by N. J. Young
“Just following orders,” Derek said.
When they stepped inside the back entrance, they were actually in a stairwell. Harper turned and headed up the stairs to the second floor. The main building of the hospital was only two floors, which made it quick to get around.
Becca reached the second floor landing just ahead of her and reached for the door of the stairwell that led inside to the main floor.
“Actually,” Derek said before she could open the door, “you’re going to want to keep going.”
“What?” Becca’s brow furrowed. “But this is the second floor. If you keep going up the stairs, it leads to the roof.”
Harper looked back at Derek, and her eyes widened. Becca followed her gaze and let out a little yelp.
Derek held a gun, which was aimed right at Harper’s midsection. “Exactly. We’re heading up to the roof.” He stood in between the two women, and reached to grab Becca with his free hand.
Becca immediately squirmed in his grasp. “What are you doing? Get off me, jerk!”
“Shut up,” he growled harshly as he jammed the gun into Becca’s ribs, making her gasp.
Harper swallowed hard and willed Becca to keep quiet. This was one time her smart mouth could really get her in trouble. “Derek, what are you doing?”
No longer did he look like the shy young man who seemed flustered around her. His eyes had taken on a hard glint, and an evil smile twisted his mouth has he held the gun with a firm hand.
“What do you think I’m doing, Dr. Slut? Now, move. Up the stairs.” He pressed the gun harder against Becca’s ribs, making her grimace.
“Okay, I’m going.” Harper turned and walked up the stairs slowly, trying to figure out what to do. She had to come up with some sort of a plan, some way to get away from Derek, or at the very least, get a message to Luke.
When she reached the door to the roof, she turned the handle and pushed it open. The flat, concrete roof spread out before her. A row of air conditioners lined one side of the roof, which was surrounded on all sides by a short ledge. Derek walked out with Becca and let the door slam shut behind him just as the first boom of fireworks sounded overhead.
Harper’s mind worked frantically. She still had her phone in the pocket of her jeans. Maybe she could somehow get to it, make a call, and leave the line open so the person on the other end could hear them.
But it was almost as if Derek read her mind. “Now, Doctor, I want you to take your phone and drop it over the side of the building.”
Dammit. She looked at Becca, whose eyes were darting around the roof like crazy, and Harper could tell she was trying to figure out something to do. Derek now had one hand grasping a handful of Becca’s hair, and the other hand kept the gun trained on her.
“You, too, princess. Give Harper your phone so she can toss them both over the ledge.”
“What? No way,” Becca said in outrage. “That phone has all my pictures from when we tried on bridesmaids dresses this afternoon, and they’re not backed up to the Cloud yet.”
Derek’s jaw tightened, and Harper screamed as he lifted his hand with the gun and slammed it into the side of Becca’s cheek.
Becca whimpered, her hand flying up to cup her face, her eyes filling with tears.
“I’ve had enough of your mouth, you little bitch. Now let’s try this again. Give Harper your phone.”
This time, Becca didn’t say a word. She just reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone with the rhinestone-covered pink cover. Her hand shook as she held it out to Harper.
“Good,” Derek said. “You can mind. I have to admit I wasn’t thrilled when I realized I was going to have to take you with us. But you might prove to be a nice piece of leverage.” He tightened his hold on Becca’s hair, and she winced as her tears spilled over.
Harper clenched the phones tightly in her hand. She was going to kill him herself for doing this to Becca. “Why don’t you just let her go? I’m the one you want. She doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
“Well, she does now, Harper. What do you think I am, stupid? I let her go, and she’s going to run right to your boyfriend and that douche-bag detective. No, I think we’re going to keep her around a little bit longer.”
“And then what? What’s the point of bringing us up here? I’m guessing you didn’t come up here for a view of the fireworks.” Another boom sounded overhead as color streaked across the sky.
He shrugged, a determined look on his face. “Maybe I thought this would be a good setting for our first date. You belong to me, Harper. And I’m tired of watching you play the whore and spread your legs for Luke fucking Price. Is it the money? Is that it?” He laughed harshly. “That has to be it, doesn’t it? Why else would you be with him? And if you’re fucking him for his money, that really does make you a whore. I wish I didn’t still want you, Harper, but I do. I can’t continue to stand by while I watch you flaunt other men in front of me. Don’t you know, Harper, that if I can’t have you, nobody can? Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
His words hit her full force. He wasn’t planning to let her leave. He was going to kill her. If he couldn’t have her, he really would make sure no one else could.
He motioned to the side of the building closest to where they were standing. “The phones, Harper.”
She walked slowly to the edge, her mind spinning frantically. This couldn’t be the end. The thought of never seeing Luke again almost brought her to her knees. He would blame himself. She knew he would. Did he know how much she loved him? She’d told him she was falling for him, but she’d never actually said she loved him.
More fireworks burst across the sky, but she didn’t even notice them. She was going to die without ever telling Luke Price she loved him. Her tears came then.
“Hurry the fuck up, Harper.” Derek’s voice was a harsh command behind her. “Toss them over now.”
She reached the ledge and saw something that made her heart leap with hope. Luke. Luke was at the back of the crowd with Gray, and he was looking around wildly, turning in all directions.
This was her only chance. After another explosion of color, there was a moment of near silence as the crowd seemed to hold their breath in anticipation, waiting for the next crack of fireworks.
In that moment of silence, Harper took a deep breath and screamed as loud as she could. “Luke! Help!”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
At the sound of his name, Luke jerked his head up. He caught just a glimpse of Harper’s blonde hair on the roof of the hospital before Derek appeared and backhanded her with what looked like the butt of the gun. Becca ran to the ledge and started screaming, but the fireworks had started again, so he couldn’t hear her. Derek reached out and yanked her backward by her hair until she was out of view.
“Gray!” He shouted to his friend, running toward the back entrance to the hospital.
“I see them,” his friend said, close on his heels.
Luke cast a glance at his friend and immediately saw the vengeful look in his eyes that most likely matched his own. This wasn’t Grayson the detective anymore. This was his best friend who’d always had his back. The man who’d practically grown up as part of the family. And most importantly in this instant—the man who was in love with his sister.
The firm set of Gray’s jaw told him one thing. There was no way Derek was getting out of this alive. “Let’s get them.” Gray’s voice was deadly calm as he yanked open the door.
As Luke ran up the stairs, taking them three at a time, he heard Gray on his radio, calling for backup. Then he was shouting orders behind Luke. “Don’t go busting through the door. He knows we’re coming. He could be waiting there with a gun, ready to shoot as soon as we open it.”
“Do you have an extra piece?” Luke knew how to use a gun. His father had made sure all of them knew their way around firearms.
“I don’t. My extra weapon is in my car. I don’t carry it when I’m off duty.”
They reached the do
or to the roof at the same time, and they both stopped, breathing heavily. Luke couldn’t hear anything except the boom of the fireworks. He knew they could have a Wild West shootout on top of the roof, and no one would be the wiser because the shots would just blend into the night.
The door stood in the center of the narrow wall, with a space on either side. Gray pressed his back against the wall at one side of the door and motioned for Luke to do the same on the other side. “I don’t suppose there’s any way I could get you to stay put?” Gray asked.
“Not a chance in hell.” Luke needed to get to Harper and Becca now.
“I’m going to count to three and throw the door open. If he’s going to shoot, let him. I will try to cover you. If you can get to either of the women, do it and get them to safety or the nearest cover you can find. You got it?”
Luke nodded, his heart pounding so hard, it threatened to burst through his ribcage.
Gray reached for the door, turned the knob, and threw it open before quickly ducking back. His guess had been right. Three quick shots pinged through the doorway before Derek must have realized no one was there. Luke could hear the women screaming, and it took everything in him not to run out to them.
Gray turned quickly into the doorway, his gun out in front of him, but he didn’t shoot. “Let her go, Derek.”
Luke felt a hand squeeze his heart, and he couldn’t wait anymore. He turned the corner and walked out into the open. He stared into Harper’s face. Her cheek was puffy where she’d been hit, and tears streaked down her face. Derek had one arm tightly around her midsection, and the other hand held a gun. The barrel was pressed to her temple. “I don’t think so. You stay where you are.”
Luke looked around and found Becca. She was on the ground, and she was trying to move away from Derek. One side of her forehead had a harsh bruise, and her eye was quickly swelling. She didn’t take her eyes off Derek as she slowly scooted backward in the direction of the row of air conditioners. Good girl, she was trying to get to cover.
Gray saw her, too, and immediately moved his body so he was between Derek and Becca, shielding her. His sudden movement threw Derek off guard, and he jerked the gun away from Harper and trained it on Gray. “I said don’t move,” he shouted frantically, as the situation slid quickly out of his control.
Harper’s eyes locked with Luke. She was standing right next to a row of air conditioners. If he could just distract Derek enough, maybe she could get to cover and Grayson could get off a shot. Luke nodded to the row of air conditioners, and Harper gave him an almost-imperceptible nod.
“Let her go, Derek,” he commanded. “She didn’t do anything to deserve this.”
Derek jerked the gun wildly in Luke’s direction, backing up, his arm still around Harper.
“No,” Becca yelled as she scrambled up and tried to make her way toward Luke. Gray reached out to stop her, shoving her behind his big body.
“Becca, I will give you the spanking of your life if you don’t stay behind me.”
“Take her,” Derek said. “I don’t need her.”
“You’re right.” Luke tried to sound calm. “It doesn’t have anything to do with her. Let Becca and Harper go, and you and I can work this out.”
Derek bit out a laugh. “Do you think I’m an idiot, Price? This isn’t all about you. Your whole family thinks they’re so high and mighty. You snap your fingers, and women fall at your feet. I’ve seen it happen. Well, not this time. Harper is mine, not yours. Just because you grabbed her as soon as she hit town without giving anyone else a shot, doesn’t mean she belongs to you. She is mine!”
“I’m not yours.” Harper’s voice was strong, determined, despite her tears. “I will never be yours.”
Luke saw Derek’s hand tighten around the grip of the gun, and he willed Harper not to upset him anymore than he already was. “That may be,” Derek said. “But like I already told you, if I can’t have you, no one will. Certainly not Luke Price.”
Derek walked backward until he was near the edge of the building, dragging Harper with him. He was going to throw her over. He was going to fucking throw her over. Luke stepped forward, not caring anymore about the gun that Derek was swinging wildly between him and Gray. Harper was not going to die tonight. He was not going to lose her.
He needed a distraction.
And he got one. In the form of Kai. He heard the footsteps of his foreman on the steps a moment before Kai called out. “Luke, Derek, are you up here? What the fuck?”
As he came through the door, Becca screamed hysterically, “Kai, get down!”
Derek swung the gun back toward Becca, and whether he mentioned to do it or it was just instinctual, he fired.
The world erupted into chaos, but it all seemed to happen in slow motion.
Harper shoved hard at Derek, and his arm loosened around her enough that she slid out of his grasp and ran.
“No! She’s mine!” Derek yelled and swung the gun toward Luke.
He heard the crack of the gun and braced himself for the impact of the bullet. But it never came. Instead of going for cover, Harper dove in front of him, her body jerking as the bullet tore through her.
More shots rang out, but this time they were from Grayson. His friend, who lay on the ground, bleeding, still had the conscious thought to aim his gun and empty it into Derek.
Derek’s gun clattered to the ground as he staggered backward. When his body hit the ledge, his eyes glazed, and he fell backward, his body vanishing from sight as the screams of people below wafted up.
The world came back together, and pain wracked Luke’s body at the realization that Harper had thrown herself in front of a gun.
“No!” He cried, sinking to his knees. “Harper, no.” He turned her over gently, cradling her body. The upper part of her blouse was covered in so much blood that he couldn’t tell where it was coming from. “Why did you do that? Harper, why?” It was his job to protect her, not the other way around.
She blinked up at him, a dazed look on her face. “I love you, Luke.” Her voice sounded breathy. “I love you. I couldn’t let anything happen to you. Not ever.”
“Oh, Pretty,” he said in a strangled voice. “God, I love you, too.” He could feel the tears running down his cheeks as her eyelids started to flutter shut.
“No!” He shook her. “No. Do not leave me, Harper. Don’t you dare fucking leave me.” He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t fucking lose her.
“Shoulder,” she mumbled. “It’s my shoulder. Put pressure…” Her voice trailed off.
Luke immediately put his big hands over the wound and pressed, causing her to gasp, her eyes flying open. “Holy Christ, getting shot really sucks.”
He smiled at her despite his tears. A moment later, he heard a commotion on the stairs. Three police officers and four paramedics burst through the door.
“Dr. Love!” The paramedics rushed over to him. “You can remove your hands, sir. We got it.”
He removed his hands, but he stayed right next to her as the paramedics worked on her.
Vaguely, he was aware of his sister standing a few feet away, covered in Grayson’s blood, tears streaming down her face as she watched the paramedics around him.
“We have to get them downstairs,” one of the them yelled.
In seconds, both Harper and Grayson were on gurneys, being rushed through the door.
Luke opened his arms to his sister, and she burrowed into him, sobbing, as they followed their loved ones.
****
They wouldn’t let him in to see Harper until they were finished stitching her up. At least he knew she was going to be okay. Grayson on the other hand was still in limbo.
Luke sat in the waiting room with Becca who had gone from sobbing to looking as if she were completely numb. Their mother had forced her to let a doctor look at the bruised lump on her head and her black eye. He’d given her ibuprofen and an ice pack, which she held in her hands. Her blue eyes stared blankly into space as his mother sat
next to her. Sally Price occasionally dabbed at her eyes with a tissue as she tightly clenched Becca’s hand with her other hand.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, an older doctor with white hair and glasses walked into the room. Luke and Becca both shot up.
The doctor looked at each of them. “Uh, Mr. Price? You can see Dr. Love now.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. Becca’s lip quivered, and she sank back into her seat. He hated leaving his mom and his sister, but he needed to see Harper.
Suddenly, a harsh voice from outside the room got his attention. “I am family, goddammit. You’re not going to stop me from being here.” Q rounded the corner, his eyes frantic until they landed on Becca.
His sister, who he’d thought was all cried out, jumped up, and her face crumpled. Q reached her in two long strides. He wrapped both of his arms tightly around her and held her close, burying his face in her hair. Q’s eyes found Luke’s. “Any word yet?”
He shook his head. “Not on Grayson. He’s in surgery. They’re afraid the bullet might have gone through his liver.”
Q’s face tightened, but otherwise he didn’t react. “And Harper?”
“She’s gonna be okay. They just finished stitching her up.”
“Go, Luke,” Becca said in a voice that was husky with tears. “Go be with her now. Don’t waste a second.”
He looked from his sister to Q, who nodded. “Don’t worry. I got her.” He held Becca tighter, rocking her as she cried.
Luke turned to leave them alone as he went in search of Harper.
Epilogue
Two months later
“I don’t understand why they didn’t want us at the hospital,” Becca whined.
Harper had to laugh. “Uh, sweetie, look around at your family. There’s not a waiting room large enough to hold you all. I’m still getting jabs from everyone at work about how my boyfriend and his family came in and took over for a whole week in July.”
Becca let out a humph. “But this is a good thing. Good things are different.”