by Dale Mayer
“It’ll be worth it,” she snapped.
She turned and walked out, finding Harrison glaring at her behind the curtain. She went to him, a confused look on her face. “What?”
He grabbed her chin and tilted her face up. “No, you’re not allowed to take a bullet to make sure this guy goes down. It would not be worth it. Some of us don’t want to lose you.”
She froze for a second when she saw the truth in his gaze and then threw her arms around his neck.
He picked her up, swung her around and held her close.
“Do you mean it?”
“I said it, didn’t I?” His voice was gruff, his tone uncomfortable.
She grinned and reached up to pat his cheek. “That’s cute. You don’t like talking about your feelings either.”
He slanted her a gaze. “I don’t hear you saying anything.”
She grinned. “I wasn’t going to until you said something.”
He glared at her.
She tilted her chin and glared back. Then she leaned up and whispered against his ear, “I wouldn’t want to lose you either.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and dragged her toward Saul, while he asked her, “So, what’s the deal about the girlfriend?”
“The cops are sending somebody around,” she said.
Saul strode up to them and asked, “Do we want to go? Or do we want to stay here and keep an eye on the hospital?”
She piped up, “Or we can get some food and discuss it over a meal?” Both men looked at her, and she shrugged. “I burned a lot of calories today. I could use some food.”
They walked out to the parking lot in the sunshine. Saul said, “The cops are dealing with the addresses, getting some people to go to the cabin and other two addresses Jeff gave us.”
“I can’t shake the feeling it’s probably not safe to leave him alone.”
“He’s not. Two police officers are on duty,” Zoe protested.
Agreeing to eat first, they walked around to the main street in front of the hospital. As they crossed, a vehicle drove up slowly beside them. Suddenly the car rammed into her, picking her up and tossing her to the ground as gunfire filled the air. She rolled over to see the car speeding past. Harrison was down on one knee and fired on the tires. He hit the left, and it looked like he may have taken out the right. The vehicle dragged to a stop, squealing like crazy. As the metal rims hit the ground, the driver opened the door, hopped out and ran.
Well, she hadn’t been the best sprinter on her team for nothing. Zoe was up and after him in a flash. She cut him off on the far side. He was running, out of breath, already panicked. Good. She had no intention of letting him go free. With her feet pounding the pavement, she raced after her quarry who was desperate to shake her off his trail. He turned and fired. She dodged the bullet easily and picked up speed, faster and faster.
A vehicle drove up beside her, and she knew the guys had grabbed the car to come after her. She also knew it was Lawrence in front of her. He dodged to the left and headed down a back alley, too narrow for the guys to follow them in the car, but she sped after him. She didn’t have a weapon and for that she was sorry. Yet pounding him into the ground with her bare hands, well, that would be damn satisfying too. He bolted to the far side. For every ten feet he ran, she gained half a foot on him.
He shouted over his shoulder, “Leave me the fuck alone, Zoe.”
And she laughed. She could feel her anger fire through her heart and legs. She yelled, “This is for Tamara, asshole.”
It was almost as if she could feel her friend giving her an extra push in her leg muscles.
The end of the alleyway loomed. A vehicle came flying around the corner toward him. When she was afraid he’d jump over a fence to the neighboring alley, she tackled him to the ground, his face eating dirt all the way down as he skidded to a stop. He would have road rash all over his cheek. And she couldn’t be happier. She grabbed his wrists, tucked them into his back and held him tight so he couldn’t move. And then sat on him.
“The only reason I’m not beating the shit out of you right now,” she snapped, breathing hard, “is because I want to see you rot in jail, you little piece of shit.”
He shook his head, gasping to get the words out as he struggled to throw her off his back. “I won’t. I won’t. You don’t understand. There are people who will protect me, and there are also some who will kill me.”
“We’ll figure out who’s who.”
She looked up, expecting to see Saul and Harrison exit the car. But when the driver got out, she felt all the color wash away from her skin, and horror filled her soul.
Her brother, Alex, walked toward them, a small handgun drawn, black gloves on both his hands. He pointed the gun at her and said, “Hello, sis.”
She shook her head. “Please, not you.”
He shrugged. “Why not? I’ve walked this path for a long time. I’m not about to change now.”
“Were you at home when Father was shot?” She fumbled with Lawrence’s arms, her cell phone falling to the ground. Under cover of getting a better grip on Lawrence’s hands, she clicked the Record button on her phone. “Did you actually see Paul’s father kill ours?”
He nodded. “Yes, I saw him. And, no, I didn’t stop him.” He sighed. “Why bother? Johan must have let them in the gate. Within minutes they were arguing about you and that whole Tamara thing. Paul’s father wanted you silenced, and things went downhill from there. The general shot Father, and Mom stepped in, screaming at them. Paul turned on her like a vicious animal. Father had beat her bad, but nothing like Paul did. Still she let our father do it, so what was the difference? Then they headed to Angelina and Johan’s place afterward. I heard the shots and figured they’d taken them out also.” He shrugged again, as if not giving a damn. “I destroyed Father’s original security tapes.”
“Then why the hell did you kill Paul?”
“Because he came looking for money. He figured, with both my parents dead, I would be loaded. He tried to blackmail me into sharing the windfall.”
“Blackmail you for what?” She knew she didn’t want to hear the answer to that question, but there really was no other way. She had to.
“I’ve been playing a little bit of a game on the side.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “Father liked to beat his women. Personally, I like to bag and tag them, keep them for a day or two and then kill them.”
She stared at him in horror. “Oh, my God! You’re talking about kidnapping women, torturing and raping them?” Her voice rose into a horrible cry.
“Yeah, they’re more fun when they’re terrified.” His eyes went dark. Flat. Empty. “It really brings out the animal in me.”
She shook her head, her stomach crawling up the back of her throat. Dear God, how had this happened? He was a monster. “Surely Paul didn’t know anything about that?”
“Well, he told me about his victims, and I decided I might like to terrorize one of them all over again.” He gave a horrible twisted smile. “You know, she didn’t commit suicide.”
The blow was visceral. Zoe shook, her body trembling as she understood her brother had killed Tamara. “Did you rape her first?”
He shook his head. “She was already damaged goods. Not much more I could do to her. But I figured, if I killed her, it would cause you more pain. I really liked that aspect.” He fired and struck her in the thigh.
She cried out and collapsed onto Lawrence. But she could still sit up a bit and speak. “Why do you hate me so much? I never did anything to you.”
“Father respected you. I could never get him to even see me. He ignored me. You, he hated—but he also respected you.”
Alex’s tone was so bitter she could only stare at him in shock. All those years she’d been standing up to her father, Alex had simply walked away. And she could see how her father might not have appreciated her attitude—definitely hadn’t liked her standing up to him. It had made him insanely mad, because she’d never let him see her
fear inside.
So, yeah, in a twisted way, he had respected her.
And that had made her brother hate her.
“And I so wanted Father to beg for his life while I held his own gun to his head, but… no matter. I buried all my victims’ bodies on his properties. Now that he’s dead, he can’t defend himself. After I kill you two, I’ll go finish off dear Mother. I paid good money to get her permanently out of my life, and somebody stole the goddamn hit money from my Swiss account. Now I could be a target. When I find the greedy asshole who did this to me, I’ll kill him too.”
Alex stopped long enough to see his sister’s worried expression.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got enough evidence planted against the lot of you to keep me in the clear. And to get all the family’s money and holdings. Father didn’t know how to really enjoy life.”
As she lay here—in a blind panic while she listened to her insane brother talk about killing Mom—her body thankfully took over, and the adrenaline flowed through her. She remembered her training, looked for any weapon she could use. She almost cried out loud in relief when she caught sight of Lawrence’s gun, half underneath him. She had to stop Alex from killing Mom. And she couldn’t very well do that if he killed her now. She slipped her left hand under Lawrence’s chest, reaching for the gun, and she whispered, “Stay still.”
He lifted his shoulder slightly so she could grab it.
Her brother kept talking, not paying her any attention. “The general killing Father also gave me ammunition for blackmailing Paul to keep him off my back. No way was I sharing my inheritance with him—or you. And I knew all kinds of shit about him and his little gang rapes. Knowledge is power. I can’t believe you didn’t remember him. I spent a fair bit of time with him growing up. But then you were off in boarding school. He was never as bad as I was. He’s a weakling. When he realized what I was doing with my women, he wanted to join me. But he wasn’t prepared to kill Tamara. And if he couldn’t, then he could never join me. I kill all my victims. Nobody gets a chance to talk.
“So killing Tamara was like my mocking gesture to him, telling him how he was too weak to be with me. When he came to me that night, after he’d beaten up Mom, he was so full of bravado, letting me know exactly what he’d done. But he was still weak. I killed him. I’ve been practicing with different techniques.” He raised the gun point-blank. “Should I shoot Lawrence first or you?”
She heard a vehicle coming toward them, turning into the alleyway. Harrison. Always there for her, looking after her. But she couldn’t let him get shot, and with him so close, her brother wouldn’t waste time.
“Stop,” Harrison roared out the car window as the vehicle came to a grinding halt with a bouncing lurch.
Alex grinned and lined up to take his shot.
*
Harrison’s heart stopped beating several times over when they drove around the corner to see her brother standing with a gun pointed at her on the ground. As they drove closer, they could see she’d tackled and brought down Lawrence. Only her brother held them both captive. When Alex had fired off that first shot, Harrison knew for sure she would be dead. Instead she took the hit and kept her position. “Holy shit,” he whispered.
“Yeah, not too many of us can do that,” Saul snapped.
“Stop,” Harrison yelled. Anything to get Alex to not make that killing shot.
They brought the vehicle to a halt as she raised her gun and buried a bullet in her brother’s brain. Only to collapse on top of Lawrence again. They raced from the vehicle toward her.
Weak and bleeding, she pressed the gun barrel against Lawrence’s neck and said, “Don’t move, asshole.”
“Zoe, dear God,” Harrison yelled as he raced to her.
She shifted and partially sat up, favoring one side. “I’m okay. But one of you needs to take care of Lawrence here.”
Harrison grabbed the gun from her hand, tossed it toward Saul and swept her into his arms. Harrison saw the blood pumping sluggishly from her leg. He laid her gently down, grabbed his T-shirt, ripped off a piece and tied it around the top of her thigh.
She looked up at him and said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get shot.”
He gave her a startled look. “Sweetheart, nobody means to.”
She gave him a sappy smile. “True.”
Harrison looked at Saul and asked, “You okay here?”
Saul nodded. He already had Lawrence handcuffed and his feet zip-tied.
“I’ll get her to the hospital. The cops should be on their way to take him in.” Harrison loaded her into the front passenger seat and took off. As he left the alleyway, he saw the cops arrive.
Damn good thing. He didn’t want to leave Saul with no backup.
He glanced at Zoe, leaning against the headrest with her eyes closed. “Hold on. We’ll get you some medical attention.”
“I’m fine. I’m not asleep. I’m not in shock.”
“I doubt that.”
“It’s my heart that hurts. Alex killed Tamara. I thought she committed suicide. I felt so bad because I couldn’t help her.” She shook her head, tears filling her eyes and dripping down her cheeks unabated. “Instead my brother killed her. Some sort of twisted proof he was better than Paul—who raped and tormented women but couldn’t actually kill his victims.” A broken sob escaped. “In some strange way I think my father’s death was Paul’s payback to my brother.” She stared out the window. “What is wrong with those men? How could they be so twisted and evil?” She gave a broken sob. “He killed so many others. I don’t even know who or how many. He said they were buried on my father’s properties.”
“The police will deal with it. As for your brother…well…it’s hard to say what makes a man do things like that.” Harrison didn’t like how the blood still flowed freely from her leg and how quiet she got. Slowly her body rocked with the motion of the vehicle, as if she had fallen limp. “Stay awake,” he ordered.
“I’m awake. I promise.”
“You have to stay with me.”
“I wish you meant that for real,” she said on a broken cry. “I don’t know what I’ll do when you go back to Texas.”
He shot a look at her and said, “Come with me.”
She rolled her head to the side and stared at him in surprise. “You don’t mean that. You only said it because I got shot.”
He laughed. “Hell, no. I don’t ask everybody who gets shot to come live with me.”
She stared at him, the tears still running down her face, and he got even more worried. “Honey, please hold on. You’ll be there soon.”
She reached across and put her hand on top of his thigh. Nothing sensual about it this time. Her hand was covered in blood, and her eyelids were closing.
“Zoe, stay awake.”
“I’m awake. I’m just thinking.”
“About what?”
“About why you would want me to move in with you.”
“Because I don’t want to lose you. And I want to spend time getting to know you better. Because I think what we have is something we can continue to have forever. Because…” He took a deep breath and added, “I love you.”
He glanced over and saw her staring at him—a light of hope and something else he didn’t really recognize in her expression. But he thought—maybe, if he was lucky—it was love.
“We’re at the hospital,” she said.
He pulled into the emergency lane and hit the horn. Hopefully someone had called ahead.
Several people raced toward him. He turned to her and said, “You could give me an answer, you know? Please don’t force me to wait. Put me out of my misery right now.”
She slid her hand across his cheek and tugged his head toward her. “I will be grumpy and ugly sometimes.”
“I will be too,” he whispered.
“You will get angry with me sometimes.”
He chuckled. “You’ll do the same with me.”
She stared at him and whispered, “Are you sure?”
/>
He nodded. “I’m very sure.”
The car doors were ripped open. Then she whispered, “Yes,” and kissed him.
She was unbuckled, and somebody coughed, cleared his throat.
Harrison pulled back and told the EMT, “Take it easy with her legs. She’s been shot. But she killed one of the men we were after and captured another.”
The hospital staff looked at her with respect. They helped her get from the vehicle and on a stretcher where she was wheeled into the emergency room.
Harrison leaned against the roof of the car and watched as she headed in to get the treatment she needed.
Three cops milled around. One asked, “How come you guys always get the ladies?”
Harrison glanced at him, quirked a grin and said, “The ladies love a hero.”
Chapter 16
“We could have lived anywhere.” Zoe shot him a disgruntled look and slid lower in the seat. She still wasn’t sure she’d be welcome. But Harrison had been adamant on that point. They entered through the large double gate. “Looks like a military compound.”
He laughed. “It’s not that bad.”
“It’s even worse.”
Saul was in the back seat. Dakota, still moving damn slow at times, beside him. He said, “Okay, enough already, you two.”
Harrison chuckled. “She’s been so worried about coming here.” Then he pointed out something—just to her.
She frowned as they passed two adult-size swings hung from an A-frame. Beside it was a bike rack, with two adult bikes nestled inside.
Harrison leaned over, gave her a kiss and whispered, “I’ll teach you…once your leg is healed.”
She quietly sniffled, held back the tears, afraid the two guys behind her would know. Afraid Harrison would. She couldn’t look at him yet, so she simply reached out, grabbed his hand and squeezed. Maybe she would be welcome here after all.
Saul broke into her moment without even knowing it. “We’re actually pretty excited about this move.”
“Good.” Zoe smirked, recovering. “So then you’re next on the list.”