Dangerous Betrayals

by Dover, L. P.

  Swallowing hard, I closed my eyes. “My brother … Jude Hoffner.”

  When I opened my eyes, Amy swayed on her feet and I had to steady her. “Holy shit in a handbasket.” She closed a hand over her mouth. “How is this possible?” she cried.

  I placed my hands on her shoulders. “I’ll tell you everything, but for right now, I need you to pack your things and come with us. I’m not leaving you here alone.”

  Her hands shook. “You’re damn right, you’re not. I’m not staying here by myself. That psycho knows where I live.”

  She ran into her room and I followed in to help her. I knew where her suitcase was so I fetched it out of the closet and tossed it on her bed. She opened her dressers and threw handfuls of clothes into it. I could see her unraveling right before my eyes. Her soft tears turned into gut-wrenching sobs.

  “I’m so sorry, Amy,” I said, wrapping my arms around her. “I know this is a lot to take in. We just found out who he was. The last thing I expected was to see you with him.”

  She clutched me hard. “Aren’t you going to call the police? He needs to be arrested.”

  When I didn’t answer, she let me go, studying me with narrowed eyes. “Why didn’t you answer me?”

  “Because Reed and I are going to go after him ourselves. I need to face him, on my own.”

  “Are you insane,” she snapped, glaring at me. “It’s dangerous. This guy killed your mother and three other women. Who knows, he’s probably killed more than that.” I had no doubt. We need to have proof of that, though his confession of killing my mother was all I needed.

  I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I need to do this.”

  She threw more clothes in her suitcase and closed it up. “So help me God, Kennedy, you’ve always been so damn stubborn.” But then her eyes softened. “Are you going to kill him?” Before I could answer, she lifted her hands. “Wait, I don’t want to know.”

  “Good idea,” I agreed.

  Once her bag was packed, she carried it into the living room. Reed glanced back at us and focused on Amy. “Did Jude say where he was going out of town?”

  Amy set her suitcase down on the floor. “California, I believe. He said it was to visit family.”

  I shook my head. “Lie. He doesn’t have any. And now I don’t because of him.” We were so close, and I could feel the hate eating me up inside. I was ready to finish it, to be free.

  Reed typed away on his laptop. “I’m going to hack into the different airlines and see if I can find where he’s going.”

  Amy stared curiously at me and whispered. “He can do that?”

  I nodded. “He can do anything.”

  We both watched Reed with fascination as he clicked through so many different pages on the screen. He did it so fast it made me dizzy. The level of intelligence he had astounded me. I could never grasp the amount of brain power it took for him to do the things he did.

  Amy’s mouth gaped and she shook her head. “I don’t know what he’s doing, but I’m impressed.”

  Reed clicked on a few more things, and then stopped. “I got it.”

  My heart stopped. “Where’s he going?”

  He stood and turned his serious gaze to me. “Vermont.” Then his eyes shifted over to Amy. “I can only imagine why.”

  I peered over at Amy and she clutched her stomach. “Oh my God,” she gasped, looking frantically at me, “he’s going to your house, isn’t he?”

  Clenching my teeth, it was hard not giving in to the anger. “How does he know where I live, Amy? Did you tell him?”

  Tears flooded her eyes. “Hell no! How could you think that? Jude and I never talked about you.”

  Reed and I looked at each other and he shrugged. “If that’s true, then he had to see something while he was here.” He focused on Amy. “When he came over to dinner, did he ever go out of your sight?”

  Eyes wide, Amy covered her mouth. “Yes. There were several times. I didn’t think anything of it.”

  “What do you have here that could help him find Kennedy?” Reed asked.

  Amy shook her head as if there was nothing, but then all the color drained from her face. “No, no no,” she cried, running back to her room. I chased after her and watched her frantically rummage through one of her nightstand drawers. She pulled out a stack of cards, and right then, I knew.

  “Fuck,” I huffed, turning to face Reed. “I know how he knows.”

  Amy threw all the cards on her bed and searched through them. “It’s not here, Kennedy. He took the birthday card you sent me.”

  Reed sighed. “And, of course, it had your Vermont address on it.”

  I nodded. “At that time, the killer was Shawn. I didn’t think anything of it.”

  The thought of Jude going up to Vermont to kill me made me sick and furious all at the same time. In a way, I wished I was back up there so I could wait on him. I didn’t want his taint touching anything else of mine. Vermont was my safe place, and I planned on it staying that way.

  Reed tilted his head toward the door. “Let’s get out of here. We have a lot to do.”

  Amy broke down and I draped my arm around her. “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “If you didn’t know who he was by now, he’d be on his way to kill you.”

  “Shh … it’s okay,” I whispered, guiding her out of her room. “I’m ready for him.”

  We couldn’t let Jude get on that plane. It was time to take him down.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Reed

  It was midnight and everything was set. Jude was at his house, no doubt planning his every move once he got to Vermont. I couldn’t wait to see the look on the bastard’s face when I showed up.

  Mine and Kennedy’s guns were loaded and on the bed. I was ready to go. We brought Amy to the lake house, and Kennedy was in the guest bedroom with her, watching TV. There was just one thing I had left to do.

  Picking up my phone, I called my superior and leader of the Circle of Justice, Peter Johnson. I hadn’t spoken to him since I took on the job of protecting Kennedy. With everything going down tonight, I was going to need the FBI’s help. Peter was good at covering up a messy situation. He had his own team of people in every state who would come in and handle it for him. Every time we knocked one of our targets off the list, Peter would be on it. All I had to do was go in and get the job done.

  Peter picked up the phone and chuckled. “Reed Chandler. I was wondering when I’d hear from you again. Your father filled me in on the case you’re working on. Pretty brutal stuff there.”

  “That’s about to come to an end,” I informed him. “I found the killer. I’m going after him tonight.”

  “Good,” he agreed. “This isn’t going to be a giant fiasco like that one in New York with the mafia family, is it?”

  “No. I’ll call you when it’s done.”

  “Be safe out there, Chandler. It’s good to have you back. Will you be back on schedule when it’s over?” That was a good question. Just the other day, I would’ve said hell yeah, but now, there was a clenching feeling in my gut. If things worked out it wasn’t just me anymore. “I don’t know,” I replied. “I think I’m going to take some time off.”

  Peter chuckled. “Don’t tell me your father got you wrangled in to help Wade at Chandler Enterprises?”

  “Not just no, but hell no,” I said, laughing. A soft knock sounded on the door and Kennedy tiptoed in, dressed in a pair of black pants and a black T-shirt. She sat on the bed and I smiled at her, but I could see the tension on her face. “I’ll let you know my plans. But for right now, just be prepared to keep me off the grid for a couple of months.”

  “Okay, son. I knew it’d happen one day. For the record though, you’re the best at figuring out the cold cases. I’d hate to see someone with your caliber throw those talents away. Then again, I know the kind of stress it puts you under.”

  “Trust me, I can handle it. There’s just other reasons why I want to take time off.” One being after tonight, I didn’t
want to leave Kennedy alone.

  She was going to need the time to decompress, and I wanted to be there for her, even if she thinks she’s not going to need help.

  We hung up and Kennedy stared curiously at me. “You’re not going back to work after tonight?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “I’ve never really had a vacation. Figured it was time I take one. Want to go with me?”

  Her gaze narrowed. “Is this a trick question?”

  After strapping on my double shoulder holster, I grabbed her hands and pulled her off the bed. “What do you say? Once all of this is over, we fly to whatever place you want to go.”

  The tension in her body eased. “Wow. I don’t know what to say.”

  I pressed my lips to hers. “Say you’ll go.”

  She shrugged. “Okay, I’ll go. First, we have to get through tonight.”

  Cupping her face in my hands, I looked right into her eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this? I can go alone.”

  Her jaw clenched. “No. I’m ready.”

  I stared at her for a few seconds and let her go. “All right, let’s get you holstered up.”

  Once I had her strapped in, I watched her pick up the Glock 17 like a pro. The safety was on, but she checked it anyway before sliding it into her holster. There were three other guns on the bed, but she knew the Sig Sauer and the Ruger were mine. I slid those two into their holsters and put on a thin, black jacket to hide them. We were all ready to go.

  “What’s Amy doing?” I asked.

  Kennedy nodded toward the hallway. “Asleep. It’s after midnight and she’s exhausted.”

  “She’ll be safe here,” I assured her. “I have everything taken care of. My people at the bureau are standing by for my call. They’ll handle all the aftermath and get in touch with the local PD.”

  “And then John will know.”

  I could only imagine how pissed he was going to be at me. “It’s not going to be fun when he shows up.”

  Kennedy shook her head. “Not in the least.”

  “As much as I know you want to see him, we can’t be there when he does; especially, you. We can’t run the risk of someone seeing you. The media will be everywhere.”

  “I know,” she agreed. “I’m sure we’ll see him tomorrow.”

  “You ready to go?”

  She took a deep breath and let it out slow. “As I’ll ever be.”

  Grabbing my laptop and my bag with other supplies, I headed for the door with Kennedy beside me. I locked up the house on the way out and we started on our way. Now that it was after midnight, it was officially early Monday morning. There was no one on the road. Our plan was similar to Jude’s when he attacked his victims. He’d walk his way through the woods at the back of their houses. That was my plan. There was a field about a quarter mile away from Jude’s house. All we had to do was leave the car there and walk.

  When we got to the field, we began our trek into the woods, the only sounds coming from the crickets and the birds. I glanced back at Kennedy several times, but she remained focused. Not once did I see any hesitation on her face. By the time we reached the edge of the woods, it had closed in on two in the morning. From the back of Jude’s house, I couldn’t see indication of any lights on in the house.

  “I want you to stay here until I call,” I said, dropping my backpack to the ground. I reached in for a pair of gloves and slipped them on, and shoved a few zip ties into my pockets.

  Kennedy didn’t like that part of the plan, but she nodded. “Okay.”

  Judging by the look of Jude’s back door, it seemed pretty simple to open. I pulled out my government issued lock pick set that was made just for the Circle of Justice and grabbed the tools I needed. Not only did it have the picks, but it included a small laser that could melt through any lock. That was only used in extreme cases.

  I leaned in and kissed her. “I won’t be long.” The backyard was dark so I took off straight for the patio door. I could see inside the living room but there was no movement.

  Once I had the door unlocked, I crept inside with my Sig Sauer in hand. It smelled like burnt pizza, but looking around the house it was pretty clean. I could hear movement down the hallway, and when I got closer there was a light on in the bedroom shining through the crack at the bottom of the door. I slowly closed the distance and peeked in. Jude was there with his back to me, fully dressed in a pair of jeans and a dark green T-shirt, stuffing clothes into a duffel bag. There were two knives on his bed, wrapped in bubble wrap. The thought of him using those on Kennedy made my blood boil. What really caught my attention was a picture on his dresser. It was an old one of Kennedy’s parents and her as a baby. Sick bastard. There was no telling what all we’d find in his room.

  It was now or never. I kicked the door open and pointed my gun at him. Jude jerked around and I glared at him. “Surprise, cocksucker. Hands up or I’ll shoot.”

  Jude growled. “Who the fuck are you?”

  “Silencers on fucker, put your goddamn hands up.” His eyes shifted over to the knives and I laughed. “Go ahead, dumbass. Reach for those knives. See what it gets you.”

  We stared each other down and I could already tell he was going to lunge. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his muscles twitched. He jumped for his knives, but I was a whole hell of a lot faster. I pointed it at the edge of his thigh, and pulled the trigger.

  Jude howled in pain and fell to the floor with blood seeping out of his wound. He wouldn’t bleed out from it, but it sure as shit had to hurt. He grimaced at me and spat. “Who the fuck are you?”

  Holstering my gun, I threw his knives across the room and hauled him up by the neck using my left hand to check for weapons. “I’m not the one you should be asking,” I said, pushing him down on the bed. I jerked his arms behind his back and something cracked. He screamed in pain again and it felt good. “Don’t worry, we’ll put you out of your suffering soon.”

  Once I had his ankles tied off, I dragged him into the living room and left him on the floor so I could grab one of his kitchen chairs. I brought it over and tossed him in it before going to the back door. I flickered the light and turned back to Jude, knowing Kennedy would be at the door in just a few seconds.

  “What are you, the police?” Jude asked.

  “Now why would I be that?” I snapped back. “Is it because you murdered all those innocent women?” Jude’s face hardened and he looked away. “Yeah, I know about all of that,” I growled, storming over to him. I grabbed his neck and forced him to look up at me. “It’s judgment day, fucker. You’re not getting out of this one alive.”

  The patio door cracked open slowly and I let him go. Jude turned to the door. “Who’s that?”

  I stepped away from him. “You’re about to find out.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Kennedy

  Before touching anything of Jude’s, I slipped on a pair of heavy-duty gloves Reed had in his backpack. I watched him through the door, manhandling Jude as if he weighed nothing. He slammed him into the chair and there was blood all over Jude’s pants. All the fear, hate, anger, and rage I’d felt over the past few weeks came back with a vengeance. When I looked at Jude, I didn’t see my brother …I didn’t see my father… I saw a monster.

  Time moved in slow motion as I opened the patio door. Reed stepped away from Jude, and Jude’s eyes were glued to the door. He couldn’t see me yet. Over the past few weeks of wondering how it was going to feel coming face to face with him has finally arrived. I felt strong emotionally, stronger than I’d ever been in my entire life.

  Keeping my head high, I stepped inside, never once taking my eyes off of Jude. His first reaction was shock, but then it turned to anger and confusion. He jumped out of the chair and Reed slammed him back down into it.

  “Kennedy, the rope,” he commanded. I reached into the backpack and tossed it to him. Jude shouted and cursed, but Reed slammed an elbow into the side of his face. “Shut the fuck up, you piece of shit or I’ll rip your goddamn jaw
off.” Blood oozed out of Jude’s mouth.

  I’d never seen Reed like that before. It was scary, almost like it wasn’t even him. I knew he had to be like that, be in control but it was quite frightening. Once he had Jude strapped to the chair, he nodded at me to continue. Having Reed by my side gave me all of the courage I needed.

  I glared at Jude and it shocked me to look in his eyes. They were the same color as mine. “Hello, brother. We officially meet.”

  Jude’s gaze narrowed with contempt. “You know.”

  Hands shaking with rage, I nodded. “Yeah, I know that you killed our mother and those innocent women. What kind of sick fuck are you?”

  His lips spread wide. Just by that one look, it confirmed his guilt. “One who shares the same blood as you.”

  “No,” I growled, my teeth clenched so tight my jaw started to hurt. “We share nothing. You are nothing to me. After tonight, you’re not going to even exist anymore.” By the way he smirked at me, I wanted to end it right there, but I couldn’t let him get to me. I had to get the confession we needed, I needed. “Why did you kill her?” I held up a hand. “Let me guess, you had a horrible childhood and when you found out you were adopted, you decided to seek revenge on the people who gave you up.”

  Jude spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor. “Stupid bitch. You have no fucking clue what kind of life I had. My parents were worthless. It wasn’t until right before Shirley died that she told me I was adopted. Henry used to beat me if I didn’t make enough money to help pay the rent.”

  “Is that why you killed him and made it look like suicide?” Reed asked, stepping into Jude’s view.

  Jude growled. “The bastard deserved it.” We didn’t know for sure if that was the case, but he’d just confirmed it. It was twenty years ago so that would’ve made him eighteen years old. There was no telling how many people he’d killed over the years. Reed was recording the whole conversation, he we might need it after all this is over. Jude ID’ing just one of the victims was all we needed. Just one confession.