by Unknown
"We will have to talk later." He strode toward the bathroom with his clothes. "That was my boss. He received some intel that Marks is leaving the compound earlier than we thought. We have to get a move on."
"What can I do?"
"Stay here with my mom?" Kaiden called out from the bathroom. She heard the swish of jeans being pulled on and tried hard not to imagine the soft cotton fabric rubbing along his hard muscular legs.
"You know that is never going to happen."
She heard him sigh. "I know. Just sit tight. I have to talk to Keegan and then we are heading out." Kaiden stepped back into the bedroom. Katie tried to hide her sharp exhale as she took him in. The black tee fit him like a glove. The jeans outlined his strength and form in a way she never imagined a pair of pants capable of doing. Kaiden was all business as he pulled on a pair of cowboy boots he dug out of his closet. She tried to ignore the tingling that started in places she'd totally forgotten about in recent months.
"Come on, let's get my brother and get out of here."
Keegan sat waiting in the living room. "What's wrong?" he asked Kaiden.
"My boss just called. Marks is on the move. It's now or never."
"Well, what are you waiting for then? Let's rope this bull and bring him home."
The two men headed toward the door as Katie followed. She hadn't noticed the gun on Keegan's hip before. Kaiden had added his own gun to a holster on his hip as they left the bedroom but she had never seen him unarmed so it didn't surprise her as much. Even in the hospital he had kept his sidearm near.
Kaiden jumped behind the wheel of his truck while Keegan slid into the shotgun seat. Katie climbed into the back seat and the engine roared to life. Kaiden threw the truck into gear as Clara suddenly appeared at the driver's side door.
"You boys be careful!" she called through the glass.
Kaiden lowered the window. "We will be fine, Ma."
"Take care of Katie!" Clara yelled after them as Kaiden hit the gas.
They were down the mountain and heading into town in record time. Katie watched out the window as she held on to the door handle to keep from flying all over the back seat. The seatbelt barely held her in place. Kaiden and Keegan were discussing the game plan and Katie strained to hear over the roar of the engine as Kaiden sped over the country roads.
"Will we get there in time?" she called out over the noise.
"That's the plan!" Keegan replied.
She didn't say anything else until the truck finally came to a stop on the shoulder of the two lane highway that led right past the Marks compound.
Both men checked their weapons and stuffed extra magazines in their pockets. "What about the local cops? Aren't they supposed to back you two up?" Katie asked, suddenly very worried about what they were about to do.
"No time. Hunter says they are packing the vehicles up now."
"How does Hunter know this? Yesterday he said this would be a piece of cake. Today he is sending you in without back up?"
"Look, Katie, there is nothing to worry about." Keegan turned to look at her over the seats. "This is not our first rodeo, you know."
She slumped back against the seat. "Yeah, I know. Sorry."
"We will be fine, as long as you stay here," Kaiden said.
"Stay here. Yeah, I get it."
The men jumped from the truck and quickly disappeared into the trees. Katie knew the Marks family compound to be only about twenty minutes from her home in Staunton. The Marks family were local celebrities to the Blue Ridge communities. As she sat there contemplating the past few days, Katie heard a series of gunshots followed by shouting.
Without thinking she jumped from the truck and ran into the trees in the same direction the twins had gone. A little voice in the back of her head told her to get back in the truck but she ignored it. She had to find Kaiden. She had to know if he was all right.
As she ran, the shouting got louder and several more gunshots were fired. Oh, Kaiden. You better not go and get yourself killed. I can't lose you. Not now!
She pushed through the thick brush ignoring, or not really noticing, the brambles that grabbed at her clothes and branches that slapped at her face and body. One sharp thistle caught her on the cheek. Katie felt the sting and the warmth of blood but after wiping at it with the back of her hand, she forgot all about it.
Two more gunshots rang out. Katie ran faster. A loud crash in the trees ahead of her sent her into a thick stand of vegetation where she crouched and peered out in the direction from where the noise had come from. A full five minutes passed where she didn't hear anything. No shouting, no gunshots, and no more movement in the trees. Maybe they were done. Maybe Kaiden had Nathan in custody and they were wrapping things up. She strained to catch the sound of sirens headed their way but she heard nothing.
She slipped out of her hiding spot and started to pick her way carefully through the trees toward the Marks place. She just needed one quick glance to reassure herself that Kaiden was safe and then she would return to the truck and wait patiently for them to wrap up business.
She had a good plan. Until a hand clamped over her mouth as someone grabbed her from behind and yanked her to the ground. Her assailant dragged her behind a large boulder without removing his hand from her mouth. She tried to bite him but couldn't make purchase through the smooth, black driving gloves he wore.
Nathan had always worn black leather driving gloves.
Nathan!
She struggled to catch a glimpse of her attacker but he held her firmly facing away from him. A hot whisper next to ear gave her goose flesh, very different from the feelings she had experienced earlier when Kaiden had his lips against her ear. She still recognized the voice instantly as it spoke.
"Stop struggling! If you promise not to scream I will move my hand. I will also stab you with this knife if you make a single sound."
He held a long, sharp hunting knife out where she could see it. Nathan was an avid hunter. He owned several shotguns and knives and one well trained beagle to assist him in his hobby.
Katie nodded as vigorously as she could. She wouldn't scream—yet.
The hand loosened. She took a deep breath and tried to turn to see the man behind her. "Yes, it's me, Katherine."
Only Nathan had ever insisted on calling her by her formal name.
"What are you doing?" she demanded.
"Um, running away from the cops? What do you think? A hostage will give me leverage."
"That's not what I meant and you know it. Why did you steal the bacteria from the hospital?"
He shook his head. "It wasn't me."
"Maybe you didn't actually walk into the hospital but you arranged the whole thing. And you killed Mandy!"
His hand clamped down over her mouth again and jabbed her in the side with his knife. "I told you! No yelling!"
"Sorry!" she mumbled around his hand. "I won't yell, I promise." She wouldn't yell but she wasn't done getting answers.
He dropped his hold on her completely but still wielded the knife. Katie shifted so they were eye to eye. "Why Legionnaires', Nathan? It's not deadly."
"Nope but it spreads quickly. It's for research."
"Oh, come on, what do you know about research?"
"I know that if things work out, one day soon I will be a very, very rich man."
"You already have more than enough money."
"It's theirs." He scowled and she knew he meant his parents. Nathan and his parents had a strained relationship at best. Probably because he had screwed up so much of his life and Mr. and Mrs. Marks were always so put together. "Get up! We are getting out of here."
The tip of the knife pricked at her side. Katie scrambled to her feet. "Where are we going?"
"Just walk." He shoved her out of their hiding place and keeping the knife in her sights, directed her back toward the Marks compound.
***
"Where is he?" Kaiden called to his brother.
"I don't know! He was right by the SUV when
we broke out of the trees."
Kaiden stood in the center of the circular drive, his gun trained on two of Nathan's body guards. "You two bastards tried to kill us! Did you know you were shooting at federal agents? You're lucky you aren't dead right now! Where is Nathan Marks?"
"I don't know," one of the guards spat out. "But I hope you find him. I am sick and tired of putting up with that little weasel's crap!"
"With any luck you hit him with one of your bullets and he ran off in to the woods to die like a wounded deer," the other guard grumbled.
Kaiden was a little confused by their responses. "Don't the two of you work for Nathan Marks?"
"Nope. We work for his father. We just drew the short straw this week to be stuck up here in this country hell hole with the boss's little prick son."
"Whoa… then why did you try to kill us if you hate him so much?" Keegan asked as he joined their little party.
"Didn't know who you were," the first guard answered. "Little Nathan is involved with some dirty dudes. Why do you think he is hiding out up here in this godforsaken mountain land?"
"So you thought we were here to kill him?" Keegan asked.
"Aren't you?"
"Not really, but it wouldn't break my heart," Kaiden replied.
"Oh. Well, sorry about that, man," the first guard said.
"I am a federal agent. So is my brother here. You two broke all sorts of laws so you better help us find Nathan to make up for it."
"Hey! You two are twins!" the second guard said.
"Give the guy a cookie," Keegan shot back. "Now tell us about these dirty dudes."
"Little prick got himself mixed up in some get rich quick scam with a pharmaceutical company that claimed it could stop an infectious disease outbreak before it became an epidemic or pandemic. They needed to test their theories on something easy to cure so he cooked up a plan to use his girlfriend to steal some stuff from the hospital where she worked." The first guard stopped and took a breath.
"Katie McCoy?" Kaiden asked.
"Who's that? I'm talking about Mandy."
"Mandy's dead."
"Dirty dudes! I'm telling you they are the same bad guys he's mixed up with."
"So, why are they after him now?"
"Because he double crossed them. Sold the information to a rival company for a mess of dough and then planned to leave the country. This was only a stopover before he flew out of the country today."
"We need to find him before he finds a way to the airport," Kaiden said to his brother.
"What about these guys?" Keegan asked.
"Cuff them to that flag pole over there." Kaiden nodded toward a tall white pole in the center of the yard. "We can call the local LEOs and have them come out here and pick them up."
"Get up!" Keegan yanked one of the guards to his feet. Kaiden did the same with the second one. They walked over to the pole and cuffed them one at a time.
"Hey, which one of you tried to run Katie down the other night?" Kaiden asked as he secured the cuffs.
"That would be me," the guard he snapped the cuffs on replied. "I wasn't going to run her over. Senior Mr. Marks said I should scare her a little."
"Well, it worked. You also left a nasty dent on the back end of my new truck."
"Yeah, sorry about that. Again, I was just supposed to scare y'all."
"Well, you only managed to piss me off on that one. You know you don't mess with a man's truck."
"I know, man, but that was Senior again. He told me to do it. You don't seem to understand the power of the Marks family. When you work for them and they say jump, you say how high or they smash your knee caps."
"So, you are a big wuss, afraid of a snot-nosed brat who lives off his mommy and daddy's money?
"Naw, man, I am afraid of the mommy and daddy with all the money."
"You ransacked her place, didn't you?"
"Nope. That wasn't us. Mr. Marks sent someone else to do that. We were already on our way here."
"So who broke into the lab?"
"The Marks family owns people everywhere. Who knows which one of them did that?"
"You and your boss have pretty much ruined a woman's life. I'm fairly certain you all are responsible for the death of another and you've been stalking Katie for at least the last couple of days."
"No way, man! We didn't commit no murder! We're stalkers, not killers!" the other guard said.
"I wouldn't be so proud of either profession."
Kaiden finished securing the men and nodded to Keegan. "There. Now we can go look for Marks."
"Umm, I don't think you have to look too far," the other guard said.
"What do you mean?" Kaiden asked.
The guard nodded toward the trees. "Because he is right there and he has some sweet young thing with him."
Kaiden turned to where the guard had indicated and his heart tumbled straight into the pit of his stomach.
"Katie."
Chapter Fifteen
As soon as she laid eyes on Kaiden, and saw that he was safe and unharmed, Katie relaxed. For a second, she forgot about the six inch blade pressed against her kidney as she yelled and waved both hands at the men. "Kaiden!"
She saw Kaiden look up at her and thought she saw his tanned skin go pale.
"Shut up!" Nathan snapped. "You know these yahoos?"
Katie looked at him, refusing to give up any information that might help Nathan or put Kaiden in danger.
"Great! Flipping fabulous! I take my first hostage and she knows the cops I'm trying to blackmail." He shoved Katie forward. "Move it. Maybe your boyfriend cares about you enough to let me go without any more trouble."
"He's not my boyfriend." Hopefully that would help the situation somehow.
"Of course not. What was I thinking? No way a guy like that would want a girl like you anyway."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Katie stopped and turned on Nathan. "What is wrong with a girl like me? You used to love me!"
Nathan's cold laugh gave her chills. "Seriously, Katherine? You actually believed I loved you? You're even more naïve than I thought you were!"
"Then why…?"
Nathan jabbed her with the knife. "Keep walking. I'm not missing my flight."
The brothers were moving in closer, each one posted up behind one of the two SUVs in the driveway.
"You okay, Katie?" Kaiden called out.
"I'm fine!"
"She'll be a lot better if the two of you would back off and let me get to my truck!" Nathan called back.
"Not happening!" Keegan shouted from his spot behind the far SUV.
"You haven't answered my question." Katie stopped walking again.
"What question?" Nathan poked her hard. This time she felt the tip of the knife graze her skin. He had cut the fabric of her shirt.
"Why you wasted all that time with me."
"It was all part of the plan, baby."
"Awfully intricate plan to steal some bacteria. You could have just screwed Mandy and skipped right over me."
"There was so much more to it than that but you wouldn't play along. So, I had to find someone that would."
They were at the edge of the driveway. Kaiden and Keegan had their guns pointed at Nathan. He grabbed her and pulled her in front of him, pressing the hunting knife to her neck. Katie felt the sting of the blade as it cut into her.
"Nathan! Stop! You're hurting me!" she cried.
"Shut up already, Katherine!"
"Drop the knife Marks!" Kaiden stepped out from behind the van, his face hard but his eyes filled with concern. "Let the girl go and we can talk!"
"No way, man! She is going with me one way or another, so if you prefer she leave here alive and with her head attached you will get the hell out of my way and let me leave!"
He pressed the knife tighter to her neck. Katie felt a trickle of warmth run into her shirt. "Kaiden! Let him go, please!"
Kaiden suddenly stepped back, lowering his weapon. "Kee! Let them go!"
>
Keegan cursed but did what Kaiden asked.
Nathan dragged her to the SUV and shoved her in through the driver's side before climbing in behind her. He turned the key that hung in the ignition and threw the truck in gear. They peeled out of the drive in a cloud of dust and dirt and rocks.
Katie caught a glance of Kaiden in the mirror. Please come after me. I don't want to die!
Nathan had snapped. He would never let her out of this alive. Katie had to find a way to get out of that truck, even if it meant throwing herself out of it.
"Don't get any crazy ideas. You'll kill yourself. I'm going way too fast."
Did he read her mind?
"Come on, Katherine, don't look so surprised. We were engaged, I know how your brain works."
"What difference does it make? You're going to kill me anyway." She reached up and felt the blood on her neck.
"After all our history together, you fathom me a cold blooded killer?"
"Mandy's dead."
"She was stupid. She didn't know when to shut up."
"So you killed her."
"She had an accident."
"An accident. Right."
She glanced over at the speedometer and gasped. The truck sped along at nearly one hundred miles per hour. "Nathan, slow down! These roads can't handle this kind of speed!"
"Shut up, Katherine!"
"You keep saying that and I am sick of it! Pull this truck over now and let me out! Go catch your plane but leave me alone! You and your little scheme have already ruined my life! What else do you want from me?"
"Ruined, huh? It seemed like you and little cop man back there are pretty tight. Things can't be all that bad."
The road curved suddenly and Nathan slammed on the brakes. Katie threw herself across the seat and grabbed the steering wheel with one hand while slapping and punching at Nathan's face with the other.
"Stop it, Katherine! You're gonna kill us both!"
"Good!" She jerked the wheel to the right, the tires of the truck slipped on the gravel of the shoulder and the SUV rolled over. Once, twice, three times the truck flipped before she lost consciousness.