by Liz Johnson
The unknown was killing Myles, so after another minute he hopped out of the cab of the truck and strolled toward Teddy and John’s van, trying not to attract attention from the neighbors. At least he’d be able to hear some of what was happening in the house from there. But before he made it halfway to them, the van’s horn honked in three rapid beeps. Teddy and John leaped from the van and darted toward him. He instantly spun and raced for the front door of the house.
There could be only one reason for their actions. They had the information they needed to prosecute Mac and JB Ryker. And someone was in trouble inside that house.
The only person at risk was Kenzie.
Running on complete instinct, Myles hurdled the hedge and reached the front door moments before his fellow special agents. No time to pick the lock, he lifted his left leg and kicked right below the door handle. His foot smarted, and his old knee injury screamed. The door barely budged.
One more attempt and then he was going to have to pull his gun. Lucky for the door, it splintered away from the frame the second time his boot struck it.
Someone yelped down the hallway, and he raced in that direction, John and Teddy right behind him. Myles pulled his weapon from his shoulder holster and held it in front of him with locked elbows.
At every turn he feared seeing Kenzie lying on the floor, injured or worse. His mind shut down from fear, and he acted only on training, sweeping into every room and checking for occupants.
It seemed an eternity before Myles plowed into a room that looked like a study with an enormous desk and bookshelves full of leather-bound volumes. JB, Kenzie and her grandfather stood in the middle of the room. JB’s outraged expression and dangerously waving weapon described the situation perfectly.
“Do you know who I am?” JB demanded.
Kenzie winced as the pistol in JB’s hand grazed her chin, and Myles noticed for the first time that Mac seemed stunned by the entire situation.
Hands steady around the butt of his weapon, Myles took a deep breath. “Let her go.”
“Get out of here! This has nothing to do with you!” JB’s anger filled every corner of the room like a deluge. He was too distracted to take a close look at the man holding the weapon, and Myles was thankful that JB didn’t seem to recognize him from their two brief encounters inside the prison.
Kenzie’s eyes, wide with fear, jumped from Myles to Teddy to John. “Please—please help me,” she begged, at the same time taking a step away from JB.
Teddy took the opportunity to pull out his badge and make introductions. “I’m Special Agent Theodore Dawson. These are Special Agents Myles Borden and John Timmins. Sir, please put the gun down and step away from the lady.”
For a split second Myles thought that JB would refuse, would put up a fight, but he never had a chance. With the same agility she had shown when she kicked Myles in the cabin, Kenzie lifted her foot and kicked it backward into Ryker’s kneecap. The older man screamed in pain and dropped his hold on her arm. Teddy easily swiped the gun from Ryker’s hand as he rolled on the floor, holding his leg.
The rage on Ryker’s face slowly dissipated as the truth of the situation hit him. His eyes squinted as he looked up at Kenzie and the three FBI special agents.
Kenzie had lunged forward, crawling to the wall, and she pulled her knees to her chin. A small white dog nuzzled her side.
Teddy took a breath and said something that Myles guessed he had never thought he would have to say in his lifetime. “Governor Thorn, Superintendent Ryker, you’re both under arrest for embezzling government funds and for conspiracy to commit murder.”
Mac’s head shook side to side, and he tried to explain. “I never meant for it to go this far. Kenzie, you have to believe me.” He looked into Kenzie’s face, but her expression was rigid, frozen in fear, eyes eclipsing the rest of her features.
Lowering his weapon, Myles pulled her to her feet and away from the scene where Teddy handcuffed Mac and Ryker while John read them their Miranda Rights.
Myles fought every internal instinct to pull her into his arms and comfort her. He had already ruined his professional reputation with her, taking advantage of her while they were on their own in Evergreen. But now he kept at least a foot between them as she stared unblinkingly at the scene in the middle of the room. He doubted his touch would be of any comfort after the way they parted at the bus station. His embrace now would only serve to rub in the truth of her grandfather’s betrayal.
When Muriel Thorn arrived back at the house, her husband was just being led to the police car that had been called as backup. Knowing enough to give the women their privacy, Myles exited the house as Kenzie fell into her grandmother’s waiting arms.
Kenzie clung to Nana’s arm in shock as they walked down the driveway past the elaborate SUV that now Kenzie realized surely had been purchased with money from the prison budget. They followed Mac as one of the FBI agents led him toward the black-and-white police car blocking the end of the driveway. Another police car, holding JB, and several other sedans, likely unmarked police vehicles, filled the street.
Kenzie sighed in relief that none of the neighbors poked their heads out of front doors or peeked obviously between blinds. Watching Mac with his head hung low and wrists cuffed behind his back was hard enough without an audience. This kind of humiliation would ruin Nana’s reputation and could leave her without a single friend. How could Mac possibly do that to her? To both of them?
A uniformed police officer opened the back door of the black-and-white, while the special agent leading him placed his hand on top of Mac’s head. Mac took the moment to glance over his shoulder, looking from Nana to Kenzie, meeting each of their gazes.
“I’m sorry,” he said. He neither shouted nor whispered, but his voice easily carried the twenty feet between them. “I’ve made some terrible mistakes.”
“I have, too,” Nana whispered.
The special agent said, “Sir, you still have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of a law.”
Never taking his gaze off of Nana, Mac replied, “I’m aware of that, but some things need to be said. Muriel, please forgive me. I’ve been so blind. I never—I never meant for Kenzie to get involved in this. You both are the most important things in my life. But I’m nothing if I’m not the governor. I’m not worthy of you without this position. I needed the money for the campaign. Suarez was doing too well. I needed the money! Can’t you understand that? I never thought that Joe would take it so far, putting Kenzie in danger. I was just trying to protect her, getting her out of the prison.”
Nana shuddered, and Kenzie pulled her a little closer to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. As the agent helped Mac into the backseat, Nana whispered, “I never cared about the governorship.” She spoke so softly that Mac had no chance of hearing it, but Kenzie heard it clearly.
Pulling her grandmother into a tight embrace, Kenzie let two teardrops slip down her cheeks. “Nana, I’m sorry.”
Nana held on to the back of Kenzie’s shirt with all the strength in her frail hands, clutching the fabric into fist-shaped wrinkles. “No, I’m sorry, dear.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“I should have done more.”
“What do you mean?”
Nana’s shoulders shook as she cried silently. “I knew, just knew that there was something wrong. I was worried about you working at the prison, and then I overheard Mac on the phone several months ago. I couldn’t sit back and do nothing, so I called my friend Nate Andersen.”
The name sounded familiar to Kenzie, but she couldn’t place where she had heard it before. As though reading her thoughts, Nana continued, “Nate is the special agent in charge of the Portland office of the FBI. He and I met at a law enforcement fund-raiser several years ago. He was very kind to me, so when I thought you were in serious danger, I called him to make sure that you’d be protected.”
“You asked the FBI to watch out for m
e? You’re the reason that Myles kidnapped me?”
Nana shrugged slightly, her eyes sad. “I’m sorry, honey. I should have done more. I just didn’t know who else to go to.”
Kenzie could hardly believe her ears. “But why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, I didn’t know how extreme Nate would be, putting one of his men undercover. And of course I had no idea that you’d be kidnapped. What possible reason could it serve to worry you? What if it all had nothing to do with you? You would have been frightened for no reason.” Kenzie blanched at her reasoning, almost laughing out loud. Nana patted her hand. “Now, now. Everything has worked out, hasn’t it? God’s brought us through this mess in one piece.”
Kenzie looked down the driveway as the police cars carrying Mac and JB pulled into the street. It all seemed unreal—like a dream, only with real consequences that would likely see her grandfather locked in prison.
Tears filled her eyes and she reached for her grandmother. “Thank you for what you did.”
Nana nodded into Kenzie’s shoulder, and the two women held onto each other as though they might never let go. Kenzie could only hold on tight and wait for the emotions to calm. She needed to be strong, but the truth was that she craved the feel of strong, protective arms cradling her to an immovable chest. Arms that comforted in the face of the truth.
She had been betrayed for money and the governor’s race.
Looking over Nana’s shoulder, Kenzie searched the faces of the FBI agents and police officers milling around the driveway. Myles was nowhere to be found. No shaggy brown hair or piercing blue eyes.
Likely never again.
Kenzie slid into the pew beside her grandmother, the same pew they had shared at First Grace for nearly twenty years. It was more than a week after Mac’s arrest, and the memories of that horrific day still made her ache to her very core. She bowed her head, with no words to pray, and just sat silently, hoping for a peace that passed all understanding. At length, her grandmother squeezed her hand gently, and Kenzie looked into the kind old face.
“Sweetie, you must stop beating yourself up over this. Your grandfather made his own decisions. As much as we’d like to, we can’t control the actions of the ones we love.”
Kenzie swallowed deeply, guilt flooding through her. But not guilt for Mac’s actions. Guilt that she was only concerned with her own broken heart.
Myles had stood right next to her that day in Mac’s study and barely touched her. He never held her. Never comforted her. Apparently never cared for her. And she was left with a broken heart, for she had been forced to admit that Myles had never lied. Not about Mac or his motives. The money, the power, the election, he’d risked her for all of it.
The truth about Mac stung. But the truth about Myles broke her.
God, mend my broken heart. If I never see Myles again, let me know that I’m okay with You alone. But if You wouldn’t mind, I’d really like to see him again. Please.
And then, as if he appeared because she prayed for him to, Myles strode down the far aisle of the sanctuary. He slipped into the row behind them, sitting in the farthest seat away from her.
When he looked up and met her eyes with his blue gaze, her breath vanished and she whipped her head around to stare at the large cross hanging in the front of the vast room.
When Pastor Peter began his sermon, Kenzie could barely hear the words he spoke for the rushing in her ears. The sound of butterfly wings. The butterflies that swarmed her stomach as she felt Myles’s gaze lock onto her neck.
Legs bouncing and heart racing, she barely made it through the entire service, and she quickly excused herself as soon as the final benediction song began. Rushing down the center aisle to the main foyer, Kenzie asked herself if she was trying to catch or avoid Myles Borden.
It didn’t matter. He stood waiting for her, tugging her from the trickle of people exiting the service. The dark blue shirt and gray dress pants he wore were a far cry from the jeans and T-shirt she had grown accustomed to. They were even further from the orange jumpsuit he wore when she first met him. And his hair had recently been cut, trimmed neatly at the back of his neck and off his ears, spiked up slightly in the front.
He blinked once and her eyes settled on his. The blue there was the same. If everything else about him changed, she would always recognize his eyes.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
She managed a nod only, as her voice refused to respond to her mental commands. But suddenly Nana appeared at her side, clinging to her elbow. Had they been introduced? She could not recall much from the day of Mac’s arrest, so she opted to be polite.
“Nana, this is Special Agent Myles Borden. Agent Borden—” Myles’s eyebrow arched, most likely in question to her formal introduction “—this is my grandmother, Muriel Thorn.”
With a poise that had been ingrained since childhood, Nana held out her hand and shook Myles’s. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure is mine.” Myles bowed his head slightly. “Nate speaks very highly of you.”
“You, as well.” Nana’s smile was genuine and her demeanor almost back to normal. “Thank you for what you did for my Kenzie.”
Myles never took his eyes off Kenzie as he responded to Nana. “God put me in the right place to protect her. I’ll always be glad that God chose to use me in that way.”
Kenzie struggled with that thought for a moment. While once she would have trusted that Mac would bring her safely through anything, she couldn’t count on him anymore. He’d disappointed her, but God hadn’t. He had been there all along, protecting and providing for her through Myles.
And now bringing him back into her life, if even just for a short time.
Turning her attention to Myles, Nana asked, “To what do we owe this visit?”
“I have a bit of news on the case.” He glanced around at the small crowds gathering in the entryway. Apparently deciding it was safe to continue in a lowered voice, he said, “FBI agents in Vancouver found Larry Whitestall in a run-down motel yesterday. He sang like a bird about the entire plot, how JB Ryker bribed him to assist in getting rid of you. How they tried to coerce Cory Johns into kidnapping you before they approached me. He even had communication with Mac—”
His voice broke off at Nana’s visible twitch, and he quickly altered his word choice. “Larry is going to testify about everything in exchange for a reduced sentence. He told agents that Ryker told him that Mac didn’t know anything about killing Kenzie. Apparently, Mac’s plan was to have Kenzie kidnapped and scare her enough to never want to return to the prison. He assumed that no one else would be snooping around the budgets for a while. But Ryker decided that Kenzie was too much of a risk, and he ordered Larry to take her out of the picture completely.”
Somehow, the news didn’t shock Kenzie. Perhaps Mac was almost entirely focused on his position as governor, but he wasn’t a sinister man. He could not act like he loved her as much as he had over the years and then sacrifice her so easily. He had wanted to protect her, to keep her out of his underhanded dealings. In a way, even when he plotted her kidnapping, he was still trying to protect her.
But he certainly wasn’t the perfect man she had always thought him to be. From the pedestal on which she had placed him as a child and never taken him down, he had disappointed her.
“Will there be any need for Nana or me to testify?” The idea made Kenzie shudder.
Myles shook his head. “It’s unlikely. Between the prison budget you provided, the recordings from Mac’s office and Larry’s testimony, the state has plenty of evidence. I doubt that Mac or Ryker will contest the charges. More than likely, they’ll both make plea bargains to reduce sentences at the arraignment in a couple weeks. And with Larry’s testimony, the charges of conspiracy to murder against Mac may be dropped.”
Nana let out a breath she had obviously been holding. And Kenzie realized she did the same.
“Thank you,” Nana said. “Myles, it was a pleasure to meet you.
Thank you for everything.” She squeezed Kenzie’s arm. “If you’ll both excuse me, I need to have a word with the pastor.”
Kenzie watched Nana walk away, her back straight, head held high. Her silver hair bounced lightly with each step. The dark blue coat she wore hugged her shoulders and waist, giving her the pulled-together look of a governor’s wife, even if her husband no longer held the office.
Myles’s gaze followed hers, watching Nana strike up a conversation with a man and woman standing next to the pastor. “How’s she doing?” His voice filled with genuine concern, he met Kenzie’s gaze directly.
“Surprisingly well.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Well, she’s really been very understanding toward Mac, but she hasn’t made allowances for his bad choices and actions. I think she still loves him. How could she not? They’ve been married for over forty-five years.”
“I suppose.”
“But I think she feels like she needs to take care of me, which is understandable, I guess.” She shrugged one shoulder, her thoughts suddenly sidetracked by the conservative appeal of Myles’s new hair cut. Oh, he did look quite handsome. He always did though, even in orange.
“Kenzie?”
“Yes? Oh! Yes, Nana really is doing well, considering it all. I think it’s a load off her mind that she won’t be asked to testify against him.”
“How about you? How are you doing?”
Kenzie looked down at her black dress shoes, digging her right toe into the industrial carpet. “Fine, I guess.”
This entire situation was so surreal. How could she be having such a calm, collected conversation with this man, when all she really wanted to do was throw her arms around his neck and have him hold her forever?
But the guilt over her own words to Myles kept her from acting on that desire. She had said terrible things to him when he told her the truth. It should not have surprised her that he did not comfort her on the day of Mac’s arrest. Likely, he wanted this conversation to be over as soon as possible.