KATE: MADISON KATE #4

by James Tate

  "Anyway, that's enough banter," Kruger continued, giving me a banal smile. Fuck me, he looked like a mild-mannered accountant, not the man who'd murdered our family's entire household staff, then beaten my mother to death. Then again, what better way to disguise a monster than make them look normal. Boring. Unremarkable and totally forgettable.

  The villain of my story shifted his grip, and I coiled my leg muscles. No fucking way was I going to kneel there like a good little girl while I get shot in the head. He wanted to kill me? He was gonna work for it.

  Before he could pull the trigger, I launched straight at him. My body stayed low as my shoulder slammed into his gut with my full weight, knocking him off his feet. A gunshot ripped through the night, deafening me momentarily, but his shot had gone wide.

  He got no time to recover either. One second I was tackling him into the ground, and the next we were smack in the middle of a full-blown gun fight.

  Kruger sat up slightly, his eyes wide as several of his men dropped from perfect headshots. "No!" he shrieked.

  I wasn't hanging around to chat, though. I rolled like a damn alligator to get away from him, aiming for one of the freshly dead guys and praying he'd have a knife on his body somewhere. Anything sharp to cut my hands loose so I could fight back properly.

  Kruger recovered faster than I'd expected, though. He grabbed my arm in a biting grip and hauled me against his body like a human shield. Motherfucker, that's exactly what he was using me as.

  "Stop!" he shrieked, pressing his gun to my head. Ah fuck. "Stop, or the bitch gets it!"

  The gunfire died down, and my heart raced. Surely the guys weren't falling for that bullshit; he was about to kill me regardless. He was only keeping me alive now to try and guarantee his own exit.

  "Let her go!" Archer shouted from across the parking lot. The high beams from the cars made it hard to see exactly where he was, but I had no doubt my guys had the important players in their sights: Zane and Kruger.

  Forcing myself to take calming breaths, I let my gaze track around us, hunting for someone in particular. Someone who would need a good line of sight, and—there.

  About a hundred feet away, I made out the vague shadow of Steele on top of a shipping container. Only the reflection from his scope and my knowledge of his habits clued me in to him being there, but once I found him, my relief was tangible.

  "Not a chance," Kruger yelled back at Archer. "If you're invested in keeping her brains inside her pretty head, then you'll let me leave here unharmed."

  I locked my eyes on that shadow that I was sure was Steele. I couldn't make out his features, but I knew he was watching us through his scope. I knew he could read my lips as I mouthed Do it at him.

  "Let her go, and we'll make it a quick death," Archer countered, not even bothering to pretend Kruger could leave this scene alive.

  Kruger barked a bitter laugh, but I blocked him out. My focus was all on Steele, and I glared harder, silently yelling at him to quit fucking around.

  Shoot him. I mouthed the words as clearly as I could. I trust you.

  My heart thudded hard. Once. Twice.

  Crack.

  The sound of a rifle shot echoed through the parking lot, and Kruger jerked like he'd been electrocuted. A sharp flash of pain burned across my temple, and I collapsed to the gravel as Kruger's grip on me loosened.

  He hit the ground a fraction of a second after me, his dead eyes staring into mine and the perfect hole in his forehead seeping blood down his face.

  Commotion and gunfire exploded around me again, but this time I was too shocked to move. It was only a few seconds, though, until a blade sliced through my wrist restraints, and Kody dragged me behind one of the parked cars for protection.

  "Babe, are you okay?" he asked in a panicked gasp. His hand pushed my hair back from my face but froze when I hissed in pain. "Shit. Motherfucker."

  "I'm okay," I replied through gritted teeth, fresh blood pouring down my face from my newest injury. "Just a graze. Give me a gun."

  Kody's eyes widened, then a grin curved his lips. "Yes, ma'am." He pulled a spare from his ankle holster and helped me wrap my stiff fingers around the grip. "Let's finish this, babe."

  He rolled out of our protection, popping off three shots before he found his feet once more, and I followed somewhat slower. My ribs hurt more with every passing second, and the blood running down my face was starting to get in my eye. The last thing I wanted was to accidentally kill the wrong person.

  Luckily, though, the fight was already over.

  I spotted Cass across the parking lot, standing over the bearded Reaper who'd punched me. He seemed to say something to the man, then shot him straight in the face.

  That left just one enemy alive, and he was on his knees with his brother's gun to his head.

  "You're a fucking traitor," Zane spat at Cass, who sauntered over to stand beside Archer with his gun held ever so casually in his hand. "You think you can just take my place? My family created the Reapers. They'll never follow a snake like you."

  Cass just arched a scarred brow and shrugged. "Well, that's not really your problem, is it? You signed away your life the second you made a move against Archer, and you knew it."

  Zane snarled. "Fuck you, Cass. Fuck you."

  "You're boring me," Archer commented, his voice dry and devoid of any human emotions. "And you broke the rules."

  Bang.

  Just like that, the Shadow Grove Reapers saw a change of leadership.

  37

  There was no question about it, I was in rough shape. James had arrived with the guys and firmly insisted on patching me up before I was allowed to do anything else.

  The tally of my injuries was enough to make me cringe from just listening to James mutter under his breath. So far, he’d decided two of my ribs were most probably broken for which he gave me a dose of a decent analgesia to dull the pain. I also had a sprained wrist, and an absolute shitload of bruising. My entire torso from bra to jeans was already darkening with blackish purple, and every movement ached.

  Then there was the bullet graze. Steele's shot had been flawless, and the cut it'd opened from the edge of my hairline really wasn't that bad. James cursed about needing to stitch it, but a second opinion from Cass confirmed what I was saying, that it wasn’t that bad. So a bit of surgical glue was as good as it was going to get.

  "Archer!" I shouted out as I spotted him swing a punch at Steele.

  Snatching the wet cloth from James—he'd been trying to wipe some of the blood off my face—I rushed over to break up their fight.

  "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I demanded, putting myself physically between them. Kody just stood back, watching with his arms folded across his chest. Unhelpful shithead.

  "He shot you!" Archer roared back, his face a mask of fury.

  "He saved me," I corrected him in a hard voice. "It's a fucking graze, Arch. You know better than anyone how minor a bullet graze is, and I for one was happy there was no fucking around with Kruger in that situation."

  Archer's jaw clenched, his temple throbbing as he glared down at me. "If he'd missed—"

  "He didn't. So quit throwing your big dick energy around and focus on this cleanup. I don’t know about you, but I want to go the fuck home and not worry that cops will be arresting us all for multiple murders." I held his gaze steady, even though one of my eyes was throbbing painfully. "Now, Archer."

  He scowled back at me another moment, then shot Steele a narrow-eyed glare before storming away to help Sampson's guys clean up the bodies.

  "You too, Kodiak," I snapped, pinning him with my gaze. "Quit stirring shit up."

  His jaw dropped in protest. "I wasn't—"

  "Bullshit." I cut him off before he could deny it. "Go help Arch; I need a moment with Max."

  Kody grumbled, but closed the space between us and gently kissed my cheek. "You scared us, babe," he whispered in my ear. "Don't do that again, okay?"

  I gave a small nod but a grim
smile. "No promises."

  Kody winced, then sighed. "Fair enough." He dropped a soft kiss to my lips, then headed over to help the cleanup.

  Steele wouldn’t look at me. He was quite deliberately looking at his shoes, even as he rubbed his face where Archer's punch had landed. He hadn't even tried to dodge it either, which told me everything I needed to know.

  "Max Steele," I scolded, moving close enough to tip his chin up with my finger. "Don't you dare."

  His eyes, when they met mine, were flooded with guilt and regret, and I shook my head before he could even try to apologize.

  "You did exactly what needed to be done, Max; don't start beating yourself up over it now." I held his gaze, not letting him sink into self-flagellation over what had been a necessary and damn brave move to eliminate the threat.

  His brow creased in a pained grimace. "Hellcat," he breathed, "I shot you. If my aim had been even a fraction off—"

  "It wasn't." I cut him off just like I'd done to Archer a moment ago. "It never is. I trusted you, and you did exactly what needed to be done. No regrets here, Max."

  He studied my eyes for a long moment like he was seeking the truth behind my words—or maybe searching for some level of accusation or anger. If so, he wouldn't find it. A moment later, he let out a long breath and let his shoulders sag.

  "I don't deserve you, Hellcat." He looped his arms ever so carefully around my waist and pulled me into his body.

  I snorted a laugh that hurt my bruised face but hugged him back. Gently. "Pretty sure that feeling is mutual, Max Steele. Come on, you can come keep me warm while the boys clean up." I linked my fingers with his and pulled him back over to the SUV where James had set up his medical supplies. I slid into the backseat, wincing at the movement, but urged Steele to slide in beside me.

  "I should probably help out." He glanced guiltily in the direction of the guys, who were using battery-operated angle grinders to slice up the dead Reapers. A handful of Zed's guys had arrived with them, and they'd gone to pick up some plastic tubs to transport the, uh, meat.

  I yawned. "Nah, they're fine," I told him. "I wanna hear what happened. I missed a whole crapload while I was knocked out. How'd Arch get away from Zane? What happened when you and Kody went to find Kruger? And how the fuck did you guys find me right in time?" I squinted at the sloppy, bloody mess that was being made across the parking lot. "Also, why are they cutting the bodies up so small? We've never done that before."

  Steele looked in the direction I was staring, then gave me a lopsided smile. "Ah, Benny’s stressing out that there's been too much activity lately, so he asked us to give his place a break for a couple of weeks."

  I gave him a curious look. "So... how are we disposing of this mess?"

  He gave me a lopsided smile. "I don't know if you'll believe me if I tell you."

  "Try me."

  Running his hand over his buzzed hair, he gave a wry grin. "Snapping turtles."

  I blinked at him several times. "Say again?"

  "Snapping turtles," he repeated. "The Japanese garden in Rainybanks has a turtle pond with about two hundred of the vicious bastards. They're just a bit slower than pigs, so we have to, uh, dice up their food a bit first. It’s closed for pathway repairs for a few weeks too, so no one will see the chunks before the little snappers are done eating."

  Bile rose in my stomach, and I gagged a bit. Snapping turtles ate dead humans? Now I'd really heard it all. "Gross," I whispered, and Steele gave a short laugh.

  "But effective. The guys will load up all the chunks into some tubs, drive them over, and dump them in. Then we can get this ground pressure-washed with some peroxide, and the job is done." Steele looked so damn casual about it, but his eyes tightened with tension as they flickered over my glued-together head wound again.

  "What about the cars?" I changed the subject before he could start feeling guilty all over again.

  "Tow trucks should be here in a couple of hours. They'll be taken to a somewhat less-than-legal chop shop and dismantled for parts. Don't worry, Hellcat; we've got this all under control." Steele took my hand in his, weaving our fingers together. My wrist was tightly bandaged, thanks to James, but it was only a dull ache compared to my various other pains.

  "Okay, so catch me up on everything else," I urged, leaning my head back against the leather headrest.

  Steele nodded, his thumb tracing gentle patterns over my scraped hand. "There's not too much else. When we arrived at Kruger's property, it was already empty; we'd missed him by a matter of minutes. Arch called not long after that. Zane got arrogant and wanted him captured, not killed, so he could make Arch watch while you were shot." Steele's fingers tightened around mine, and his jaw clenched with anger.

  "But he got away?" I guessed, pushing forward and not dwelling on what could have been.

  Steele jerked a nod. "The Reapers Zane had left to transport Arch thought better of it. Apparently, they were fine with helping kidnap and kill you, but they lost their nerve when it came to Arch."

  "So, they told you where I was?"

  He gave me a crooked smile. "Uh, no. Arch killed them both before thinking about questioning them. Luckily, he’d remembered to give you my gift before you left the hotel." Steele reached over and touched the musical note pendant. "It's something I worked on with Leon while he was staying with us. There's a tiny tracking device embedded in the metal that would be totally undetectable to anyone searching. Not that Zane has the technology to scan you for trackers, anyway. But I'm fucking glad Arch was thinking on his feet in the moment."

  My jaw dropped slightly, and I touched a hand to the delicate necklace. Zane wouldn't have even given it a second glance, and it had led my guys straight to us. "I'm impressed," I murmured. "I did think it was a really weird time for Archer to give me jewelry, not gonna lie on that one."

  Steele gave a short laugh, raised our linked fingers to his lips, and kissed my hand. "Well, it saved all of us, so feel free to keep wearing it always, Hellcat."

  "Noted," I replied. "So, what do we do now?"

  He gave me a long look. "Can you be persuaded to go to a hospital and get checked out properly?"

  I arched a brow at him. "You and I both know they will do nothing for me. Ice and painkillers, nothing I can't get at home. And I really, really just wanna go home with you guys. Can we please do that?"

  I knew he wanted to argue and insist I go to the hospital, but after a long moment, he just sighed. "Yeah, I get it. Wait here; I'll make sure we're all okay to head back. I just need to know no one else has taken the hit on you after Zane accepted it. We badly don't need more half-baked hitmen coming at us tonight."

  He kissed my fingers again, then slid out of the car and left me alone. I stared down at my hand for a long time, my eyes locked on my new diamond ring, and felt a strange sense of relief that Zane hadn't taken the heirloom. I was crazy attached to the thing.

  James popped the door open some time later and handed me a bottle of water with a couple of painkillers. I only hesitated a second before taking them, which probably spoke to how much pain I was really in. They made me sleepy, and I just let myself doze for a while. My lids were cracked halfway open, my gaze locked on the guys, but otherwise I was mostly asleep.

  Eventually, they returned to the SUV I was in, and Archer slipped behind the wheel. Kody peeled off his sticky, blood-covered T-shirt and jeans outside the car, then crawled into the backseat with me in nothing but his boxers.

  Steele was the last to rejoin us, having stayed to speak with James and Sampson a few moments longer, and he climbed into the passenger seat.

  "We all good?" Archer asked him in a clipped tone. Apparently, he was still pissed off.

  Steele jerked a nod. "Sampson is staying here to supervise the rest of the cleanup. Gill, Dave, and James are all heading home in front of us to run a safety check. The hit has been officially canceled, though, thanks to Kruger's thumbprint on his laptop."

  Kody blew out a long breath. "Thank fuck for
that."

  "Yup," I agreed, my voice thick with sleep and pain meds. "Let's go home."

  Archer started the car, and Kody gently lifted me into his lap before buckling the seat belt around us both. Not technically the safest thing in the event of a crash, but I doubted I could ever feel anything but safe in his arms.

  * * *

  The drive home took several hours. Zane had arranged a meeting point with Kruger well out of Shadow Grove, which in itself showed how he really had feared his little brother's wrath if he was caught.

  I slept most of the way, my head on Kody's shoulder as he gently stroked my hair and whispered all kinds of heart-stopping promises.

  When we reached the front gate, we needed to wait several minutes until the security guys gave us an all clear. Not that any of us expected more bad guys waiting in our highly secured mansion, but it didn't hurt to remain cautious.

  Archer didn't bother parking in the garage, instead just stopping directly in front of the entrance, then climbing out. He popped my door open as Kody unbuckled us, then Archer carefully lifted me out into his arms.

  "I can walk," I told him in a groggy voice, but he just ignored me, carrying me into the house.

  Gill was waiting for us in the foyer and exchanged a few words with the boys about the house being secured, then left us alone. Archer carried me straight upstairs to my bedroom and kicked open the door to my bathroom.

  He only put me down briefly, perching me on the edge of the vanity so he could turn my shower on. I was sleepy enough not to protest, just yawn and watch him strip his own bloody clothes off.

  "Are you okay to stand in the shower?" he asked me with overwhelming concern as he helped me out of my T-shirt. I winced as the movement pulled on my damaged ribs but gritted my teeth.

  "I'll be fine." I unclipped my bra as he worked on my jeans, and within seconds I was groaning under the hot spray of my shower.