He didn’t respond. The flashlight danced as if his hand shook and she realized why. He no longer crossed his hands at the wrist. The gun was pointing at the floor. If she moved close enough, she could take him.
“Why did you kill her, Nolan? Did she reject you?”
There was another long pause. “She laughed at me. She’d broken her engagement to Blackwell and I thought she and I could… Why am I explaining myself to you? You’re nothing.” He lifted the gun to point at her. Amy took a step back. “Where’s Blackwell now?”
“Gone, but his confession is with the police.”
“I don’t believe you,” Nolan snarled.
“Why should I lie? Why do you think the police faked my death and sent you the link to the online news article from Blackwell’s e-mail account? Not only did Blackwell confess to everything, he left a crowbar with your fingerprints and a glove with your DNA at the lake house after he vandalized my car. The police have them along with the filters of the cigarettes you smoked the night you tried to kidnap Raelynn.” Amy stopped by the edge of the table and steadied herself. “So if I were you, Nolan, I’d get out of here now and disappear.”
He wiped his forehead and pointed the gun at Amy. “You’re coming with me.”
Mumbled protests came from her parents. He waved the flashlight across their faces. They squinted against the glare. Tears raced down Amy’s mother’s eyes and anguish distorted her father’s face.
“Oh, are those tears for you, Mrs. K? Because I know they can’t be for her.” He jerked his head toward Amy. “It’s a bit too late for motherly concern. Twenty-seven years too late. She’s coming with me until I decide to get rid of her.”
With her parents out of the equation, Amy stood a chance of outwitting him. “I’ll get the car keys.”
“Not so fast.” He pointed the gun at her mother and walked around the table until he reached her side. He pressed the nozzle against her head then looked at Amy. “If you try anything, I’ll shoot her.”
Her mother made a mewling sound.
“Shut up” He shoved her head with the gun. “Parents like you make me sick. You’re blessed with a child, a gift, and you treat him like dirt. Beat him like a dog. Starve him and laugh as he begs for food.” He was yelling by the time he finished.
Amy knew Nolan was talking about himself. “Leave them alone. They aren’t your parents, Nolan.”
“My parents, your parents, it makes no difference. They don’t deserve to be loved.” He glared at her. “Why do you love them after the way they treated you? I fed them lies and they bought them.”
More tears rolled down her mother’s face, muffled sounds coming from her gagged mouth. Amy knew she was sorry. Her e-mail had said it all.
“I know, Mom.”
Her dad’s eyes, filled with remorse, connected with Amy’s too. There was shame in his eyes. He also mumbled something too.
“Shut up. Both of you.” Nolan swung his gun between her parents.
Amy swallowed her panic. Eddie’s teachings flashed through her head. Fool your opponent into thinking you’re helpless then attack.
“Please, Nolan,” Amy begged in a shaky voice she hoped sounded sincere. “Please, leave them alone. I’ll get the car keys and I promise to behave.”
“Stop sniveling. Here.” He thrust the flashlight at her. “Find your mother’s key.” The flashlight almost dropped and Nolan laughed. “You’re still the same spineless woman I married. Hurry up.”
Amy backed away and raced to the kitchen. She shone the flashlight around until she found her mother’s computer bag on the floor next to the kitchen table. She rummaged inside it and found the keys. She closed her hand on it, her mind racing as she plotted her next move.
“Amy?” Nolan called out, stressing the A and the Y like some sick psycho in a slasher film. “The clock is ticking.”
“Her bag isn’t in here.”
“Check inside her car. Why do I have to think of everything, you stupid bitch?”
Amy pocketed the key then raced past the kitchen counter when she saw the steak knives and an idea popped in her head. She grabbed one and kept going. She yanked the door and entered the garage at a run, forgetting the step. She missed her step and fell, a cry escaping her, the knife and the flashlight slipping from her grasp.
“What happened?” Nolan called out. “What did you do now?” He sounded like he was moving toward her. Cursing, she crawled under the car to retrieve the knife and the flashlight.
***
“How far?” Eddie asked.
“It’s up this road.” Rod took the corner without slowing down. The FBI’s SUV followed close. “There it is the red-brick mansion at the top of the hill.”
The house had a low-lying brick fence and a pillared entrance with no gate. A winding road led to the house. Rod pulled up along the fence and parked. He and Rod jumped out. Agent Ross pulled up behind them. She was out of their SUV before her partner opened his door.
“Fitzgerald, you’re not going inside that house and that’s an order. You have no jurisdiction here.”
“Really? The woman I love is being held by a mad man and you’re talking to me about jurisdiction?” Eddie started toward the gate.
“Damn it, Fitzgerald,” she hurried after him. “We want this man off the street as much as you do.”
“Then go after him. I’m going to get Amy.” A gun cocked behind him but he kept walking. “Go ahead, Agent Ross. Shoot. I will crawl up the damn hill with a gunshot wound.”
She cursed. “Fine. Stop and let’s plan.”
Eddie turned and faced her, impatient to get moving. “Okay, what’s your plan?”
“Agent Carson and I will go to the front door and identify ourselves.” She looked over her shoulder. “The others will be here soon. We’ll have the house surrounded and we’ll give him no option but to surrender.”
“Hell no. Every time you guys have a hostage situation, there’s always a shootout and dead bodies. Not tonight. Give me ten minutes.”
“Detective—”
“Five minutes, Agent Ross. Your people aren’t here yet, so what do you have to lose?” He could see a line of cars zipping toward them.
Agent Ross glanced over her shoulder again and saw them too. “Fine. Five minutes then we’re coming in.”
Eddie took off at a run. He was nearing the gate when he realized he wasn’t alone. “Rod? What the hell are you doing?”
“I made a promise to watch your back,” the Cuban said.
Eddie scowled. “Promised to who?”
“Lambert, Faith, Ashley… Do you want me to continue listing the entire Fitzgerald clan or should we finish this?”
Eddie cursed. “Fine, but no sound and no talking.”
They crept toward the house, Eddie expecting gunshots. They were out in the open on the hilly lawn with no bushes or hedges to hide behind. If Nolan started shooting, they’d be sitting ducks.
Eddie frowned as they moved closer. The house was in total darkness. Maybe he’d made a mistake. Maybe they weren’t here. Even as doubt crept in, he knew Amy was here. His gut instinct had never failed him. They sprinted to the side of the garage and squatted, both of them breathing hard.
“Get the hell up from down there,” a male voice snarled from inside the garage. “I got the spare key.”
“I dropped the flashlight, but I got the keys…” A sharp cry came from Amy.
Eddie started toward the side door and indicated to Rod to follow him.
“You’re worthless. Get up and get inside the car,” Nolan ordered. “You’re driving. I’ll give you directions.”
Eddie hand closed on the handle and slowly turned it.
***
Amy struggled to her feet, her chin and hands scraped from being dragged on the garage floor. Nolan had grabbed her ankle and yanked her from under the car, but the deed was done. She might have slashed only one tire, but it was better than nothing, and the knife was under a pile of cardboard boxes in cas
e Nolan bothered to look.
“Where are we going?” she asked, keeping her voice meek. The hand with the gun was above her.
“As far away from this place as humanly possible.”
“And my parents?”
“They’ll live with the pain of knowing you’re dead because of them.”
She jumped up, grabbed Nolan’s wrist with her right hand and the barrel with her left and pushed it in towards him, rolling it against his thumb, smoothly disarming him. She pointed the gun at him.
“How did you do that?” Nolan stammered.
“You think I’ve been sitting on my ass waiting for you to come after me again all these months? Please, Nolan. I’ll get the car keys and I promise to behave,” she said in the whiny voice she’d used earlier and stepped back toward the kitchen door. “Did you really think that was me?”
A sound came from behind her and Nolan’s eyes widened, but Amy didn’t dare look over her shoulder in case he was attempting to trick her. “Dad? Mom?”
“It’s me, baby,” Eddie said.
Relief washed over Amy. From the corner of her eye, she spied Rod walking around the car. He stopped behind Nolan and crossed his arms, a broad grin on his face.
“You bitch. You set me up.” Nolan rounded on her. He reached for the gun with his right hand and aimed a left hook at her face.
Amy ducked, shifted her weight and caught him on his left side with a roundhouse kick. The force slammed him against the body of the car. He turned and swung. Amy dropped to the floor and pressed the nozzle against his private parts, her grip firm on the barrel.
“One move, and I’ll pull the trigger,” she warned. She glanced up to find Eddie had moved too. His gun was pressed to Nolan’s temple.
“You’re lucky she ducked, asshole. If you had touched her, you’d be dead.” Eddie pulled out his cell phone, pressed numbers and brought it to his ear. “Come and get him, Agent Ross. Rod, open the garage door then check on the Kincaids.”
The garage door lifted as Rod disappeared inside the house. Nolan’s eyes were narrowed as he stared at Eddie then Amy. He tried to create some distance between him and Amy’s gun, but she wasn’t letting him.
“Amy—”
“Shut up, Nolan. Eddie?”
“Yes, baby.”
“How soon before the FBI gets here?”
“Two minutes. I left them at the gate.”
“I really want to shoot him. Just once. For Charles. I’ll say it was in self-defense.”
Nolan made a sound like a constipated pit bull.
***
Eddie knew she was deliberately torturing the man, and played along. “Go ahead. After what he put you through, the jury will know it was self-defense.”
“No, please,” Nolan begged.
“Is a groin wound fetal?” Amy asked as though Nolan hadn’t spoken.
“Depends on your precision and how close you are. From your position, it might be messy.” Cars pulled up behind him, but he didn’t glance away from Nolan’s face. The stench of urine filled the room. Eddie glanced down and saw why. A dark stain was spreading from Nolan’s crotch.
Within seconds, Agent Ross had Nolan in cuffs and in the back seat of her car. Her partner tried to take the gun from Amy, but she refused to relinquish it.
“I don’t think I can,” she whispered.
Eddie knelt by her side and wrapped his arms around her. She was shaking. “Yes, you can, baby. You did it.”
“We did it,” she corrected, her fingers relaxing around the gun.
“Yes, we did.” He took the gun and handed it to the agent. Then he helped her to her feet and pulled her into his arms. Tears rolled down her face and drenched his shirt, but he didn’t say anything. He just held her. Agents milled around the front of the house, an ambulance arrived along with several police cars. No one bothered them. When she was calm, he lifted her chin and kissed her.
“Ready to head back to the hotel?”
She nodded. “But first, I want you to meet my parents.” His reluctance must have shown because she added, “Forgive them, baby. For me.”
It was going to be tough. “Okay. What about you?”
She sighed. “They’re sorry for everything and I must find it in my heart to forgive them because I love them. I only hope things between us get better from here on out.”
“If they don’t, you have me. I’m forever yours,” he vowed.
Her eyes welled up again and she reached up and kissed him. “Just like I’m yours forever.” Together they entered the house.
The kitchen looked like a hurricane had swept through it. Most drawers and cupboards were open, broken glassware and utensils everywhere. The dining room and living rooms were in equally terrible shape, the contents of the china closet smashed, books thrown off the shelves, furniture overturned and broken, and pictures frames cracked and the pictures ripped. Nolan’s last attempt to fake another burglary was obvious. Sick bastard.
Amy’s parents—father with facial bruises and her mother in tears—appeared oblivious to the chaos as they rushed to her side.
“We’re so sorry…”
“Will you ever forgive us?”
“We love you so much.”
Eddie leaned against the wall, watched and waited for a distress signal from Amy. If she needed to be rescued, he was the man for the job. He didn’t know how she could forgive her parents so easily, but like she’d told him, she loved them and they were sorry. Just like his mother loved him and was sorry for the past.
“Mom, Dad, I want you to meet Eddie Fitzgerald. Without him, we would never have caught Nolan.” Amy extended a hand toward him. Eddie pushed against the wall and approached his future father and mother-in-law.
“Then we owe you a debt we can never repay,” her father said.
Actually, he planned to make them pay for all Amy’s pain and suffering. He’d make sure they doted on her, attending every book release event, never missing a birthday or an important event in Amy’s life. He hoped his expression didn’t give him away as he shook their hands.
EPILOGUE
“How was Saint-Noel?” Jade asked, taking the chair beside Amy.
“Amazing.” Amy glanced across the wide pool deck at her husband of three weeks. They’d come back from their honeymoon on Saint-Noel—a group of islands in the Caribbean—a week ago and she still couldn’t believe how lucky and happy she was, how her life had changed. A year had gone by since that horrific day at her parents’ house when Nolan had tried to kidnap her at gunpoint. Even though she had testified at his trial, Jeremy Blackwell had been the star witness after turning himself in and cutting a deal with the D.A. in Charlottesville. Blackwell got a year, but Noel would never be a free man again.
As though Eddie felt her eyes on him, he glanced her way and flashed his bone-melting smile, his eyes heating up. As usual, her heart melted and her heart skipped. Amy smiled and sighed.
“Oh no you don’t,” Faith said, taking the chair across from her. “You’re not going to spend the entire afternoon making goo-goo eyes at your husband and sighing, Amy Fitzgerald. You’ve had two weeks to do that. Now we must discuss your launch party.”
Amy dragged her gaze from Eddie’s and stared blankly at Faith. “What?”
“Remember? We are throwing you a launch party for the release of your new book next Friday and you have your first book signing gig on Saturday,” Faith said. “Have you seen the reviews? Five stars.”
Amy groaned. With all the pre-wedding jitters, her honeymoon then moving to Eddie’s place, she’d completely forgotten about her new release and the book signing tour. The book she’d released six months ago had done great, but the latest one was going to be an even bigger hit. Having two famous authors in the family—Vince Knight and Iona, Eddie’s mother—helped a lot. Not only did they use their star power to smooth things over with the bookstores across the state, they planned to feature her and her book on their blogs. Her parents were flying in on Wednesday for th
e party and Lauren was coming in on Friday.
“We have to make sure everything is in place,” Faith added.
“How can it not be? You planned it,” Jade teased. Faith made a face.
“Besides, we have four days to work out the kinks,” Ashley added, “I want to hear about Saint-Noel. We’ve been meaning to visit, but with the new baby and everything.” She glanced at the playpen, where her baby boy, Cian, was napping. In the next playpen, Faith’s seven-month old son Ronan was busy bonding with Neil, Baron and Kara’s son. The two were born a week apart.
“Did you get to visit the general?” Jade asked.
The general was Jade’s husband’s relative on Saint-Noel. “He gave us an amazing guide who took us to the best waters for scuba-diving, beaches off the tourist grid and the best restaurants and clubs in town. We used his sailboat, which was an adventure in itself.” Amy glanced around at the three women, “Thank you guys for the launch party and for taking care of Raelynn while we were gone. I know she can be a handful.”
“No, she was a joy and good for Ella,” Ashley said. “My daughter, if you haven’t noticed, tends to be bossy. She and Raelynn knocked heads a few times, but they always made up. They’re best friends now. Look at them.”
Ella, Raelynn and Jade’s twins, Siobhan and Sean, were splashing in the kiddie pool a few feet from the men’s table, where Eddie, Lex, Baron, Chase, Vaughn, Ron and Ken lounged while sipping beer. The older generation sat a few tables away and the younger ones—teens to early twenties—were in the big pool. The Fitzgeralds were big on Sunday picnics and today was no exception. Amy had met Aunt Viv, the matriarch of the family, at her first Sunday picnic. Scary woman. She’d grilled Amy about her background, until she learned that Amy’s parents were professors. Apparently, educators ranked high in Aunt Viv’s acceptable careers. She had been very cordial to her parents when they came for Amy and Eddie’s engagement party. But the best surprise was the way her mother had clicked with Iona, Eddie’s mother. Because of that, the wedding had gone very smoothly. Eddie was still on the fence when it came to her parents though.
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