by Michelle Kee
"I am so proud of you baby. So very proud." Debbie said tearfully, hugging her daughter.
"Thank you mama." Krista sniffled, tears tickling the corner of her eyes.
"You did good honey. I don't think a father could be any prouder than I am at this moment." Nick stated, his voice catching too when Debbie released her.
"I have you and mama to thank for making me strong daddy." Krista replied, hugging him fiercely.
A nervous cough came from behind them. Krista turned and found Stacey. "Sorry, but the food's ready Kris."
Krista chuckled. "Well then, let's get our grub on."
Krista caught sight of Ethan for a moment before she, her parents and Stacey led the way to the food line. She saw the pride in his eyes and that made her heart swell. After gathering her food, Krista took her seat at the table on the stage. As she ate, she continued to scan the faces. Wondering if her stalker was there. Was he pissed? Was he even now plotting his next move? She pushed down the nerves as they tried to creep in. Today was about her book, about sharing a piece of herself with her true fans and her family.
Chapter 27
The event was going perfectly. Lunch had been served, Krista did her Q & A session and now she was sitting at a table doing her signing. During the Q & A, she was surprised at how few questions there were about her big reveal and the events around Jerry's death. What questions were asked about those things was done so by the members of the media in attendance. Her fans were there for her writing and that was about it.
The event was winding down when Ethan met with his guys near Krista's signing table. "Well?"
"If he was here, he's one cool cat." Tony said.
"I agree. During the whole thing I didn't spot a single person who was acting out of character." Grant added, his voice sounding frustrated at that.
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck. "Dammit. Okay, we've still got another half hour before we start clearing people..."
Ethan was interrupted by two sounds. The first he heard were a series of rapid pops. The next were the screams. His men immediately jumped into action. He saw Lance turn toward Krista. The last thing Ethan saw was Lance grabbing Krista and pulling her toward the back exit. Knowing his woman was safe for the moment, Ethan and Blackout went to work.
“Everyone move toward the exits!” Wilson ordered.
“Wilson!” Ethan called out.
“The shots came from the left exit over there. My men have blocked it off and some of your boys have already gave chase.” Wilson informed him.
Ethan nodded and jerked his head toward the exit. He, Grant and Tony ran for the doors. The policemen guarding the door moved out of their way and the three barged through the double doors. Ethan saw members of Bravo team at the end of the hall. He caught up to them and found Morton.
“What’s the situation?” Ethan demanded.
“The mother fucker gave us the slip boss.” Morton hissed.
“God dammit!” Ethan growled. “How?”
“It looks like he had just enough of a lead on us to make it to the doors mere seconds before we could catch up to him, sir. I did catch the glimpse of a black sedan peeling out and rounding the corner.” One of the team members answered.
“You said a black sedan?” Grant asked, looking at Ethan.
“Yes sir. I caught the last two numbers of the plates. Texas plates the last two numbers were 07. Two guys from Charlie pursued him. They were heading for I-35.” The man stated.
“Shit, the same car as the one that chased me and Krista two weeks ago.” Ethan stated.
“He had this whole thing planned. He had to have had the car waiting.” Tony added.
“Morton, take your team and see what you can find outside. Tony, you and Grant grab the surveillance footage and meet me at the SUV. I’m going to go grab Gage and I’ll meet you there. Keep me posted on the pursuit.” Ethan instructed.
He barely acknowledged his men’s nods before he turned on his heel and stalked back to the main room. He quickly found Gage standing with Nick, Debbie and Stacey. Nick and Debbie rushed to him.
“Is Krista safe?” Nick asked.
“Yes sir, Lance took her out of here the second we heard the shots. Are you guys okay?” Ethan nodded.
“We’re fine Ethan. At least Krista’s safe.” Stacey spoke up as she and Gage stepped over. “What do you need me to do?”
“Can you take Nick and Debbie home? I’ll send two of my men to stay with you. Gage, go help Tony and Grant get the footage and meet me at the SUV.” Ethan stated.
“You got it boss.” Gage replied.
Stacey stepped up to Ethan. “I want the truth. Is Krista safe right now?”
Ethan placed a hand on her shoulder. “She’s safe. Lance is with her and he will protect her till I get there.”
Stacey released a slow breath. “Good enough for me. Okay, I’ll get her parents’ home and we’ll wait to hear from you.”
***
Krista ran behind Lance, her heart pounding as the screams followed down the hall. The two burst through the fire door and Lance all but threw her into one of the armored black SUV's that Blackout used. In five seconds flat Lance was speeding off into the late afternoon sun.
"It was him wasn't it?" Krista demanded.
"I don't know. I only had one job. Get you the hell out." Lance gritted as he dodged in and out of traffic.
"Ethan..."
"He's the one who gave me the order Krista. He made me promise if anything happened I was to get you and get you out. We're heading to his house and we'll wait there for him."
Krista closed her eyes and nodded. She was scared, but not just for her. She feared this guy hurting Ethan. She kept her eyes closed the entire fifteen-minute drive from Capitol back to Ethan's house. Lance ushered her quickly inside where Krista set the alarm again. As she stood in the middle of the front entryway, Lance methodically moved through the house pulling the curtains closed on all the windows and checking every door and window. When he returned to her he told her the house was secure.
"I'm gonna go up and change. I think there's still some leftover pizza in the fridge." She said.
"I'm good. You go on get changed. I'll be in the living room." Lance stated, holstering his weapon.
Krista said nothing and headed upstairs. This was the first time she had seen Lance so focused on something. She now understood another reason why he was called Hawkeye. Hawkeye, at least in the latest Avengers movies, was cold and calculating during battle. Walking into the bedroom, she stripped and headed right for the shower.
She turned the water on as hot as she could stand it. Just as the steam began billowing out of the shower and filling the bathroom, she stepped under the pulsing water. Despite the scalding heat, her body still felt ice cold. Krista hugged her midsection as her body was racked with shakes. In the privacy of the shower, she let herself give in to the fear that was consuming her in that moment.
***
When she came back downstairs fifteen minutes later it was to find Lance pacing and talking on the phone. "Fuck. Was anyone hurt?"
Krista dropped onto the sofa watching Lance.
"Thank hell for that. Any idea where he headed? Okay. Yeah. Already done boss. Okay, we'll sit tight and wait for you." Lance said then hung up and faced her.
"What's happened?" Krista demanded.
"Ethan says after I got you out they chased him. Fucker got in a car and took off. The guys followed but lost him on I-35. Tony thinks they might have caught him on camera so their grabbing the footage and heading to Blackout. Ethan wants us to just sit tight. Those two Feds are with them." Lance reported.
"I always hated waiting." Krista grumbled. She stood up. "Well, since we're stuck here, I'm gonna grab my holster and gun then I'm making cookies."
Lance lifted a brow. "Cookies?"
"What can I say. When my mom worries she bakes. I do the same thing." She shrugged and headed back upstairs.
***
Ethan was pacin
g the tech room like a caged animal. Tony and Grant were sitting at one of the consoles scouring the footage from the book reveal. Gage was in the lab with Jimmy examining one of the bullet casings they found. Cain was on the phone talking to his own lab geeks. That left Ethan with nothing else to do but wait. God he hated waiting.
"Stop! There, camera 3." Tony cried out.
Ethan looked up and hurried over as Grant brought up camera three on the big screen. That camera had been facing Krista from her left side. Ethan frowned. "Why the hell would he position himself there? He’d have to push through all those people to get to the exit."
"True that. Stupid on his part, but lucky for us maybe. Okay, let's slow it down Grant." Tony said.
"Okay, there he is. See, behind those three ladies. Can't see his face really, because of the ladies." Grant pointed out.
Ethan studied the screen. He watched as the man slipped a hand into the jacket he wore. What chilled Ethan was the look in the man's hazel eyes. They were void of all emotion and he was looking right at Krista. Just then a sense of recognition hit Ethan. Frowning more, he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew that man. But from where.
"Okay, we'll go frame by frame." Tony mumbled.
"What have you got?" Cain asked moving to Ethan's side looking at the screen.
"Tony think's we got him. Can't see his face really except his eyes because of the ladies in front of him." Ethan answered.
"Damn, the fucker's eyes look dead. Like the lights are on but no one's home." Cain hissed.
"Yeah." Ethan growled.
Frame by frame the four men watched. They saw as he reached in his jacket, raised the gun, and began firing at the ceiling. The whole time the man never took his eyes off Krista. About thirty seconds after he started firing, the man started running.
"Bring up six." Tony ordered.
"Six is up." Grant replied.
Ethan's heart dropped. There, live and in living color was the man who had terrorized Krista for over a year. The man who killed Jerry, who had shot at his men. Shock led to anger. Ethan clenched his fist as silence filled the room.
"Holy shit!"
"Fuck me!"
Ethan couldn't speak. He could only stare into the dead, unfeeling eyes of Cutter Ingram. Like a breaker tripping dread shot through him. "Oh Fuck."
"What?" Grant demanded.
"He knows where I live. I hosted a birthday party for Wilson last year. He was there." Ethan stated, his eyes suddenly widening and fear began creeping in them. “I…oh holy hell. He knows my security set up.”
"Shit. Grant, go get Fortney and Gage. Harker, call your boys. Ethan, you need to call Lance and Krista. I'll call Wilson." Tony barked out, once he realized Ethan was in shock at the moment.
Krista pulled the last batch of cookies from the oven and sat the cookie sheet on the cooling rack. She chuckled as she looked at Lance. The man sat at the island bar polishing off his fourth double chocolate macadamia nut cookie. She just shook her head and laughed.
"What?" Lance asked around a mouthful of cookie.
"You just remind me of my brother Danny. He always loved these cookies and would eat the whole batch if he wasn't watched." Krista grinned.
"I can see why. These are damn good cookies." He shrugged.
Krista laughed and went about cleaning up. She was surprised when Lance joined her at the sink. She washed and he dried them and put them in the dish rack on the counter. The two then left the kitchen and headed back to the living room. Krista was just reaching for the remote when Lance's phone rang.
"What's up?" Lance spoke.
At that moment the lights went out. Krista felt Lance grab her arm and the clatter of his phone hitting the floor. "Lance?"
"Shit, the power's been cut. Give it a second and the emergency lights will click on." Lance hissed.
Sure enough, low blue lights lit up along the baseboards. In the low lighting Krista saw Lance withdraw his .45. She in turn pulled out her own weapon. Staying firmly behind Lance, she followed him to the doorway of the living room. Across the hall from them was the kitchen, the swinging door closed.
"Okay, I want you to stay right here. I'm going to go and check out the kitchen. If it's clear, we'll get out that way since it's closer to the car. If not, we'll go out the front." Lance ordered.
"Alright." Krista nodded.
Giving him one more nod, Krista slipped behind the doorway of the living room, using the wall as cover. She watched Lance quietly move through the shadows toward the kitchen door. Her own gun held tight. Holding her breath, she saw Lance slip into the kitchen.
'Okay Kris. Stay calm. Ethan and the others will come. You know that.' She thought to herself trying her best to keep her breathing slow and even.
She jumped nearly a foot when the two gunshots rang through the silent house. Half of her wanted to barge into the kitchen and check on Lance. However, the rational part knew that if she did, she could very well be shot herself. Licking her lips and adjusting her grip on the pistol, she aimed it for the door. If it wasn't Lance that walked through the door, she was blowing their ass to hell.
The seconds passed. What was maybe only a minute, felt like a lifetime to her. One second she was in near complete darkness and the next, the lights blazed back to life. She bit back a hiss and covered her eyes. That moment was all that was needed. Before her eyes opened again, she was grabbed, twirled around and her back pressed to a chest. She vaguely registered the sound of her gun falling to the hardwood floors.
"Hello my dear Kris."
Chapter 27
"Fuck!" Ethan yelled when the call was disconnected after he heard it clattering to the floor.
"I got Bravo team en route Ethan. We're ten minutes away." Gage reported as he sped through the streets of Austin.
"I've got a team on the way too." Cain added.
"That doesn't help Krista or Lance dammit! God knows what Ingram is doing to them right now." Ethan roared.
From the backseat, Gage reached out and squeezed his friend's shoulder. "I know you're worried Ethan, but you need to calm the fuck down. You won't be doing Krista or Lance any good if you go in there running on pure rage. That's when mistakes are made."
Ethan knew his friend was right but he was struggling to do that. He closed his eyes and took slow breaths and released them. All he could picture was walking into his home and finding his friend and his woman dead.
***
Krista froze as she heard the voice of the man holding her. She started struggling again and managed to finally break his hold on her. She spun around and faced her stalker. "D... Detective Ingram? No. We trusted you. Ethan trusted you."
Fury cloaked his face. In two steps he was in front of her. She never had a chance to react before his hand flew out and slapped her. Krista stumbled back, a suprised cry escaping her. She reached up and covered her right cheek staring wide eyed at him.
"That bastard Blackstone has tried to keep you from me Krista. You belong to me." Ingram hissed.
"You're married Detective. Why are you doing this? I don't understand." Krista said, her voice sounding surprisingly calm.
"There's no point in pretending anymore dear. I know you felt it too, that day we met. That day I took my wife to your book signing. Our eyes met and I saw then, that you felt the same spark I did." Ingram stated.
'This guy's fucking nuts.' She thought. 'Okay girl, stay calm. Keep him talking. You need to buy time till Ethan and the others get here.' Krista took a step back, skirting Ethan's coffee table. "Detective, I'm sorry, but I think you're mistaken."
"No. No, it's you that are mistaken. Your father and Blackstone have been lying to you. You and I belong together Krista."
"If what you say is true, why go after Jerry then? Why him?"
Krista could feel anger starting to build inside her. This guy was the cause of all her pain, all her stress. He killed her best friend. Torched her home. Shot at her and the men of Blackout. Him. Detective Cutter Ingram was responsib
le for it all.
Ingram snorted. "You are too classy to be hanging with disgusting people like that."
"Disgusting people?"