by Caitlyn Dare
"We know where she is."
"Fuck," I breathe, relief flooding me. "Where?"
"We're going there now. But..." He trails off, and the dread I've become used to over the past few weeks come racing back.
"But what?"
He blows out a breath and finally meets my eyes. What I see in them makes my stomach knot.
He pulls a laptop from the seat beside him.
"Before you see this, I need you to know that we've got it under control. We are not going to let anything happen to her.” His expression hardens. “You just need to... you need to trust me. I have the best guys ready to move in, and you're going to be right behind them to get her.”
"Just open it," I demand, needing to know what we're dealing with.
The seconds tick by excruciatingly slowly as he unfolds the laptop and powers it up, but that's nothing compared to how everything fucking stops the second I lock my eyes on Kenny.
"What the..." My words trail off as I stare at her strapped to a chair with a gun pressed into her temple. "Is this... is this l-live?" I stutter, forcing the words past the lump that's lodged in my throat.
"Yeah, it's a live stream. It's what we've been waiting for to find their location."
Dad’s words don't really register as I stare at my girl with tears streaming down her dirty cheeks, both her eyes swollen and bruised and her lip split in more than one place.
"Kenny," I breathe, wishing I could reach into the screen and pull her free. "Is he... is he really going to..."
"Yes."
That one single word is like a gunshot to my own heart.
"We've got to get her out of there. We have to. You can't let her... Dad, please." I turn to him, and he's blurry through the tears that are filling my eyes. "I trusted you all this time to handle it. Please, don't fuck it up now. Please."
"We're getting her out, I promise you."
I'm aware that in a situation like this, he can hardly make promises like that.
Warren could pull that trigger at any moment and blow... No. No.
I drop my head into my hands, refusing to allow myself to believe that this could be it. That after everything we've been through, our time together is going to end like this.
"Why, Dad? Why has it come to this? What can he know that leads him to do this?"
"Everything, Conner. He knows everything."
"Stop with the cryptic bullshit. What does he know?"
Dad pales slightly, and it's then I realize that what he's hiding might be worse than I've been expecting.
"Our family has a complicated history." He looks between the three of us. "The Jagger name is connected to some powerful people. People whose secrets I keep, whose indiscretions I cover up. He's dug and dug until he's found enough to ruin not only me, but the families we're connected to. And if things were to come to light, well... let's just say that the four of us, those we love, they'd never see light again."
"You work in IT," I say, my brain refusing to take all of this on board.
"I do. I just don't do it for the best kinds of people."
Questions start forming in my head, and I'm sure Ace and Cole, who are sitting silently beside me, have a million of their own, but none get asked as the car pulls onto gravel. When I look out, we're pulling up to an abandoned warehouse.
"Is she in there?" I ask, my eyes locked on the building.
"She is."
I look back to the screen. She's still in the exact same position, her frail body trembling in fear as he continues to hold the gun to her head.
"How do you stop him from pulling that trigger?"
"We do it first," Dad states, as if he's talking about something as mundane as the weather.
I glance up at him once more, again wondering who the hell our father actually is.
He lifts his hand to his ear, and I realize for the first time that he's wearing an earpiece.
"Okay. Yes."
I stare at the screen, at my girl’s beautiful face, waiting for something to happen.
Seconds pass like minutes before her eyes widen and a scream rips from her lips.
My heart jumps into my throat as the camera wobbles on its stand.
But everything is forgotten when Dad looks at me and places his hand on my shoulder.
"Conner, go."
I don't have time to think about those two words. The door to my side opens and I fly out of the SUV, the injuries I've been suffering from long forgotten as I run full speed toward the warehouse doors that another guy holds open for me. The smell hits me the second I'm inside, but I don't let it stop me. Instead, I run until the space at the end of the long corridor opens up into a huge room.
The first thing I see is a pool of blood, and my heart jumps into my throat that Warren might have got to K first. That what I thought I saw on that screen was wrong. My vision blurs as my panic begins to get the better of me.
Ripping my eyes from the pool of blood, I find a body beside it that thankfully doesn't belong to Kenny. "Kennedy," I scream, seeing her limp body tied to the chair.
Shallow gargled breaths come from the body on the floor as Warren loses his fight against the bullet lodged in his chest.
I want to stand over him and ensure my face is the last one he sees before he takes his final breath, but the need to go to my girl is stronger.
I stumble, my legs not moving as quickly as I need them to, and I drop to the cold concrete floor in front of her. "K, I'm here. It's okay. I'm here," I say, frantically looking for serious injuries.
I find nothing, and after another second, I hear the most incredible noise.
"Conner," she sobs.
"I'm here, babe. I'm right here."
Footsteps fill the silent space around us, but I don't look up to see who they belong to.
"Here, cut her free."
Some guy dressed in all black passes me a knife, and I set to work slicing through the bindings that have her unable to move.
The second she's free, I drop to my ass and pull her into my lap, cradling her to my chest as she sobs against me.
My heart aches in a way I've never experienced before. It's like New Year’s Eve multiplied by a million.
"I've got you, K. It's over. I've got you. You're safe."
There are more footsteps and guys start talking, but none of the words register as they move around us. That is, until I hear a familiar voice.
"Is this all of it?" Dad asks, walking into the room and looking around.
"Yes," someone confirms as I watch him walk toward a wall that's covered in images.
I squint, trying to make out some of it. There are photos of everyone pinned to the wall along with people and places I've never seen before, all connected with string—just like you see in crime shows on the TV.
"Is... is that Warren and C-Charlie?" I ask, zeroing in on one of the images.
"Yes," James states through thinned lips. "Warren was Charlie's son."
"What?" I bark, my head spinning.
"Look after Kennedy, Conner. I'll talk to you about all of this later.” With that, he reaches out and begins ripping all of Warren's hard work from the wall.
Kenny continues to tremble in my arms as two people crouch down beside me.
"Here, wrap this around her," Cole says, holding out a blanket before both him and Ace help me to stand and carry Kenny from the warehouse.
"He locked you in a fucking cage?" Cole spits. I follow where he's looking and I find exactly what he just said. A fucking cage.
I pause, ripping my eyes from the cage and to Warren's withering body.
"Someone give me a gun."
The room falls silent and no one moves.
"Someone give me a motherfucking gun."
In a beat, Dad is beside me and pulling something from behind his back.
He places it in my hand and I immediately raise it and focus on Warren. His eyes are barely open, but I know he sees me. Good. I need him to know that I won.
I need him t
o know that he’ll never get to hurt Kennedy or the people I care about again.
Knocking the safety off, I aim it right at his face and squeeze the trigger.
"I hope you rot in hell, you fucking psychopath."
Kenny whimpers again in my arms and my ribs scream in agony, but I can't deny that I feel that little bit better about being able to have my own revenge on the man who tried to ruin my life by taking my girl away from me. I don't give a fuck about all the other stuff, about who his dad was or who James is connected to. The girl in my arms is my entire world. Nothing else matters.
The four of us are silent as we sit in the back of the SUV waiting to see if Dad is going to join us, but after a few minutes, he appears and instructs the driver to take us home.
I'm more than happy with that, because it means I get to do what I've been desperate to do this entire time. Look after my girl.
I hold her tight to me and drop my lips to her hair.
"I love you, K. You're safe now. He's never going to touch you again."
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Kennedy
He’s gone.
Warren is dead.
It should bring me absolute relief, but I can’t stop shaking.
“Shh, babe, I’ve got you.” Conner’s grip on me tightens as the SUV heads for the Jaggers house. Cole and Ace watch me through narrowed dark eyes. They look murderous.
“Knock it off,” Conner growls, running his hand over my head. “You’re scaring her.”
“Shit, Kennedy,” Ace chokes out. “I’m just... fuck.”
“It’s okay,” Conner says, his voice cracking with pain. “She’s okay.”
“Yeah, she is.” Cole gives me a small nod, his jaw working overtime. “That piece of shit won’t ever hurt you again, Kenny.”
A whimper crawls up my throat as I remember the feeling of the barrel of the gun pressed against my temple.
He was going to do it.
Warren was going to kill me to get back at Conner and his family.
“Conner, I think—"
“Shh,” he whispers against my hair, letting his mouth trail to the shell of my ear. “Not here.”
He saw it too: Warren’s wall of photographs, newspaper cuttings, and Post-its.
I start to crash, the adrenaline leaving my body so fast I feel lightheaded.
“You okay, bro?” Cole asks Conner.
“I am now.” He lets out a long, steady breath that I feel all the way to the pit of my stomach.
My eyes flutter closed as I lay half draped over Conner’s body.
He came for me.
Conner and his dad came for me.
There had been a moment when Warren had tied me to the chair in front of his camera that my life had passed before my eyes.
All the things I wanted and would never get to have.
It’s funny, I’ve never given much thought to my future—I’m a Heighter, I don’t have dreams and aspirations. But knowing I might never get them... it flipped a switch in me.
Because I do want things.
I want to travel and see new places. I want to get my diploma and graduate. I want to get married and have a family one day.
I want those things.
And they were almost taken from me.
A shudder rolls through me and Conner grips me tighter.
“K?” he whispers.
“I’m okay,” I breathe.
I’m okay.
Warren is gone.
He can’t hurt me anymore.
I wake cradled against Conner’s chest as he carries me through the house.
“I got you, babe,” he says, staring down at me, his eyes glittering with fierce protectiveness.
He came for me.
I don’t think he’ll ever know what that means to me.
“T-thank you,” I murmur, every muscle in my body weak from my ordeal.
“Fuck, K.” His expression falters. “You don’t ever have to thank me. I’m just so fucking sorry you had to go through that.”
No more words are spoken as he carries me into his bedroom and lays me down.
“What do you need? Water? A bath?... A doctor?” Fear coats his words, and I know what he’s asking me.
Grabbing his hand, I shake my head. “He didn’t... I mean, not after he—"
“Shh.” Conner brushes his knuckles down my cheek. “The only thing that matters now is that you’re safe. You’re here, K, and I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
A knock at the door startles me and he cusses under his breath. “It’s okay,” he says. “It’s just Hadley.” Leaning down, he brushes his lips over my forehead before going to open the door. But he only opens it slightly, speaking to Hadley in hushed whispers.
When he closes it, I spot the pile of supplies in his hands. “Hadley thought you might need these.”
I nod, sitting up. “Can I take a shower?”
“Of course you can. Do you want a bath? I can—"
“A shower is fine.” Gingerly, I shuffle to the edge of the bed and begin trying to undress. But my muscles protest, pain radiating through me.
“Here, let me help.” Conner drops to his knees and begins to work my clothes off my body. His touch is so gentle and uncertain it cracks something inside me, and I lose my fight with the torrent of emotion rising inside me.
“Shit, K.” Conner cups my face, catching my tears with the pad of his thumb. “Tell me what to do... tell me how to fix this.”
“I-I don’t know.” My chest heaves. “I thought he was...” The words get stuck in my throat. “I thought he was going to—"
“Fuck, FUCK!” Conner roars, pulling me into his arms and holding me so tight I think he might crush me.
“I’m sorry,” he chants, “I’m so fucking sorry.”
We stay like that, him holding me and me crying into his shoulder, for what feels like hours. But in reality, it can’t be more than a few minutes before Conner gently eases me out of his neck and holds me at arm’s length. “I will spend every second of every day trying to fix this. I am—"
“Stop.” I press a single finger to his lips. “You came, Conner. You came for me.” Tears drip down my cheeks as I lean in, touching my head to his.
“I will always come for you, Kennedy Lowe. I love you more than anything else in the world. And I fucking hate myself for ever letting you go back to that piece of shit.”
“It wasn’t your choice to make, Con.”
“Yeah,” his teeth grind together, “well, it should have been.”
“I really want to get out of these clothes,” I whisper against the corner of his mouth. I want to kiss him, to let him carry me away and forget all about what happened... but I’m exhausted.
“Come on.” Conner stands, pulling me up with him. But he doesn’t stop there. He lifts me into his arms and carries me back out of his bedroom and across the hall to the bathroom. Sitting me on the counter, he turns on the shower and hangs a fluffy white towel on the back of the door.
“I’ll be right outside if you—"
“Stay.” The word tumbles from my lips. “I don’t think I can...” My eyes flick to the shower.
“You only had to ask.” He begins pulling off his t-shirt. His jeans go next, along with his boxers, until he’s standing naked before me. My mouth waters at the sight of him. Tanned, tatted, and ripped. Conner catches me ogling him and the corner of his mouth tips. “See something you like?”
A nervous chuckle escapes my lips. I don’t need to be nervous—it’s Conner, the boy who knows me better than anyone else on the planet. But something feels different between us. Or maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s the fact that I had a gun pressed to my temple less than an hour ago.
I guess being on the verge of death changes you.
“Babe?” Conner brushes my cheek, pulling me back to him.
“Will you wash me?” The words sound so stupid on my tongue, but it’s what I need. I need him to erase all the bad memories from my mind
. I need to feel safe and loved and cherished.
“Come on.” He grabs my hands, gently guiding me into the walk-in shower. Water cascades down on me as I move further under the spray. It feels good on my dirty skin.
Conner grabs the sponge and applies some soap to it before slowly gliding down my stomach. My breath hitches. It feels so good, but no matter how much I try to focus on Conner, all I can see is the cage and Warren’s hateful eyes as he stares at me.
Tremors rip through me, and I bury my hands in my face.
“K, it’s me, I’m right here.” He pries my hands away. “There she is, there’s my girl.”
Tears roll down my cheeks, blending with the spray. Conner continues cleaning me as I stand there, barely holding on to reality.
I feel numb, my stomach empty and hollow.
He moves around me, lathering my hair and rubbing his fingers through my scalp. A moan slips from my lips. Conner leans down, pressing a chaste kiss to my shoulder.
“I’ve got you, babe. I’ve got you.” He leans around me to shut off the spray, and we stand there for a second, letting the events of the night settle over us.
“Come on, let’s get you dry.” Conner leads me out and wraps me into a big fluffy towel, and then secures another at his waist before scooping me up and carrying me back to his bedroom. He pulls the sheets free and lays me down on the bed.
“What?” I ask, noticing how quiet he’s gone.
“I just... fuck, K... when I saw that live feed of you, sitting there...”
“It’s okay, I’m okay.” I say the words, but they don’t feel real.
“Nothing about this is okay, babe.” He climbs in bed beside me and spoons me, curving his body around me like armor.
“I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”
“I know.” I do.
“Graduation is in less than three months. As soon as the wedding is over, I want us to take off. Just you, me, and Betty.” Conner kisses my neck, nuzzling closer. “We’ll get as far away from Sterling as possible.”
“Y-yes,” I breathe. “I want that.”
He seems to relax behind me, his legs brushing mine, stirring my body to life. But I’m so tired. Bone-deep weary.
My eyes begin to flutter closed as Conner brushes his fingers up and down my arm. He must feel me begin to relax, because the last thing I hear him whisper is, “Sleep, K. I got you... I got you.”
