by Clarissa Yip
His heart pounded hard in his chest. He thought back to the dance floor when he’d almost told Lauren he loved her, but quickly pushed aside his courage when Ryan had interrupted. He should have told her at the house. Instead, he’d left her with the killer. Dammit.
His foot stomped the gas pedal to the floor.
He had so much to make up for, and he refused to do it without Lauren. He prayed he wasn’t too late.
Chapter Twenty
Her throat was sore. Waking with light coughs, Lauren moaned at the fire that burned around her neck. Her vision adjusted to the dim lighting provided by the moonlight streaming through the glass windows. A heavy weight held her lower body immobile—no, a large black form straddled her legs. She screamed and tried to jerk away. She looked to her sides frantically. Hands bound to the headboard by yellow nylon rope, she couldn’t move.
Something petted her hair. Lauren squeezed her eyes shut. Fear welled up in the pit of her stomach. Tears burned behind her lids.
“It’s okay. It’ll be over before you know it.”
Her eyes shot open at the voice. Kerry. “What are you doing?”
Under the black cap, she almost couldn’t make out her assistant’s face, but Kerry drew the hat off and her luscious red locks fell to her shoulder. Lauren watched as she unzipped the black jacket and leaned in close, elbows settling on either side of her head. She tried to twist her legs from under the woman, but her assistant held her down with an impressive strength she’d never thought possible. “I told you it was your turn.”
Lauren’s gaze fell to the pearls around Kerry’s neck. The beads dipped and brushed against her chest. Realization dawned on her. “You’re the Pearl Killer.”
Kerry grinned. The malicious curl of her lips sent a shiver up Lauren’s spine. “Is that what the cops are calling me?”
Lauren swallowed hard. “Why are you doing this?”
Kerry sat up abruptly, the movement startling Lauren until she froze at the silver metal scalpel in her assistant’s right hand. The blade gleamed in the light. “It’s your fault, you know.”
“For what?” Even though she was shaking inside, she wanted answers. How and why was Kerry doing this? “Where’s Daniel?”
Kerry’s pale features hardened into anger, hate. Her hand shot out and gripped Lauren’s jaw. “Don’t say his name. You don’t love him. You never did. You never deserved his love.”
Lauren gasped and Kerry released her hold. “You slept with Daniel,” she murmured.
“No. What we have is real. All those other women were mistakes he’s made. He loves me.” Kerry brought the knife to her face. Lauren pressed her head into the pillow. The blade ran over her cheek. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted you to feel this scalpel. If you hadn’t called that cop boyfriend of yours that first time, I would have had you. It would have been the end. I’d marry Daniel and your store would be mine, because you owe me. But then Daniel had to try to get away and call you. If he hadn’t called to warn you, I would have killed you sooner than wait till tonight. Everything was going according to plan, but you—Lauren—always had to complicate things.”
Confusion swarmed through her. She stared up at Kerry, no longer recognizing her assistant. Instead, some vile form took over the woman she once knew. “Why? I gave you a job. I’ve done nothing but treat you well.”
A sinister laugh filled the room. Lauren cringed, but forced herself still. The flat of the blade lay against her cheek.
“Actually I wouldn’t have worked for you if it weren’t for Daniel. He sent me to spy on you.”
Lauren froze. “What do you mean, spy on me?”
“You wouldn’t give him a divorce.” Kerry’s hand replaced the blade. A slap wrenched Lauren’s head to the side. She tasted copper—blood—at the corner of her lip. “We needed to know what you planned to do. I had to report to him every guy that came looking for you, to find reason for your adultery.”
Her adultery? The truth struck her as she’d recalled Daniel’s one visit. He’d begged for forgiveness, and when she’d rejected him, he’d accused her of seeing someone else. And once again, Daniel had used another innocent woman to his advantage. If she could see the ass she had married at that moment, she’d seriously kill him, and he’d stay dead this time. “You know I’ve been trying to divorce him for the past year.”
Kerry shook her head. “You wouldn’t give him a divorce until he got rid of the baby.”
Lauren thought she heard wrong. “What baby?”
“Our baby! You told him I had to get an abortion before you would agree to the divorce!”
Nausea rose to her throat. She put two and two together: Daniel lied to Kerry so she’d have an abortion and he’d used her as an excuse. The bastard.
“Where is he?” she asked.
Kerry’s eyes narrowed. “You can’t have him. He’s mine. Will always be.”
Anger filled her. Lauren couldn’t hold it in. “I don’t want him back, Kerry! You can have him for all I care! Let me go.”
“No.” Kerry raised the blade. “You’ll only stand in the way between me and Daniel, just like Mack.”
Lauren stilled. “You killed Mack. You let him burn in Daniel’s place. I don’t get it, though. How did you get the dentist to send Mack’s dental records to the police?”
A laugh rushed out of her assistant. “That was easy. The guy owed me for the years I spent working for him. It’d been one of the first places I saw my Daniel. Coincidentally, Mack went to the same place.” Her eyes darkened. “He tried to stop me, you know. Once Mack found out how much money Daniel gave me, he wanted to be with me, claimed he cared for me, but he tried to harm my love. He even went as far as blackmailing Daniel for money that day at the condo.”
Drawing in a deep breath, Lauren blew it out slowly. “Why did you kill all those innocent women?”
“Innocent my ass. They all deserved to die. They tried to seduce Daniel and failed. He loves only me.”
The woman was seriously demented. Lauren’s heart pounded erratically. She was strapped down and couldn’t move. Kerry’s strength amazed her. Her lower half was starting to go numb. She silently called for Kane. Her heart tightened. The truth crashed into her as she realized she was going to die. Kerry was going to kill her like all the other women, and the one most likely to find her was Kane.
And he’d blame himself for her death.
She needed to stall Kerry.
“What about Gabe? Why did you frame him?”
Kerry let out another scoff. “He fired me. Right before they hired Yvette. She took my spot. Damn Gabe had that no-relationship-between-employees policy and he was jealous. He wanted me himself even though everyone claimed he had a thing for you.” Her eyes darkened. “I had the abortion the day before and I went back to work the next morning, only to find Daniel in his office with Judy Michaels. I pulled her off him. She was on my man! Then Gabe had to come in and ruin everything. Do you know how embarrassing it is to be fired in front of all those people and Daniel not able to help me because we were keeping our love a secret?”
Lauren couldn’t answer. Her anger flickered—anger at her user-of-a-husband. He’d completely played this woman for a fool and she’d fallen into his charms. Remorse for Kerry filled her. She wanted to tell Kerry that Daniel was the bad guy here, if only she wasn’t looking crazed and poised over her with a scalpel. There was going to be hell to pay once she saw Daniel. If she got out of this alive…
“Kerry, you don’t want to do this. Kane is going to catch you.”
The sinister laugh returned. “Your cop is too busy on the other side of town dealing with Yvette’s body, but enough of this talk.” Kerry reached around her neck and unhooked the necklace. “Daniel gave me these. Then I found out that every woman he’d dated had them, too. And in honor of his beautiful work”—her eyes gleamed—“you’ll remember them with every cut across your body as you scream and finally choke on them. I do hope you’re pleased with how much thou
ght I put into planning this. I’m assuming that boyfriend of yours will find you this time.”
Frozen for the barest second, Lauren let out a cry as Kerry grabbed her chin forcefully, then pried her mouth open, feeding in each pearl past her lips. Tears rushed to her eyes.
She fought against the horror of the situation, struggling against the rigid strength holding her down. Fear held on to every nerve in her body. The pearls rolled over her tongue, each bead taking up space in the cavern of her mouth.
She was going to die. And never see Kane again.
Kerry clamped a hand over the lower half of her face once the last ball slipped past her lips. The scalpel rose in the moonlight. Lauren tried to clench her muscles so the beads wouldn’t slide down her throat. She closed her eyes, tears seeping down the side of her face.
Life wasn’t fair. For once, she wanted more, had found hope and reason to live because of Kane. And her time was up.
She waited for the first incision of the blade, until the harsh voice broke through her defeat.
“Kerry, let her go.”
…
Kane’s heart pounded hard in his chest. The sight gripped his insides. He’d approached as quietly as he could, and seeing Lauren strapped to the bed with the killer poised over her almost killed him. His fear rose to his throat as he took a step into the room.
Kerry’s eyes darkened dangerously. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
“Let her go.” He caught the scalpel’s gleam in the soft lighting, but kept his gaze directed at Kerry. He wanted nothing more than to push the woman off and free Lauren from the bindings. Instead, he held himself in control. His instincts were alert, yet trepidation coiled in his stomach. He had to act smart.
“She deserves to die.” The corners of Kerry’s lips curled.
Treading lightly, he inched farther into the room.
“Don’t come any closer,” Kerry warned.
Kane stopped once he heard Lauren’s soft whimper. He didn’t want to see the blood drawn from the blade. He tried to calculate how long it would take Ryan to get here with a team, before the crazed woman made a move. He couldn’t have that. Doubts toyed with his fear and he blinked out images of his sister. He couldn’t lose Lauren or allow anything to happen to her. He’d failed once. Never again. Focus.
“Don’t you think you’ve killed enough?” he asked.
Kerry laughed, the horrid sound filling the room, fueling the anxiety in his chest. “Enough? Lauren is my finale, Detective. Once she dies, then Daniel and I will be free.”
He needed to distract her, but her hawklike gaze watched him closely. “You won’t get away, Kerry.”
She scoffed, then tightened her hold on Lauren, who let out another whimper. “Point your gun to the floor and bring it to me. No funny business or I’ll gut her right here. In front of you.”
He wrapped his fingers around the barrel, swinging the weapon the other way slowly toward him. He took a step forward.
“Put it on the nightstand, then walk backward where I can see you.”
He swallowed hard. Quickly analyzing the situation, he lowered his Beretta to the nightstand. He refused to look at Lauren. If he showed any weakness, Kerry would get the upper hand. The knot in his stomach rose to his throat.
“Step away now.”
His palms opened. He held them in front of him as he shifted backward. “We found Burke.”
Kerry’s expression froze, eyes slit to lines, and she shook her head. “No. Daniel is safe. No one can find him but me.”
Kane drew in a deep breath. He didn’t want to upset her too much, but her hand tightened on Lauren’s mouth. “We found him in a cabin up north. It’s too late.”
“No!” She turned to Lauren, intent written all over. Kane saw his chance. He lunged, tackling Kerry over the side of the bed. They rolled to the floor. The woman screamed, the sound piercing his eardrums, and her knuckles nicked him in the jaw. He moved over her; his legs held her down as he tried to maneuver her onto her stomach. She was strong, insanity and adrenaline making her a worthy adversary. Her legs kicked out, catching him off guard, and he fell back. He lunged upward, just as Kerry flew at him. Pain struck his shoulder as they crashed to the end of the bed, bouncing off to the floor. He thought he heard Lauren scream, but Kane cried out at the feel of the blade running across his upper arm.
Shit. He curled his fingers, drew his arm back to punch, when Kerry’s fist clipped him in the side of his head, throwing him off balance. Whipping around, he staggered back at the quick blow to his chin. He quickly straightened, blinking to focus on his target. His jaw throbbed as he bent his knees, ready to attack. Kerry shifted backward, putting space between them, scalpel in hand pointed toward him. Her eyes flickered to Lauren before a smile spread across her face.
His heart leaped to his throat. With a feral cry, she jumped toward the bed. Kane did the same. He heard Lauren yell his name before he shouldered Kerry into the nightstand and a searing burn ran across his upper arm before he grabbed the hand that cut him and flipped Kerry over. The woman landed on her back, and he quickly pried the scalpel out of her grip before turning her onto her stomach and twisting her arm behind her. Straddling her, he found his handcuffs and secured her as a wild scream tore from her lungs.
Kane let out a breath of relief.
“Well, I missed out on all the fun.”
He looked up to see his partner barricading the door with uniforms behind him. “About damn time you got here!”
Ryan checked him over as the other police officers came into the room and took Kerry from him.
“This isn’t over!” she screamed.
Kane ignored her and rushed to the bed. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
Lauren glared at him.
Panic lit through him as he looked her over from head to toe, and he used his pocketknife to cut through the nylon rope and pushed aside the strand of pearls in her mouth. His shoulder burned at the action. “Are you hurt?”
“No. But you are.”
He gathered her into his arms once he’d freed her and held her against him. “It doesn’t matter. It’s just a cut. I was so scared.”
“You should be. Took your damn time coming for me.”
He froze and leaned back; his eyebrow rose. “Excuse me? Do you know how fast I hauled ass to get back here?”
She smiled and pressed her cheek against his. “Thank you for saving me.”
He grunted.
“If you two are done hugging it out, we need to get going. Lots more work to do.”
Kane flipped Ryan the bird before he swung Lauren up into his arms. A tremor ran through him as he thought of how close he had been to losing her.
As if she read his thoughts, she pressed her lips to his neck and whispered, “It’s over.”
It damn sure was.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lauren sat in the waiting room at the hospital. They’d brought both her and Kane in and he’d been with the doctor forever. Her palms were sweaty, her neck and wrists still sore from the rope burns, and for the first time in her life, she got stitches. Five little pinpricks and she almost fainted again.
Life had definitely been interesting since had Kane reappeared at her store barely three weeks ago.
She smiled to herself. Now that Kerry was caught, it was all over and she could start to rebuild her life. It just depended on if Kane chose to stick around or not. She was never going to forget his struggle with Kerry. The moment the blade cut his arm and blood appeared through his white shirt, her heart had cried out; he’d never given up and continued going until Kerry lunged for her. Who knew if she’d be alive to sit here right now if Kane wasn’t so quick on his feet? They’d taken Kerry into custody and released Gabe from what she’d heard. She never wanted to relive the past twelve hours of her life. The nightmare was finally over.
Except one thing she needed before she could move on: her divorce.
“Lauren!”
Her head jer
ked up at the sound; her mouth fell open as she spotted an unkempt Daniel running down the hall to her. His ragged appearance surprised her more than anything. Usually immaculately dressed and groomed, his blond hair was too long, clothes hung off him, and exhaustion lined every feature of his face. She stood up as he approached.
“Are you okay?” Daniel gripped her forearms. Concern shone in his eyes.
Once that concern would have made her doubt herself that maybe she had made the wrong choice in leaving him, but she replayed every word Kerry had told her. “I’m fine. Are you?”
“I’m fine now, but can you believe all this? Kerry is psycho!”
“I’m glad you’re okay.” She paused. “I heard about the abortion.”
Daniel stilled. His hands dropped to his sides. “She lied.”
Lauren caught the hiccup in his voice. Bastard. “Right. And you didn’t sleep with all those innocent women she killed.”
A flush rose to his cheeks. His mouth tightened, then quickly smoothed out. “I’m glad you’re okay. I was really worried. I was so scared that she’d get to you. You couldn’t imagine all that I’ve been through. After blackmailing me…”
Lauren crossed her arms over her chest. The movement caused her to wince, but she ignored it. “Blackmail you for what?”
He frowned as if he’d caught himself in the wrong. “Stuff.”
She put two and two together. Daniel cared only about himself. If someone dared to threaten him, then it’d most likely involve something that would tarnish his good-doctor reputation. “Like how you used me as an excuse so she would have an abortion because you couldn’t dump her fast enough?”
His jaw clenched and his hands settled on his hips. She could see the denial written all over his face. “She’s crazy. I had to give her the money or she’d ruin our practice.”
Lauren pursed her lips. Rage pulsed in a steady rhythm in her chest. She still wanted to be free from this man. There was nothing else to say. “I’m sure you can’t wait to get back to work. After all that’s happened, there will be a lot for you to do.”