Without responding, he merely met her glances as she packed.
“Why bother with me and Brycen when you have bigger problems than us?” she asked.
“You’re the reason I have those problems,” he said. “First your husband and his meddling, and now you and that detective...”
“Why did Noah go to the coffee shop? Did he follow Carter there?”
“Carter got sloppy. He talked too much to Pulman and held meetings with Melvin there.”
So that was how Noah had ended up at the coffee shop. He’d been suspicious of Carter and must have seen him with Melvin, maybe also talking to John Pulman. And then the call for help had come in from Evette. He’d gone alone because he’d seen Carter meet with Melvin. And then he’d seen Watts—a most-wanted human trafficker. Had he known when he went to the coffee shop? Had he connected the Tennessee House by then? If not, he’d been close.
Noah must have noticed the falsified report and begun his own investigation. He should have told someone, especially about the report. But then he might not have discovered Carter’s involvement with Watts.
“You told Carter about Noah answering Evette’s call for help alone?” she asked.
Watts scoffed. “Carter. What a waste he turned out to be. Yes, Carter was another mistake I made. The first was not killing Melvin’s weak, ugly wife before I started doing business with him.”
His business? Carter’s protection for a fee? Help in keeping law enforcement from sniffing out his trail?
Drury couldn’t resist saying, “She couldn’t take the beatings like a real woman, huh?”
His expression, empty and cold, didn’t falter. “You have a smart mouth.”
Closing one drawer, she opened the next and crumpled some shirts into the duffel bag. “Where is Carter?”
“Hopefully his useless bones are scattered all over the mountainside after the bears ate his stinking corpse.”
Sickened, she stopped and looked back at him. He’d murdered Carter?
“I paid him to keep the cops off my back and he drew them in like flies. He got what he deserved.”
“Did all those innocent people you promised jobs deserve what they got?”
He didn’t respond immediately. He couldn’t deny he’d stolen the dreams and hopes of innocent people. Maybe for an instant he felt brief empathy. She doubted that.
“Finish packing. We have a plane to catch.”
A plane? Drury took her time packing. She had to do whatever it took to avoid getting on a plane with him.
*
Brycen didn’t have time to drop off Junior anywhere safe. He had to get to Drury. The address would take him to a pretty nice neighborhood. From the satellite image of the place on his phone, the lots were spaced far apart and backed to a heavily wooded area. There was also a dirt swath in the back of the house, indicating a private landing strip. The photo showed no planes on the ground, but that had to be Dexter’s escape plan—fly somewhere remote, kill Drury and Brycen and disappear.
“When we get to where we’re going, I need you to do exactly as I tell you, okay, Junior?”
Junior looked over, more worry marring his face than should for one so young.
“You stay in the car with the doors locked and don’t get out or let anyone in unless I say it’s okay, got it?”
He nodded.
“I’ll get your mother and bring her to you. You have to trust me on that.”
“I trust you.”
Brycen felt a moment of uncertainty. What if he couldn’t bring her back? What if Dexter had killed her already?
No.
That could not be. He floored the pedal as he reached the two-lane highway that would take him to Dexter’s hideaway. The navigation screen told him he was almost there.
*
“Hurry up,” Watts said.
Drury put a pair of jeans in the bag and went for another, packing them one at a time to give Brycen more time.
Impatient, Watts stood and pushed her aside, throwing the rest of the jeans in the bag.
Drury made a run for it. She darted out of the closet and into the hall, running as fast as she could to the main room. There, she skidded to slow down. The front was too open. There were trees in the back. She ran for the back door. It was locked, so she flipped that up just as Watts banged her over the head with his gun.
She fell. Getting onto her hands and knees while the room spun, she tried to crawl away.
“Stupid woman.” Watts grabbed the back of her shirt and lifted, throwing her into the room. She slid on the wood floor and hit the side of a chair.
Watts aimed his pistol at her.
Drury’s only thought was of Junior.
The sound of a helicopter made Watts straighten and go still. Then he ran to the back door and swore.
Drury stood and ran down a hallway, going into the first bedroom and shutting the door. There was no lock. Through the window she saw a man get out of the helicopter with an automatic weapon.
Watts started shooting at whoever it was. The man jumped to the ground from the chopper and fired his weapon. He missed Dexter, but it was enough to stop him from shooting.
From another room in the house, she heard glass breaking.
Brycen?
She went to the door and cracked it open. Watts appeared in the hallway from the main room just as Brycen came out of a bedroom down the hall. Brycen fired his gun.
Watts dove back into the main room, behind a wall for cover.
Drury went into the hall and rushed for Brycen, who took her hand and pulled her behind him. She wanted to wrap her arms and legs around him and kiss him everywhere for making it here.
Outside, a fierce explosion vibrated the house.
Watts could be heard swearing in the main room.
Brycen ran after him.
Drury made it to the room just as Watts left the house firing his gun.
Brycen followed. Then he stood on the patio and aimed, firing once. Drury stepped out onto the stone patio and saw the stranger climb into the helicopter. A plane Watts must have intended to use to escape was engulfed in flames. The energy from the explosion blew her hair slightly.
She looked closer at the stranger. It was the man from the airport. He gave them a salute and lifted up into the air.
Brycen watched with her.
She saw Watts lying on the ground, gun still in hand, facedown and blood pooling from the gunshot wound to his head.
She covered her mouth, seeing the stranger who’d helped save her and Brycen fly away.
“His sheets must be too dirty to stick around for a chat,” she said.
Brycen turned to her.
“That’s what he told me at the airport when he came to warn me.”
He turned back to the retreating helicopter. “That chopper doesn’t have any identifiers on it.”
“I wish we knew who he was.” But she had something more important to do. “Where’s Junior?”
“In the car.”
“You brought him?” She went back into the house and ran to the front door.
Brycen kept up with her.
She saw her son in the passenger seat. As soon as the boy saw her, he clumsily opened the door and got out, running to her.
Swooping him up into her arms, she kissed his cheek. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Noah Jr.”
“Your eyes are sore?”
She laughed and almost cried she was so happy. Finally it was over. Noah’s murder was solved. For good now. She could bury him and put that part of her life behind her.
Now she just had to figure out her future.
Chapter 16
A few days later, after closing out the case with Deputy Chandler, Brycen packed his bag and left it on Drury’s bed. All he had to do was say goodbye to Drury and Junior. He could stay a few extra days, but what good would that do? Drury had asked him to stay through lunch. He’d share that with them and then go.
He entered the living room and saw her
end a call from a new client who’d just booked a flight to go skiing somewhere remote. With her silky blouse that fell to her waist above a beady-pocket pair of skinny jeans, long dark hair draping over her shoulders, her beauty magnetized him.
“Hi,” she said, blue eyes flashing with awareness.
“Hi.” They’d been on awkward ground like this ever since he saved her. He slept with her while he closed the case, but they hadn’t made love. He sensed her putting her guard up, preparing for the inevitable. And he found himself doing the same thing, uncertain whether he’d made the right decision to leave.
The doorbell rang and he watched Drury go and answer it. Was she expecting someone? When he heard voices and the door closing, he stood from the sofa. Junior was in his room catching up on homework.
He stood in the threshold between the living room and the entry and saw Kayla’s father and sister enter behind Drury.
What the hell?
Drury approached. “Sorry, Brycen, I didn’t think you’d agree to this. It wasn’t my idea. Avery contacted me. They want to make peace with you.”
“And you took it upon yourself to arrange a meeting?” He tried to quell his anger. Meeting with Kayla’s family didn’t bother him; her sneakiness did.
She backed up as Avery and her father stopped before him.
“Thank you for seeing us,” Avery said. “We didn’t come to tell you to get lost. In fact, we came to apologize. You didn’t tell us you married Kayla the day of the accident.”
“You didn’t give me a chance.”
Mr. Jefferson lowered his head. The man had anger-management issues and it must cost his pride a hefty load to come here. Brycen had to give him credit for that, but he still had a lousy attitude. He’d make peace, but he’d never consider Brycen worth his attention.
“Would you like to take a seat?” he asked.
“No. This won’t take long,” Mr. Jefferson said. And then when he must have realized how pompous he sounded, he added, “We won’t take up too much of your time, is what I meant.”
“We hope you can understand why we treated you the way we did,” Avery said. “Kayla told me about your...your views on marriage...” She glanced at Drury, who stood behind the kitchen island with her hands on the counter.
Did Avery see something between Brycen and Drury?
“We thought...” Avery continued, “well, we thought you’d...string her along. We thought you were stringing her along. And then she died. And the way she died...”
“You don’t have to explain,” Brycen said. “It must have taken a lot for you to come here.” He looked pointedly at Mr. Jefferson, who finally met his gaze like a guilty party.
“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” Avery said. “Why didn’t you tell us you married her? I know you think we didn’t give you a chance, but why didn’t you tell us?”
He could have told them. And he probably should have. He probably should have told Drury everything, too. Even Kadin Tandy himself didn’t know everything. He knew about Kayla, and maybe even the marriage, but he didn’t know the most terrible thing about Kayla’s death. He’d thought he’d spared them the anguish. When instead he’d drawn it out. He’d also created a burden on himself he could never shed.
Thanks to Drury, he had this chance to ease the weight. Avery and her father might have difficulty sorting through what he had to say, but they needed to know.
“Kayla was pregnant,” he said.
He heard Drury’s sharp inhalation.
Avery’s mouth opened as though she tried to say something but couldn’t.
Mr. Jefferson stared at him, an empty man made even emptier with the news.
“I didn’t tell you because I knew you were already hurting too much,” he said.
“Oh my God,” Avery breathed. “How far along?”
“Not long. Eight weeks.”
“Oh,” Avery breathed again. Tears welled in her eyes. She put her hand on her father’s arm.
“I didn’t tell anyone because it would have been too painful,” Brycen said, looking back at Drury. “I’m sorry.”
She gaped at him, startled. But then she said, “No. It’s all right, Brycen.” Walking around the island, she came to him and he faced her as she put her hands on his chest. “It all makes sense now. Why you left Alaska. Why you had a hard time warming up to Junior. Why you left the CPD. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
“You and Junior have helped me finally get past it,” he said. “Junior especially.” He smiled with a wry laugh.
“He can be quite the charmer.” She smiled back.
He looked over at Mr. Jefferson, who still stared as though he’d received the shock of a lifetime. If Brycen were a cruel man, he’d say he had it coming. But he only felt sympathy for the man.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I don’t know if telling you back then would have been any better.”
“No.” Avery shook her head numbly. “It wouldn’t have mattered. It’s terrible. But you were right in telling us.”
“That’s why you married her,” Mr. Jefferson said. “For the baby.”
Brycen took Drury’s hand and faced the two. “That was part of the reason. I believed Kayla and I would make it as a couple. I wanted to marry her.”
He didn’t lie. He wouldn’t say he didn’t love Kayla. He didn’t need to add to the hurt.
“I think we should go now,” Avery said. “Daddy?”
Mr. Jefferson nodded and began to turn.
“Mr. Jefferson?” Brycen said.
The man looked back.
“I hope you can find a way to get past your regrets and be happy. Kayla would have wanted that. She wouldn’t have wanted you to think she didn’t love you. She did.”
Moisture gathered in the older man’s eyes. “Thank you.” He didn’t move for the door yet, and his daughter kept her hand on his arm. “I’d be honored to see you in town. I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you.”
He talked as though Brycen had decided to stay.
Instead of responding, Brycen addressed another issue he had just discovered a few minutes ago. “I received a call from Deputy Chandler. Someone tried to attack another woman at the pub where Cora works. He was arrested and confessed to also attempting to attack Cora.”
Drury beamed a smile toward him with the good news. Cora no longer had to worry about looking over her shoulder.
“That is fantastic news,” Mr. Jefferson said, a man starved for good news. He looked at Avery. “We should go see her.”
Avery nodded. “Thank you, Brycen.”
“You don’t have to thank me. Just promise me you will both move on with your lives and be happy.”
“Yes. We promise to try.”
Brycen watched them go to the door and leave.
“Brycen—”
He faced Drury and put his finger over her mouth. “Yes, you should have told me you invited them here. But it’s okay. I can finally close that chapter of my life.”
She looped her arms over his shoulders. “You’re such a good man. How am I ever going to let you go?”
He kissed her. “I’ll stay awhile if you want me to.”
She kissed him this time. “No. You go back to Chicago. You have your show, and Kadin offered you a job with DAI.”
Even if he did want to stay, he had a life in Chicago he couldn’t just walk away from.
“We could see each other,” he said.
She ran her finger down his cheek and over his lower lip. “That’s awfully tempting, but if you want to see me, I’d like you to do so only if you have faith in us and our future.”
As in, she wouldn’t be with him if he put a condition on their relationship, and she viewed his belief that love didn’t last as a restriction. Funny, he could almost agree with her. But he wouldn’t. Not until—and if—he was sure.
*
Drury stood behind Junior as Brycen put his bag down in front of the door. Junior hadn’t said much since he’
d gone in his room and told him he was leaving. She had her hands on his shoulders to let him know she was there for him.
Brycen went to Junior and crouched before him. “You be good for your mother. Keep up on your schoolwork and don’t get into trouble. No picking your nose or farting during class.”
Junior laughed. “Nobody farts in class.”
“Oh, trust me, they do. You just haven’t smelled one yet.”
He squealed with a laugh this time.
Brycen put his hand on Junior’s arm. “You’re a special kid, Junior. I’m lucky to have met you. I’m going to miss you.”
Junior’s humor faded. “You said I was your partner. Partners stick together.”
“Yes, they do.” He looked up at Drury and she felt him thinking of her as his partner—a very different kind of partner.
She couldn’t believe he’d walk away from this, from what they had together. But she kept telling herself he had to find his own way back to her. She wouldn’t have him any other way.
“Hey,” Brycen said. “If it’s okay with your mom, maybe you could come to Chicago for one of my shows over your school break.” He looked back up at Drury. “I could introduce him at the end of the show.”
“Really?” Junior jumped up and down and tipped his head back to see his mother. “Can we, Mommy? Can we, please?”
Drury wasn’t so sure that’d be a good idea. If her son had to get used to not having Brycen around, what would it do to him to have to say goodbye for a second time?
Then again, maybe by then Brycen would have come to his senses.
Not one to shy away from a good adventure, she said, “Sure, we can do that.”
“Yeah!” Junior jumped against Brycen for a big hug. He hugged him back.
“Okay, kiddo. I’ve got a plane to catch and your mother said she wouldn’t fly me.” He winked at Drury.
“Liar. My plane wouldn’t make it all the way to Chicago.” She gave his forehead a playful shove. “You’re just chicken.” And she didn’t mean of flying.
Chuckling, he stood. “You’re the one who won’t have a long-distance relationship with me.”
“You don’t meet up with my standards,” she said. Although she was teasing, she meant every word.
Leaning forward, he kissed her, a soft warm touch at first.
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