by Rayna Vause
“What do you want from me? I can’t tell you what I don’t know. What I can’t see.”
Jack turned away from Chris and dropped his head forward. “It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t take my frustrations out on you. I’m just not looking forward to going to see my sister lying pale and injured in a hospital bed. I want to catch Kyle and wrap my hands around his throat for being a psycho, spoiled brat.” He shook his head. “Let’s get going. We’ll nab coffee on the way.”
Jack checked his phone constantly as they headed from the suite to Jack’s car. They’d given the hospital instructions to call at any time if Angelica woke during the night, and so far, they’d heard nothing.
“I have a brief meeting I can’t cancel early this afternoon. I’d prefer you come back with me, but I know you won’t. Connor has a guard on the door. Try to stay in the room, and if you have to leave, let the guard know. Text me. We all stay in contact as much as possible. Got it?”
“Same page. I don’t want the things that I’ve seen in my dreams to happen any more than you do.”
They sat in determined silence until the car pulled up in front of the hospital.
“Maybe this time my stupid visions will show something useful. Maybe they’ll finally help us.”
Jack cut off whatever else Chris might have said. “This pain Kyle is inflicting would have happened with or without you and your visions. And in all of these maybes, let me tell you one thing that’s certain—I’d rather face this insanity with you than to never have had you come back into my life at all.” Jack shoved the car door open, slid out of the car, and rounded the rear of the vehicle. He opened Chris’s door and reached for him.
Chris took Jack’s hand and they went into the hospital together.
CHRIS hesitated in the door of Angelica’s room. He looked at her, lying still as death on the bed. Both Jack and Connor stood at her bedside, talking to her, holding her hands, trying to coax her back to consciousness. Chris’s heart clenched at the looks on their faces when Angie remained unconscious despite their best efforts to get her to wake up and react. They sat with her, talked with her, tried to call her back from the depths of her mind, but she remained unresponsive.
As Jack rose to leave for his meeting, Chris walked over and eased down into the still-warm chair.
Before Jack left he leaned town and spoke low, but firm. “Be safe. Stay alert. Try not to leave the room.”
Once Jack and Connor were gone, Chris scooted closer to the bed and took Angie’s hand.
“Hey, Ang. Looks like it’s just us now.” He chattered on about anything, everything. The contents of a celebrity magazine he’d found, the status of the club repairs, his mother’s health. But Angelica continued to lay pale and still.
“I guess you need your rest after the ordeal you’ve been through, huh? That’s good. Sleep will help you heal, but I’d really like you to open your eyes. Just let me know you’re doing fine, and then you can go right back to sleep.”
The machinery beeped monotone and constant. No response.
“God, this is so strange. In all the time I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you this motionless. You’re always doing, going, laughing. This is unnerving.”
Nothing.
“What am I going to do, Angie? The dreams are getting worse. They’re coming every night. This crazy situation is about to come to a head; I know it. So much has happened. And then there’s your brother. Relationships were not on my to-do list. I never intended to let myself get close to him. How do I get myself into these situations?” He paused and leaned forward to rest his brow against the cool metal of the bedrail. “What am I going to do? I could really use some advice. We’ve got Kyle trying to kill us, and that Bob Dooley guy trying to make everyone miserable, and I don’t want to make Jack’s job impossible from my mere presence.”
“Trust him.”
Chris jolted at the sound of Angelica’s rough, raspy voice.
“Ang!”
Angie’s eyes fluttered open and her medication-glazed eyes locked with his. Pressure built behind his eyes and his throat closed. He squeezed her hand and pressed the back of it to his cheek.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” he croaked out as a huge grin spread across his face. “How are you feeling?”
Angie grimaced in response. “Like I got blown up.”
“Oh god, oh god, I’m so sorry. If only I had gotten to you faster. Pushed you through the door first….” He stifled a sob.
“Stop. Just stop. Stop with the blame—I mean it. The only person at fault is Kyle and that ass, Dooley. We’ve been over this!”
“Why Dooley?”
“Because the pain in the ass made this entire situation worse than it should have been, and he distracted us from the person we really should have been after.” Angelica gasped, clamped down on Chris’s hand, and squeezed her eyes shut.
“Are you in pain? I should get a nurse. Then I should call Jack and Connor. They’re worried sick about you. They’ll want to know you’re awake.” Chris stared to rise, but Angelica wouldn’t release him.
“Trust them, Chris. Trust that they won’t let your nightmares come true. Trust that what he feels for you is real.”
Chris opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He looked at Angelica for a moment longer and as he did, Angie’s eyes drooped again.
“Okay you need a nurse now.” Spurred into action, he rushed to grab the control box that hung over the top of the bed and pressed the call button. When he noted a scrubs-clad woman walking past the door, he called out. “Hey, I need help in here. Angelica Whitman just woke up a few moments ago.”
The medical staff rushed in to attend to Angie and chased Chris from the room. He loitered in the doorway as long as he could before other medical staff directed him to the waiting room with the promise to call him as soon as they were done checking Angie over.
Chris tried to loiter near the nurses’ station where he’d be in the line of sight of the guard on duty. He found a spot along the wall and tapped the speed dial for Jack, but the phone wouldn’t connect. The cinder block walls blocked his bargain-basement provider’s signal from getting through. The frustration of a crappy signal couldn’t dampen his joy.
“Sir?”
He glanced to up to see a beleaguered floor nurse looking at him.
“Sir, we have to keep the halls clear. Please go to the family waiting room. We’ll let you know when you can visit with Ms. Whitman again.”
He glanced at the guard, who approached the nurse to explain the situation. A few moments later he had a promise from the nurse to contact hospital security to watch over Chris in the waiting room. He made his way down the hallway, continually tapping speed dial.
“Come on, stupid thing.” He cursed at his phone but kept trying. Jack needed to know about Angie and he’d feel better talking to Jack until the guard arrived.
Chris bumped into someone as he made his way down the corridor. “Oh, excuse me.” He tried to sidestep around the person he’d collided with, but they continued to block his way.
“Excuse me?” Chris looked at the scrubs-clad person standing before him, and when his gaze locked with gray eyes similar to Jack’s, ice shot through him.
Kyle had changed from the arrogant kid Jack had sent to prison—he’d gained weight, his hair hung longer, and he looked unkempt—but Chris remembered from the press during the trial. If he hadn’t, he’d have known from those silver eyes. On Jack they were beautiful; Kyle’s were empty and unnerving.
“Terribly sorry. I just need to get by.” Malice poured off Kyle in thick, suffocating waves. Shit, run, now.
Chris turned to race back to the cop guarding Angelica’s door, but Kyle grabbed his arm and jabbed something small and hard against his back. Chris’s heart galloped in his chest. The rushing of his blood deafened him.
“A shame my little ‘gift’ to Angie didn’t work as planned, but I figure this works out just as well. I’ll need you to co
me with me. Scream and you die right here and now.”
“Kyle, don’t do this.” Chris held his breath.
“So my brother did tell you about me. Or was it a vision.”
Chris stared but said nothing.
Kyle shrugged. “Doesn’t matter if you remember nothing else about me, but remember this.” He clenched his teeth and growled his words. “I’m pissed and I’ve got nothing to lose. Now smile, wave at the guard, and we’ll calmly walk away.”
Chapter Ten
“ANG?” Jack called her name, keeping his voice soft as he moved to stand next to her bed.
“Hey, beautiful.” Connor crossed to stand at the other side.
“Hey,” she rasped out in response. “Where’ve you two been?”
“We came the minute we got the word. When we got here, you were surrounded by doctors. You gave me a scare for a minute there.” Jack smiled down at her and took her hand in his. At the sight of her smile, Jack took the first normal breath he’d felt in ages. “Where’d Chris get off to?” Jack glanced around the room, expecting Chris to appear at the mention of his name.
“He was here earlier. I remember seeing and talking to him after I woke up. I hurt, and he went to get the people that came in to poke and prod. That wasn’t fun. But then they gave me the good stuff, and everything is happy and floaty again.” She gave the two men a wide, dopey grin.
Jack sent Connor a concerned glance. “He didn’t come back?”
“The doctors booted him out while they poked at me. I haven’t seen him since.”
“How long ago?” His eyes met Connor’s, and a wave of nausea rolled through him.
“Don’t know. Been sleeping.” Angelica slurred, her eyelids drooping as sleep claimed her.
“Con, we need to find him.”
Connor nodded, anger and worry flashing in his eyes. “You try calling his cell phone. I’m going to check in with the guard and see if anyone at the nurses’ station knows where he went.”
Jack dialed Chris’s cell number. The phone rang once, twice, then connected. A cool, detached, and familiar voice spoke. His entire body went cold.
“Hello, Jack. It’s been a while.”
“Kyle.”
“How nice to know you haven’t forgotten the sound of my voice, especially as it’s been five long years since you’ve heard it. That hurt, Jack. All that time locked away, and I didn’t get a single letter or e-mail. I’m hurt that you didn’t come visit me, Jack. It wasn’t nice. I was so lonely.”
“Kyle, where are you? What have you done with Chris? I’ll kill you if you hurt him.”
“Hurt him? I haven’t laid a finger on your boyfriend.” Disgust dripped from Kyle’s voice. “He is quite attractive, though. I can almost see the appeal.”
“You keep your fucking hands off him,” Jack growled.
“Now is that any way to talk to your long-lost brother?” Kyle laughed.
Jack balled his hand into a fist. “You were never lost. I know exactly where I left you. Sadly, you’re no longer there. Now, put Chris on the phone. I want to talk to him. I want to hear from Chris that he’s not hurt, you bastard.”
“No need to resort to name-calling. He’ll stay as safe as can be. If….”
“If what? What the hell do you want?” A bead of sweat rolled down Jack’s back as he resisted the urge to punch the wall.
“I want a lot of things, Jack. Right now I just want to talk. That’s not too much to ask, is it?”
“Put. Him. On. The. Phone. Now!” He saw Angelica jerk in bed, and a passing nurse rushed into the room at his barked command. He forced a smile and gave an apologetic wave. The nurse frowned at him, checked Angelica, and departed.
“Temper, Jack. Let me just go get him for you.” The phone went quiet for a moment. Then Jack heard Kyle’s menacing bark. “Talk.”
“Jack?” Chris’s steady voice sounded through the phone, with the tiniest hint of a quiver to indicate his fear.
“Are you okay, baby?”
“I’m fine. I’m so sorry, Jack.”
“Don’t apologize. We’re going to get you out of this. Just hang in there and do what you must to stay safe.”
“I will.”
“Chris, I lo—” He blinked. A complex mix of emotions swirled through him clogging his throat. He shoved them back. No time to analyze now.
“Jack, is love in the air?”
“None of your damn business,” he growled at Kyle.
“That’s so sweet!” Kyle taunted. “I think we should have a little family reunion, don’t you?”
“Where and when?” Jack ground out.
“Tonight at nine. The dock at the house. I think that’s appropriate, don’t you?”
“I’ll be there.”
Kyle snorted. “I know you will. Oh, one more thing. I’ll need some pocket money. Let’s say… two million. Shouldn’t be a problem for you to get that. It’s chump change for a Whitman. Or it should be—and yet you sent me to jail over it.” Kyle spat out each word until he all but snarled at Jack.
“You stole that money.”
“Please. That cash was barely a blip on your financial radar. It was nothing.” Kyle sucked in a breath, then went silent.
“Kyle.”
When he answered the cheerful malevolence wound through the phone again. “Still here, but I need to go. I don’t want to stay on the phone too long and be rude to my guest. And Jack, I see cops anywhere… well, I’m sure you can imagine what will happen.”
“Kyle!” Jack yelled as the line went dead. He wrapped his hand around the phone and cocked back his arm as though to throw it across the room, but managed to stifle the urge. He smacked his hand against the cinder block wall multiple times, hard enough to leave his palm red and tingling.
Connor rushed back into Angelica’s room and froze when he saw Jack’s face.
Jack didn’t mince words. “Kyle’s got him. He just called.”
“Dammit, I prayed I was wrong. The guard saw him disappear with someone who looked like medical personnel. He started to go check on him, but Chris waved him off. Shit! What does that bastard want?”
“A meeting. Tonight, at the family home.”
Connor rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Okay, that doesn’t give us long to get organized. We need to get a plan in place so we can end this quickly and safely.”
“I’m going to meet him, Con. I got Chris tangled up in this mess and I’m going to be there to help him.”
“Of course you are. We’ll figure this out. We’re going to get Chris out, but we’re not going to go off half-cocked.”
Jack hesitated, then nodded. “I can’t lose him, Con. Understand that I’m not going to stand back and hope that your negotiator says all the right things. He could decide to kill Chris if we don’t follow his instructions to the letter.”
Connor reached out for Jack’s shoulder. “We’re not going to let that happen. We’re going to be smart and thorough, and finally nail this crazy little shit. On the off chance he comes back here, he’ll be recognized. I circulated his picture here at the hospital so that staff and security will recognize him. Plus an APB has already gone out. Law enforcement all over the city will be looking for Chris and Kyle. Now we should start getting organized for tonight. We’ll get Chris back, Jack.”
Jack nodded as an oily wave of sickness flooded through him. “I need to go to the bank before it closes.”
Connor frowned.
“I know paying isn’t smart, but I’d rather have the money on hand for a worst-case scenario. Then I’ll come back here and fill her in.”
“Fine. I’m going to head to the precinct. I need to get things mobilized. She’s going to be pissed once she’s conscious and coherent.”
Jack nodded and gave Connor’s shoulder a friendly slap. “Thanks, Con. She doesn’t need to worry about this, and I wish she didn’t have to. I want her to rest and heal. But knowing my sister—well, I’ll deal with her temper later. Right now we ne
ed to focus on rescuing Chris.”
“YOU and Connor would wait until I’m stuck in the damn hospital to go off and do something stupid.” Angelica glared at Jack from the confines of her hospital bed.
“Angie, please. I don’t need a lecture. Not now. I wasn’t about to stand on the sidelines while Chris’s life is on the line because of me. Be pissed at me if you want, but I’m glad you’re stuck here. I don’t want you in danger too.” Jack stood at her bedside, taking in every bruise, every bandage, every patch of red, abraded skin.
“This is because of Kyle, not you.” She grabbed his arm and shook it at the end of each statement. “This is because our spineless father gave in to the trophy bitch and reproduced with her. Because he let her systematically wipe us out of their lives like we were mistakes to be erased. Because we didn’t fit into her perfect little scheme.”
“In my head, I know that. Doesn’t make it any easier to accept, even after all this time.”
“I know.” She sighed. “I still don’t understand why you’re the one that has to go in after Chris. You’re not exactly Jason Statham, you know.”
He rolled his eyes at her. “You know how to make a guy feel really good about himself, Ang. I can take care of myself and you most of the time. These last few weeks have been the exception.”
She reached up and touched his face “You always take care of me, always. And you know what I mean. Why can’t they just send in SWAT to rescue Chris and kill Kyle?”
“We have to play this Kyle’s way, or at least make him think we are.” He frowned. “And I think you meant capture Kyle, right?”
“Isn’t that what I said?” She gave him a wide-eyed look. “Make me a promise.”
He took her outstretched hand, returned the squeeze.
“I want you to be extra careful. Kyle is nuttier than a fruitcake, and that will make him unpredictable. I want you safe and unhurt. Kyle has already done enough damage. No more. You hear me?”
He nodded. “I want Kyle back in jail too. I want everything to settle down for a little while, to go back to normal.” Jack’s phone beeped. He checked the screen and gritted his teeth. The muscle in his cheek twitched.