by J. K. Zimmer
“Commander, we’ve found Ms. Hanes. We need to move fast or Gipson’s going to kill her.”
“Copy that, Taylor. Team two; are you in position and ready with the explosives?”
“Copy that, Commander. The charge has been set in the vacant cell. We’ll enter through the wall and proceed to free the three women who occupy the other cells.”
“Remember to cut the bracelets first and foremost. Once they know we’re here, they’re going to do everything they can to keep those women quiet. This all has to go off concurrently, men. Team three, make your way to the west wall, and when in place let me know. We’ll start the count then. Taylor, I need an update on your situation.”
“Commander, it’s not looking good for Ms. Hanes, maybe rape. Gipson has a long history of violence against women, sir. He knows how and where to hit them, and he’s hitting her hard. She’s not moving. We don’t have much time.”
“Copy that, Taylor. Stand by for the code word. Team three, what’s your twenty?”
“In position in about two minutes, sir.”
“Team two, did you copy that?”
“Copy that, sir. Commander, this is hard to watch without doing something,” Gates said, desperation in his voice.
“I realize that, Taylor. Hold your position.”
Kevin watched as Gipson abused and battered Sophie. I’ll kill him when I get the chance, he thought, finger still ready near the trigger. He focused in on Sophie. Why didn’t she fight back? He knew why—she was unconscious, or nearly dead. He grabbed Taylor’s arm. “How much time until we make our move?”
“We have—”
“Gentlemen, the code word for initiation is RR. On my mark, is everyone in place?”
“Copy that, Commander. Two and Three are in position and ready for RR.”
“Taylor? Gates?”
“Copy, Commander, we’re ready for RR.” Taylor looked over at Gates, “Are you ready to do what you have to do?”
Kevin’s eyes were piercing. He knew they always shot to kill unless otherwise commanded. “Ready.”
“Countdown, gentlemen. Five, four, three, two, one—R.R.”
About five seconds later, Taylor and Gates heard a loud blast.
Gates eyed the situation with Sophie. Gipson’s head snapped back, and he drew his sidearm.
“Hands in the air! FBI!” Taylor yelled as he and Gates ran toward Gipson, guns aimed at vital organs.
Gipson fired a shot, grazing Taylor on the arm, knocking him to the ground momentarily.
“Follow him, Gates. He’s heading deeper into the woods. I’ll look after Sophie.”
Kevin hesitated, his eyes on Sophie’s lifeless body. He knelt, touched her neck—she had a pulse, faint but still alive.
“Go, I’ll take care of her,” Taylor said touching Kevin’s shoulder.
Kevin took one last look. “I’m going to kill him,” he said, feeling the anger flowing through every fiber of his being. He ran toward where they’d lost sight of Gipson. Kevin searched, no movement, no sounds. He immediately dropping behind a tree, listening. He can’t be far, he thought. Kevin knew Gipson was smart, and knew how to play war games. Kevin held tight to his gun, waiting for a sound, for movement. The minutes passed like hours. Patience is the name of this game, he reminded himself as his eyes darted continually, waiting. “He’s going to make a mistake and when he does…there was something on his right. Kevin immediately turned. It was Gipson. He watched him dash from behind a tree. “Stop!” yelled Gates, jumping to his feet. “You’re mine, you stinkin’ pig!” he yelled pulling up, Gipson in his sights. He pulled the trigger, and Gipson fell to the ground, not moving.
Gates watched and waited for several minutes. He didn’t trust Gipson even if he was dead, and he was sure he wasn’t. Kevin had made it a point not to hit him in a vital organ. He wanted him to suffer a while. He searched the ground for Gipson’s weapon, staying a safe distance away because the gun could be anywhere. He was about eight feet away when he dropped his eyes down on Gipson, still no visual on his gun. He stepped out just as Gipson pulled the hammer on his pistol.
“Drop it, Gipson,” he yelled. “I’d like nothing more than to blow you into a million little pieces,” Kevin said, the crosshairs on Gipson’s chest.
Gipson lowered the gun to the ground.
“Now the knife in your boot—pull it out, now.”
“What if I don’t, city boy?” he said, falling back onto the grass, laughing between deep gasps of pain.
“Then I’ll drug you and beat you the way I watched you beat Sophie, you piece of low life. .”
Gipson’s laugh grew deeper. “Aw, your little girlfriend, she’s a nice one, Gates. Thanks for sharing,” he said, coughing red liquid into his hands.
“Why, you—” he stepped closer, raising his gun to Gipson’s head.
“Gates, no! Stop!” Kevin turned. Taylor stood right behind him. “Buddy, step away from him. I’ll take over from here.” Taylor reached for Kevin’s arm. “Sophie’s asking for you.”
A muscle twitched in Kevin’s cheek, his sights still locked on Gipson. He lowered his rifle. “Where is she?” he asked Taylor.
“She’s in an ambulance on the east side of the building. Gates, they got to her in time.”
“Copy that, Taylor,” he said, kicking dirt into Gipson’s face.
Kevin rushed to the east side of the building and was met by Commander Young.
“Good work holding it together, Gates,” he said, putting his hand on his shoulder. “I believe there’s a young woman asking for you.”
Kevin turned and stepped up into the back of the ambulance. He couldn’t believe what he saw. She was covered in blood. It ran from her nose and ears into her long brown hair, which was crusted with blood and dirt and sweat. Long strands of hair stuck to the sides of her face. Her arms were badly bruised, and her fingernails were caked with dirt from the forest floor. A green sheet covered her half-naked body.
Kevin cleared his throat. “Hey there,” he said, trying to get her attention. He waited for a response. Her eyes were black and swollen, her feathery lips cut and bloody.
Sophie opened her left eye slightly. “Kevin?” she asked, trying to sit up. “How did you get here?”
“Shhh,” he said, leaning close to her face and kissing her forehead. “Sophie,” his voice broke, “I’m so sorry this happened to you.” He could feel hot tears forming in the corners of his eyes. It was more than he could take, seeing her beautiful body so bruised and used like this.
“Kevin,” she whispered. “Anya.”
His brows furrowed. “Anya?” Babe, what are you talking about?”
She swallowed hard, pain on her face. “Three told me that I would be rescued by one who was far away, by one who loved me, just as Anya had been rescued by the one who truly loved her—her father.” She raised up a little, her lips closer to his ear. “Don’t you see, Kevin? Your life isn’t your own, either. Your life followed the diary just as mine did. Three was right all along. He’s the one who brought us together. He’s the one who knew I’d need you to rescue me.” She choked and swallowed hard again.
Kevin lowered her weak body back to the stretcher.
“Ms. Hanes, they’re ready to take you to the hospital,” said the attendant.
Kevin looked at the commander for approval to ride along.
“I’ll see you at the hospital later, Gates.”
“Copy that, sir,” he said, pulling the ambulance door shut.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Washington State
“So, did you find the Milky Way?” Kevin asked, sitting on the blanket next to Sophie’s reclining body.
“Yeah, it’s right there,” she said, proudly pointing straight above her head.
Kevin followed her hand to see a faint band of stars arching across the night sky. He leaned down on one arm, getting closer. “Do you realize, Ms. Hanes, you have just pointed to a part of the galaxy we live in? And that galaxy has over th
ree hundred billion stars accompanied by the sun, moon, and the other planets?”
She continued to gaze into the night sky. “As a matter of fact, Kevin, I did know that.”
He looked up once again. “Well, did you also know that it’s the only galaxy that when you’re in the middle, you can look back to Earth and see what looks like a giant smiley face?” he asked, making a large smile with his fingers.
She thought for a moment. Doubt crossed her mind, but Kevin knew a great deal about many things, and the stars were one of them. She smiled. “Really?” she finally said, her nose scrunched to accompany the curious look on her face.
He leaned in, touching her ear with his lips. “No babe, that’s not true.” Kevin’s eyes melted into hers, and his arms tightened around her waist. “I made that part up.”
Sophie laughed as her lips met his. The kiss was deep and seemed to go on as long as the Milky Way itself. She opened her eyes, searching the heart of the man who had so much to offer her. “Kevin, thank you.
He kissed the tip of her nose. “For what?
“For your ability to make me laugh, for saving me from whatever was going to happen to me at the Regal, for listening to Three.”
Kevin pulled gently on a long strand of her hair as he caressed her face with his eyes. “Sophie, the first time I saw you, I was behind the camera. It was my job to focus in, get the best shots of you I could. You didn’t know it, but I knew even before you started talking—and, believe it or not, even after you got sick—that you were something special.” He let loose of the brown thread in his fingers and looked to the sky, trying to harness his feelings from among the stars. “Sophie, this is hard to explain. You were like a treasure I’d found, a treasure that needed to be protected. And then when I ran into you at the library, I knew I had to do more than just look.” He brought her hands to his lips and gently kissed them. “I knew I had to pursue, I had to get the treasure for myself and hide it away somewhere,” he said. “I’d give my body and soul for you.”
She looked away, batting the tears from her eyes. “Kevin—”
He leaned across her. “Sophie, I meant every word. I want you. I’m tired of living alone. I want you with me, and I want to marry you.”
Sophie sat up, leaning hard on her knees. Her mind reeled at his sudden proposal. She loved Kevin, but something was missing, something vital to her very being, something vital to her relationship with him.
“Remember the very end of Anya’s diary?”
Kevin rubbed his eyes, knowing why she’d changed the conversation.
“Remember the close, right after her father had confronted Sean and demanded to know where she had been taken and why? Then Mr. O’Connell forced his way into Mr. Dubois’ castle and took Anya back to their home estate?”
“The diary again? Come on, Sophie, I don’t see what it has to do with anything we’re talking about,” he said, hastily standing to his feet.
“Kevin, Anya said things would never be the same. She said she’d been through too much and had grown to depend on something much greater than human life.” Sophie joined him, gently slipping her arms around his waist. “Kevin, look at me.”
Kevin frantically searched her face for clues as to what her next words would be. He felt rejection coming, and he wasn’t in the right mindset to deal with it in a good way.
“Anya didn’t want to live under the power of men who elected to stay the same. She wanted more from life than what she had experienced in the past. She needed to rise above the status quo of her day. Can’t you see that, Kevin?”
This was one side of Sophie he hadn’t seen before. She was passionate and sounded convinced of her own words. He ran his hands through her brown locks then firmly planted them on her small shoulders. “Sophie, don’t you know that I love you? Haven’t I proven it?”
“Yes, you have, but I want—” She looked up, searching the stars. “No, I need someone who shares my desires, Kevin. I’ve changed, just like Anya did. I won’t settle for the status quo, either.”
“Sophie.” His hands left her shoulders and locked behind his head. He turned, putting distance between them. “I want what you want. If you’re talking about Three, you can believe whatever you want. I don’t care.”
“That’s just it,” she said. “Kevin, I want you to care. I want you to believe with me.”
“Now you sound like your ex-boyfriend.”
She took a firm step back from him. “Trey? He has nothing to do with this.”
“Oh, I think he does. You still have feelings for him, and now you have something else crowding me out, this spirit called Three. Sophie, you told me that Trey left you for his God. Now you’re taking his lead and dumping me for your God?”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I’m not dumping you. Kevin, all I want is someone who’ll share my passion for something bigger than the both of us.”
He sighed. “Listen to me, Sophie. I want to be that man for you, but this Three seems to be right in the middle of us. It’s like I can’t get to you without going through him, or it, or whatever it is. Don’t you see that? Three isn’t real. This Spirit was part of the whole diary experience. It was nothing more than a passing phenomenon.” Kevin moved in close. “Let’s face it, even I was taken in for a while, listening to Theresa, even imagining I had a face-to-face with Three. But this Spirit was just conjured up. It was what kept Anya from losing her mind. It fit into her tragic life story like a hand in a glove. But there’s something I find more heartbreaking than Anya’s story. It’s your story, Sophie.”
Her eyes widened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s the fact that the diary and someone else’s story is what pulled you into a life-threatening scheme. If this Three was real—a protector as he had claimed—that whole scenario wouldn’t have been played out in your life.”
“Kevin, you’re wrong. It’s not like that at all.”
He pulled in a deep breath and put his fingers to her lips. “Sophie, this conversation is going nowhere. Can we drop it for the evening?” He pulled her back to where they had been sitting on the ground. “I have something to tell you. But before I do—” He pulled a small white hanky from his pocket.
Sophie recognized the hanky as one that had been in the diary.
“This faded piece of cloth was in your cottage. I found it near the diary Smith had made for you when we went to get your things. We now know it was an original, one of Anya’s.”
He put it in her hand.
“There’s something in it,” she said, allowing it to open in her hand. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “It’s a ring.”
“Yes, it is. In case you missed it a few minutes ago, I asked you to marry me.”
Her eyes swept to him and softened. “I didn’t miss the ‘marry me’ part, but I was thrown off by your unpolished delivery. You’re usually so smooth, and I wondered—”
“It wasn’t supposed to come out that way,” he said, slipping the ring onto her finger.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything tonight. I want you to think about it.”
They sat wordless, Kevin circling the ring around her finger as emotions tugged at his senses.
“I’m going to be out of the country for a while.”
Sophie’s eyes traveled from the ring to Kevin. A troubled look masked his face. The witty, in-control man she’d come to appreciate was miles away. “Where out of the country, Kevin?”
“You know I can’t tell you that. It’s for your protection. This is highly sensitive Sophie. As far as this case goes, you don’t exist, and you’ve never been a part of my life.”
“Can you tell me how long you’ll be gone?”
He leaned in and brushed her lips with his. “All I can tell you is that when I get back, I would like an answer from you. Marry me or not. Either way, I love you more than you’ll ever know.”
“Kevin, I love you, too.” She bru
shed his face with the back of her hand. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
His arms wrapped around her, but the chill surrounding his embrace flooded her mind, bringing more questions about their relationship than she had answers for.
She laced her fingers around his neck as he held her. “I’ll have an answer for you.”
Sophie checked the calendar. More than three weeks had passed since she’d seen or heard from Kevin. I hope he’s back before classes start, she thought. It was August, and most of her fall preparations were finished for the semester. Now it was a waiting game, waiting on two fronts.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Trey
Week five without any word from Kevin had come and gone when Sophie heard a knock on the front door.
“Kevin,” she smiled, wrapping her freshly washed hair in a towel. It had to be him. He was the only one who ever knocked. Everyone else used the doorbell. She ran, holding the towel on her head and not bothering to look before she flung the door open. “Kevin, I’m so glad to see—” she stopped. Her eyes widened as she stood looking at the man standing on her front porch.
“Hey Sophie,” he said, his lips flat.
His voice was soft and gentle, caressing her ears as he spoke. But then he’s always had a beautiful voice. It matched his impeccable personality, among other attributes.
“It’s been a long time.”
She felt a lump make its way down her throat. “Trey, what are you doing here?”
He looked around. “Sophie, may I come in?”
She stood there, a silent conversation going on in her mind between believing and not believing who was at her door. Finally, she stepped to the side.
“You look great,” he said, wringing his hands as he glanced around her front room.
She heard restlessness in his voice. It had been three years since she’d seen him. Maybe it was nerves. But not Trey—he was a professional, steady all the time.
“May I sit?” he asked, motioning to the couch.
“Yes, of course, sit.” Sophie remained standing, leaning on the back of a chair.