Entangling: Book One of the Kirin Lane Series

by Kelley Griffin

  Not only was her head pounding, but by the warm, wet trickle running into her hair, her scalp bled profusely. Even with her eyes closed, the darkness spun making her dizzy. This wouldn’t be easy when it was time to stand and fight.

  Sam barked out two sets of orders. “Check all the doors and make sure the house is clear, I’ll text Saul and let him know the package is here. And you, slugger, go turn on a few lights and don’t hit anybody. It’s getting dark.”

  As soon as the footsteps of both men were gone, Sam strolled toward her kitchen as if he owned the place. She opened one eye, but the island in the middle blocked her view. The creak of her lower cabinet and the sound of rushing water told her he’d pulled a hand towel out and wet it.

  She closed her eye once he walked back over. Sam knelt holding two fingers to her neck to feel her pulse and the towel to her head. His words still floated in her memory. It took every ounce of restraint not to reach up and choke him.

  Sam leaned over and whispered, his voice a low growl, “Lay there. Don’t move. Hear me? I can still get you out of this.”

  Sam touched Kirin’s cheek and rose, tossing the towel on the floor and kicking it under a chair with his foot. Heavy footsteps fell closer toward the kitchen.

  Kirin laid still. Systematically flexing each muscle in both legs, then her feet. Making sure not to make any sudden movements. She had to stand up at the right time. Her mind battled back and forth. Were they still on the same team? She searched her heart. She loved Sam, that she knew.

  And he loved her. He’d told her. She knew it too every time he’d kissed her. And at his cabin and inside her house, he’d been real. Even with the boys he’d shown the real Sam. Surely her faulty heart hadn’t picked the wrong man to trust.

  The sound of gravel shooting out from tires startled her back to reality. She twitched then froze, hoping the men standing over her didn’t notice. The car stopped. The sound of four car doors shutting echoed through the front entryway.

  This was it.

  This was the meeting she’d dreaded since she discovered Saul had killed her mama. At the thought of that, her anger mingled with her confidence. One way or another, this would end today.

  One man inside ran to the front door to stand.

  The air changed as soon as Saul walked in with his entourage. Even on the floor, she could feel it. The men standing near her froze. Kirin’s body tensed up as a cold breeze from outside rushed past her.

  Now or never. Kirin opened her eyes and stood. She misjudged the extent of her head injury. The room spun. She fell backward crashing into a dining room chair. Much to her delight, it put her into a sitting position. Not her most graceful move, but at least she wasn’t on the floor. She blinked hard forcing her eyes to focus.

  Startled by her sudden movement, two of the men who walked in with Saul immediately drew their guns and pointed them at her face. Saul only smiled and waved their guns away.

  A third man, who she instantly recognized as Scar, stood closest to Saul and anticipated his needs by grabbing another chair from the dining room and placing it directly in front of Kirin, but out of arms reach. Saul grunted as he sat, never breaking eye contact with her.

  “Well, Kirin,” came his loud, deep voice, “What did you do to your head?” He oozed with fake concern.

  She glared at him then found her voice, “Nothing that can’t be fixed, Godfather.”

  It worked. It stunned him. For a second, he lost his creepy smile. A smirk of caution immediately took its place. Saul shook his head as if he warned a four-year-old not to touch a hot stove.

  “Someone’s done their homework.” He drew closer to Kirin and reaching out he touched her chin with one stubby finger. “My, my. You do look like your mother, God rest her soul.”

  Kirin came unglued. She lunged, scratching his face and neck as rage bolted through her like lightning, only to be restrained and forced back into the chair hard, by Sam and one of the other suits.

  Saul chuckled turning to the suits, “Guess I hit a nerve with that one.”

  All his suits, including Sam, laughed.

  Kirin gathered her thoughts, leaned forward and replied, “Actually, I’ve always been told I look more like my Aunt Maggie looked before she died. Don’t you think?”

  If he could have shot her right there, she was sure he would’ve. His icy glare sent ripples of fear down her spine. She’d hit a nerve and knocked him off balance. Perfect.

  Sam, dressed in a dark suit like the others, slammed Kirin back into her chair again, extra hard. Apparently, he was not at all pleased with her tactics in taunting this dangerous man, but she didn’t care. She knew she had to get him emotional to get any confession out of him on camera. She had to end this. To ensure her family’s safety, and in a perfect world, hers, and Sam’s too. She pressed on.

  “She never truly loved you, did she?”

  “This isn’t about her,” he said, teeth gritted and clearly riled. “It’s about returning the fucking book like you should’ve done weeks ago. It’s about your crooked father hiding my money from me, but he’ll get his in the end. He never could do anything right. The deal he made to protect you backfired. How do you like your protector, Kirin?” he said, pointing to Sam.

  “You think he’s in love with you? Come on. It’s a game. And he’s quite exceptional at it. He’s my whore. You aren’t the first woman he’s screwed to get something I need, and I’m sure you won’t be the last. He’s an excellent actor, isn’t he? Too bad I own him. He does whatever I say. And as I understand it, he’s tired of playing house with you.”

  Kirin didn’t even blink. “No harm done,” she fired back, “I got everything I wanted out of him.”

  The other men in the room nervously laughed. Everyone except Sam. He and Babyface held a tight grip on her arms after the last outburst. Kirin felt a pinch. Sam’s grip suddenly got much tighter than Babyface’s.

  Saul yelled, “Enough!” and the men instantly obeyed.

  “The book. Now.”

  Kirin asked for her purse and Scar threw it at her feet. Sam and Babyface released her arms. She reached into her purse and pulled out the picture from her baptism. She handed it to Saul as if they were old friends, then stole a glance up at Sam. His jaw was banjo-string tight and his perfect face was blotchy-red and angry. He glared at Saul with a hatred she recognized.

  Saul’s expression was smug, then changed to sadness, then anger and finally rage. He shot up from his chair shaking the picture and yelling in her face.

  “Do you think this old picture changes anything? That this is going to help you live? Is this what you’ve pinned your hopes on? Yes, I loved your Aunt Maggie, she was the only person who truly understood me, and she died.”

  Saul flicked the picture like a playing card toward Kirin’s face. “But I have no loyalty to keep you alive. Your father hid my money and I want it back. The codes to get into my foreign accounts are inside the pages, and I want the fucking book now!”

  Crimson faced with murderous eyes his hot breath covered her face. She felt for sure, her death might be the one captured on camera that puts him away.

  Kirin reached into her purse to grab the book, never taking her eyes off Saul. The envelope from Maggie touched her fingers. Kirin closed her eyes briefly, hoping whatever was in the envelope wouldn’t enrage him enough to kill her, but would help get a confession. Kirin pulled out the envelope and placed it in his outstretched hand.

  “What now?” he turned the envelope over and rubbed a chubby finger over the handwriting, slow and deliberate.

  Saul sat gingerly in the chair across from her as if he sat on eggshells. A blank expression crossed his face. Confusion covered his eyes as he stared at the envelope. Saul opened it, careful as if he’d rip a million-dollar check inside. His sausage fingers shook as he pulled out three pieces of folded paper and inspected them. From the back of the pages, it looked like pictures of people, but Kirin couldn’t tell from her angle.

  Saul stared
from the papers to Kirin, repeatedly.

  Shaking his head, he rose slowly. Without warning, he drew a gun from the back of his belt and pointed it at Kirin’s head.

  “Saul, stop!” Sam yelled, quick and loud. “You don’t want to do this. Listen to me, it’s me … it’s Pat, put the gun down, Saul, you don’t want to do this.”

  Saul turned toward Sam, a crazed and puzzled look of disbelief washed over his face, then he turned back to Kirin.

  “Where did you …” his voice trailed off, lost in his own thoughts. His gun still absentmindedly pointed at Kirin’s head. One slip and she’d be gone.

  Saul spoke again, louder, pronouncing each word distinctly.

  “Where did you get this?”

  Kirin swallowed hard. “A family friend.”

  Saul looked stunned. He mumbled a monologue she could barely understand. He paced back and forth waving his gun toward Kirin every few sentences. Sam jerked each time he swung it past her forehead.

  “I … I don’t understand … didn’t mean to kill. I was an immature young man. Jealous. I was so jealous of anyone who might want to take my Maggie from me. Never deserved her. She was so beautiful. We’d only stopped for gas. Heading to hike in the mountains. Nasty old trucker had the nerve to speak to her while I paid. It wasn’t her fault, she was only being polite. I could see him for what he was. A pervert who wanted her. Wanted to touch her. I didn’t mean to kill him. …didn’t know…but she took pictures of it. Why’d she take pictures?”

  Saul stopped pacing. He stared down at the papers in his hand. Through the back of the paper, she could make out the faint red of blood and the shadow of a young man holding what appeared to be a stick or maybe a tire iron.

  Written on the outside of the envelope were the words:

  Dearest Saul,

  I have sent these to the FBI. I am so sorry. ~Maggie

  Saul paced again, mumbling this time only to himself. Every few steps he’d turn and stare at Kirin, then continue pacing.

  The room was dead silent, but Kirin’s heartbeat thudded in her ears. This was it. He was on the verge of breaking. Kirin locked eyes with Sam. There was a mixture of terror, anger, and sadness in his eyes.

  Kirin gazed up toward the camera mounted and hidden on the wall behind them. She hoped it’d recorded Saul’s confession. The other two pictures he held must have been the aftermath of the trucker’s death. She wondered what possessed Maggie to take the pictures. But maybe even back then, Maggie must’ve known he was dangerous. Maybe she’d wanted a way out someday too.

  Kirin had gotten her confession, but now they had to survive this heartbroken, crazed, and unpredictable man waving a gun and mumbling to himself.

  Again, he stopped moving and spun slow toward Kirin. With one fluid motion, he bolted across the room and placed the cold barrel of the gun against her forehead and cocked it.

  Faster than she’d thought possible, Sam drew his gun and aimed it at Saul’s head, which caused the other operatives to draw their guns on Sam.

  Kirin closed her eyes. Her mind drifted to the face of each of her loved ones as she said goodbye to them, then prayed the Our Father. Her neighbor Arthur’s papery-skinned smile flashed across her mind. “New beginnings, Ms. Lane, that’s what spring is all about, but you got to watch out for the danger. That doe can sense it. Sometimes we have to use our instincts to sense the danger.” Her time had come.

  Saul had no reason to spare her now. His pain was too great, and he had nothing to lose. Why hadn’t she held tighter to her boys when she’d left them? No, they’d be fine. Sam would make it out of this and make sure Saul was put away.

  His question that followed shocked her. Saul bent down and whispered only to Kirin, “Is my Maggie still alive?”

  With her eyes still closed and keeping to her word, she lied. “No, she is not.”

  He didn’t need Kirin’s answer. He already knew the truth. He let out a whimper she was sure would be followed by a loud gunshot and darkness.

  What happened next flew in slow motion. Kirin’s front door busted open and ten armed FBI agents with guns drawn descended upon her living room like ants on a marshmallow. Their deafening yells for everyone to get down and drop their weapons surrounded the room like a blanket of snow.

  Saul’s gun scraped across her forehead as Sam used the distraction to jump him, knocking them both to the floor. Both their guns slid into the dining room. Several agents wrestled both men to the ground. Saul, Sam and all Saul’s men lay face down on her floor, hands behind their backs with guns pointed at their heads.

  Three agents grabbed up Saul to walk him into the backyard. Sobbing loudly, he rattled on mindlessly that Maggie had been alive all these years and didn’t want to be with him.

  Kirin swayed in her chair, arms up instinctively. She was afraid to stand up feeling so fuzzy headed. Her mind tried desperately to catch up.

  She was alive. And her family was safe. Kirin’s head throbbed so hard that part of her wished she’d been knocked out. Putting one hand over the wound on her head, she began to shake. One of the armored officers knelt in front of her and held out a towel. When he lifted the shield over his face, her eyes focused on Stacy’s brother’s angry face.

  She smiled.

  Steve’s voice cracked as he scolded her like a child. “What were you thinking going up against the leader of a well-known mob group? And why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve helped.” His tone was angry, but she was just happy to be alive.

  “He confessed.” It was all she could say. Kirin held the towel to her head and pointed with her free hand to the hidden camera behind her.

  Steve’s face lit up as he spotted the cameras. “Where does it record?”

  “My phone and both computers,” she said, shaking.

  He squeezed her arm then instructed another agent to confiscate her phone and computer. Steve bent to pick the pictures off the floor. He crouched again in front of her, shaking the papers. “We received another set of these yesterday in the mail along with the article out of the paper about this unsolved mystery. The woman who sent it was brave.”

  Kirin grinned. Maggie had sent them into the FBI to save them. She was the hero.

  “Hey, Steve?” Kirin’s voice sounded small. “Thank you.”

  Steve smiled back as he walked over and ordered his men to release Sam.

  As soon as they took the cuffs off, Sam ran to Kirin, scooped her out of the chair and sat her on the floor. Her body, always picking the worst possible moment, shook even harder.

  Sam held Kirin tight. Between kisses to her forehead, he whispered, “Part of me wants to hold you and part of me wants to kick your ass for taking such a chance with your life. I knew he’d kill you, and my life would be over.” His voice cracked at the last word.

  “I like the kissing idea instead of the other,” Kirin whispered, hoarse.

  When her shaking slowed, the close-range bang of a gun rang out from the backyard. Everyone in the room dove. Four armed agents ran through her back door and into the night. Sam released Kirin and followed them, unarmed.

  A scream barely escaped her throat, “Sam, no!” she begged, but he was gone. Two more quick gunshots and Kirin buried her face. She couldn’t even look. They’d made it unscathed right to the end, but she was sure Sam was the victim this time.

  An agent yelled inside for another to call an ambulance, but then after a beat said it wouldn’t be needed. Inside her home, the noise level had risen dramatically, but now was as quiet as a whisper. Two agents walked back inside, visibly shaken and relayed the events outside to the other officers.

  Her mind sputtered and garbled their words, but she’d comprehended that Saul had wriggled loose, grabbed an agent’s gun, and they’d all wrestled him to the ground. After the two shots, all movement outside ceased.

  Another officer walked in from her backyard, dialed a number, then after a beat said, “Mr. Calamia took his own life.”

  She crawled from her spot on the floor
to look outside into the floodlight-soaked backyard. She had to get eyes on Sam. Had to see for herself he was okay.

  Kneeling with his head in his hands, Sam rocked back and forth while another agent talked to him. One of Steve’s men walked inside and homed in on Kirin.

  “He’s okay.” He knelt and touched her shoulder. “One of our guys is talking him through it right now. He’ll be fine.”

  A rattling noise inside the pantry set all the agents into motion. Guns pointed, they crept single file into Kirin’s kitchen like a line of ants. They held their guns at the ready. From her vantage point on the ground, Kirin recognized the tuft of black hair when it emerged from the panic room under the floor of the pantry. Rosa’s eyes snapped up and she screamed. Her hands shot up. Kirin held her head and ran toward the pantry.

  “Stop! Stop! She’s family.”

  Steve gave the signal and they lowered their guns as Kirin pushed past them.

  Kirin grabbed and hugged Rosa. “What were you doing down there?”

  “Somebody had to make sure the computers were recording.” Rosa reached up and put a hand on Kirin’s cheek and smiled, then she pulled a yellowed piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Kirin.

  It was page 288 from her father’s book.

  Epilogue

  Time passed, and wounds healed.

  Well, most of them.

  Nightmares haunted Kirin. Vivid images of Saul shooting Sam in the head right before taking his own life plagued her. Sometimes the images would vary. He’d target Will or Little Jack instead of Sam, but Sam was the prevalent nightmare. Would she ever sleep well again?

  As the long days of summer got underway, she pushed the pictures out of her mind. Barbeques, hiking and lazy weekends were now her focus. Spending time with her family was a top priority. But hard as she tried, Saul and The Club were never far from her mind.

  Sam was distant right after Saul’s suicide. Something ate at him. Guilt maybe? She didn’t know. He wouldn’t talk about it. Truth be told she still wasn’t sure what his job had been in Saul’s army. When summer hit though, he was himself again. He laughed more. Maybe he forgave himself for whatever he’d done while enslaved in The Club. Either way, for once they were happy and at least on the outside, nobody chased them.