“Get in the car,” Alex ordered.
“No.” Reed gauged how far he could jump to put the mailbox between them as it was the closest thing to shelter anywhere near. He expected his nemesis to pull out a gun and start shooting. Revenge would have to be the only motive. He guessed Alex wanted to go out in a blaze of glory.
“Your game is over,” Reed said, muscles tensed as he prepared to make the dive. “You might as well give it up. Go on inside and turn yourself in.”
“I have Kaitlyn.”
About to leap for cover, instead Reed froze. “No, you don’t. You already tried that one on me once. Don’t bother a second time. Despite being locked up, I’m aware she was on TV. I also know the feds are looking for you.”
Alex smiled, the white flash of teeth that of a shark about to bite. “Let’s call her,” he said. “Right now.”
Disgusted, Reed turned away. “Give it up. The game is over.”
“Wait. I’ll do it.” Was that a trace of desperation in the politician’s voice? “I’ll put it on speakerphone.”
He dialed. The phone rang once, twice, and then someone picked up. “Hello?” a masculine voice said.
“Put the woman on,” Alex ordered. “And put it on speaker.”
“Okay. Here. Alex Ramirez wants to talk to you.”
“What do you want?” Kaitlyn’s voice sounded shaky and stressed. Or worse, in trouble or hurt.
“Kaitlyn. It’s Alex,” Alex’s smug tone made her stomach clench. “I’m here with your boyfriend, Reed Westbrook. Why don’t you tell him where you are and what’s going on with you?”
“No.” Though she felt on the edge of tears, steel threaded Kaitlyn’s voice. “Run, Reed. Run away as fast as you can.”
A sharp slap, and then Kaitlyn’s scream. Hearing that curdled Reed’s blood. He stood frozen, rage filling him, as Alex continued to smile. “Now, Kaitlyn dear,” Alex said sweetly, “let’s try that again. Tell your friend what’s happened.”
Silence.
“Don’t make him hit you again,” Alex drawled.
Reed took a step toward the man, gripping the edge of the passenger door. “You touch her again, and I’ll kill you,” he promised.
“Brock,” Kaitlyn screamed. “Alex, please help him. He’s bleeding. It looks serious.”
Brock? What the... “I think you’d better start explaining,” Reed said. “What have you done to my friends?”
“Get in the car.”
Reed didn’t move.
“Get in the car if you want me to give the order to help Brock McCauley.”
Reed got in the car. Once inside, he tried to ignore the pistol Alex had pointed at him. “What have you done to Brock and Kaitlyn?”
The smile spreading across Alex’s face was pure evil as he punched the off button on his phone. “They had a little accident. Kaitlyn’s injuries aren’t serious, though they could be with a little help from my men. Now your friend Brock McCauley...he’s pretty badly hurt.”
Reed swore. “I got in your damn car. Now tell your men to help Brock.”
“All in good time,” Alex said. “All in good time.”
“Why are you doing this? Revenge?”
“Partly.” Alex narrowed his gaze. “But I refuse to let you pieces of trash ruin my political career and my life. The damage you’ve done can be repaired. And you’re going to be the one to repair it.”
Was the other man delusional? Because Alex had Kaitlyn and Brock, Reed knew he had no choice but to play along for now.
“Even if I can fix things for you, why would I? You’ve already lied once to me. You said if I got in the car, you’d get help for Brock.”
With a tilt of his head, Alex acknowledged Reed’s point. Keeping the gun trained on Reed, Alex hit Redial on his phone.
“Get the injured man some medical help. Yes, I know he’ll have to go to a hospital. Drop him off at the nearest emergency room and leave. And make damn sure the woman doesn’t escape. There,” Alex said, ending the call. “Your friend will get help. And I still have Kaitlyn. And that, my friend, is why you’re going to help me.”
“I’m not your friend,” Reed responded. “Furthermore, do you really think I believe you will let Kaitlyn go, even if I do what you want?”
“You don’t have to worry about that.” Alex’s lip curled in contempt. “Once my good name is restored, my enemies will be watching me closely. I’ll need to distance myself publicly from her, of course. But if something were to happen to her, I’d be the first place they would look.”
While he had a point, Reed still didn’t entirely trust him.
“What choice do you have anyway?” Alex echoed Reed’s thoughts. “Nothing will change for me if I kill Kaitlyn now. Nothing.”
And in the end, that’s what it all came down to. Reed couldn’t let Kaitlyn die at Alex’s hands. Not only had he promised to protect her and failed miserably, but he loved her.
Even though he knew she deserved better and if they got through this, she’d likely move on, leaving him in the dust, he wanted her to live more than he cared about his own safety.
Reed wasn’t fooling himself. He figured once he did whatever Alex wanted, he’d be a dead man.
Apparently taking Reed’s silence for consent, Alex continued. “Here’s what I want you to do.”
* * *
After the accident, Kaitlyn must have blacked out. She remembered absolutely nothing after the moment of impact. When she opened her eyes again, she was lying in the back of a windowless van. Her hands had been bound behind her back, and her cuts and scrapes still bled onto the old blanket cushioning her.
Gingerly, she tried to move, needing to see if anything was broken. As far as she could tell, she’d been lucky. Her face throbbed, which meant she had a gash on one cheek. Her arm had been sliced open—not too deep. The way she’d been lying, she’d inadvertently been putting pressure on it and the bleeding had slowed.
Dizzy and weak, she licked cracked lips and tried to figure out what had happened.
A moan from beside her made her slowly swivel her head. Her eyes widened with horror as she took in Brock. The impact had been all on his side, and one leg was twisted at a crazy angle which meant it had to be broken. He had cuts and gashes and looked so battered it tore at her heart.
“Brock,” she said. “Can you hear me?”
Apparently still unconscious, he didn’t move. Her heart sank. While she couldn’t catalog all of his injuries, the ones she could see appeared to be serious.
Turning her head slightly more, she realized she was indeed in a van, and a man sat in the driver’s seat with another in the passenger. They were moving. Hopefully, to a hospital.
The van pulled over. Again she tried to raise her head, to push herself up on to her elbows, but lacked the strength. Then, to her disbelief, the man in the passenger seat turned around and held up a phone.
“You’re on speaker,” he said. “Alex Ramirez wants to talk to you.”
The instant she heard Reed’s voice, her only thought was for his safety. When the man slapped her, it felt like a thousand fireworks exploded inside her head. She screamed, unable to help it.
And then Brock coughed. It sounded as if blood bubbled up in his throat. She realized he would die—might die—if he didn’t get help immediately.
So she’d begged for him and heard Alex use her plea to make Reed get in the car. Before she could say another word, the call ended. The driver pulled the van back onto the road, and they were again moving forward.
She must have drifted in and out of consciousness. She heard the cell phone ring, the passenger answer. The two men in the front began to argue, but she heard the words hospital and emergency room. While she didn’t know for sure what Reed had done to make this happen, she was grateful.
Now all that was left to do was pray they weren’t too late to save him.
* * *
After Alex informed Reed what he wanted him to do, Reed swallowed back bile and li
sted his own conditions. “I’ll do it with one condition. I need proof Kaitlyn is safe. Before I open my mouth and say a single word.”
“No can do,” Alex replied promptly. “I’m well aware she’s the only leverage I have. Once I let her go, you’ll simply step into the crowd and disappear.”
Personally, Reed thought Alex’s idea would never work. Even if people believed it—and that was a big if—too much damage had already been done to Alex’s reputation for him to ever be able to consider a career in politics. Plus, did the man really think the FBI investigation would simply go away? Who knew, maybe he had so many feds on the payroll he thought he could accomplish that.
Reed didn’t trust the man at all. Not for one second did he believe—no matter what he did or didn’t do—there was any way Alex would let him get away alive.
However, Kaitlyn still had a chance. She deserved it. She’d suffered enough at this bastard’s hands. If Reed could gain her freedom, that would have to be enough.
Yet, Alex had asked the one thing that Reed had sworn he’d never do again, even if his life depended on it. Take the blame for something he hadn’t done. Ruin what was left of the reputation he’d worked so hard to build back up.
But what did any of that matter now? Of course he’d do it. For Kaitlyn. As long as he could make sure she was safe. Because never mind the very real possibility that Alex would kill him. Reed couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t save the woman he loved.
“Proof she’s safe or it’s a no go.” Crossing his arms, he glared at the other man, daring him to argue.
When Alex shrugged and capitulated, Reed let out a breath he’d been holding. “If you can do that, I’m in. Tell me what you had in mind.”
The scenario seemed elaborate, speaking to Alex’s desperation to regain that which he deemed most important: respect and adulation. As he listened, Reed realized even with Alex leaving out the most important part—Reed’s death—it was crazy enough that it might work. If not, it was a hell of an attempt.
Staged as carefully as any movie, the security cameras would be set up to record Reed as he taunted a tied-up Alex and one of his men. Reed would be given a gun with blanks and would brandish this threateningly as he confessed to everything—from coercing Kaitlyn to falsely testify against Alex, to having his own brother murdered, and setting up Alex to take the fall.
Disbelief mounting, Reed listened without saying a single thing. Finally, as Alex went on and on, warming to his story, Reed had to interrupt. “I refuse to say I had my own brother killed. That’s off the table.”
Alex’s smirk infuriated Reed. “I figured as much. I just threw that in there to see how far you’d be willing to go for your whore.”
Another deliberate taunt. Clenching his teeth, Reed met the other man’s eyes. “Keep it up and I’m beginning to think you really don’t want me to do this. Is that what it is? You’re just amusing yourself before the feds come and lock you away?”
Though a muscle moved in Alex’s jaw, Alex refused to acknowledge the comment. “You left prison and came straight here to get your revenge. And you’d better make this believable. Kaitlyn’s life depends on this.”
Reed couldn’t imagine a scenario where Alex could make him believe Kaitlyn was safe. Finally, he said this out loud. “Because there’s no way I’m going to take your word for it,” he finished.
Alex raised his brows. “It appears we’re at a stalemate. I refuse to let her go until you do what I ask, and you refuse to do it unless I let her go.”
“Exactly.”
“Then I have no choice.” Turning to one of his men, he handed over his phone. “Call them and tell them to kill Kaitlyn Nuhn.”
Chapter 15
Though injured and in pain, Kaitlyn was clear-headed enough to understand that if she didn’t figure out a way to get away, she was dead. Alex wanted revenge, and in the entire time she’d been his prisoner, she couldn’t remember a time when Alex hadn’t gotten what he wanted.
Alex would use her to make Reed do something, and then he’d kill them both. That was how he operated. She’d heard him boast about this very same thing too many times to count.
The fact that her guards believed she’d been badly injured was the only thing in her favor. They’d pulled the van around to the back of some building, judging from the huge pole lights shining inside. They’d even killed the engine and both appeared intent on separate tasks—one playing games on his phone and the other texting.
Now or never. She didn’t know if she could run and if she tried, how far she’d get. All she knew was she had to try.
The sliding side door seemed beyond her current capabilities. Plus, in the time it would take her to open it, all one of the men had to do was reach around and grab her. No, she’d have to try the back.
Slowly, painfully, she managed to inch toward the back. Her every movement agonizing, she clenched her teeth and forced herself to go on. She’d either die trying or get away, but she refused to perish at Alex’s hand.
Glancing up front, she made sure both men were still engrossed in their phones. They were. And since neither was expecting anything from her, they never once looked back.
Tap, tap, tap. She froze. Someone was knocking on the driver’s window.
The driver pressed the down button. “Can I help you officer?”
A policeman. For a split second, she debated calling out for help, but knew they’d shoot him before he had time to react.
No, her best bet would be to use the diversion to her advantage.
“I’m sorry, but this is a no parking zone,” the officer said. “I’m going to have to ask you to move.”
“No problem, sir.” Courteous and pleasant, the driver started the ignition.
Now. Wincing with pain, she crawled to the back door, flipped it to unlock and pulled the handle to open.
The van lurched forward. As it did, the back door flew open, sending Kaitlyn sprawling on the pavement. In agonizing pain, trying in vain to crawl away, she saw the uniformed officer staring at her in amazement.
“They’ve got guns!” she shouted, as the brake lights flashed on and the van began to reverse. She rolled toward the cop car. The police officer leaped into action, grabbing her arm and yanking her toward his car just as the van careened back over where she’d been.
“Get in,” the cop ordered. Ignoring her pain, Kaitlyn managed to do exactly that.
Her savior got on the radio, requesting backup. He’d barely finished when the first shots rang out.
“Get down,” he ordered, returning fire. “More units are on the way.”
He didn’t have to tell her twice. She huddled on the passenger-side floor, in pain and unable to stop shaking.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
“Here they come,” he told her, grimly confident as he fired off another round.
Evidently realizing reinforcements were about to arrive, her captors changed plans. They gunned the accelerator and tried to speed away. Two squad cars, lights flashing, pulled in and blocked them.
Another marked car came from the other direction, blocking from the back. Kaitlyn attempted to raise her head to see, but it hurt too much to move.
“Out of the van with your hands above your heads,” someone shouted.
“How many are in there?” Kaitlyn’s rescuer asked her.
“Two,” she managed. “Both armed. And they work for Alex Ramirez, so they know if they’re arrested, they’re as good as dead. Plus my friend. He’s badly injured.”
He shot her a surprised look, then nodded before moving away.
Beyond that, Kaitlyn remembered nothing.
When she came to, she opened her eyes to bright lights and beeping machines. A hospital room. She must have passed out, but her first concern was for Brock. He’d been hurt because of her.
Pressing the call button, she waited impatiently until someone answered. “I need help,” she rasped. “Please.”
Almost immediately, a unif
ormed nurse appeared. At this point, Kaitlyn trusted no one, especially since she had no idea how far Alex’s reach extended. She wouldn’t put it past him to have people in the hospital masquerading as medical personnel.
“My friend. Brock McCauley. Is he here?”
“Who?” The young woman’s bright smile faltered.
“My friend. He was dumped off on the curb outside the emergency room.” Kaitlyn realized she didn’t even know if this was the same hospital. “Please. Can you check?”
“Certainly.” The nurse moved away, her sneakered feet soundless.
Once she’d gone, Kaitlyn let her head fall back on the pillow, having already exhausted what little strength she had. She hated that she was so weak. Not only did she not know what had happened to Brock, but Reed was out there somewhere with Alex. And he most likely had no idea she was safe.
She must have slept. When she opened her eyes again, two men in dark suits stood alongside her bed. A shudder of terror nearly paralyzed her. “Did Alex send you?” she croaked.
“No, ma’am,” the taller of the two answered. “We’re with the FBI. We need to ask you a few questions.”
Relieved, she managed a wobbly smile. “Okay. But first, can you tell me what you know about Brock McCauley and Reed Westbrook? Are they all right?”
The men exchanged a glance. “McCauley’s here in ICU. He has some pretty serious injuries. His wife is with him.”
She nodded. “Thank you. What about Reed? Brock and I were on our way to the Kaufman County Jail to pick him up when we were broadsided.”
Surprise registered briefly on both their faces. “Is that so?” one man asked. The other excused himself and went into the hall to make a call.
“You haven’t found him yet?” Kaitlyn asked, unable to hide her terror.
“Not yet. But what you’ve just told us should help tremendously.”
A moment later the other agent returned. “We’re pulling the prison parking lot video as well as surrounding traffic camera video.” He allowed her a slight smile. “It shouldn’t take us too long to find him now.”
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