Deadly Reckoning

by Elle James

  One more step, take one more step, she wished silently.

  “You’re the only one I ever loved, don’t you see?” He stepped closer, the gun rising.

  “I don’t see anything but a monster.” Before Lawrence could level the weapon at her, she leaped to her feet and sprayed him square in the eyes with the wasp repellent, then leaped backward.

  Lawrence dropped the flashlight and fired the gun, the bullet going wild, high into the air. He fired again. The flashlight rolled, the beam shining across at Kayla.

  Kayla dived for the floor and low-crawled toward the stairs.

  Footsteps pounded on the metal risers and Dakota exploded through the opening, flinging himself at Lawrence’s back.

  The blinded man roared, staggering forward, crashing headfirst into the wall.

  “Run, Kayla, run!” Dakota shouted.

  Had it just been her and Lawrence, she would have made a dive for the stairs, but she couldn’t leave Dakota. If anything happened to him, she’d never forgive herself.

  Lawrence fired off another round, the bullet singing past Kayla’s ear. She scrambled around the railing, working her way toward Dakota.

  Then Lawrence turned and slammed the boy into the wall, reared back, stumbled sideways and slammed backward again, only this time, the teen fell into the empty window well.

  Dakota yelped, hanging out the window, his arms locked around Lawrence’s neck, his eyes wide with fear as he stared down at the rocky shore below.

  Kayla reached out, her heart in her throat, praying for a miracle, too far away to help.

  As Gabe pulled in to the driveway leading down to the lighthouse compound, he almost hit a figure running through the fog toward the cottage. He slammed on his brakes, lurching to a stop two feet from Jillian Taylor.

  “Oh, dear God,” she sobbed. “Gabe.” She yanked open his door and yelled, “Help them. Please help them!”

  Gabe grabbed a flashlight from the glove box, jumped out of the vehicle and gripped her arms. “Where is Kayla?”

  “She was at the cottage. Lawrence shot at us. She shoved me out the door and told me to run and get help. I made it to the road, when Dakota rode up on his bicycle.” Jillian dragged in several gasping breaths. “I heard shots, Gabe.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “They sounded like they came from farther away than the cottage. I think they’re at the lighthouse. Hurry!” She shoved him, aiming him toward the lighthouse.

  “Stay here and let the police units know where to go,” Gabe called out over his shoulder.

  Gabe ran toward the cottage, passing the black sedan Lawrence Wilson had driven the day he’d met Jillian at the bed-and-breakfast for dinner.

  Dakota’s bike lay flung to the ground in front of the porch.

  His gut clenching tight, Gabe prayed he’d get to Kayla and Dakota in time. Another shot rang out, and he could hear someone shouting high above him.

  His footsteps didn’t falter as he sprinted down the narrow, worn path to the lighthouse, arriving at the splintered door as Kayla’s scream pierced the fog, driving a jagged wedge into his heart.

  He took the steps two at a time, climbing steadily upward, refusing to slow or stop to take a recovering breath. When he reached the top, his world skidded to a stop.

  “Step back, cop, or I drop the boy on the rocks below,” Lawrence warned.

  Kayla stood with her right arm hanging limp at her side, clutching a spray can in her left hand. “He’s got Dakota backed out a window. Don’t provoke him.”

  “Let the boy go, Richard,” Gabe said, forcing his voice into a low, calm tone, when all he wanted was to roar out his demand.

  “All I want is Nancy,” Richard said. “The boy for Nancy.”

  “She’s dead,” Gabe answered, knowing the man was delusional. “This woman isn’t Nancy. You killed Nancy. This is Kayla.”

  “Give me Nancy or the boy dies.” Richard brandished the pistol, his hand rising to the arms around his throat.

  Kayla laid a hand on Gabe’s arm. “Make the trade.”

  His heart stopped beating as he glanced at Kayla, pale and wounded, hunkered against the wall. “I can’t let you do it.”

  “I won’t be the cause of Dakota’s death.” Her fingers squeezed hard on his arm, the nails digging into the fabric of his shirt. “Make the trade.”

  “Hurry, I’m losing my grip on him.” One hand held the teen’s wrists, the other scrubbed across Richard’s eyes as he blinked and squinted through swollen red lids.

  “Don’t believe him, Kayla,” Dakota called out from outside the lighthouse window. “He’s not going to drop me, because I’m not letting go.”

  “Then I’ll throw myself out the window with the boy if Nancy doesn’t go with me.” Watson backed another step, shoving Dakota farther out the window. “The choice is clear. Nancy for the boy.”

  “I’m coming. Bring the boy back inside the window,” Kayla called out.

  Gabe grabbed for her arm, but she moved clear of him, working her way around toward Watson.

  “Put down the gun or I won’t come any farther,” Kayla said, her voice firm and steady.

  “No. You lie. You lied to me before. You cheated with that man when I trusted you.”

  “You have to trust me long enough to make the trade. Now, do it,” she said, her voice soft but urgent.

  “I’ll kill you if you run. I’ll shoot you dead.” Lawrence aimed the pistol in Kayla’s direction, his gaze wavering as though he couldn’t really see her through his blistered eyes.

  “Bring the boy in and I’ll let you take me.” She edged closer.

  Lawrence hesitated then leaned forward.

  As soon as Dakota cleared the window, he braced his feet on the ledge and pushed as hard as he could, sending Watson and himself flying forward into the wrought-iron railing at Kayla’s feet.

  Watson’s gun hand hit the metal, knocking the weapon from his grasp. It skittered across the floor into the center of the ring of railing.

  Dakota fell to the ground and rolled clear of Watson.

  The killer grunted and reached out.

  Before Gabe could get to Kayla, Watson had her by the ankle.

  She twisted away from him, but the man clawed his way up her body and clamped an arm around her neck, holding her between him and Gabe. “Now you’ll pay for hurting me. Just like the others.”

  “Let her go,” Dakota cried out from behind, diving for the man.

  Watson pushed Kayla toward the same window he’d almost dropped Gabe’s son out of, his arm tightening around her throat.

  Gabe quietly slipped up on one side of him. The man’s eyes were swelling shut. He couldn’t see Gabe as he approached.

  In the illumination from the flashlight lying on the floor, Gabe signaled Dakota to come closer, hoping his son could distract the injured man long enough for Gabe to make a grab for Kayla.

  Dakota cocked his leg and slammed a foot into Watson, sending him flying to the side, Kayla with him.

  Watson’s grip loosened to break his own fall.

  Gabe caught Kayla in his arms and pushed her behind him.

  The murderer roared, his face red with his fury, and he charged toward Gabe. Hunkering down like a linebacker, Gabe met him, absorbing the shock of his assault and sending him flying backward with a punch to the gut.

  Watson staggered, righted himself and came back swinging wildly, his eyes swelled shut, his arms more or less flailing to find Gabe. “She’s mine, damn you! Mine!”

  Gabe ducked and landed a punch to the side of Watson’s face. The man spun and steadied, swaying, obviously confused. He roared again and raced straight ahead, fists up, headed, not for Gabe and Kayla as he probably thought, but for the window.

 
“Lawrence, stop!” Kayla called out.

  The man skidded, caught his foot on the uneven stone flooring and pitched forward through the gaping window. Gabe and Kayla dived for him, but didn’t get there in time to stop him from plunging to his death on the rocky shore two hundred feet below.

  Kayla gasped and turned into Gabe’s arms.

  Dakota stood a few feet away, his eyes wide, his body shaking.

  Gabe waved his hand, urging the teen closer.

  Dakota stumbled toward them. When he got close enough, Gabe pulled him into his embrace with Kayla, his own body shaking with the aftershock of what could have happened.

  “I almost lost you two,” he whispered into Kayla’s hair, squeezing Dakota’s shoulder. “I can’t tell you how much that scared me.”

  “Scared you?” Dakota laughed shakily. “You weren’t the one hanging over the edge, facing a two-hundred-foot drop.” His arm reached around Gabe’s waist. “Thanks for being there for me.”

  “Thanks, Dakota, for coming to my rescue,” Kayla said in a gravelly voice. She pulled back from Gabe and tugged the boy into her arms. “You’re a very brave young man and I’m very much alive because of you.” She hugged him close, staring over her shoulder at Gabe. “If you two hadn’t come when you did…” She shook her head.

  “I should have been here sooner.” Gabe pulled her and Dakota back into his arms and crushed them to his chest, his eyes burning with tears. “I could have lost you both.”

  For a long moment they stood still in Gabe’s embrace until a voice called out from the bottom of the stairwell.

  “McGregor! You up there?”

  Gabe chuckled and loosened his hold on the two people he loved.

  Dakota straightened, the first to step back. “Guess we’d better quit admiring the view and head back to the cottage.”

  “Yes, Chief. We’re coming down,” Gabe yelled into the stairwell. He turned toward Kayla.

  She stood at one of the windows and smiled. “Look.”

  Gabe glanced out into the night. One by one, stars shone through the clearing fog, twinkling down at them as the mist dissipated and the heavens shone through.

  “I guess the Devil’s Shroud has lifted,” Kayla commented. She leaned into Gabe.

  His arm closed around her shoulders gently to avoid hurting her injury. “Come on, we need to get you to a hospital.”

  “Hey, Dad, would you show me that right hook sometime?” Dakota stood next to Gabe on the other side.

  Gabe’s chest swelled. Dakota had called him Dad. Rather than remark on his reference and embarrass the boy, Gabe played it cool, staring out at the night. “You bet, son.”

  “Let’s go home.” Kayla smiled at the two men.

  Dakota bent to retrieve the flashlight. When he straightened, he asked, “The bed-and-breakfast?”

  “No, the lighthouse cottage,” Gabe and Kayla said in unison.

  They laughed as they wound their way down the steps and stepped out into a clear, star-spangled night. Immediately, they were surrounded by police and emergency medical personnel, all demanding to know if they were all right, what had happened and where Lawrence Wilson—or, rather, Rick Watson—was.

  Gabe insisted on Kayla seeing a doctor about her gunshot wound and to make sure the excitement and rough handling hadn’t hurt her or the baby. Since he had a report to file, he told her he’d catch up with her at the hospital.

  He loaded her into the back of an ambulance, sending Dakota with her to keep her safe, then he briefed the chief on all that had happened.

  “Wilson, or Watson, had some very loose screws,” the chief remarked. “At least he had the decency to die. Should save the taxpayers from the cost of a lengthy trial and imprisonment for life.”

  “Now the families of the victims can find closure for their lost loved ones and be relieved to know Watson won’t hurt anyone else.” Gabe wished Watson could have been stopped long before the other women had died. No one should have had to suffer the fear and pain he’d inflicted.

  “We got word back that placed Watson in Seattle at the time of the gallery showing. He left a trail of credit card receipts. Should be no problem tying the deaths of the other red-haired victims to Richard Watson.”

  A chill slithered down Gabe’s back at how close he’d come to losing Dakota and Kayla. “Sir, if you’re done with me…”

  “For now. Go on. I’m sure Kayla and Dakota could use a ride home from the hospital.”

  “Thanks.” Gabe jogged for his SUV, running across Jillian on the way.

  “Can you give me a ride back to town?” she asked.

  “Sure, get in.” Gabe held the door for her.

  The normally neat business professional collapsed into the passenger seat. Black smudges of smeared mascara trailed down her cheeks, and her clothes were wrinkled and dirty. “I’m so sorry. I brought him out here.”

  “You didn’t know what he was capable of.”

  She stared down at her muddy hands. “My stupidity could have gotten you all killed.”

  “It didn’t. You helped me find them sooner by pointing me in the direction of the lighthouse.”

  Jillian glanced across the console at Gabe. “Can you ever forgive me?”

  “Done.” He buckled his seat belt and waited for Jillian to do the same.

  Once she’d adjusted her strap, the real-estate agent leaned back against the leather seat, her breath catching on a sigh. “She’s one lucky lady.”

  Gabe shifted into gear and pulled out onto the highway, headed for Cape Churn. “Who?”

  “Kayla, silly.” Jillian shot an exasperated frown at him.

  “I know. She survived the night.”

  “Yeah, and she got you.”

  Gabe snorted. “How’s that lucky?”

  “You are the real deal. Someone who will never hurt her and always be there when she needs you.” Jillian wiped a tear from her eye. “I hope I’ll be half as lucky as she is and find someone like you.”

  “You’ll find someone better, someone just right for you.” Gabe chucked her chin with his fist. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

  “Thanks, Gabe. Just don’t wait too long to tell her that you love her. Life is way too short to miss a moment of being with the ones you love.”

  As they pulled in to town, the firefighters were rolling up their hoses and loading them onto their trucks. Most of the spectators had returned to their homes, the fire having been put out, nothing left of the station but rubble and smoldering embers.

  “You can drop me off here.” She nodded toward the firefighters. “I want to check on my office.”

  “Do you have a way home from there?”

  “If my car escaped the flames, I can drive it home. Should be safe, now that you’ve taken care of the killer.” She smiled. “Go. Kayla will be waiting for you. If you decide you two want to purchase the cottage, let me know. I’ll make sure you get a great deal. It could be a great home for the three of you.”

  Gabe smiled as he drove toward the hospital. Three days were hardly long enough to know whether or not you were truly in love with a person, much less ready to buy a home together.

  Yet, Jillian’s words echoed in his mind. Don’t wait too long… Life is short…

  By the time he parked in the parking lot of the hospital, his blood was pumping and he couldn’t wait for the engine to come to a complete stop before he was out of his SUV and jogging toward the emergency room.

  A crowd filled the waiting room with firefighters, volunteers and citizens being checked for smoke inhalation and injuries.

  Finally he found Emma Jenkins and pulled her aside.

  “She’s in exam room four,” Emma said before he could ask. “The shoulder injur
y was only a flesh wound, requiring just a couple stitches.”

  “Is she all right?”

  Emma patted his shoulder. “She’ll be fine.”

  “The baby?”

  A grin spread across her face. “Her heart is beating like a bass drum and she was kicking like a soccer player.”

  “Her?” Gabe’s heart swelled, his eyes misting.

  “Yeah. We went ahead and performed a sonogram to make sure everything was where it should be. No dangly parts on that kid. It’s a girl.” She clamped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, I’m not supposed to share that information. Act surprised when she tells you. Oh, and remember, she and I have rescheduled our lunch date for tomorrow at the marina. I could use a new friend.”

  Gabe’s chest swelled with so much love he could hardly walk straight. He dodged nurses, empty wheelchairs and emergency medical technicians on his way to room four. Inside, Dakota stood beside the bed, smiling at Kayla as she sat with her legs hanging over the side.

  When he walked in, they both turned toward him.

  “About time,” Dakota remarked. “We’re hungry and ready to go.”

  “Hungry? Sounds like you’re the only hungry one.” Gabe clapped a hand on his son’s back and faced Kayla.

  Looking into her deep green eyes, he felt as if he’d been sucker punched full-on in the gut. This woman was the one for him. From her deep auburn hair, porcelain skin and green eyes to her great big heart.

  “Did you know Kayla’s going to have a baby?” Dakota asked. “I’ve always wanted a sister to torment. It’s a girl.”

  Gabe smiled down at Kayla. “Is that so?”

  Kayla’s lips twisted into a wry grin. “Emma told you, didn’t she?”

  He nodded. “Can’t keep secrets for long in Cape Churn.”

  “The nurse has some paperwork for Kayla to fill out. It’ll be another fifteen minutes before we’re out of here.” Dakota’s eyes rolled to the ceiling, a smile tugging at his lips. “And I’m sure you two are about to start kissing or something.”

  “You think?” Gabe asked, his attention on Kayla’s lips, not his son. The boy had the right idea.