Poison

by Jordyn Redwood

  She felt the knife slice further into her skin. An unfamiliar whistle pierced into the cabin, faster and higher than the wind. The sound stalled Raven’s inward thrust of the blade, and the sound of windows breaking was followed by two concussive booms. It felt like the noise would level the tiny structure.

  Keelyn felt Raven’s arm drop, and she shoved her back. That one movement sapped her strength, and she felt her muscles strain to stay upright. Keelyn’s ears rang from the explosions. Smoke filled the room. Muffled voices hung at the end of a long tunnel. Keelyn tried to walk toward Lee, but her chest felt like lit gasoline, and she stumbled to her knees. She pressed her nose into her clothing to keep from inhaling additional smoke, but the stench proved too strong. Coughs seized her chest.

  Slowly she crawled in the direction of where Lee had fallen, groping the floor like a blind person. Her fingers felt his warm flesh. She patted up his body till she felt his face. She pulled up his jutted chin and pressed her ear against his mouth and nose. His lips were warm against her cheek, but he didn’t draw breath. She opened his lips and placed her mouth over his, their last kiss brought to mind as she blew hard into his mouth to fill his lungs.

  She almost passed out from the pain of offering that one breath.

  Tears streamed down her face. Her weakness could mean his death.

  In the darkness and noise, she couldn’t tell if it was her screaming or someone else.

  Keelyn shook her head. Try something else. Lee wouldn’t give up this easily.

  She felt for the buttons on his shirt, estimated where the center of his chest was, and pushed with all her might. Each compression felt like ribs were shattering in her own chest. Pain shot down her left arm and up into her jaw. Sweat dripped from her face. Fatigue overtook her will, and Keelyn slumped over his body.

  Flashlights lit up the darkness. Another officer knelt beside her.

  “Help. Me.”

  A hand grabbed hers and eased her off Lee. Her vision tunneled. Lights welcomed her at the end.

  “Keelyn, it’s Joshua.” The lead SWAT medic. “We’re helping Lee. Trying to counteract what we think was in the syringe . . . probably potassium. Keelyn!” The light was bright in her eyes. A palm rested on her cheek. “Can you breathe?” His ear pressed close to her lips. A stethoscope snaked under her shirt.

  She pushed it away. “Lee . . . first.”

  “Nathan! Need a set of hands over here!” A mask over her face. A fresh flow of clean air cooled the heat in her body. Joshua pulled her coat open and cut her shirt up the middle, exposing her chest.

  Nathan’s voice. Worried. “Is she alive?”

  “She won’t be in a minute.”

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  More light.

  Keelyn looked beside her. An officer struggled to place a set of handcuffs on Raven.

  Another medic team worked on Lee. One performed CPR. There was an open trauma kit. The floor was littered with syringes and used boxes of medication. Another officer knelt beside him and readied a bag of IV fluids.

  “Keelyn, this will be cold.”

  Her eyes stayed on Lee.

  “What are you going to do?” Nathan again.

  “Her left lung has collapsed, and putting this needle into her chest will buy us some time.”

  Another needle in Lee’s arm. Clear fluids flowed. The medic shoved in what seemed an endless number of medications.

  Keelyn reached for Lee’s hand. Tears fell freely. Her soul crushed by the thought of losing him. He was a good man. He’d been trying to protect her. He’d given up his life to save hers.

  In the end, Raven had forced a screenplay of what she couldn’t understand in the Bible.

  A man laying his life down for another.

  Lee had willingly stepped into the role.

  Keelyn prayed fervently. Raven screamed as the officers placed her in handcuffs and hauled her outside the shack. But Keelyn could barely hear it above the crazy humming in her ears. Warmth soothed her fatigued muscles.

  “He’s in v-tach.”

  “Let’s shock him!”

  The fine whine of a defibrillator as it charged.

  The needle as it pierced her chest.

  The pull of something as it beckoned her away.

  Chapter 54

  Christmas Eve

  KEELYN STOOD BEFORE HER mother’s childhood home now a pile of ash, lit by a troubled soul that loved to watch things burn.

  At least that’s what the fire department was calling it . . . arson.

  The charcoal gray particles had mixed and melted into a fresh layer of snow and the black dots looked like cancer in the clean, crisp crystals. Yellow crime tape could still be seen tied around some of the aspens where the fire had not melted the plastic and just as ribbons around trees often times marked something to remember . . . so did these.

  Lives lost. Innocence captured. People murdered.

  Almost.

  In fact, Keelyn’s lung had collapsed again. The SWAT medic saved her life by jamming the needle into her chest. It bought her enough time to make it to a hospital for another chest tube to be placed. This time, she did follow instructions and made no further attempts to take it out herself.

  Conner had survived Donnely’s attack but was currently in prison, along with Raven and Donnely. It was too soon to tell what myriad of charges would actually stick. Several trials loomed.

  Lee also survived his brush with Gavin’s toxic mixture that contained the same potent dose of potassium chloride he’d tried to kill Conner with and not any spider venom. Though Raven had almost gotten her wish to see him imprisoned under the earth with the other bodies they’d found along the path. He’d been in a coma for a week before his eyes had fluttered open, his blue eyes clearing in every second he held Keelyn’s. The warmth of his fingers against her cheek was the seal of her resolve to mend what had broken between them.

  And this was part of that process.

  To find the ring.

  His engagement ring.

  Buried somewhere in this pile of broken dreams.

  And so, she’d set to it. Bundled in her coat, a scarf tight around her nose and lips to keep the air from solidifying her face, she worked to sweep a metal detector over every inch of the rubble. Even in the quiet, she missed the footsteps approaching her from behind and she screamed as a hand rested upon her shoulder.

  Keelyn whipped around and clipped the man’s shins with the metal detector then raised it above her head for another hit when the man reached up to steady her hand.

  A playful smile on his face.

  “Lee!”

  “Want to take it easy with that? They just let me out of rehab.”

  She dropped the contraption and rushed into his arms. “How did you find me?”

  “Sophia’s sitter let the secret out.”

  He held her for the longest time. The faint musical notes played by the wind as it rushed through the pines calmed her fluttering heart. She pressed her face into his chest and he smoothed his hand over her tangled hair.

  Easing her back, he searched her eyes with his, his palm on her cheek. “Why would you come back here?”

  Keelyn placed her hand over his. “To find your ring.”

  Lee pulled his hand down and took hers. “Any luck?”

  She shook her head and began to cry. He draped his arm over her shoulder. “Keelyn, it’s okay.”

  “I should never have given it back.”

  “Honestly, you had every right to.” Heaviness settled into his face. “I’m not sure I’d want you to have it back.”

  An ache pulsed through her body. At that moment, she wanted the earth to swallow her up. The pain of living without him too much to think about.

  He turned away from her. “Fire is an interesting force. So destructive yet it’s also a purifier. When a forest burns—it brings renewal. Healthier trees grow.”

  “Lee—”

  Taking her hand, he got down on one knee. “The reas
on I don’t want you to have that particular ring back is it represents our old relationship. It’s better it burned, hopefully melted away never to be found again”—he reached into his coat for a small, red velvet box—“so I could give you this.”

  He flipped the box open and the strength leached from Keelyn’s knees. She felt lightheaded.

  A ring. A new ring. Brilliant against the winter light like the snow as it dazzled.

  He gripped her hand tighter and locked her eyes with his. “Keelyn Blake. I pledge to be the man I should have always been. To love you with my whole heart. To never hide anything from you. To be a father for Sophia . . . if you’ll let me.”

  Keelyn’s heart swelled with joy. She drop tackled him in a hug and pressed her lips against his.

  After a long kiss, he eased her back. “That’s a yes for sure, right?”

  She nuzzled his nose. “Yes, absolutely. One hundred percent.”

  “Just one favor?”

  “One?”

  “Don’t ever let the guys know you took me down.”

  Chapter 55

  One year later

  KEELYN HAD ALWAYS WANTED a winter wedding. Christmas Day couldn’t be any better. The sanctuary was lit only by the red-and-white candles reminiscent of candy canes. Her drop-shouldered dress was lined with white fur at the neck and cuffs. She turned as she felt Sophia tugging on the long train.

  “Soo pretty,” the child cooed as she laced her fingers over the crystals. “It’s shiny!”

  Keelyn brought up the bouquet of red roses to her chest, and she leaned over to kiss Sophia’s cheek. “You’re so pretty.” Keelyn fingered the red velvet dress. “Time to drop your petals.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes. Go, sweet girl.” Keelyn nudged at her back. Sophia had practiced this for weeks, dropping a handful of petals with each step.

  Lilly Reeves glanced back at Keelyn. “Are you ready?”

  Keelyn looked over the sanctuary and thought about the people she wanted to have there. Her lost family members. Her mother and father.

  The scent of cinnamon and vanilla calmed her nerves. “Ready.”

  Lilly winked and began her slow walk down the aisle.

  Lee walked up to the altar. Keelyn held her breath. He was oh so handsome in his black tuxedo with red cummerbund. His blond hair a little longer than his former military style buzz cut. On his face was the sense of peace he’d been given as a gift, he’d said, from his brush with death—a struck match of clarity. Considering his commendable service to the police department and that his indiscretions had occurred before his hiring, he’d been allowed to keep his job. Even from this distance, his blue eyes were like sapphire pools of warm water. His smile a beacon that drew her feet forward.

  “Were you going to leave without me?” Nathan took her hand and looped it through his arm. He rubbed at her fingers. “I’m so happy for the two of you.”

  “Thank you for doing this. Nothing like double duty.”

  “Best man and giver-awayer. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my day.”

  They began to walk down the aisle to Pachelbel’s Canon, the music as light and airy as Keelyn’s spirit.

  Her nerves tingled as Nathan took her hand and surrendered it to Lee. He kissed each of her fingers gently. Tears slid down her cheeks.

  “I’m never letting go”—with his other hand, Lee reached for Sophia’s chubby fingers—“of either of you.”

  About the Author

  JORDYN REDWOOD has served patients and their families for nearly twenty years and currently works as a pediatric ER nurse. As a self-professed medical nerd and trauma junkie, she was drawn to the controlled chaotic environments of critical care and emergency nursing. Her love of teaching developed early and she was among the youngest CPR instructors for the American Red Cross at the age of seventeen. Since then, she has continued to teach advanced resuscitation classes to participants ranging from first responders to MDs.

  Her discovery that she also had a fondness for answering medical questions for authors led to the creation of Redwood’s Medical Edge at http://jordynredwood.com. This blog is devoted to helping contemporary and historical authors write medically accurate fiction.

  Jordyn lives in Colorado with her husband, two daughters, and one crazy hound dog. In her spare time she also enjoys reading her favorite authors, quilting, and cross-stitching. Jordyn loves to hear from her readers and can be contacted at jredwood1@gmail.com.

  Dr. Lilly Reeves is a young, accomplished ER physician with her whole life ahead of her. But that life instantly changes when she becomes the fifth victim of a serial rapist. Believing it’s the only way to recover her reputation and secure peace for herself, Lilly sets out to find—and punish—her assailant. Sporting a mysterious tattoo and unusually colored eyes, the rapist should be easy to identify. He even leaves what police would consider solid evidence. But when Lilly believes she has found him, DNA testing clears him as a suspect. How can she prove he is guilty if science says he is not?

  ISBN: 978-0-8254-4238-4