by Dover, L. P.
“No one is safe then. If there are any more women out there who look like me and my mother they’re not safe either,” I said, feeling the weight of their potential deaths on my chest. There were hundreds of times everyone thought my mother was my sister. We looked that much alike. If my mother’s ring was any indication, those other women were being killed because of something connected to mom and me. That was the question of the century, but what was the connection?
John placed a hand on my shoulder. “It’s not your fault. We’re going to find this bastard. I can promise you that. Reed’s one of the best out there. Not only is he an FBI agent, but he’s an assassin for the Circle of Justice which is a classified group run by the FBI. They hunt and kill criminals, Kennedy. If he can find this guy and kill him, it’ll all be over.”
Eyes wide, I looked over at John, and then at the back door where Reed sat just inside. I never would’ve guessed he killed people for a living. I knew there was something dangerous behind those emerald eyes of his, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
“Reed has to find him first,” I said, turning my attention back to the river. “How the hell is he going to do that when no one else knows where to look.”
“That’s where you come in.” I jerked around and Reed was right there behind us. I didn’t even hear him come out the back door.
“How can I help?” I asked. I’d do anything to find the murderous son of a bitch who took everything from me.
Reed stepped closer. “The killer is targeting women who look like you. There’s obviously a connection. Maybe an old lover? He could’ve wanted revenge and went after your mother.”
I shook my head. “The only serious relationship I had was with Dean Porter. He’s a good guy.” He just couldn’t handle my grief. A lot of it was my fault. After losing my mother, it was hard letting someone else in. I didn’t know how to let go of the pain, even though I really needed him. Luckily, I had John and Robyn, and Amy. Amy and I never were able to go on that vacation we planned prior to my attack, but she’s been to Vermont to visit often. If I went into protective custody, I wouldn’t be able to see any of them.
John waved a hand in the air. “Dean checked out. He’s an upstanding guy in the community.”
Reed’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe none of this has to do with you. Maybe it has to do with your mother.”
My mother was a wonderful, sweet, caring woman. She wasn’t the type of person you could get angry at. As far as I knew, she never had any enemies. “Everyone loved my mom,” I informed him.
He shrugged. “You never know. That’s what I want to find out.”
John cupped my elbow. “Why don’t you consider going into protective custody? You’ve been living in secret since the attack and having someone to watch over you wouldn’t be much different.” I didn’t move to Vermont to be in protective custody. I was able to come and go as I pleased, only I did decide to use a different name to keep the press away from me. The only people who knew I was in Vermont were John, Robyn, and Amy, and they haven’t told anyone where I am.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Reed cut in before I could answer. “But she needs to come with me to Wyoming. It’s the only place I can guarantee she’ll be safe.” John and I both stared over at him.
Brows furrowed, I focused on him. “How is that?” I didn’t want to leave Vermont, but I would if I needed to. And there was something about this guy that I knew he could protect me.
Reed let out a sigh. “In Wyoming, you’d be surrounded by me and my brothers. They’re assassins like me. Our land is like a fortress. No one can get in without us knowing. There’s no way the killer can make a move there.” That definitely sounded like the kind of place I wanted to be.
John nodded in approval. “I’d feel much better if she did go to Wyoming with you.”
I looked down at Buttercup, and my heart ached looking at her puppy dog eyes. “What about Buttercup? I can’t leave her here.”
Buttercup perked up, wagging her tail back and forth as Reed knelt down and petted her. “She can come with us. She’ll have a lot more land to run around on.” He stood and moved closer to me, his eyes searching mine. “You don’t have to leave, Kennedy. I can stay here in Vermont and protect you while I investigate.”
My heart did a strange flip-flopping thing and I had to catch my breath. All I could do was stare at him. “I’m sure you have better things to do than watch over me,” I said. “Babysitting can’t be part of your job description.”
His expression turned dangerously serious. “No, but protecting the innocent is. I want to help you, Kennedy. And the other potential victims the killer is plotting against. We can end this together. All I need is your help. Whoever this guy is, he’s no match for me. It’s up to you though.”
John turned me toward him. “Go to Wyoming. You can trust Reed. I would trust anyone in his family with my life.” Coming from John that was a huge compliment. I trusted him implicitly, over the past year he’d become like a father to me.
“Okay,” I agreed, “I’ll go to Wyoming. I’m done for the summer, but as soon as school starts back up, I need to come back. I can’t stay hidden forever.”
John raised his brows and Reed nodded in understanding. We had the whole summer to find the killer. I just prayed it was enough time.
John breathed a sigh of relief. “All right, I think it’s settled. Let’s just hope and pray this guy doesn’t leave a path of dead bodies in his attempt to find you.”
If the killer was doing it to get the media attention to find me, there really was no option. I couldn’t let innocent people die because of me. I rubbed a hand over my chest. It’d been six months and I could still feel the sharpness of the knife.
“If the killer is doing it to get to me,” I said, looking at both Reed and John, “then we need to leak the story. If anything, maybe it’ll help warn the kind of women he’s targeting. I don’t want anyone else dying because that sick piece of shit wants to screw with me.”
Reed’s lips tilted slightly, almost as if I’d surprised him. Don’t get me wrong, I was scared of the unknown, but I wasn’t helpless. I fought off my attacker once and I could do it again. With Reed being a trained killer, I couldn’t think of anyone else who was better equipped to help me.
John held up a hand. “Eventually it may come to that Kennedy, but we’re not ready to share the details to the press yet. I don’t think we can prevent them from finding out about the two new victims but that’s all they’ll need to know for now.” Then he turned to Reed. “I’ll get your dad to help us with the media. He’s been managing it for me all along, and then when you think you’re ready to move in on the killer we can discuss what more needs to shared. Sound good?”
Reed nodded. “Exactly. Let’s find out what we’re dealing with before we expose too much information that might be useful in finding this asshole.” His eyes shifted to mine. “If it’s all right with you, we’ll leave for Wyoming in a couple of days. I want to secure your place here before we leave.”
My insides trembled and I smiled. “It’s a plan.”
I didn’t know what to do or how to feel. My mother’s murderer was still out there and I had no clue what his next move would be. However, after everything I’d been told, it was quite obvious … he wanted me.
Chapter Seven
Reed
After everything John and I laid on Kennedy last night, she was mentally exhausted. John had gone out to grab some food while I stayed at the house with her. Afterward, I’d helped her into her bedroom where she slept through the night. I took the guest bedroom across the hall from her while John took the one further down. When I offered to help John on the case, I didn’t realize I was going to be Kennedy’s bodyguard, but something about it felt right. Kennedy didn’t strike me as the type to need help, especially after escaping her attacker. John had told me some of the details of her ordeal and I have to admit, I’m impressed with her savvy and stamina. There was a feeling inside me t
hat told me I was in the right place, and helping Kennedy was what I was meant to do right now.
I tried to dig up as much information as I could that wasn’t already in Martha Scott’s file. On the surface, there wasn’t much to find. Kennedy and her mom were much loved in the town; as teachers and members of the community they were both very highly thought of. Though all that said, there was something I couldn’t see just yet, something I was missing. But I was determined to find it.
Their lives seemed pretty normal after her father’s death. They worked, went to church, seemed to live very basic lives, nothing that would be considered controversial that would draw attention. Some of the pictures on social media really showed the mother daughter resemblance, and their love for one another. Martha was an older, just as beautiful, Kennedy.
Kennedy needed me. She needed my protection and instinctively I was all in. Strange after all of the women I’ve dated, after Faith in particular, someone like Kennedy could tease my animal instincts. Her long legs, tanned skin, beautiful hazel eyes and thick wavy hair got me hard.
Footsteps sounded on the wood floor outside of the bedroom and a soft knock rapped on the door. “Reed?” Kennedy called. “You awake?”
“Come in,” I said, shutting my laptop. I turned around in the chair just as she opened the door, dressed in a light blue Carolina Tarheel shirt and black running shorts with her dark blonde hair in a messy bun. She held a Harry Potter themed mug in her hand that read I solemnly swear I am up to no good. As adorable as she looked, I noticed there was something different about her.
She glanced at the tidy, purple colored bed and then back to me, her brows furrowed. “Did you stay up all night?”
Still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, I stood and cracked my neck to the side. “I had some work to do. Don’t worry, I’ll sleep fine tonight.”
The smell of bacon wafted into the room and my stomach growled. She tried to hold back her smile and failed. “Breakfast is ready. I’m sorry I wasn’t much company last night. You didn’t have to stay in the purple room. I know it’s kind of girly in here. The bed was probably too short for you anyway — is that why you didn’t sleep?”
That it was, but the purple room was right across the hall from hers. If I was to keep her safe, I wanted to be close to her, even if the walls and bedspread were all light purple with white lacy curtains on the windows. I looked around the room and smiled. “It didn’t bother me.”
She grinned and nodded toward the hall. “Come on, let’s eat. We have to drop John off at the airport and I know we have a lot to talk about.”
We walked together down the hall and then to the stairs. I looked over at her coffee cup realizing it smelled like hot chocolate, not coffee. “Guess you’re a Harry Potter fan?” I asked.
Her grin widened. “The biggest. I think I’ve watched every single movie about a hundred times. You?”
That made me laugh. “A little less than that. I do like Harry Potter though, but I have a friend back home who loves it probably just as much as you.” I could see Faith and Kennedy getting along really well.
“Ah, a girlfriend?” Kennedy asked, her eyes twinkling.
I looked over at her and smirked. “No, just a friend. She’s getting married this October.” We walked into the kitchen and Buttercup rushed over to Kennedy and then to me. I scratched behind her ears and kneeled down to her level. “You’re going to love Wyoming,” I said to her. “I have acres of land and horses you can play with.”
Kennedy knelt down beside us and Buttercup licked her face, making her laugh. “I haven’t been on a horse in years. My mother used to take me riding all the time when I was little.” Her eyes glistened as if she was remembering old times, but she kept her attention on Buttercup. Not having known Kennedy that long I could see she was a master at suppressing her feelings. Lord knows the girl must have a lot of them after all she’s been through.
“We can go riding as much as you want,” I told her. “There’s a lot I can show you. My family has a ton of land and there are trails everywhere. You’ll love the mountains.”
She took a deep breath and let it out slow. “That’s what I’m hoping.” Her voice was so low I didn’t know if she wanted me to hear or not, but then she looked over at me and shook her head, quickly glancing over at John and then back to me. “I’ll tell you later.”
John watched us curiously. His bag was packed and sitting by the door. “Happy to see you two getting along so well,” he said, filling his plate with eggs and bacon. “Makes me feel a lot better about leaving.”
Kennedy stood and handed me a plate off the counter, but kept her eyes on John. “I’ll be fine, John, I promise. I had a dream last night that really put everything into perspective.”
He stared at her as if he’d never seen her before. “Oh yeah? What was it about?”
She lifted the mug to her lips and stared back at him, and it was in that moment, I really noticed a change from last night. Her smile faded and she shrugged, and in her eyes, the fear I saw the day before had been replaced with something else … determination.
“Let’s just say,” she began, “that I’m ready for my nightmare to be over.”
I walked over to the stove and scooped some eggs onto my plate. “That’s what I’m here for.” The sooner I could get the answers I needed and hunt down that murderous bastard, the better. I was ready to find him.
*
We dropped John off at the airport and started our way back to Kennedy’s house while Buttercup sat in the backseat with her head hanging out the window. I always wondered why dogs did that. Were they warm or did they just like the smell of the air?
“What made you want to move to Vermont?” I asked, turning my attention to Kennedy as she drove. Even though she dressed casually in skinny jeans and an off the shoulder sort of sweatshirt, the woman exuded sexy.
Kennedy smiled. “Take a look around. It’s perfect here. The weather’s nice and it’s beautiful. Not to mention, Vermont is one of the safest states to live in.”
It was definitely one of the safest. Out of all the years my family had worked for the Circle of Justice, there was never a target we had to hunt in Vermont. On another note, it was beautiful in the Green Mountain state.
“I agree with you,” I said, looking out the window. Maybe I should open it and hang my head out, it was getting warm in here. “But I think you’ll love Wyoming better. And I’m not just saying that because it’s my home.” The weather was definitely not as hot in Vermont as it would be where she was from in North Carolina. Back there it’d be in the mid-eighties, but here it was hovering around seventy degrees with a light breeze. I had to admit, it was pretty nice, but in Wyoming the weather would be just about perfect. I couldn’t wait to get back home and show Kennedy around. Geez, where did that come from?
Kennedy smiled. She really had a perfect smile. “I miss North Carolina. I’d give anything to feel like I belong again. My real home was with my mom, but that place doesn’t exist anymore.”
Thinking about her mother made me think of mine. I knew what it was like to lose a parent, but I didn’t lose my mother as tragically as she had. “I felt the same way when I lost my mother,” I confessed.
Kennedy’s attention jerked my way and I could see the empathy on her face. “How did she die?”
Closing my eyes, I could see it all as if it happened yesterday. “It happened a few years ago before I joined the FBI. Her cancer had spread so much that her chemo couldn’t keep up. I was right beside her when she died.”
Her voice shook when she spoke. “Reed, I’m so sorry.” She looked over at me and there were tears in her eyes. “I bet she’d be proud to know you’re an FBI agent now.”
I shrugged. “Maybe, but not so much if she knew I was an assassin. She wanted me to move to Charlotte to help my father run Chandler Enterprises with my older brother, Wade. If she knew all of the things we’ve done, she’d have had a heart attack.”
Kennedy’s eyes
widened in shock. “Your family owns Chandler Enterprises? John didn’t tell me that.”
That made me laugh. “We do. We own a lot of land in Wyoming as well. You’ll see when we get out there tomorrow.”
She shook her head in awe. “You must be worth like billions of dollars. Why do you still want to work if you have all that money?” We pulled up at her house and she turned to me, waving her hand in the air. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. It’s none of my business.”
Buttercup whimpered in the backseat so Kennedy opened her door and she jumped out. “You can ask me anything you want,” I said, opening the car door. “I’m about to learn everything there is to know about you and your family so it’s only fair.”
Kennedy got out and we followed Buttercup to the back yard. Her brows lifted and she nodded. “True. I didn’t think about it like that.”
We stopped at the fence and I watched Buttercup run down to the river. “But answering your question, I do what I do because I want to help people. Yes, I’m an assassin, but I think about all the innocent lives I’ve saved by getting rid of the evil shit in this world. And even then, it’s still not enough.” It never would be either. There was always going to be more bad people in the world. All I had to do was keep on fighting for the good.
“Isn’t it dangerous though?” Kennedy asked.
I looked right into her eyes. “No. Especially when they don’t know you’re coming. That’s what makes it terrifying for them. I like it when you can see their fear. They deserve all the pain they get.”
I thought I’d said a little too much, but by the look on her face she didn’t seem to be scared at all. Other than Faith, she was the only other female besides the ones in my family I’d been able to talk to about it.
Killing was not something I enjoy per say, though I was happy to rid the earth of horrible people — and it was only because there was no other alternative for these types of villains, they want to die…needed to die. Because killing others was their lives. They were just that evil.