.
We'll see if I really am.
The older woman smiled. "You remember me. You can call me Theresa."
Theresa McGuire. What in the hell was she doing here? Why is she pointing a gun at me?
"You were at the trial every day."
"You certainly made an impression on me too, Elizabeth. You're the reason Kenny went to prison."
Locking her trembling knees, Liz shook her head in denial. "Your son went to prison because he broke the law. That wasn't my fault."
"It was your testimony that locked down the guilty verdict. Up until then there was reasonable doubt."
This woman was delusional.
"All of his friends pled guilty. I doubt the jury thought that your son was an innocent bystander."
"Innocent is a legal term. My Ken was a good boy."
Strangely, Liz found herself more angry than frightened. Theresa McGuire had a casual relationship with ethics and truth, and was trying to blame her poor parenting on others.
"Your son terrorized a dozen people he'd never met so he could steal money. That doesn't sound good to me."
Theresa raised her arm higher so the gun was pointed directly at Liz's heart. "Huge corporations make profits off the sweat of the little man. They deserve to be robbed."
"Does the little man deserve to have a gun pointed at him?" Liz demanded as sweat trickled down her back from where it had pooled at the back of her neck. She was nervous but she was angry at the same time. "Your son threatened to kill us one by one. We all thought we were going to die."
The woman shrugged carelessly. "Everyone dies. Kenny died and it's all your fault."
"My fault? How is it my fault?"
"If he hadn't been in prison, he wouldn't have gotten into that fight. He'd be alive except for you. That day when you were on the stand, you made him sound like a monster."
Liz wanted to tell this woman that her son was a monster, but clearly she wouldn't believe it. She'd rationalized her son's behavior in a truly bizarre manner.
"I wasn't the only witness."
"You're right, and they'll all get what's coming to them, too. Dillon and I will make sure of it. For Kenny."
"Dillon?"
"My other son. He's here with me. In fact, we're going to him."
There was another McGuire? Did he look like Kenneth?
Holy shit, I may not have been seeing things.
Relief flooded Liz's body and she had to force herself to focus on the real problem at hand.
A gun pointed at her.
It was great that she probably wasn't hallucinating but she still had a huge issue right here and now. Getting out of the situation alive.
"You have another son?"
"Kenny's older brother. You'll meet him in a minute. We'll all get in his truck and take a little drive."
And then you'll kill me. I think I'll pass on that.
Stall, Liz. Stall. Eventually Noah will come looking for me. Or someone will walk by. There are dozens of people around here.
"How did you even know I was here in Tremont?"
"That was easy. You were tagged in a photo on social media having dinner with your friends. The minute I saw it, Dillon and I drove down here that night. We've been following you and waiting for just the right moment. This wedding was the perfect opportunity. Chaos. People coming and going. It was so easy to blend in as waiters or delivery people. The people of this town are amazingly stupid and trusting. We just walked up and stole a uniform. No one asked us any questions."
The only photo Liz knew about was the one that had been taken that night at the roadhouse. She hadn't given it a second thought.
"I've been seeing your son around town. He looks a lot like Kenneth."
"He does. Both of them favor my husband." Theresa jerked the gun to the right. "Now it's time to go. Turn around slowly and start walking."
That couldn't happen. After the robbery, Liz had taken self-defense classes for awhile and one of the first rules she'd learned was to never let an attacker take her anywhere. Don't get in the car, don't leave the location. Invariably, the perpetrator would take the victim somewhere remote where the screams wouldn't be heard.
I won't be a victim again. Not this time.
Liz's handgun was in her purse, but it was currently zipped closed and hanging on her right shoulder. If she tried to reach into it, Theresa would probably panic and shoot.
I may have to scream and fight my way out of this.
Taking on Theresa probably wouldn't be that bad. She was an older woman although she appeared to be in decent shape. But Liz definitely couldn't take on Dillon, the son. She'd have to make her move soon, then.
If I just start screaming will she shoot?
The ranch was crawling with people. If Liz started screaming someone was sure to come running but would it be too late? Did Theresa care about getting caught? That was the problem when a person had nothing to lose...logic didn't mean much to them. The sanctity of life meant even less.
And Liz had a hell of a lot to live for. Her friends, family, her new business...and Noah, of course. They'd just found each other and she wasn't going to let her past get in the way of the future that she could have with the man she loved.
Yes, loved.
The weight of Liz's purse hung heavily on her shoulder. Heavy, but useless. The gun was zipped up inside. This is what Mallory, Dani, and Celia had been talking about. The "illusion" of safety. She'd felt safer because she'd been carrying a gun but now that the situation arose to use it...she couldn't get to it.
Wait...the handbag was heavy. It weighed a ton. Mallory had compared it to an anvil at one point.
An anvil in the face could do some serious damage. If, and that was a big if, Liz could manage to swing it around and hit Theresa with it. That would give her a chance to scream and run. All she needed was an opening to get away...
"Move," Theresa commanded again, poking the gun in Liz's back. "We don't have all day."
No, we don't. Now is the time.
Hopefully, Theresa would stay exactly where she was - arms’ length from Liz. That was the ideal distance as that was about how long the purse straps were as well.
Taking one tiny step forward, Liz slowly lowered her right shoulder so that the heavy purse slid down her arm and onto the ground with a thud. Theresa growled in annoyance but she didn't move, waving the gun at the handbag.
"Just leave it. Let's go."
That's something I cannot do.
It took effort but somehow Liz managed to keep her voice normal, despite the blood roaring in her ears. She was shocked that Theresa couldn't hear her heart pounding against her ribs like a marching band. "If I leave it and someone finds it, they'll know something has happened to me. They'll immediately be suspicious."
"Fine," Theresa snapped. "Just get it. We need to get moving. Dillon is waiting for us."
He's going to have to wait a lot longer.
Liz bent forward, grasping the strap of the purse close to the bottom with both hands to get the most control. She only had one shot at this. It would either work or be a disaster. There wasn't much in between.
Inhaling sharply, Liz braced herself for the roundhouse swing of a lifetime.
I won't be a victim again.
26
The rehearsal had gone off without a hitch. This wasn't the first time they'd all walked down an aisle in step to the wedding march music, so it was basically just figuring out who was going to stand where and how not to step in front of someone or on the bride's train.
Noah and Liz had walked back down the aisle after the pretend ceremony arm in arm. He'd been standing next to Carter and his other brothers when she'd walked up that same aisle, holding a rose and smiling, looking far more beautiful than anyone should have a right to. She'd been looking at him the entire time, their gazes locked with every step.
He co
uldn't help but think about her wearing a white dress and veil at their own wedding. Yep, he had it that bad. He was already thinking about the future. More specifically...his future with Liz. They'd been through so much and now they had their second chance.
"You walked down the aisle like a pro," Noah said to Liz when the rehearsal was over. "How many times have you done this before?"
Liz groaned and rolled her eyes. "Too many times. Every time I'm in a wedding I swear that it's going to be the last, but when Mallory asked I couldn't say no, of course."
"Thank goodness you said yes. If you hadn't..."
"I still would have come to the wedding," Liz pointed out. "I still would have seen you and you would have seen me."
The outcome would have been the same. It was fate, after all.
"Are you going to drive into town with me?" Noah asked. Mallory and Carter had rented out a local eatery for the rehearsal dinner tonight. It was a small affair with just the wedding party.
"I can but I really need to freshen up first, if you don't mind waiting five minutes."
"Take as long as you need. I'll wait right here with the guys."
Liz hurried toward the main house and Noah settled into a rented folding chair in the tent. Easton sat down beside him, holding out a can of soda which Noah accepted gratefully. He was parched and it wasn't a surprise that it was his twin who had noticed. They had a sort of thing where they could tell how the other one was feeling. Once Noah had stopped at the store and bought cold medicine because he was convinced that Easton was sick. When he arrived at his brother’s house it turned out he was right.
"Thanks, I was damn thirsty. Where's Dizzy?"
"In the house. Mom has something she wants to show Dizzy. Don't ask me what it is because it's some sort of big secret. Maybe it's my birthday present."
"Our birthday is two months away."
"Then I have no idea what Mom is showing her. Dizzy won't tell me, and you know how she is when she's keeping a secret. Where's Liz?"
"She's in the house, too. She won't be long."
Easton glanced over his shoulder at the house in the distance. "Dizzy and I are really happy for you and Liz. She seems like a nice woman."
"Thanks, she's wonderful."
"Carter mentioned that you're going to build a pottery studio for her."
"I am and you're welcome to come help. Get your hands dirty a little."
Laughing, Easton took a long drink from his soda. "We might be twins but we stopped dressing alike and doing everything together when we were kids."
"That's the truth. There was no way we were going to grow up and do the same things–"
Noah broke off, his attention captured by a man strolling toward the area where all the delivery trucks were parked.
Kenneth McGuire? It sure as hell looked like the photo that Jason had sent him along with the other information about the bank robbery. Sure, it was from a distance so he might be wrong, but...
Wait a goddamn second. Noah wasn't the person traumatized by being held hostage in a bank robbery. He shouldn't be seeing dead men. That could only mean one thing - Liz wasn't seeing things. But Jason had sworn up and down that McGuire was dead.
"Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Easton's query pulled Noah from his thoughts. His brother was looking at him, a worried expression on his face.
The same face that Noah looked at in the mirror in the morning.
Fuck.
Jason had said that McGuire had a criminal sibling.
Brothers.
His heart racing, Noah sprang to his feet. If Kenneth McGuire's brother was in Tremont that didn't bode well for Liz's safety. He needed to find the son of a bitch right the hell now. Without a backward glance at his brother, Noah sprinted after the doppelgänger, his boots pounding the uneven ground and his lungs straining to suck in oxygen.
For a moment, he thought that the man had managed to slip away into the labyrinth of trucks but then he turned right and saw him, walking leisurely without a care in the world about ten feet away. Noah was about to change that. With a roar, he tackled the man to the ground and pushed him to his back while Noah straddled him, holding him down. The other guy fought back but Noah didn't have the patience for it. He sunk his fist into the man's gut and the fight went out of him.
And he did look just like Kenneth McGuire, although up close Noah could see the differences. This man was slightly older with more lines around his eyes and mouth. His hair was the same color but clipped shorter than the photograph.
"Why have you been following Liz around? What are you doing here?"
The man tried to look confused and shook his head. "Who's Liz? I'm here to deliver tables and chairs for the wedding tomorrow."
"Bullshit," Noah snarled, keeping a tight hold on the man's shirt. "Why have you been following her around? What do you want? I know that you're Kenneth McGuire's brother, so talk."
At the mention of his brother's name, the man stopped struggling and smiled. "Then I don't need to answer your questions. You know why we're here."
Noah wanted to beat this man's head into the ground. Repeatedly.
He wasn't going to do that, however. But that didn't mean he couldn't tighten his grip on the asshole's shirt and scare him a little. Noah leaned down and invaded the guy's personal space, giving him a shake.
"I asked–"
Hold on a moment. We? We?
"You said we. Who else is here?" Noah growled, his patience at an end.
"Mom," the asshole replied promptly with a shit-eating grin. "I'm guessing she's already got your pretty girlfriend."
His mother? The woman that Liz had described as crying every day of the trial?
And she’s hunting the woman I love?
Before Noah could respond a shot rang out and the man's smile widened. "Looks like it's too late."
If it was...there wasn't a safe place for this dick and his mother. Noah would make them wish they'd never been born.
Noah had never been so scared in his entire life. Not when he'd been the first of his brothers to go off to college. Not when his girlfriend thought - erroneously - that she was pregnant. Not when Jason was taken prisoner by a drug cartel. Not even when his dad had had a "heart incident" about a year ago.
None of that had prepared him for the sheer terror of losing Liz so soon after he'd found her again. This was supposed to be their second chance and that gunfire might have taken it all away.
Sweat poured off of him and his heart thundered in chest, blocking out everything around him. There was only Liz. No wedding. No family and friends. Just the frantic determination to find her and keep anyone from hurting her. He prayed he wasn't too late. He rounded the back corner of a truck and stopped in his tracks, dragging air into his aching lungs.
Liz. Very much alive.
And a woman, who must have been McGuire's mother, lying on the ground and moaning in pain.
Two steps and he was standing next to Liz and pulling her into his arms. He needed to feel her, and know that was alive and well. He ran his hands over her arms and down her legs, looking for any sign of injury. He'd breathe again when he was sure that she was okay.
"We heard a gun go off. Are you hurt? Do you need a doctor?"
"I'm fine. I'm okay. The gun went off but it fired into the air, I think."
She didn't sound fine or okay. She sounded like she was going to cry, her voice choked and thick. He cupped her chin so she had to look up at him and he could see that her eyes were bright with unshed tears.
"You're hurt," he said. "We'll go to the hosp–"
"I'm not hurt." This time she spoke more firmly, placing her hand over his. "I swear, I'm okay. I'm just...overwhelmed."
The clearing of a throat had Noah turning around to see Easton, Carter, Shane, Jason, and West all standing there. Jason, with West on his heels, nodded to Liz and gave her an encouraging smile before heading straight for McGuire's mother on the ground, hauling the complaining
woman to her feet. She kept saying she needed a doctor. She'd see the local sheriff first.
Easton shrugged. "You ran. So I did, too. If I see my twin running as if a crazed killer clown with a butcher knife is chasing him, you bet your ass I'm going to follow."
Noah looked at his other brothers. "What's your story?"
A smile played on Carter's lips. "It's my fucking wedding, asshole. If anyone is going to get in a fight, get dirty, or catch a bad guy I'm going to be in on it."
"That was pretty much my thinking as well," Shane replied with a straight face. "We heard the gunshot, too. It's good to see that you're okay, Liz."
She was okay. Noah was beginning to finally believe it, and his heart rate was going back to normal. The gray hairs he'd sprouted in the last five minutes? Those were going to be permanent.
"What did happen here?"
Rubbing at her temples, Liz took a deep breath before answering. "I heard a child crying so I walked around looking for them. I figured one of the delivery people had brought their kid and they'd been separated."
Shane nodded. "Logical assumption."
"Then I felt something sticking in my back. It was Theresa McGuire, Kenneth McGuire's mom, and she's holding a gun. She showed me a cell phone that had a recording of the crying child, and then tells me that we're going to meet her son Dillon and go for a drive. Needless to say, I didn't like the sound of that. So I pretended to drop my purse and then I picked it up and hit her with it as hard as could." Her eyes went wide, and she went to move past Noah. "Shit, we have to find him. He could–"
"We've got him, honey," Noah said softly. "I saw him and well...fuck, it's a long story but I punched him."
Liz looked up at him in amazement. "You punched him?"
"I did."
Her surprise turned to happiness. "Good. He deserved it. Where is he now?"
Shit, where was he?
"Our cousins are taking care of him," Carter answered. "And the sheriff is on his way."
Noah reached down and picked up Liz's handbag that was sitting on the ground. Damn thing weighed a ton, of course. She had an arsenal in it.
"I guess that gun for personal protection came in handy, after all."
Dancing With Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 10) Page 18