Finley blew out a breath. “Don’t do me any more favors,” he said dryly. A dull ache pounded across the bridge of his nose. With every second, his apprehension grew. The voice in his head screamed that he needed to get to Sunny as soon as humanly possible. “Take me to the private airport.” If he had to, he’d canvas the airport until he found a pilot willing to take him.
He tried calling Sunny again. No answer. Desperation gnawed at his insides. Next, he tried Percy’s cell. Hopefully, he’d have some useful information about Nolan Webb. It went to voicemail. Percy normally stayed close to his phone. Something was wrong. He called Percy’s home number. His wife answered on the third ring.
“Hi, Joan, this is Finley Landers. I’m sorry to call you in the evening, but I’ve been trying to reach Percy all day.”
A strangled sob came over the line. “Percy’s dead.”
His heart lurched as he leaned forward, balling his fist. “What?” The words came at him like garbled sounds under water.
“I just found out a couple of hours ago. The police came by to notify me.” Her voice broke. “They’re calling it suicide, saying he jumped off a building in Vegas.”
Chapter 13
A loud thump sent Sunny sitting up, her heart pounding. She threw back the covers and jumped out of bed. Had Ian fallen out of his bed? She ran into his room and gaped at what she saw. A terror—swift and paralyzing—iced through her. For a second, she wondered if this was a nightmare. The only light in the room was the shaft of thin moonlight coming from the window. Dr. Clock was standing behind Ian. His face was twisted in an ugly sneer. He had one hand over Ian’s mouth and was trying to stick a syringe in his arm with his other hand.
“What’re you doing?” she screamed.
Her presence startled the doctor, causing his hand to slip. Ian bit down on it. The doctor yelped and released his hold on Ian, dropping the syringe. Ian’s cast went up reflexively and knocked the doctor’s glasses off, sending them flying across the room. He let loose a string of curses, flicking his injured hand.
“Help,” Ian cried as he dove into Sunny’s arms.
Sunny’s only thought was to grab Ian and flee.
“Stop or I’ll shoot!”
Terror streaked through Sunny when she saw the flash of metal and realized Dr. Clock was holding a gun. This was insane. Somehow, she managed to find her voice as she stepped in front of Ian. “What’re you doing here?” Her mind raced to make sense of the situation. Finley had put Dr. Clock on a plane. “How did you get in here?”
He motioned with the gun. “Move away from the door. Now!” he screamed, causing her to flinch. There was a wild tone in the doctor’s voice like he might be coming unhinged.
Ian clutched her shirt. “I’m scared,” he whimpered.
“It’ll be all right,” she said to him as much as to herself. She offered up a silent prayer for help. Instinct told her to keep the doctor talking. “What’s this all about?”
He barked out a laugh that turned to a snort. “One million dollars.” He glanced at the floor, like he was searching for something. Sunny assumed he was looking for the syringe. Then it hit her. His glasses. He couldn’t see without them. Sunny spied them beside the dresser, about a foot from where she and Ian were standing. If they could get over there, she could step on them.
“Come on, Ian, let’s do as the doctor said.” She moved toward the dresser.
“Slowly,” he ordered.
“Is this about Nolan Webb?”
He let out a grating laugh. “What else?”
“That night with the pillow. You were trying to kill Ian, weren’t you?”
He grunted, his expression turning to disdain. “Do you think I’m that stupid? To openly kill the boy?” He wheezed out a nasally laugh, his shoulders moving up and down. “The irony is that now I will have to kill him—both of you.” He clicked his tongue. “Maybe Mr. Webb will up the bounty.”
A whimper came from Ian’s throat as he broke into tears. “I don’t wanna die.”
“Shut up!” The doctor yelled. “You’re a spoiled, idiotic kid!”
“Shh,” Sunny said, rubbing Ian’s hair.
The glasses were a few inches to the right of her foot. A couple of hard thrusts of her heel was all it would take. She’d break the glasses and then rush at the doctor, try to get the gun away from him. That was their only chance. First, she’d play on his monstrous ego. Get him distracted. “This hotel has top-notch security. How did you get in here?”
He snorted. “Piece of cake. Everyone assumes an intruder will enter through the front door. It’s because people are generally stupid. I simply had to rent the room below yours, climb up one story, and come through the patio.”
“Won’t that incriminate you? The fact that you came back and rented a room?”
He smirked. “Do you really think I’d be stupid enough to rent the room under my real name?”
“So, what was your plan? To kill Ian?” She felt Ian shudder against her. She rubbed a comforting hand over his shoulders. When she went for the doctor, she’d have to push Ian out of the way. Hopefully it wouldn’t hurt his broken arm. She couldn’t worry about that now. She had to do what was necessary to save them.
“The plan was to take Ian to Mr. Webb.” His brows shot down in a V. His face twisted into something hard and ugly, making him look more monster than human. “It would’ve worked like a charm if the mongrel hadn’t woken up and started fighting me.” He gave Ian a malicious look.
She forced her tone to go musing. “Let me get this straight. You took the money Finley gave you to keep quiet and then double-crossed us and went to Nolan Webb. Is that how it went down?”
“More or less.” He spoke the words with pride like it was a great accomplishment. He looked beside her foot. “Are those my glasses?”
“Huh?” Her heart about stopped. Crap! What now?
“Give them to me,” he ordered.
Her heart clawed like a caged animal against her chest. “Where are they?”
“Don’t play dumb. They’re beside your foot.”
She forced a laugh. “Oh.” She hesitated. “What’re you gonna do? Kill us?”
“Yep.”
His short answer sent a shudder through her. Was this how it would end? In this dark bedroom with her and Ian huddled together like wretched fugitives? A silent cry wrenched her heart. No, it couldn’t end like this! She had to do everything within her power to save Ian. “Let me get the doctor’s glasses,” she said, extricating Ian from her arms.
“No,” Ian protested, trying to hold onto her.
“It’ll be okay. Promise.” As gently as she could, she pushed Ian away and bent over to retrieve the glasses. “Here.” She stepped forward, holding them out. As the doctor went to grab them, she threw them across the room and lunged at him.
She heard Ian’s cries as she and the doctor toppled to the floor.
“Run!” she screamed. The doctor held onto the gun with an iron grip. She tried to pry his hand off it as they rolled on the floor, kicking and hitting. Her strength was no match for his. She dug her fingernails into his eye. He swore and punched her across the jaw. The blunt force caused her head to jerk, pain ricocheting through her body. The gun was pointed at her. She tried to push it away. She heard a shot as a searing fire burned a hole through her shoulder. Then she felt liquid oozing out.
“Stop it!” Ian yelled, hysterical.
The doctor pushed her off him, calling her every name in the book as he kicked her viciously in the side. She scuttled back, holding her hand over the bullet wound. A sob wrenched her throat. Ian was still there. He rushed to her side and fell to his knees, clutching her shirt.
The pain was so sharp that she couldn’t breathe. Panic engulfed her as a whoosh of lightheadedness overtook her. She fought her way through it. Looked up. Saw the gun pointed at them. She touched Ian’s arm. “Don’t look,” she commanded him. Life was such a beautiful, fragile thing that could be snuffed out in an inst
ant. She’d tried to protect Ian, tried to do right by Lexi, but it was all for naught. “I’m—so—sorry,” she whispered.
“Lights out,” the doctor sneered.
She heard movement, and then the doctor’s surprised gasp.
“Finley!” Ian squealed. He tugged at Sunny’s arm. “Finley’s here.”
Sunny tried to grasp what was happening. Was this a dream? She willed her eyes to focus. Finley had the doctor in a choke hold. The doctor’s arms were flailing, the gun still in his hand. A shot was fired.
Ian screamed.
Stars exploded in Sunny’s head.
Everything went black.
Then she was drifting.
Chapter 14
Finley touched Sunny’s hand. It was cold and unresponsive. Her face was covered with an oxygen mask, an IV running into her arm. He looked in horror at the large circle of blood fanned underneath the bandage.
“Excuse me, Mr. Landers,” the EMT worker said. “We need to get her into the ambulance.”
He swallowed hard, stepping back as the EMTs hurriedly rolled the gurney past him.
“Will Aunt Ashley—Sunny be all right?” Ian asked, his tear-streaked face lifting to Finley’s.
Finley forced a smile as he draped an arm around Ian. “Yes, she’ll be just fine.” Oh, how he hoped that was true! She’ll be okay, he reassured himself. Sunny had been shot in the shoulder. No vital organs had been hit, but she’d lost a lot of blood. She looked so pale and fragile, lying on the gurney with her eyes closed, going in and out of consciousness.
“I wanna ride in the ambulance with her.” Ian thrust out his lower lip, his brows scrunching.
“Me too, but it’s better if we drive ourselves to the hospital and meet her there.” It was all Finley could do to hang back with Ian, when he wanted more than anything to be by Sunny’s side. Sunny would want him to make sure that Ian was looked after by someone he felt comfortable with, and that someone was him.
He stiffened, his eyes narrowing as a group of police officers passed in front of them. They had Dr. Clint Clock in handcuffs, leading him across the foyer and out of the hotel. He tried to catch Clint’s eye, but the coward wouldn’t even look at him. The good news was that Dr. Clock was the smoking gun. Finley figured the doctor would make a deal with the prosecutor to get a reduced sentence in exchange for him testifying against Nolan Webb. While Finley detested the idea of the doctor escaping the full brunt of the justice owed to him, he wanted Nolan Webb put away for good—for all of the atrocities he’d committed against Sunny, her sister, and Percy. A pit settled in his stomach. If he hadn’t sent Percy to investigate Nolan Webb, he’d still be alive right now. Darkness pressed on his chest to the point where it was hard to get a good breath. Although there was nothing Finley could do to make restitution, he’d make sure that Percy’s wife never lacked for anything financially the rest of her life.
His thoughts shifted back to Sunny. Please let her come through this, he prayed.
Ian tugged on his shirt. “Can we go now?”
“Yes.” They’d only gotten a few steps toward the double entrance to the hotel foyer when a woman called out to him. Finley turned, hearing the rapid clicks of stilettos against the floor. Dede rushed toward him. She was wearing only a negligee and silk robe, the untied sash flying out behind her.
She threw her arms around him, giving him a tight hug. “Oh, my gosh! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he said curtly, stepping back to put as much distance between them as possible.
Her eyes rounded. “I was so afraid that you’d been shot.” She touched his arm, a sultry smile tugging at her lips as she leaned in. “Come up to my room. I can give you a neck massage to help relieve the stress.”
“No thanks.”
“How about a drink then?”
Finley had the unreasonable urge to laugh in Dede’s face. “What’re you even doing here?” He shook his head. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I don’t have time for this. I need to get to the hospital.” He glanced sideways at Ian. “Let’s go.”
Dede caught his arm. “Wait a minute. I came all this way to see you.” Her expression was wounded, eyes pleading. “You’re just going to leave me here?”
He grunted. “I never asked you to come here, Dede.”
Her face fell. “I thought you’d be happy to see me. Your mother said—”
He held up a hand. “My mother was mistaken. I’m with someone else.”
Her voice went soft. “Give me a chance.” She stepped closer, her eyes radiating confidence. “The two of us can be so good together.”
“I don’t think so.”
“But I love you.”
He rubbed his forehead. The irony of the situation was not lost on him. He chuckled under his breath. “You don’t love me, Dede. What you’re experiencing is a classic case of The Romeo Effect.” A short time ago, he’d been in Dede’s shoes. He’d thought his life was over when Emerson dumped him. Now he realized she’d given him the greatest blessing imaginable, the chance to find Sunny. He wished he could somehow bequeath the knowledge of all he’d learned to Dede, but everyone had to learn life’s lessons the hard way—through experience.
“Huh?” Dede said dubiously.
“You love the idea of me, or rather, the idea of being in love.”
She squared her jaw. “No, that’s not true. I love you.”
Ian tugged at Finley’s shirt. “Can we go now?” he huffed, glaring at Dede. “Finley loves my aunt Sunny, not you.” Ian looked at Finley, an open challenge in his eyes. “Isn’t that right?”
A surprised laugh rumbled in Finley’s throat, mostly because he recognized the truth of Ian’s words. “Yes, I love her.” The words sent a rush of exultation running through him. “I love her so much that I can hardly wait to get to her side.”
Dede’s features hardened. “Are you talking about that maid?” She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know all about her. People in this hotel talk.” She grunted. “That woman’s not fit to tie your shoelaces.”
The hair on Finley’s neck rose. “You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” he muttered.
Dede let out a malicious laugh. “Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea. Your mother will freak when she hears about this.” She folded her arms over her chest, giving him a pointed look. “After your little affair runs its course and you get bored with the maid, don’t even think about crawling back to me.”
Finley had tried to do this the nice way, but the gloves were now off. “Do you have any idea how ridiculous and desperate you’re coming off right now? Showing up here unannounced and pretending that I asked you to come?” He shook his head. “Pathetic.”
Dede rocked back, speechless.
“Sunny’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. She’s got more class in her pinky finger than you’ve got in your entire body. One thing I’ve learned is that money can’t buy class.” He gave her a scathing look. “Unfortunately for you.”
Dede’s face flushed scarlet.
“Do us both a favor. Go home. Let’s go Ian,” he barked as he turned on his heel and strode out.
* * *
The field was adorned with dainty white clover flowers as far as the eye could see. Sunny looked up at the bright, blue, cloudless sky, trying to get her bearings. They were in the penthouse. The doctor came into Ian’s room. She’d been shot, the pain excruciating. Where was Ian? Where was Finley? Her heart clutched as the events came rushing back. The fear, the panic, and finally, the despair at knowing that she didn’t have the power to save Ian. Finley. Had he come back to help them in the end? Or had she only imagined it?
“Hello, Sis.”
She whirled around, surprised to see Lexi standing before her.
“What?” she sputtered, her brain trying to comprehend what was happening. “You can’t be here. You’re dead.”
Lexi only smiled. “You did good, Sis.”
Tears rose in Sunny’s eyes. “I tried to be a
good mom to Ian,” she croaked, “but I didn’t know how.”
“You’re doing just fine. You’re giving Ian the thing he needs most—love.”
An unexpected feeling of warmth flooded over Sunny as she let out a half-laugh. “I do love the stinker, but he gives me a run for my money. I have no idea what to do with him.”
She chuckled. “I felt the same way. Take it one day at a time. Before long, you’ll get the hang of it. You are enough.” Lexi’s expression grew serious. “It’s finally over.”
Sunny tilted her head, not understanding. “What’s over?” Fear fluttered in her chest. “Am I dead?” Her heart lurched. She wasn’t ready for her life to end.
A wise smile touched Lexi’s lips. “I mean, the thing with Nolan. He won’t ever be able to hurt you again. You found a good guy. He’ll be a good dad to Ian.”
“Finley?” Hope swelled inside her. Was it possible? Did Finley truly love her?
“Yes,” Lexi said, as if reading her thoughts. “He loves you heart and soul.”
A tear rolled down Sunny’s cheek. “I miss you.”
“I’ll always be with you.” Lexi’s voice seemed to get carried away by the wind, and then she was gone.
“Don’t go,” Sunny cried, frantically looking around, trying to find her. “Please.”
Someone touched her hand. The warmth of the touch seeped into Sunny, overshadowing everything else. She fluttered her eyelids, trying to open her eyes.
“She’s waking up,” an excited voice said. She knew that voice. Finley. She opened her eyes.
“Hey, beautiful.” A broad smile filled Finley’s face, tears rising in his eyes as he squeezed her hand. For a moment, all she wanted to do was peer into his golden brown eyes. Then she became more aware of her surroundings as the room came into focus. She looked around at the white, sterile walls and medical equipment. “I’m in the hospital.”
The Jilted Billionaire Groom Page 13