I’m numb when my brother pulls me away and starts moving me toward the security room. I’m not seeing a thing when Miah finally pulls up security footage and starts running through it.
I finally come to when he slaps me across the face and starts yelling curses at me, and then I see it. Ellie walking with Lynn, collapsing. Jerry running toward them where she fell at the tree line.
There is a scuffle that Lynn wins, as shocking as it seems, and then she aims the gun at him and shoots before two armed men come tearing her way. One grabs my unconscious Ellie, while the other starts dragging Jerry into the woods and dumping him there.
“Come on!”
We’re running and in the trees in under two minutes where we find Jerry, unconscious and barely breathing. There is no sign of Lynn or Ellie.
I want to say that I’m the hero that tears off into the trees and magically finds Ellie, but I can’t. Instead, I help Miah carry poor Jerry back to the house where the ambulance EMTs are working on Dad while Roman tries to stop the bleeding from the bullet my uncle took to the shoulder.
“What the hell?”
“She shot him. She had two guys who came out of the woods and grabbed Ellie. She must have drugged her…Goddammit, Ellie can’t take sedatives of any kind.”
I remember how sick she was all through that first night after I drugged her and took her to Gardner’s house. She’d puked and shivered as if fighting off a raging fever before the drugs had left her system, and that had only been a light dose.
What if Lynn gave her too much?
Stop, Wyatt, just stop thinking that way and focus.
“They have Ellie.”
Roman finally ties off Jerry’s wound and lets the EMT take care of him before rising to his feet.
“We need to find her, man. I broke into her shrink’s office and read her file, and that woman has got some really negative thoughts about Ellie. Why the shrink didn’t report her as dangerous is beyond me, but I’d lay odds that she’s in mortal danger with that woman. Lynn will kill her, Wyatt.”
My blood runs cold and my knees threaten to give out again, but I keep it together by sheer force of will and turn to Jared.
“There’s only one place I can think of that she’d take her, bro, God willing I’m right and we’re not going on a wild goose chase.”
“I agree. I’ll call Case and have him get the jet ready. Miah, stay with Ma. Jace, Roman, you ready?”
I do the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life and leave my parents unprotected and my father at death’s door to go and find Ellie before that wolf in sheep’s clothing can end my life as I know it.
Never in a million years would I have ever suspected my sweet aunt Lynn.
Poor Pop, this must be killing him to know that his only surviving sister is an evil, coldblooded killer.
“You okay to do what needs to be done if it comes to it?” Roman asks when we settle into our seats and prepare for takeoff.
I know what he’s asking and I can’t blame the man. I’d hesitated to kill family before because I’d been too weak to do something I know I’d never forgive myself for. All bets are off now, because not only did the woman shoot her own husband and prove that she’s capable of killing, but she’s responsible for Pop’s heart attack.
“I’m ready. Just get us there as soon as possible, man.”
***
Ellie
I wake to a nightmare and feel my blood chill when the familiar smell of dirt and grease hit my nose. I know this stench like I know my own mind, and I’d lay odds on the fact that we’re back in the little shack out in the middle of nowhere.
My first instinct is to panic and try to escape, because just being here is frightening enough to cripple me with fear. I swore a long time ago that I would never return to this hovel, or experience the same bone-chilling fear I’d felt at the hands of that madman.
And yet here I am, in the same situation, only this time the monster is bigger and meaner and—
“Wake up, bitch.”
Lynn?
I crack my lids and feel my heart sink when I’m proved right. There’s the iron tub still sitting off to the right. The cot beneath me is still as filthy and smells worse than I remember it smelling. And yes, I’m wearing the same shackles that once rubbed the skin clear of my wrists so long ago.
The only difference this time is that I’m not staring at a man who’s crazy and intent on hurting me. I’m staring into the manic eyes of a mother who hates me enough to kill me rather than listen to a word of reasoning.
“Why are you doing this?”
That’s it, Ellie, stay calm and don’t show your fear.
“Why? Why! Because you killed my baby, that’s why, you stupid whore!” she yells, shooting spittle over my right cheek as she hisses the words at me, and slapping me so hard that my head starts ringing.
“I didn’t. He hurt me!”
“So what? You were nothing, just a stupid little girl who rejected him and then looked at that worthless cousin of his. He deserved better than to be second best all the time.”
“Listen, I never even met Wyatt before you started all this, Lynn. I have never seen the man before he took me.”
“Liar! My Bolton told me everything. He asked you out and you rebuffed him, and then he saw you staring at Wyatt that day….and it hurt my poor baby so bad…he had to punish you for that. He had to show Wyatt that he was better, that he finally won.”
And to think, I was blaming poor Jerry for this when obviously it’s been this infected pustule who turned Bolton into a raving lunatic. Oh how we deceive ourselves.
“He died coming back here to you, you bitch, and now I’ll kill you to repay the blood debt.”
Her voice has changed I notice, from that harsh grate to an almost singsong quality that gives me the creeps because I’ve heard it before and nothing good ever came from it.
Think, Ellie. Find a way to stop this.
“What if I told you that Bolton isn’t dead?”
Wyatt isn’t gonna like me spilling that can of beans all over the table, but he’ll have to deal and accept it, because right now I’m about a second away from her shooting me in the face with that gun she took off Jerry.
“Liar. He died. My poor baby died all alone and I couldn’t even go to his funeral. That weakling Jerry drugged me and kept me locked up for days because I wanted to kill them all for this. What, you think I don’t know that your precious Wyatt had something to do with my boy’s death? I know. I know that they always hated him and—”
“Oh for God’s sake! Melodramatic much! I just told you that Bolton isn’t dead. Wyatt could never kill his own blood and you know it, so he locked him up where he can’t hurt anyone else.”
That little outburst earns me a gun to the temple and I quake, swallowing reflexively against the need to puke all over her and myself.
I have no doubt that if I push her a little further right now, she’d empty that gun into my head and laugh her ass off all the way. But I have no intention of dying and leaving Wyatt to suffer the guilt of my death.
Plus, I really want those babies I’ve been thinking about all week.
“You’re lying. Jerry told me he saw the body.”
“Oh please, far as I know, that corpse was too deep fried to tell any stories. Jerry told you what he wanted to believe, poor guy. It must have killed him to realize his kid was such a maniac. And speaking of poor Jer, where is he?”
My cheek explodes when she backhands me with the butt of her gun before laughing so hysterically, all I can do is blink in horror.
“Jerry? Oh poor Jerry! I killed him, of course. I couldn’t have him trying to get his hands on you again. So weak. So, so weak and nothing like the son I raised. Do you know, he actually tried to tell Georgie what I was doing before I threatened to kill his mistress and their mewling brat? That shut him up real quick, so don’t go thinking poor Jerry deserves your sympathy. He was all too willing to throw you under the bus to prot
ect the little family he was hiding from us all.”
“Did you hear what I said? Let me repeat,” I snarl, spying a shadow flitting past the window.
It can’t be the two goons she’d had carry me out of the woods. I’d been conscious enough to see them and to hear when they dumped me on the plane and took leave of the whole mess.
Who’s outside? Friend or foe?
“Bolton. Is. Not. Dead.”
I want to say that it gets through to her, that maybe it’s enough of a distraction to keep her from just killing me outright, but this chick is totally gone.
I suspect that no matter what I say or do, she’s going to kill me because she wants to. I can see the malice in her eyes and practically smell the crazy coming off her.
“I don’t believe you. He would have found a way home to me by now,” she screams, giving me another spit bath.
“Jesus, lady, cool it with the spitting already, my stomach is still iffy from whatever you put in my tea.”
“It almost killed you, I think, you were shaking so much on the plane. Pity for you that you didn’t just succumb, because now I plan to make you suffer the way my poor baby did. He burned to death in that car, you know. Jerry told me.”
“No. Please no.”
I’m begging and trying to rip my wrists apart to get out of my restraints when she lifts a gas can and comes closer, her eyes shining so brightly, I feel my skin shrink in fear.
“Oh yes. An eye for an eye, after all, Ellie. My baby hurt, now you will hurt. Simple.”
“And then what, huh? You gonna go home and pretend none of this ever happened? George will never forgive you if you do this.”
“He won’t know, Ellie. I covered my tracks too well, dear,” she coos, tipping the can.
I’m sputtering and gasp as the acrid liquid hits me, soaking into my clothes, my skin, burning my lungs when the fumes penetrate my airways and leave me choking for breath.
She’s thorough in her work and ensures that every inch of me is drenched in the gasoline before standing back to admire her handiwork.
“There are cameras,” I choke out. “George had Miah and Jared beef up the security last week and they added cameras to that section. I know. I helped them, and they showed me how to install a motion sensor, too.”
That gives her pause before the madness returns.
“No. There can’t be. They can never know.”
“They will. They’ll find Jerry’s body and they’ll look at the tapes, Lynn. You have to see that if you do this, and they find me, George will kill you.”
Please, Jesus, do not strike that match, I beg silently when her hand settles on the little booklet on the dresser. This is so much worse than the snakes, and if she asked me right now what I’d choose, I’d have to go for a straight bullet.
“No. George loves me. He’d never choose you over family.”
“Pop would never choose an outsider over family, Lynn, but Ellie is family and you know it. Step way.”
I almost cry when I see Wyatt standing in the doorway, his gun trained on Lynn, his grip steady as he looks over at me quickly before eyeballing his aunt again.
I pray in that moment. Not for me. Not for Lynn. For Wyatt, because she’s already reaching for the matches and I know that he’ll kill her before letting her harm me.
“Please don’t do this to him,” I beg, crying for the first time since waking.
I can hold it together, but I know Wyatt isn’t the kind of man who will walk away from this unscarred. If he has to pull that trigger, it’ll destroy him.
“I have to go see my baby now.”
That’s all she says before fumbling to strike a match.
It never takes because a shot rings out and she slumps forward, hitting the floor with a resounding thwack and a wheeze of breath.
“Baby! Jesus, you’re covered in this shit. Roman, we need water and something she can wear.” He’s yelling and unshackling me at the same time, and I’m tempted to launch myself at him once I’m free but stop dead.
I’m covered in gas.
“I’m so sorry, Wyatt. I’m so sorry you had to do that.”
“He didn’t. I did.”
“Oh, Miah.”
“Nah, sis, no sweat. I’m a freaking cop and cops shoot criminals if they have to, so…”
“Wait. You’re a cop?” I ask as Wyatt shoves me into the horror tub and starts ripping my clothes off in a frenzy.
Roman and Miah both turn their backs as Wyatt starts scrubbing and rinsing at my skin, saving me from what would no doubt be some pretty unpleasant burns.
“Yup. Don’t tell Ma. She still thinks I work for this jackass.”
“Scout’s honor,” I whisper, crying when Wyatt finally deems me clean and pulls me into his arms, his body trembling with emotion when tries to inhale me with a kiss that’s all about the relief he feels at having me back, safe and sound.
“You’re my hero, Wyatt Lane, and I love you more than words can say,” I whisper, kissing him back when tears start pouring down his cheeks.
“Hey! I shot her.”
“Yeah, but he saved me twice. Didn’t you?”
Chapter Sixteen
Wyatt
The flight back home to New Orleans is spent with Ellie in my lap despite the flight attendant’s protests and my solemn vow never to let her out of my sight again.
That’ll be tricky since I still need to work, but the way I’m feeling right now, I might teach my little accountant all there is to know about investment banking and clinching the perfect deal.
We’ll see.
No one talks much and I can’t say I blame them. I’m still feeling raw after telling Ellie about Pop’s heart attack, made even worse when she started crying inconsolably and refused to settle down.
We reached the hospital in record time thanks to Roman’s police escort and Miah’s very intimidating glare any time someone tried to stop us from entering.
We look terrible, unkempt from the long drive through sandy, dry terrain. And poor Ellie reeks of gasoline.
Pop’s okay, though, and for that I will always be grateful. The heart attack was a small one, but the doctors are already making noise about early retirement and some such nonsense, so it looks like I’ll be even busier in the coming months, running all three companies since my useless brothers would all rather die than give up their policing.
Jerry survived even after losing so much blood. Who knew that old fart had that in him?
Of course, he’s not welcome in our family, anymore, because no matter what he tried to do in the end, my baby almost died because he kept his mouth shut while trying to save himself and his other family.
I should forgive him, I guess, but I never really liked the guy, anyway.
“Can we go home now?” Ellie asks hours later when the nurses threaten to call security and Ma and Pop shoo us all away, promising to call if anything changes with his condition.
Sweeter words were never said, and I kiss my woman with all the love and hope I now have in my heart.
“Let’s go home.”
Chapter Seventeen
Miah
The woman is a menace. If she shakes her sweet ass my way again, I won’t be responsible for what happens. Nuh-uh. A man can only take so much temptation, and Clara Elms is a package that is made of temptation, wrapped in seduction and sporting a bow that screams “try me if you dare.”
See, this is why I’ve avoided good women like the plague since I was old enough to get a boner. I just always knew that once I got a whiff of good, I’d start salivating after her ass like a damn lovesick dog.
My sister-in-law Ellie sits on her chair like the queen she is, her hugely pregnant belly taking up so much space that I can’t imagine how she walks around like that, never mind does the hundred and twenty things Wyatt is still trying to forbid her from doing.
“Christ. Tell me again why we’re attending a baby shower and eating pureed peas that taste like dog vomit,” Jared growls,
scowling at the sound of feminine squeals and the aroma of brooding females everywhere.
“Wyatt said he’d break our legs if we left him alone to deal with all this shit.”
Not that I care much what he says. He might be my big brother, but I can take him any day of the week. That is, if I ever had the heart to hurt him after what he’s already been through so far.
He loves his Ellie more than I’ve seen anyone love a woman, and that’s saying a lot when Pop loves Ma so much that he ate all of her sugarless cookies and never uttered one complaint.
I look back at the gaggle of females, lock eyes with Clara again, and feel my heart stutter even as my dick takes up the call and starts trying to rip its way through my pants.
Settle down, asshole. That one isn’t for us, remember? I snarl at my erection, cursing him to hell and back.
I’ve known Clara for a good year now, ever since Ellie got back in touch with her and the woman moved to New Orleans to be with her best friend.
She never once complained about leaving her old life behind and seems so focused on Ellie and the renewed friendship that I haven’t had the heart to ask her what made her leave Philly so easily.
I’ll get to the bottom of that, though, because I won’t have any trouble at my little sis’s doorstep now, especially not with her seven months pregnant and ready to pop at any second.
But Clara does intrigue me, and boy, does the woman know how to tease my lust. I’ve jacked off to thoughts of her for a month solid now and haven’t so much as looked at another woman since laying eyes on the beauty.
“Good God, man, stop trying to eye fuck that woman if you’re going to cold shoulder her every chance you get. Mixed signals are beneath you, dude,” Jared says and I snarl when his eyes land on Clara and stay there.
“Stop looking at her, moron.”
“Why? It’s not like you’re going to go for it, so why shouldn’t I give her a try? She seems nice and sweet and looks so good, I bet she’s a good girl turned wild in the sack.”
Wyatt (Lane Brothers #1) Page 13