“Shit. I’ll get her tomorrow. One way or another.”
“I prefer the girl alive. Now that she’s spent time with Caden McAllister, we’ll involve him, too. But not at the hospital.”
“How’d you know—you’re here? You watched this? Why didn’t you lend a hand?”
“If you’d have handled one small girl properly, you wouldn’t have faced the boyfriend. That incompetence is all on you. Watch the hospital and see where they go when they leave.”
“It’s time to kill this bitch, too.” Hatred filled the predator’s words.
“No. I want her alive. I have special plans for her.” Despite further orders, Hale surmised the photographer’s days were numbered. Pity.
Chapter Nine
Consciousness crept forward in soft light overhead and muted sounds in the distance. Kaylee opened her eyes slowly, trying to orient herself to time and place. It came with an avalanche of pain and guilt.
Taking stock of injuries other than her wrist, she noted a swollen lip, her tongue swiping over the painful split, along with aches covering much of her body. Gingerly touching her face, she felt the swelling of her right cheek.
Utilitarian curtains framed the peacock range of colors during the sun’s dip below the horizon. Sleeping most of the day had allowed her body to start healing but left her in a wash of muddled doubt.
The door, standing slightly ajar, ushered in routine hospital sounds. Distant beeps of IV pumps and heart monitors, patients admitted via stretchers, and the low hum of many conversations made up the normal ebb and flow in the corridor.
Caden’s soft snore drew her attention to the chair by her bed. Several midnight locks had fallen across his face to cover his forehead and part of his nose. She grimaced when he jerked in his sleep as unseen demons held him hostage.
He’d survived his own hell yet retained the courage to reach out and help others. After Reese’s death, she’d wanted to curl in a ball and never leave her bed.
When he fisted his hands and groaned, she wiped a single tear from her eye. How long would he suffer from the horrific event he openly mocked? When he jerked upright in his seat, his gaze searching for the threat of his nightmare, she reached for his hand then hesitated. His pride wouldn’t stand for it.
As if feeling the weight of her stare, he zeroed in on her face. “How’re you feeling?”
“Better. Hey, you didn’t have to stay all day. I’m sure you have work to do. But I thank you. I didn’t think I’d ever sleep again.” Security derived from his proximity shielded and comforted in a way nothing else could.
“Not a problem. I figured the adrenaline washout would take you under and I love watching someone catching flies while asleep.” His gaze shifted restlessly around the room.
“You’re trying to avoid telling me something.”
“Damn.” He took a slow, deep breath. “I’m losing my touch. I’ve been hired to find your kidnappers.”
“I’m a job?”
“No. You’re my friend whom I want to protect. Now I have an excuse to tie you to me, at least temporarily.”
She couldn’t stop the heat sweeping up her face. “I could use a friend in this town.”
“Since I’m part of a large family, you just inherited a bunch. ’Sides, once you reach out to old acquaintances, you’ll have plenty more. And before you say anything, I understand you want to get settled first.”
“So, have you spoken to my dad?” Fear of her father making the trip while recovering from his illness tightened her chest. Both parents would insist on her coming home.
“No, I wouldn’t without your consent.”
“Oh.” Relief flooded her mind. After two scrapes with evil incarnate, she realized Caden’s insight came with a price, stressing over privacy versus safety. An emotional tax every victim must pay.
“The doctor said you have a concussion and need to take it easy for the next couple weeks. Normal activities and exercise are good, overexertion, not so much.” Caden leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’m sorry for busting your door in like that. If I’d known you were right there, obviously I would’ve taken a different tack.”
“Hey, you saved my life.” Opening her hand, palm up, was a shift from her normal character, but for the last forty-eight hours, nothing in life resembled conventional routine.
Without skipping a beat, he took her good hand in both of his before pointing to her splint. “Hope you don’t mind, I got bored.”
Her spirits lifted at seeing the penciled, shepherd’s head on the inside. “I love it. Thanks. Ya know, I was thinking I’d like to get a puppy when this is over.”
“Sounds like a great idea. I have a friend who breeds long-coat shepherds. They’ve got a new litter on the ground.”
The slow tease of his thumb over her knuckles incited a warmth in her belly.
“By the way, the doc confirmed nothing’s broken. The splint is for support.”
“I thought for sure that dirtball had smashed my wrist. I’ll take a sprain over a fracture any day. At least it’ll be back to normal sooner.”
After updating her on the investigation, conversation drifted through mutual hobbies, from gradients they’d tackled to knee flipping their craft in white waters. Common ground rekindled a familiarity that comforted despite the surroundings.
A nurse who’d come in to monitor vital signs and check pupillary reactions assured all was normal. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Any assumption that normal would return with time and relocation now freewheeled through the cosmos heedless of her desperation and frustration.
Caden ate the dinner brought by staff, her stomach not able to handle the food. Soon after, a doctor made his evening rounds, suggesting she could go home if she wouldn’t be alone for the next twenty-four hours.
As evening shadows crawled across the scrubbed linoleum floor, she chronicled her two terrifying encounters in hopes of remembering some new detail. “I’m sorry. Some of the specifics of last night’s attack are still fuzzy.”
Matt, Lucas, and Billy McAllister arrived during her retelling, each solemn, each resembling the mold that created them, yet so different in thought and action.
“I hope you’re feeling better. You’ve had quite the unwelcoming party for your return to our city.” Matt grimaced as his gaze roved over her face.
“Yeah, not what I was expecting, at all.”
“So, did Caden break your wrist when he mowed you down?” Billy, another McAllister police officer, stood at the foot of her hospital bed.
She remembered Billy as the studious brother, logical, not as serious as the eldest and not as cautious.
“No. I was reaching for my gun—” Events of last night roared back to bring her current reality into focus.
“You were gonna shoot Caden? Damn.” Shaking shoulders and the hand that failed to cover a smile betrayed Billy’s mirth. “You really have converted to the dark side, bro.”
Caden made a rude hand gesture then rubbed the back of his neck. “I was there because she’d called earlier and sounded a little off.” A small flush shadowed his cheeks.
“When you wave, you should use all your fingers.” Lucas snickered.
“C’mon guys. She’s trying to concentrate. She doesn’t need that kind of support now.” Caden’s commiseration spared her the embarrassment of a failed memory.
Kaylee continued her report in bits of stuttered flashbacks. “I heard the intruder come in the back door. It has a telltale squeak. At first, I thought I’d dreamed it but reached for my gun anyway. The prick was faster and slammed the drawer on my wrist.”
“And then you managed to nail him anyway?” Billy asked. “Damn, you are as tough as I remember.”
“Not tough enough to stay out of the hospital.”
Caden picked up the thread of conversation. “When I’d arrived down the street, I’d parked and rolled down my window so the cool air would keep me awake. I heard her scream and ran for the house. A
man howled, then something broke, probably the lamp.”
“The prick caught up to me as I was trying to open the front door.” The memory of her head slamming against the wall would surely repeat on a nightmarish reel. Last night, when she’d tried to explain what had happened, her memories wouldn’t take shape. At least now, a coherent picture formed, even if it did scare the crap out of her.
“Do you have friends in the area you can stay with temporarily? Matt asked.
“And take this mess to someone else’s door? No. I wouldn’t jeopardize anyone else’s safety. ’Sides, I was in middle school when we left. Who knows where my old friends are now.”
Caden held her good hand, stroking his thumb over the sensitive flesh of her inner wrist. “We’ll look up old acquaintances when the dust settles. You can stay with me in the meantime.”
“I don’t know if we have football gear her size, and thick enough to keep her safe.” Lucas slapped a high five with Billy.
“Knock it off, guys. I have a spare room she can use until we sort this out.”
Everything about Caden’s actions spoke of a need to protect, something she’d only experienced around her parents and twin. Did it come naturally from family values or perhaps from his recent, dark, personal nightmare? “Do you always take in strays?”
With her hair a tangled mess, bruises marring her face, and pain in various muscles of her back and sides forcing a grimace, no wonder their expressions were so bleak. On the other hand, their banter seemed more a part of their normal interaction than an attempt to lift her spirits, though she appreciated the side benefit.
“Nah, he’s just hoping you don’t get your gun and shoot him for being so slow,” Lucas quipped.
“Enough, you all need to leave so she can rest.” Caden shooed them toward the door just as a couple entered. The man, obviously a McAllister by genetics, wore a black suit and escorted a striking brunette with a hand at her waist. The young woman’s self-confidence flowed as naturally as the grin lifting the corners of her mouth.
“Hi, I’m Lexi.” She held out her left hand in consideration of Kaylee’s splint. “We’ve come to help. Well, actually, I’ve already started. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve gone ahead and pulled up your information to get things rolling.” The smile directed at her escort embodied a warmth known only between lovers.
“Lexi, what about our little chat concerning citizens hacking police records.” Matt’s chastisement elicited chuckles from the men.
“That’s why I left a trail back to Caden’s ISP.” Lexi brushed him off before turning her attention back to Kaylee. Each McAllister shook his head.
Watching Caden roll his eyes, Kaylee saw acceptance in his posture as he let out a deep sigh and dropped chin to chest. “Here we go again. Giving the captain yet another reason to hate me.”
“Naw, bro. You did that all by yourself. Lexi’s just adding the frosting,” Ethan murmured.
“I saw that you produced a detailed rendering of your intruder.” Lexi continued.
“She sure as hell did. As good as I could do.” Caden’s pride drew knowing smirks from his brothers.
“We’re working with stick figures again? Really?” The grin slipped from Lucas’ expression in the face of Caden’s arched brow.
“That kind of incident pretty much stays in your mind, if you know what I mean. I wish I could say the second attack jarred an additional memory, a detail that might help. But I just don’t have anything else to add.”
“No worries. We’ll track him. Meanwhile, you’re in good hands.” Lexi’s genuine grace portrayed a warmth mixed with pain in her glance at Caden.
“Speaking of Caden’s hands—” Billy murmured but halted under the oldest McAllister’s throat clearing.
“Don’t worry, she’s not Caden’s flavor of the week.” Lucas grinned and stepped back with Caden’s growl.
“Not with that sweet face and triple-digit IQ,” Billy added.
“Jeez, guys, lighten up. They’re friends.” Lexi smiled at Caden, who nodded his head in gratitude.
“Huh, spoken by the woman who bonded with him over Himalayan tea and rats,” Lucas murmured.
The macabre banter, having suddenly turned left at normality, converted Caden’s easy smile to an obscure detachment. Tiny crinkles around his eyes and mouth conveyed a shared pain.
“Lexi was covered with peanut butter, tuna fish, and God alone knows what else by a psychopathic stalker. I kinda hung around in a fog after being poisoned.” Caden grimaced at Lexi, the shared experience bringing his misery to the surface.
Tension in the atmosphere rose as Matt and Lucas looked at the floor, outside, or anywhere but Caden. Billy gripped Caden’s shoulder and murmured something too low for Kaylee to hear before stepping away. Ethan pulled Lexi snug and kissed her hair.
“Back to business, guys,” Matt redirected them all.
Kaylee’s first impression of Ethan and Lexi entailed an empathetic and concerned couple. Now, she felt like she’d entered a strange dimension. Lexi was clearly with Ethan, who kept a protective arm about her shoulders. Yet the bond between Lexi and Caden, an obvious platonic one, appeared stronger than anything she’d ever witnessed.
Stay away from strange people.
Clearly, there was more than genetics and odd circumstances binding the group together. She recognized the strength of their commitment with Matt’s affectionate squeeze of Caden’s shoulder before Lucas’ playful shoulder bump nudged her protector sideways. Another reminder of her missing sibling.
“Okay, you all need to leave. I’m taking Kaylee home and letting her rest. Lexi, I know you’ll do your keyboard thing looking for the dipshit and keep us all in the loop. The rest of you have your own contacts and sources for information.”
Caden banished them all amid reassuring back slaps and rude comments. As much as she’d normally enjoy their company, she needed time to digest current events in a quiet and secure environment. The snick of the door closing offered a cocooning effect to exclude the outside world.
“You okay?” Caden’s concern vibrated between them like a discordant note struck on a piano keyboard. Her black and white world had upended with Reese’s death, the sharp and blackened edges of reality interrupting the previously smooth cadence. She found no harmony, as if fate’s conductor reveled in the deceptive dissonance of evil’s aura and intended to lock her within it.
“Yeah, just ready to get out of here.”
“All right. Let’s ring for your nurse and see if the discharge orders are written yet. We’ll stop by your house so you can pack a bag and collect your valuables.”
The play of light and shadow had become Kaylee’s world after delving into the sphere of photography, a place of wonder, speculation, and experimentation. She’d never been afraid of the dark. Now, she stood on her front porch while her keys slipped through trembling fingers. Shafts of moonlight danced along the floorboards as the night breeze sifted through the nearby oaks’ overhanging branches, nature’s eerie laugh ratcheting her anxiety.
Caden scooped up the keyring and nudged her aside. “Let me go in first, Gracie.” A small click and the door opened. “I’m going to look around while you wait just inside the door.”
“Gracie? Let me guess, Grace O’Malley, the female pirate?”
“I didn’t take you for a historian. Good call.” Silence spilled from the yawning dark interior, a hushed prediction that only the brave should enter.
“Reese and I used to love going through the caverns and caves near home after watching pirate movies.”
“Isn’t that redundant? Aren’t they one and the same?”
“No. Most people think so, but they’re not. I’ll explain the differences over a cup of hot chocolate. You see me as a buccaneer?”
“Yeah. I kinda grew up on pirate tales, tunnels, and mysteries. You strike me as the same single-minded and high-spirited kid who’d face a rough-and-tumble gang, determined to win.”
Striding back thro
ugh the front door with borrowed courage fanned the spark of prior fortitude. The small but insistent inner voice of reality proclaimed it temporary, dependent on her rescuer’s presence. Even after the kidnappers were caught, she wasn’t sure she could return and live alone among the terrifying memories in the house.
Flipping the light switch flooded her mind with images of her intruder and the brutal attack. A blood smear contrasted the cream-colored wall near the doorjamb, a testament of her vulnerability. She gingerly touched the corner of her mouth, remembering the creep slamming her against the wallboard, the imprint a physical reminder of her near-death experience.
Lost in her thoughts, she jumped when Caden returned and lightly touched her shoulder.
“Sorry, Kaylee. I know the memories are scary, but it’ll get better.”
“Have yours gone away?”
“No, but they’re not as bad with the passage of time.”
Still, they haunted his dreams. An unwanted recollection of his body twitching in the hospital chair forewarned of tough nights ahead.
With his arm circling her shoulders, he led her back to the bedroom, stopping when she froze at the door. The sheets had been taken by forensics, and ceramic shards from the lamp peppered the hardwood floor. Sour glow from the overhead light gilded the bloody footprints silently narrating her desperate escape.
“I wonder where she is, if she’s all right.” Kaylee closed her eyes yet was unable to shut out the fact her body shook.
When Caden turned her to face him and pulled her in for a hug, she couldn’t resist taking a slow, deep breath. The bone-deep weariness receded with the inhalation of his spicy aftershave. She breathed in security to expand her lungs, something taken for granted for so long. With nothing sexual in his touch, he simply held her, fortifying her reserves. When the moment passed, he released her but stayed close, somehow knowing she still needed his strength.
Bound By Shadows (The McAllister Justice Series Book 2) Page 8