Last Chance 05 - Second Chance

by Christy Reece

  The instant the plane landed, Cole was at the door, pounding to get out. He glared at the attendant. “Get out of the way and let me open the damn door.”

  “Sir, regulations say—”

  “Fuck regulations. I want the door open. Now!”

  Though this was a private charter, the crew members weren’t LCR people. The flight attendant looked at Cole as if he were a dangerous lunatic. If that door didn’t open soon, he’d live up to her suspicions.

  She scooted out of the way. Cole twisted the lever, shoved open the door, and pushed the metal steps down. He clanked down the stairs, his heart almost bursting. Panic as he’d never known was threatening to take over. He’d heard every word Jenna had said. She had closed the coffin; there was no telling how much oxygen Keeley had left.

  In desperation, he’d called the sheriff and had gotten the answer he expected. “I ain’t going on no wild-goose chase for you, Mathison. You think that woman’s in trouble, then you go after her.”

  The sheriff had hung up on Cole’s threats to have his ass fired. After Keeley was safe, he was going after the sheriff. The man would either resign on his own or Cole would beat the shit out of him until he did. Either way, he would no longer be in the position to take bribes from Elizabeth Fairchild or pick what crimes he chose to respond to.

  Cole was halfway across the tarmac, running full steam toward the small building of the Fairview airport, when a black SUV zoomed toward him. Honor. Cole changed directions and ran toward the speeding vehicle. It skidded to a stop beside him; Cole jumped in the passenger seat. The SUV took off again.

  Honor shot him a grim look and Cole acknowledged it with a grimmer nod. They both knew they were up against the tightest of deadlines. If Keeley ran out of air before they got there … No, Cole refused to even finish that thought.

  And now that Honor was here, she would see to Keeley’s safety. If he didn’t survive, Honor would save Keeley. Fate had brought him here to keep this family safe, and he’d failed repeatedly. Not anymore. Keeley had suffered enough because of his failures. And she’d damned well suffered too much from Jenna Banks.

  thirty

  Jenna stared at the mirror in the funeral home’s small restroom. Grieving family members frequented this bathroom, often breaking down and sobbing their hearts out right here. She’d always thought that so odd. Grief should be contained, held within so no one could see it, question it, judge it.

  Today she almost understood their lack of control, the inability to keep it locked up. Killing Keeley would be like killing part of herself.

  Her lip trembled uncontrollably as she stared at the vacant-eyed, pale-faced stranger. Could she do this? Keeley had been a part of her life since she was six years old. They’d shared everything. She loved her as if she were her own sister. But time after time, Keeley had betrayed her. Tried to break free of their bond. When Keeley was happy and content, she didn’t need Jenna. At least not the way she should.

  Just how many times was she supposed to forgive Keeley?

  Every time something good happened in Keeley’s life, Jenna felt shut out, pushed away. Sure, Keeley had shared those happy moments with her, but it hadn’t been enough. Jenna wanted that happiness for herself … that feeling of euphoria that Keeley had. When she couldn’t feel the same thing, she realized Keeley was only sharing a small amount. Jenna wanted to feel it all, the same way Keeley did.

  But she now knew that wasn’t possible as long as Keeley existed. With Keeley finally gone, she would take over her friend’s life, feel what she felt, experience what she experienced. Only Jenna would live it better, enjoy it more.

  She took a trembling breath. Hailey and Hannah were young enough that they would soon forget their mother and, in a few months, would be calling Jenna their mommy.

  She would sell her business … maybe leave town. No, she couldn’t do that. If she left, then strangers wouldn’t know what she had done … what she had sacrificed by raising her best friend’s children. No one would know how heroic she was if she went somewhere else. She would stay here and be the martyr who took in two orphaned children.

  Keeley had said Miranda would get Hailey and Hannah…. She couldn’t let that happen. Miranda might have to die, too. Jenna was the only one capable of taking care of Keeley’s children. That’s what a good sister and a best friend would do.

  She straightened and watched the pale-faced stranger change before her eyes. Once more she was strong and certain. Sure of her goal, confident in her plan to get there. As much as she hated it, it was time to say goodbye to her dear friend Keeley. And though she would miss her, everything would be so much better when she was dead.

  Keeley eased open the coffin lid. She hadn’t heard any sounds from Jenna in at least five minutes. She needed to get out of here before Jenna came back. She would go to the police. If Hiram didn’t want to help her, she’d call Honor.

  Rising slowly from the casket, Keeley looked around the large room filled with nothing but closed coffins. She refused to wonder if there were bodies in them.

  Pulling her legs from beneath the wooden cover, Keeley swung them around and lifted one leg out, then the other. A door slammed shut. Her head jerked up; Jenna was headed toward her.

  Determined to be at least standing for the confrontation, Keeley jumped from the coffin. Her legs collapsed like limp noodles; she fell to the floor.

  Jenna huffed an exasperated sigh. “Dammit, Keeley. Do you know how long it took me to get your oversized ass into that coffin?”

  Sitting on her bottom, staring up at her former friend, she said, “Gee, Jenna. I’m so sorry I’m making killing me so difficult.”

  “Sarcasm never was your forte.”

  Since Jenna knew she could move, she saw no need to pretend. Besides, she needed to figure out how strong she was or wasn’t. Willing herself strength, she managed to get to her knees.

  Her hands on her hips and an expression of frustration on her face, Jenna said, “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to climb back into the coffin for me, would you?”

  “You first,” Keeley said.

  “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

  Jenna turned and reached for something on a table behind her. Keeley sprang up and forward. Since her legs would still barely hold her, she only managed to fall on top of Jenna.

  With an earsplitting shriek, Jenna somehow managed to throw Keeley off and scramble to her feet. Keeley sat up to see that Jenna was not only furious, she now held a gun in her hand.

  “You’re actually going to shoot me?”

  “That’s up to you.” Jenna raised her other hand, which held the butcher knife. “I also have this knife, if you prefer.” Waving both the gun and the knife at the coffin behind Keeley, she said, “Get back in or it’s going to get really messy.”

  Several feet behind Jenna a shadow moved. Keeley couldn’t see who it was, but it was definitely a person. Cole?

  Determined to keep Jenna’s attention until Cole could do what he needed to do, Keeley asked, “Why did you marry Frank?”

  “What?” Surprise replaced the crazed glint for a moment.

  Keeley shrugged. “I’ve always wondered. I figure if you’re going to kill me, you wouldn’t mind me knowing why you would marry a man twice your age.”

  “You never saw my father, did you?”

  “No. You said he left your mother when you were only a baby.”

  Her eyes took on a faraway glaze. “We were living in Elkhart, Indiana. Daddy just never came home from work one day.”

  “What does that have to do with Frank? Did he resemble your daddy?”

  “Kind of. He was my daddy.”

  Shocked at Jenna’s statement, Keeley gave her full attention to the woman in front of her. “What?”

  Jenna giggled. “Gotcha.”

  Keeley almost started crying. That was a game they used to play when they were kids. Two lies, one truth. Each had one guess, and if a lie was guessed as a truth, it was a “go
tcha” moment. How could her best friend have turned into this fiend in front of her?

  The shadow came closer, approaching Jenna slowly from the back. Keeley focused on keeping Jenna’s attention. She still couldn’t yet see who it was … but it had to be Cole.

  “So Frank didn’t resemble your daddy?”

  “I have no idea. I don’t remember what my daddy looked like. Mama tore up all the pictures she had of him.” She shrugged. “Frank didn’t have any family. He wasn’t much to look at and was kind of a limp-noodled perv in bed, but we made a deal. I’d marry him, do whatever he wanted me to do, and then when he died, he’d leave everything to me.”

  “Did you kill him, too?”

  Instead of being insulted, Jenna cackled with laughter. “You’ll never know how many times I thought about it … most especially when I was having to fulfill my end of the bargain. But no, Frank died from a stroke … and I got to be the tragic young widow for a few months.”

  Amusement abruptly gone, she glared at Keeley. “Then, you know what happened to make people forget about me again?”

  Already knowing, Keeley asked anyway. “What?”

  “You had the twins. I had to take a backseat again.”

  “Jenna, dammit. Almost everyone in Fairview hates me. My husband cheated on me, my mother died, how could you be jealous of me?”

  “Don’t trivialize my feelings by saying I was jealous. When something good happened to you, I was happy for you, I really was. But it was all about you. The spotlight was always on your accomplishments and achievements. No matter what I did, I couldn’t compete with them. That’s why I had to balance it out.”

  Finally the shadow moved so she could see … it wasn’t Cole; it was Honor with a gun pointed at Jenna.

  Desperate tears filled Keeley’s eyes. No matter what Jenna had done, she didn’t want her friend to die. “Jenna, please. I’m begging you from the bottom of my heart. Whatever I’ve done, however I’ve hurt you, I’m so very sorry. But please don’t do this.”

  Jenna shook her head. “It’s not enough, Keeley. No matter what, you always come out on top. Maybe it’s not your fault … it doesn’t really matter anymore.” She raised the gun. “It’s got to stop.”

  Cole stooped behind a coffin where neither Jenna nor Keeley could see him. Keeley had spotted Honor and was doing a good job of keeping Jenna focused, but if Honor got an opportunity, she would take the shot.

  Though his goal was to rescue Keeley, Cole would do everything in his power to keep Jenna alive, too. If it came down to choosing, there was no choice but to save Keeley; Cole hoped not to have to make that choice.

  Keeley had lost too much already. Jenna had done some vicious, hideous things and deserved to pay for each one, but Cole would rather her pay for it by going to jail than to hell.

  As he crept closer, Cole kept an eye on the gun in Jenna’s hand. She was shaking, clearly nervous.

  He dared a glance at Honor, who looked prepped to shoot. Unable to get her attention, Cole prepared himself to lunge.

  “Drop the gun, Jenna,” Honor yelled.

  Whirling around, Jenna fired wildly toward Honor. Honor ducked behind a coffin.

  Jenna turned around and snarled at Keeley, “See, that’s the way it’s always been. Everybody wants to protect Keeley. Everybody wants to help Keeley. When is it my turn? When do I get to feel special?”

  “Jenna.” Keeley was sobbing her words. “You’ve always been special to me. I love you and I’m so sorry for making you feel like you were unimportant.” Her voice so thick Cole could barely understand her, she said again, “I love you.”

  Cursing, Jenna shot toward Honor again. Taking advantage of the distraction, Cole jumped from his cover and leaped toward Jenna.

  As he took her to the ground, he wrenched her wrist, forcing her to drop the gun. Since she was so much smaller than him, Cole did his best not to land directly on her. They both landed facedown on the floor. Jenna let out a long, loud wail and then was ominously silent.

  Cole got to his knees quickly; Jenna lay unmoving.

  Aware that Keeley was crawling toward him, tears streaming down her face, Cole protected Jenna’s neck as he rolled her over. The handle of a butcher’s knife jutted from her side.

  Keeley’s soft cry of horror was like a dagger to his soul.

  His hand unbelievably shaky, Cole checked Jenna’s pulse. It was there—but too damned weak.

  A distant surreal setting floated around him. He heard Honor on her cellphone, calling 911. Heard Keeley crying over her friend. His heart pounded with denial as a cold, painful ache permeated his body.

  Getting to his feet, he watched Keeley bend over and whisper something to Jenna, then she looked up at Cole. Tears flowed down her face and agony sliced his gut as she whispered, “She’s dying.”

  No. He couldn’t do it … couldn’t deal with it. He hadn’t meant to kill her but had done it all the same. His entire system on meltdown, Cole slowly backed away.

  Honor appeared beside him. “Cole, you okay?”

  Shaking his head, he said, “I can’t do this.” And with every particle of his soul disintegrating, Cole turned and walked out the door.

  thirty-one

  Two weeks later

  Tampa, Florida

  Her heart pounding so hard she could barely think straight, Keeley kneeled down in front of her daughters. She rarely dressed them alike, but they’d both fallen in love with the frilly red-and-white polka-dot dresses and so had she.

  The only difference in their outfits was their hair ribbons. Hannah had wanted to wear white; Hailey had wanted green. Thankfully, Hailey had compromised with red.

  They both looked healthy and absolutely adorable, even if she was a bit biased. Both girls still saw a counselor twice a week; no matter what happened here today, that would continue. Their strength and resiliency amazed and humbled her. No, life wasn’t perfect for them. They still had nightmares, Hailey more so than Hannah, but with help from professionals, careful watch, and mountains of love, the outlook was good.

  Now her angels looked up at her expectantly and she didn’t know quite what to say to them. How did you tell your five-year-old children that you were taking them to see a man you desperately hoped would want the job as their father? A man who in every way, shape, and form was a hero. A man with a heart as big as Texas whose greatest strength wasn’t in physical form but in compassion, integrity, and decency.

  Tears pooled in her eyes, but she battled them back. The time for tears was over. Now it was time to move forward and, if she had to, battle for a future with the man who’d saved her life, her children’s life, and the life of her best friend. The greatest man she’d ever known. But would he still want her?

  Keeley stood. Holding her hands out, she grasped their small hands and marched toward the two-story red-brick home … Cole’s house. He didn’t know she was coming. Probably didn’t even know she’d been in touch with every LCR operative she’d ever met in an effort to find him. Shea and Ethan had refused to tell her; Eden and Jordan had, too. All were of the opinion that when an LCR operative wanted to disappear, that was their prerogative. Thankfully, Noah McCall had caved.

  Okay, so Noah hadn’t exactly caved. She had called him every day for the last two weeks. Yesterday, he asked the same question he’d asked her each day when she called: “Why do you want to talk to Cole?”

  Every time he had asked before, Keeley had always said that she wanted to thank Cole for all the things he’d done. Which was true … but there were so many other things she wanted to say. Private things that should only be said to him.

  Yesterday, tired of getting the same question and no help, she’d had enough and shouted, “Because I’m in love with him and I think he’s the most wonderful man in the world. That’s why!”

  In the next second, she had not only his address, but the promise of a chartered jet picking her up the next day to take her to him.

  Taking a breath, Keeley rang the doorbel
l. She knew she was hedging her bets by having her girls with her. Cole might slam the door in her face, but he wouldn’t do that to her daughters. Dirty trick, yes … but she was planning on shooting everything in her arsenal at him today. Might as well start with her strongest weapons.

  Cole opened the door and stared at the three most beautiful females on the planet. He was grateful Noah had forewarned him they were coming. He didn’t know why they were here. McCall had just said he’d given Keeley his address and that was that. Since the man was infamous for shocking the hell out of people, he was fortunate to be able to prepare. Still, it was hard as hell to prepare to see the woman you loved if you had no idea whether she wanted to slap you in the face or kiss you.

  “Hello, Cole.” Her voice was shaky and a bit husky, her eyes searching and vulnerable.

  Aware that two little faces were looking up at him expectantly, Cole went to his knees and said, “Hi, Hailey. Hi, Hannah.”

  As usual, they each responded differently. Hannah grinned, then went shy and turned her face against her mother’s leg. Hailey giggled and said, “Hi.”

  Cole stood and moved aside to let them in. Looking even more uncertain than before, Keeley passed by him and it was all he could do not to grab her.

  As the three entered his home, he said, “Would you like something to drink?”

  Keeley shook her head. “We had something on the flight over … we’re fine.”

  Feeling as awkward as a teenager on his first date, he said, “Come on in.” He led them into the living room, and Hailey and Hannah immediately spotted the gifts he’d gone out and bought them after Noah had called. Coloring books, crayons, dolls, and stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes filled half the room.

  A soft sob from Keeley brought his gaze back to hers. She shook her head slowly. “It will take me a lifetime to tell you all the many reasons I love you.”

  His heart so full he thought it might burst, Cole asked huskily, “Can we start now?”

  With another sob, Keeley ran into his open arms.