“Jack, you paying attention?” David smacked the back of his hand on Jack’s chest.
Jack shook his head. “No. I just want that worm dead.”
“Come on, man. Put it aside for now. We’ve got to find Kate. Didn’t you hear Ryan say that Deveaux is planning to leave Mississippi with her? He might already be gone. We’ve got to get over there, now. And you need to be on your game. Kate needs you right now.” David’s words were delivered with the commanding tone of a military leader.
It was what Jack needed. He focused on the conversation. Listened to the plan. They would park a short distance away and approach the mobile home from three sides. If luck was with them, they could get to Kate before Frankie moved her. Or killed her.
Jack tried not to focus on what could happen. They would get Kate back. And they would deal with McKenzie and Deveaux. This would have a positive outcome. It had to. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing Kate like this.
The fifteen-minute drive to McKenzie’s place seemed to take forever. Jack wished he was driving. “Can’t this thing go any faster?” he muttered over the conversation taking place between David and Ryan. He hadn’t heard what they were talking about. He didn’t care.
“We’re almost there. Get your head on straight. You need to be focused.” David’s voice held no compassion. Jack knew that it wasn’t personal. This was an op for him. Just another job that needed to be done. But it was so much more than a job for Jack.
The car made a sharp right turn and then slowed to a stop. David cut the engine. “We walk in from here.” As they climbed out, he laid out the plan again. Each would move toward the mobile home from a different location. If the maps they had were accurate, they should all reach the clearing where the mobile home sat about the same time. “Don’t move on your own,” David warned, but his stare was focused on Jack.
Jack nodded and glanced away. If he got the chance to get Kate out of there alive, he would take it. He didn’t care about the fallout. Didn’t care if David was angry with him. All he cared was that Kate come home to him.
Jack jogged in the direction David pointed him. He had looked at the map long enough to know he had maybe quarter of a mile before he reached the clearing.
Move low. Move fast.
He did. He wouldn’t run at a full sprint. That would make too much noise as he moved through the wooded area that led to the clearing. He didn’t want to announce his approach. But he did jog as fast as he dared, paying attention to the landscape to keep from falling over dead branches or kicking up dead leaves and making more noise than absolutely necessary.
He could see the clearing ahead. Nothing moved outside McKenzie’s home, but both McKenzie’s and Caleb’s trucks were there. Not Caleb’s truck. Deveaux’s truck. They were still there. Jack’s heart jumped. Maybe Kate was okay.
Gunshots echoed through the woods. Jack stopped midstride. It had come from the mobile home. “Kate!” He sprinted toward the house.
FORTY-FIVE
Kate sat on the edge of the bed, where Frankie told her to stay. He paced in and out of the room, talking on a phone he picked up from the floor near McKenzie’s body. Kate could see it from where she sat. That must have been what woke her up. The gunshots. She stared at the body, glancing up at Frankie only when he had his back turned to her.
A Glock 9 mm was holstered at his back. Probably the same gun he shot McKenzie with. Maybe McKenzie saw Frankie take her? Did he follow the man here? Kate turned the puzzle over in her brain, but there were so many missing pieces. She needed to find a way out. Get away from Frankie or Caleb or whatever his name was. Then she could figure out what was going on.
Frankie started yelling into the phone. Cajun words spat in anger. Kate couldn’t make out what he was saying. She knew about enough Cajun to butcher the words for ‘let the good times roll.’ Anything beyond that might as well have been Klingon. She would have been just as lost.
He’s a big man. No way I could stand up to him in a fight.
She gingerly touched her face where he’d slapped her earlier. She couldn’t imagine the impact his fist would have. It would probably feel like a sledgehammer smashing into her face.
The gun. That was her key. If she could get the gun from Frankie, maybe she had a chance.
Frankie stopped his pacing and stared at her, speaking rapidly into the phone. His eyes locked with hers, and for a moment she thought she saw something of Caleb in him. Then they went cold and he started yelling into the phone again. He resumed his pacing.
Kate tensed on the bed. One more time. If he would just come back this way and then turn around one more time, she would have him.
At the end of the room, Frankie turned back to her. This time, he glanced at her, but looked away. Five paces, and then he turned.
Kate sprang forward with all her strength. She wrapped her hand around the handle of the gun and yanked. Slammed Frankie forward with her shoulder. Pain hurtled through the muscles, but she ignored it.
The gun came loose. She planted her feet and raised it toward Frankie. His fist glanced off her cheekbone. Another explosion of pain. The vision in her left eye exploded in starbursts.
She stumbled. Started to fall. Caught the edge of the table and held on. She couldn’t give up now. She was committed.
Kate raised the gun and fired. Again. A third time. With her right eye, she saw him stumble back. The phone floated through the air as if in slow motion. It smashed into a table and shattered as Frankie’s full weight impacted the floor making it shake beneath her feet.
Kate stood holding the gun with both hands. She was ready to shoot him again. Frankie groaned. Blood spread around him.
The front door exploded open, shards of wood flying into the room. Kate swung around, gun ready. She tightened pressure on the trigger.
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Don’t shoot.”
That voice. She recognized it. But the man standing in the doorway was unfamiliar.
Wait. No. He looked like someone she knew.
Ryan?
Kate shook her head to clear her vision. Maybe it was the blows to the face. Was something wrong with her vision? She blinked.
Ryan still stood there. Hands held up. Palms out. But not Ryan. This man’s head was shaved and covered in tattoos. The eyes were a different color. But he looked like…
“Ryan?” Her voice scratched against her throat. It sounded distant, like it didn’t come from her.
“It’s me Kate.”
The voice was right, but Ryan was dead. She saw him die.
He took a step forward.
Kate pushed the gun toward him. “No! You don’t move.”
He stopped.
“Who are you?” Her voice was stronger. Closer. But she felt like she was seeing everything happen from somewhere above the scene. She was there, but separate. “Ryan is dead.”
“No. It’s me, Kate. I’m not dead.” The man sucked in a deep breath. “Unless you pull that trigger,” he said in a softer tone.
“Kate.” Jack’s voice registered slowly as his frame appeared in the doorway. Someone stood behind him. A man she’d never seen before.
Jack stepped around the man claiming to be Ryan. “Sweetheart, I’m glad you’re okay.” He moved slowly toward her.
Kate kept her gaze on the man. Ryan. Daring only to glance at Jack. He kept coming toward her.
“Stop.” She said. “Just stop.”
Jack did.
“Who is he?” She hated that the gun in her hand shook. She tried to steady it. Gripped harder. The shaking continued.
“I know this is confusing, Kate” Jack’s voice was soothing, like he was talking to a shooter in a hostage situation. “You have to trust me. Give me the gun and let’s talk about this.”
Kate pulled her gaze from the man that claimed to be Ryan. He did look a little like Ryan. Older. More worn. Could it be?
Jack stepped between Kate and the man. He held out a hand. “Give me the gun, Kate.”
She handed it to him, and with his other hand, Jack pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s okay. I got you.”
Kate slumped into Jack. Her legs gave out, but he held her up. She stared over his shoulder. Ryan? How could he be alive?
FORTY-SIX
“So?” Conner’s lazy voice brought Kate back from her own thoughts. They’d just spent the last hour with Tiffany, going over how she’d received an email from an automated service with a link to all of Beth’s files. When Tiffany opened the link, she found not only everything Kate needed to convict Jenna Langley of embezzling more than four million dollars from Ingram Logistics, but also reams of information about Locos Mamoncetes’ smuggling operations.
Detectives at Biloxi PD were trying to tie Langley to Beth’s murder and the DEA were sorting out the smuggling operation. Jack and David Alexander were working with Internal Affairs to sort out the Frankie Deveaux mess. He and McKenzie were related through distant family members, and from what Jack had shared with Kate, they were part of a vigilante ring that had killed Chief Darnow, and that Caleb Castille was supposed to help investigate. Jack had orders from the mayor not to tell Kate, or anyone else in the department, about the investigation.
“I believe her.” Kate answered Conner, but she knew that wasn’t what Conner wanted to know. She was asking about Jack. About Ryan. About how Kate intended to move forward.
“You know what I meant,” Conner said. “It’s been three days and you haven’t said a word about Ryan. You’ve been avoiding Jack. Tell me what’s going on, Kate.”
Kate settled into a chair on the patio of the hospital coffee shop. She sipped her caramel latte and watched a lizard climbing over the railing separating the patio from the rest of the hospital ground. What was going on?
She was still digesting the news about Ryan. The story seemed absurd when Jack and David first told her. The whole thing seemed surreal. Caleb. Frankie. McKenzie. Jack. Ryan. Even David. None of it made sense, and yet the pieces fit together perfectly.
She still hadn’t seen Ryan. He’d called her a couple of times. He wanted to meet. Wanted to talk to her, but Kate wasn’t ready. She was relieved and furious at the same time. Ryan was alive. He’d lied to her. Deceived her. What was she supposed to do with that?
What was she supposed to do with Jack lying to her? He kept things from her. The deception had landed her in the clutches of a psychopath. How would she ever be able to get past this?
“Earth to Kate.” Conner leaned forward, elbows on the table. “What’s going on in your head?”
“I don’t know,” Kate answered. “I’m still trying to figure it all out.”
FORTY-SEVEN
Kate stood on the porch. Large oak trees hung over the lawn. Leaves danced in the breeze. Did she want to do this? Since she and Jack got engaged last December, so much had changed within her.
No. She didn’t want to do this. She needed to. Jack helped her become someone new. Now she needed forward motion. She hesitated, then tapped her knuckles against the door and listened. The breeze blew through the trees. The traffic whizzed by on the beach road. Then Jack’s heals pounding the hard wood floors.
The door swung up and a smile lit his eyes. “Kate.” She loved hearing her name roll from his lips, his voice deep and gravely. His smile saddened her.
Jack reached for her. She stepped back. “Come out here?” Her voice was small. She cleared her throat, squared her shoulders. Strength did not come naturally. It was a trait Jack taught her.
Jack’s smile faded. His brows drew together. “What’s going on, Kate?”
She motioned to the Adirondack chairs they’d sat in so many nights. “Come and sit.”
They did. Jack leaned forward, elbows on knees. “I guess you heard we tied McKenzie to Darnow’s murder? And that Frankie Deveaux killed Brandon Causey?”
Kate nodded. “I also know that you’re trying to tie Beth Martin and Greg Harrington’s murders to Jenna Langley.” She took a deep breath. “How’s the internal thing coming?”
“David’s got it under control. The media are eating us alive.” Jack’s voice remained light, but his body was tense.
Kate considered how she should tell Jack what was coming. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she needed to figure things out. She’d spent days trying to come up with the right words to say to him. To Ryan. But she still had no idea what the right words were.
“The cases aren’t why I’m here, Jack.” She needed to push through this. It hurt. Her soul was being ripped apart. But she needed this. She needed to figure out who she was and what she wanted.
“I knew this was coming,” he said, looking at her. “I’ve felt you growing beyond me. And this thing with Ryan…” His voice trailed off.
He was right. She had grown. Jack remained stagnant. She felt confined. Ryan complicated things.
“I’m sorry,” was all she could say. Silence stretched between them. Gulls screamed at passersby on the beach. Cars zoomed past. Leaves danced. Everything seemed normal.
It wasn’t. Kate’s heart thudded. She would face the world without Jack.
“I’m going to take some time away. I don’t know when – or if – I’ll be back,” she whispered.
Jack’s head was low between his knees, hands clasped until his knuckles were white.
Kate picked at her ragged nails. Raked her fingers through coarse hair. Rubbed at freckles on bare legs. “Say something.” She hated breaking his heart. Hated this was how things had to end.
Silence.
Finally, she stood and looked down at him, bent under the weight of his world.
She kissed the crown of his head. “Stay in touch.”
“I love you,” he said as she reached the bottom stair. She looked back. He remained unmoved.
“I know.” She continued forward.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Dear Readers,
The interval between Biloxi Sunrise and Biloxi Blue was a long one, even with A Biloxi Christmas in the interim. I thank you all for waiting as I worked through the loss of my mother and several major changes in my life. You are the reason that I continue to write and share stories, and I’ve been blessed by all the requests for the next book in the series. Your encouragement and notes have pushed me to continue on, even at times when I couldn’t think to write. Thank you. You have no idea how much your support and interest means to me or how helpful it has been.
Thank you, too, to my editor (Connie Ladner) for taking an active role in polishing this book and making the story shine. You help has been much appreciated. As has the help of my other sister, Rebecca Freshour. You’re my brainstorming partner, and I have to tell you, your ideas make for great stories. I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to help me shape the Biloxi Series into something that I can be proud of. I’ll be calling on you again very soon.
My cover designer, Suzanne Wesley (www.suzannewesley.com) deserves a shout out, too. Your covers are eye-catching, attention-getting, and downright amazing! More than once, I’ve had readers tell me the cover is what caught their eye. I’m so lucky to have found you, and I look forward to seeing the covers that you come up with in the future.
I come from a background where family is the centerpiece of existence, and I’m blessed to have a wonderful family, both biological and chosen. Curtis, Sean, and Jennifer – I’m so lucky to have your support. From the little things like taking the dog out or doing the dishes because you see I don’t have time to the Starbucks deliveries (thanks, Jen!) and the words of encouragement when I’m struggling, you guys are amazing. I’m happy for us.
The support system continues through to friends, too, and I’m blessed to have a great group of friends that check in with me from time to time, that support me, that encourage me, and mostly just listen to me whine when things aren’t going my way. Jennifer, Amanda, Billy, John, Beth, Krystal, Brenda, Janet, Linda, Stacey, Alyssa, and dozens of others – I appreciate you. More than you’ll ever know.
Thank you. Readers. Editors. Partners. Family. Friends. You all make my little world not just possible, but real, and brighter. I love you all.
Jerri Lynn
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Growing up a military brat meant Jerri Ledford traveled a lot – and read a lot. It was only natural that her love of reading would eventually turn into a love of writing. From the first play that she wrote for neighborhood kids while her family was stationed on the military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to her career writing fiction and non-fiction, Jerri has always had a love affair with words.
These days, Jerri spends much of her time as a Content Project Manager and fiction writer, but when she’s not pounding away at the keyboard, she loves to hang out wither her partner, her grown children, and Sampson - the 80 lb. Bull Mastiff rescue she fell in love with.
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MORE FROM JERRI LYNN LEDFORD
“I just finished Biloxi Sunrise, and I can’t wait for Biloxi Blue!” – Faye Ketterman
“A can’t-miss debut…a novel you can’t put down.” – Brenda S. Anderson, Author of the Bestselling Coming Home Series.
“Suspenseful and gripping!” Heather Boykin, Amazon.com Reviewer
Jack Roe and Kate Giveans are looking forward to spending their first Christmas together, but when they stumble onto a murder and possible human trafficking ring after the Christmas on the Water boat parade, everything changes.
Personal differences come to light as Jack and Kate struggle to investigate the murder under a strict directive from the chief. Can they come together to find the murderer before someone else gets hurt? Will they be able to maintain and share their feeling for each other? Can they find a way to have a Biloxi Christmas?
Biloxi Blue (The Biloxi Series Book 2) Page 24