Watch Over (The DeLuca Family Book 1)

by Amy Reece

  “That should have been me.”

  He jumped, startled, and swept his head around to see Lena leaning against the door frame. “Lena! What the fuck is this about? Untie me!” How in the hell did she get the jump on him? He was a trained police officer, for Christ’s sake! God, this was embarrassing.

  “Oh, I don’t think so, Finn.” She pushed away from the door and crossed the room, squatting down beside him. “Oh, this is my favorite part.” She pointed at the monitor. “Oh, yeah. That’s what I’m talking about. I don’t think Mel was expecting that last move, do you? You’ve got more stamina than I would have expected, especially considering your recent health issues. Huh.” She looked thoughtful.

  “That’s private!” He growled the words through gritted teeth. “How the hell did you get that?” He clenched his fists, wishing he could get them free. He’d never hit a woman in his life, but he’d gladly make Lena the first.

  “A small motion-activated camera. I got it on Amazon. They really do have everything.” She winked at him. “I hid it on the bookshelf in your bedroom a few days ago. Mel is far too trusting.” Her smile didn’t begin to reach her eyes. “You don’t even remember me, do you?”

  He was still trying to process her admission of planting a video camera in his bedroom. “Wait, what?”

  “I guess I shouldn’t blame you. You were pretty drunk that night. Too bad your partner pulled you away so soon. We could have had a good time.”

  He cast about in his memory, desperate to remember what she was talking about. The last time he’d been really drunk had been the night he’d made detective. Oh, God. “That night, about six months ago, at The Dirty Bourbon? That was you? I thought her name was Raylynn or something—”

  “It’s Raylene! God, you really don’t remember, even when I’m staring you in the face! You think you’re so much better than me, don’t you?” Her eyes were wild and her face flushed with rage.

  This woman is fucking insane! The badge bunny he’d been kissing and groping—to his everlasting shame—was a brunette. He searched her face, trying to picture her with dark hair. It didn’t help. He hadn’t really been terribly concerned with her face that night. “I’m sorry, Lena. I was drunk. I had just made detective and—”

  “Shut the fuck up!” She vaulted to her feet, kicking his ankle as she stood. The pain was excruciating, even through his walking boot. “I was back at the bar the next week and you completely brushed me off! Nobody brushes me off.” Now she was seething, her words hissing out between tight lips. “I say when it’s over! Who the fuck do you think you are?”

  Correction: dangerously fucking insane! Shit! “Hey, let’s dial this down, okay? This is all a misunderstanding, Lena. I had a girlfriend when I met you. Not Mel, but another woman. I had no right to be kissing anyone but her. I screwed up and I’m sorry. It was never about you—”

  “And that’s supposed to make it all better, right? I’m supposed to forget it? I don’t think so, Finn. You led me on, made me think we had something special.”

  He had no idea how she got that out of their brief encounter, but he did his best not to let it show in his face. He needed to try to calm her down, not fire her up any more. He was usually fairly good at talking suspects down.

  “Nobody pushes me away! Do you understand? I decide when it’s over!” She knelt down beside him again and ran her fingers through his hair. “Oh, Finn. We could have been so good together.” She leaned in and kissed him.

  He felt the gorge rising in his throat and could not force himself to kiss her back. It went against everything in him simply to hold his lips still against hers.

  She ended by biting him, drawing blood. She laughed as she stood. “I was so mad at you! I followed you after work and found out where you live. I watched you for weeks, trying to decide what I should do. Then you were out running one morning, listening to your music like you didn’t have a care in the world. You’re a selfish bastard, you know that?”

  He was beginning to get the picture. His stomach clenched as he began to comprehend what she was saying. This had never been about Mel. It was about him, always. Lena was behind everything—he’d bet his last dollar on it—and it was about him. “Did you hit me with your car, Lena?”

  She nodded, a faraway look on her face. “I didn’t plan it. You were running, totally oblivious that I was there, right behind you. ‘I could just step on the accelerator,’ I thought. ‘Wouldn’t that show him?’ So I did. I pressed down on the gas and closed my eyes when I heard the thud. I was really surprised when I heard you were still alive. I thought for sure I killed you.”

  “You nearly did. I was in a coma for ten days.”

  “Hmm. It would have been better if you’d died.” She wandered around the room, her arms clasped behind her back. “Maybe I could have moved on.”

  “The fire. That was you, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes. And the words in her yard. I thought that was an especially nice touch. When I found out you were still alive and this house was for rent, I thought I’d been given another chance. I thought we were meant to be. I heard your girlfriend dumped you, and I thought we could finally be together. But that little slut, Melanie, got to you first.”

  His teeth clenched when she talked about Mel, but he remained silent. It wouldn’t help to defend the woman he loved at this moment.

  “I still don’t understand how my plan failed. I put the lorazepam in the open wine bottle on her counter. Then all I had to do was keep an eye on her and wait for her to drink the rest of it. Did you know she never closes her kitchen curtains? She got a little sloppy with your sister that night and then couldn’t resist one more glass before bed. I really hate it when girls can’t hold their booze, don’t you? I pictured her roasting in her bed and me comforting you afterward. Goddamn cat!” She exploded with her last words and crossed the room to kick poor CJ’s crate repeatedly. “Well, I really screwed that one up. She moved in with you. The very last thing I wanted. Boy, it sure didn’t take long before you two were screwing your brains out, huh? I’m so much better than her, Finn, but you’ll never find out. I finally realized something: you’re never going to pick me, are you? There will always be someone else, because you’re a manwhore, Finn.”

  He said nothing. She clearly wasn’t rational, so nothing he said could possibly help.

  “Well,” she said briskly. “Enough of this. If I can’t have you, I’m going to make sure no one can.” She walked across the room and picked up a gun—his gun—from the desk. She expertly clicked off the safety and chambered a round before leveling it at his chest.

  God, she had his gun too? They were going to send him back to the academy after this. If he was still around. Shit, shit, shit. “Lena, you don’t want to do this.” He strove for a calm he was far from feeling.

  She smiled tightly. “Sure I do.” Her smile faltered as they heard the doorbell ring repeatedly, followed by pounding and Mel’s voice calling Lena. “Well, this is interesting. You say one word, make any kind of noise, and I’ll kill her. Do you understand? I’ll shoot her in the face.”

  He nodded, terror filling every corner of his soul.

  Lena turned and left him on the floor of the bedroom.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Mel

  Where was she? Please let her be home! Mel pounded harder on the front door and rang the doorbell again. “Lena! Please!”

  The porch lights flickered on and Lena opened the door slightly. “Mel? What on earth is wrong?”

  “Oh, Lena! I can’t find Finn, and I’m afraid something has happened! Have you seen him?”

  “No, I haven’t seen him all day. I’m sorry.”

  Mel narrowed her eyes, struck by something odd in Lena’s tone. “Are you sure? Did you see him get dropped off earlier by his partner?”

  Lena smiled, a tight kind of smile, which didn’t reach her eyes. “I said I haven’t seen him, Mel. I can’t help you. I have to go.”

  Mel took a step back, appalled b
y the woman’s meanness. She’d always been so nice before. Why would she act this way when Mel really needed her? She was desperate to find Finn and Lena was acting weird. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she watched her neighbor glare at her from the tiny wedge of space between the door and frame. Why didn’t she open it all the way? She made it abundantly clear Mel was not welcome. It was beyond strange and Mel was suddenly certain Lena was hiding something, but a lifetime of avoiding conflict had her backing away and stepping off the porch. Lena was acting strange, but maybe she had a guy over or something and wanted to get back to him. “Fine, Lena. I can see you’re busy.” She turned to go, deciding she’d tell Chris about this and let her figure it out. It was probably nothing, but it felt wrong. She made it to the bottom step.

  “You had to make this difficult, didn’t you, Mel?”

  She turned back around. Lena had opened the door and walked to the edge of the porch; she held a lethal-looking black gun in her hands, pointed straight at Mel.

  “Come in, Mel. I just remembered I did see Finn. I’m sure you’d like to see him too.”

  Oh, God! Please don’t let him be dead! Mel prayed silently as she passed Lena and walked into the house. She also prayed Lena wouldn’t be able to tell she had Finn’s gun stuffed into her pants. It was covered by the tunic she wore, and she desperately hoped it wasn’t sticking out. She had no clue what she’d do with it, but if she got a chance, she was sure she could figure something out.

  “Second bedroom on the right,” Lena said. “Finn, darling, look who showed up.” She pushed Mel into the room hard enough that she stumbled and fell.

  “Mel! God, get out of here!” Finn yelled from where he lay.

  “Oh, she’s not going anywhere.” Lena lounged against the doorjamb, the gun held loosely in her hand.

  Mel crawled across the room to Finn, angling her body slightly behind his as she leaned over him and took his face in her hands. “Are you okay?” She noticed the blood dried near his hairline and brushed her thumb slightly over his bloody, swollen lip. “What did she do to you?”

  “Mel, I’m so sorry.” Finn’s face creased with worry and sorrow.

  “This is charming, really,” Lena drawled. “But we need to move things along. I do think little Melanie is confused, so why don’t you tell her what’s going on, Finn? Then she can watch you die.” Lena spoke as if it were a completely rational menu of events.

  “Or not.” Mel reached into her waistband for the gun, pulling it out as she vaulted to her feet and stepped over Finn. “I don’t really give a flying fuck what’s going on, Lena.” She pointed the gun straight at Lena’s heart as she clicked the safety off with her thumb. She had no idea how, but a steely calm descended as she held the gun; not even the slightest of tremors marred her position. “You’re going to let us go.”

  Lena chuckled. “She’s not quite as meek and mousy as I thought, Finn. I guess it should come as no surprise, seeing what a wildcat she can be in the sack.” She jerked her chin toward the desk with the computer monitor.

  Mel spared a quick glance toward the desk, then did a literal double-take when she saw what it was. “Is that…us? Finn?”

  “Babe, it doesn’t matter. Keep that gun steady, okay?”

  She raised the gun, which had dipped as she stared at the video. “What’s going on here? Why do you have that video?” She thought furiously, trying to put the pieces together. “You’re the one who’s been stalking me?” She hurled the words at Lena. Against her will, she needed to know what this was about.

  “Not so much stalking you. It’s always been about Finn. He toyed with me, you see. I don’t like that. We had a good thing going until you came along, Melanie. We could have been happy together if you hadn’t shown up.”

  What on earth was she talking about? Did she and Finn know each other? God, had they dated? Finn would have told her, wouldn’t he?

  “Don’t listen to her, Mel. She’s lying to mess with you. We didn’t have anything going. I met her once, at a bar. I was drunk.” Finn had managed to work himself into a sitting position.

  Oh, my God. “Finn, did you and she…?” She couldn’t finish the awful question.

  “No! I swear we didn’t!”

  “Of course we did!” Lena laughed. “Well, you’ll never know for sure, huh? What are you going to do, Mel? Can you shoot me before I shoot him?”

  “Let us go, Lena. We can forget all about this if you just let us walk out of here.” Finn’s voice was soothing.

  “Do you think I’m stupid?” Lena yelled, little flecks of spittle flying out of her mouth. “You’ll just let me walk away? We’ll forget all about this?”

  “I love him, Lena. Please.” Mel wasn’t above begging. She couldn’t see a good way for this situation to end. Lena was right: if she fired at Lena, Lena would certainly shoot Finn. There was no way to keep him safe. A giant sob bubbled up as she realized the hopelessness of their situation.

  Lena smirked as she watched Mel try not to cry. “Good. I wouldn’t want this to be too easy for either one of you.”

  Mel swallowed as she steadied the gun again. “I don’t see how this ends in your favor, either. Looks to me like I may be the only one walking out of here tonight. I’ve been practicing a lot lately, and Finn says I’m a great shot. Want to see if I can put a bullet in your heart before you can shoot Finn?” It was a total bluff; they’d gone exactly once to the shooting range and she was terrible.

  “Tell her, Finn! Tell her now or I start shooting! Tell her about us!” Lena ranted from the doorway.

  “Fine,” he growled. “Keep that gun steady, babe, okay? Lena likes cops. She likes to hang out in places cops hang out, hoping to hook up with them. I ran into her the night I made detective at a bar a lot of the guys in my precinct like to frequent. I got drunk and started kissing her. My partner pulled me away before it could go very far. I’ve never messed with badge bunnies before or since. Apparently, Lena can’t take no for an answer.”

  “Shut up!” Lena screamed the words at him. “That’s not what happened! He led me on! He owes me!”

  “That’s what this is all about? Are you kidding me?” She stared at the woman. “You got rejected and you’re going to kill him because of it? You tried to kill me too, just because a guy rejected you?” Mel couldn’t believe what she was hearing. People simply didn’t do that, did they?

  “Mel, sweetheart, don’t antagonize her,” Finn warned. “She’s the one who ran me over. She will do what she says. She’s not bluffing.”

  “That’s right.” Lena smiled delightedly. “I do what I say. And I don’t get rejected! I do the rejecting! When I want someone, I get them. I say when we’re done!”

  “You’re batshit crazy, Lena! That’s not how the world works! You seriously need to get over yourself!”

  “Mel, please,” Finn begged.

  “Shut up!” Lena screamed the words at Mel as she swung the gun toward her.

  It was what Mel had been banking on; she’d been desperate to get Lena to move the gun away from Finn. She closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. From over her right shoulder she felt more than heard an explosion of glass and Lena dropped where she stood, blood blossoming on the right side of her chest.

  Finn dove awkwardly across the room, wriggling until he could reach with his feet to kick the gun away from Lena, then placed himself between her and Mel. Seconds later, Chris burst through the bedroom doorway followed swiftly by Hugh. Chris went straight to Lena, moving the gun further away and feeling for a pulse. Then she crossed to where Mel was standing and removed Finn’s nine-millimeter from her limp hand. She retrieved her cell phone from her back pocket and Mel heard her call the incident in, using some incomprehensible code. Hugh knelt behind Finn, cursing as he attempted to untie the knotted ropes Lena had used to restrain him. He reached into his pocket and Mel watched dumbly as he pulled out a pocketknife and sliced through Finn’s bonds. He helped his brother stand, asking brusquely if
he was okay.

  “I’m fine.” Finn pushed his way past Hugh and pulled Mel into his arms. He held her tightly, crooning to her softly.

  She thought she might be in shock; she couldn’t make her arms reach around his waist. She leaned against his chest, numb and cold. His warmth seeped into her slowly, finally bringing some feeling back to her limbs. She pressed closer, needing to be held even more closely. “Is she dead?”

  She felt him shake his head. “Chris called for an ambulance. You didn’t shoot her, sweetheart.”

  “I know. I pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. I tried to shoot her so she wouldn’t shoot you. I meant to shoot her.”

  “You didn’t chamber a round.”

  “Oh.”

  “It’s okay. It’s over. Let’s get you out of here.”

  ***

  Finn

  He adjusted his foot slightly, causing the ice pack to slip from the coffee table and on to the floor. “Dammit.” He muttered the words so as not to wake Mel, who was curled against his side and had finally fallen asleep. CJ, freshly bathed—much against her will—was wedged between them. She had been given water during her captivity, but had returned home starving and filthy. He held another ice pack against the giant lump on the back of his head.

  “I got it.” Hugh walked in from the kitchen carrying a steaming mug. “Here you go, Chrissy.” He handed her the mug and leaned over to replace the ice pack.

  “Thanks,” Finn said. “I hate to wake her. So what did they say?” He asked the last question of Chris, who had been outside speaking to their captain until a few minutes before.

  “Standard paid administrative leave while they investigate. They took my gun.” She sat back with a sigh and sipped the tea Hugh had prepared. “Thanks for the tea. I needed it.”