by A. M. Myers
I nod and we turn to walk out into the dining room when a loud pop comes from outside followed by the sound of glass breaking. Wyatt’s wide gaze turns to me and as the second pop echoes through the neighborhood, he pulls me to the floor.
“Is someone shooting at us?” I hiss as we flatten our bodies against the dining room floor. Wyatt’s hard gaze flicks to me as he pulls his gun out of his holster.
“You stay here, okay?”
I shake my head, trying to grab for him as he starts crawling away from me but he breaks free of my hold. “Wyatt!”
He disappears behind the table and I gasp for air, my pulse spiking as he pulls the curtains back to peek outside. The window breaks, raining glass down on him and I clamp my hand over my mouth to hold back my scream as tears sting my eyes again and my heart thrashes in my ears. When he appears on the side of the table, crawling toward the front door, I’m able to breathe a little easier until he opens the front door.
“Wyatt!” I hiss but he ignores me as he stands on the side of the door and takes a deep breath before stepping outside. When I don’t hear another gunshot, my mind starts to run wild and I shake my head. “Fuck this.”
Crawling along the floor, I move to the table and grab my bag off of the top before digging my gun out with my gaze fixed on the front door. Just as I’m standing up to move toward it, another gunshot rings out from the backyard and I spin around. Moving as quickly and quietly as possible, I cross the kitchen and stop at the back door, pulling the curtains back to peek out of the little square window at the top of the door. Someone in a black hoodie has their back to me as they point a gun at Wyatt, who has his hands up. My gaze flicks to his gun on the ground and my stomach flips.
Oh, God, I’ve got to help him.
Moving slowly, I turn the door handle and gently pull the door open, careful not to make any noise and when I reach the spot where the door creaks, I hold my breath and lift it up as hard as I can, relief rushing through me when I get it open without a sound. The screen on the outside door is already open and I crouch down as Wyatt’s gaze flicks to me. His eyes tell me to run but there is no way in hell that is going to happen.
“Why did you have to go and ruin everything?” the person in the hoodie says and all my thoughts screech to a halt. Wait… I know that voice.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“She was mine!” Lillian shrieks and I shake my head, trying to understand what is happening right now but no matter which way I look at it, it doesn’t make sense. Why the hell is one of my best friends holding my husband at gunpoint? Standing up, I tiptoe backward until I hit the dining room then I turn and run out of the front door before hooking around the house. Creeping along the side of the house, I hear more of her ranting at him and I breathe a sigh of relief.
As long as she’s ranting, she’s not shooting.
Rounding the back of the house, I raise the pistol in my hand, holding it just the way Wyatt showed me as I stop a few feet behind her. “What are you doing, Lil?”
“Piper,” she gasps, wheeling around as she lowers her gun but when she sees the gun in my hand, she lifts it again, pointing it at me.
“No! Point that back at me,” Wyatt urges her, pointing to himself and I narrow my eyes and shake my head as she glances between the two of us before backing up until we form a triangle in the yard. She trains her gun on Wyatt and my heart sinks.
No.
No.
No.
“Lillian, what are you doing?”
She shakes her head as her gaze turns to me but she still keeps the gun pointed at my husband. “I’m fixing this mess.”
“What mess is that?” I ask, eyeing her warily and waiting for her to make her move. Images from the night my parents died flick through my mind but instead of reducing me to a bubbling mess like they usually do, this time I use them to fuel me. As much as I don’t want to, I will protect my husband at all costs. She shakes her head again and when her eyes meet mine, they fill with tears.
“You’re not supposed to be with him.”
I scowl. “He’s my husband, Lil. Of course I’m supposed to be with him.”
“No!” she screams, shaking her head again. The blank look in her eyes scares me and the tired look on her face tells me just how close she is to snapping and I know from all my time with Dr. Brewer and in the group that I have to be careful. “Stop saying that. Don’t you see, Pippy? I love you…”
“I do see that,” I answer, remembering what Dr. Brewer said about people lost in a delusion before I remember Wyatt admitting to me in the kitchen that he was tracking me to make sure I didn’t cheat on him. Where did he put it? In my car? My phone? Sucking in a breath, I meet his eyes and hope that he will understand my plan. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before, Lil. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she whispers and I shake my head.
“No, it’s not. You’ve always been there for me. Do you want to get out of here? Just you and me?”
She gasps, her eyes widening and hope flickering in her eyes. “Really?”
“Yeah. Let’s go right now.”
Wyatt grits his teeth and shakes his head. “Piper. No.”
“Shut up,” she hisses, turning back to him and raising the gun to his head. My heart jumps into my throat and my mind screams but on the outside, I remain calm.
“Lillian? Please don’t do that. If you kill him, they’ll come after us and rip us apart.”
Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. “No… they can’t take you away from me.”
“Then let’s just go,” I whisper, lowering my gun and holding my hand out to her as my heart hammers against my ribs. Wyatt’s face is tortured but he doesn’t say anything and I just hope he will understand what I’m doing and go along with my plan. Her gaze flicks between Wyatt and me before she starts walking over to me, still pointing the gun at my man. When she reaches me, she takes my hand and I resist the urge to shudder at the fear racing through my veins as we start backing up toward the side of the house as she continues aiming the gun at Wyatt.
“Don’t follow us,” she warns him, flashing him a glare and I shake my head, mouthing the words “I love you” to him just before we disappear around the side of the house. Once we’re in the clear, she starts running, pulling me along with her. “Come on. We have to go.”
We step into the front yard and she turns to me. “Do you have your keys?”
“Yes. They’re in my pocket.”
She grins and nods. “Okay. Let’s go.”
“But wait, I don’t have my wallet or anything,” I tell her, suddenly doubting my plan. Her gaze flicks to the side of the house and she shakes her head, pulling me along.
“I’ve got plenty of money for us and I’ll drive.”
I nod, trying to think but my brain won’t work. My gaze drops to the gun in her hand and I suck in a breath. “Can we leave the guns here?”
“Sure,” she answers cheerily as she drops his pistol into the grass and I do the same. Maybe it’s a bad idea but I feel a whole hell of a lot better knowing there’s not two firearms in the car I’m about to get into.
My stomach flips as we reach the car and she pulls open the passenger side door.
Oh, fuck, this is such a bad idea.
Why the hell am I doing this?
Slipping into my seat, I buckle up and pull the keys out of my pocket as she runs around the front of the car.
Okay, just breathe, Piper.
I just need to keep her distracted long enough for Wyatt to call reinforcements and track us down. Reaching down, I feel the phone in my back pocket and pray that he put the tracker in there or on the car… otherwise I’m screwed. My hands shake and my stomach does another flip as Lillian slides behind the wheel and reaches for the keys. As she starts the car, Wyatt runs around the house and stops when he sees me sitting in the passenger seat. I wish I could press my hand to the glass or anything to let him know how much I love him i
n case I don’t make it back from this but I can’t let Lillian get suspicious of me.
“So, where to?” Lillian asks, flashing me a wide grin as she pulls away from the curb. I shake my head as my chest aches and my shoulders feel tight. I wrap both of my arms around my body and hug myself as I look over at her.
“I’m open to anywhere.”
She scowls. “Are you cold?”
I shake my head and release my arms as I lean back in the seat and my stomach twists. Oh, God, I’m going to throw up.
“You know, I got scared there for a minute… thinking you were like everyone else but now you’re here.” Her smile is wide and happy as she looks over at me. “I never should have doubted you.”
“What do you mean, like the other ones?”
She rolls her eyes. “My ex…”
“Your fiancé?” I ask, remembering the story she told in group not that long ago and she nods, tears filling her eyes.
“You know, he asked me to marry him and then that night, as we were going to his parents’ to share the news, he tells me he’s having second thoughts and maybe we shouldn’t say anything just yet.”
I drop my gaze to my lap and scowl as I try to put all the pieces together. What exactly is she saying? “I’m sorry. That must have been hard.”
“I begged him to just give us a chance, you know? But the more I begged, the more he stood his ground and then he said that he wanted to break up instead so I did what I had to do.”
“What did you do, Lil?” I ask, my eyes snapping up to hers and she shrugs.
“I couldn’t let him leave me.”
Oh my God…
Jesus fucking Christ.
In the three years that I’ve known her, I never would have guessed that she was this unbalanced and I shake my head, wondering how the hell I never saw it. How I never picked up on the fact that, at some point, she fell in love with me?
“You killed him?” I ask as I struggle to draw a breath into my lungs and she shrugs again, her grip on the steering wheel tightening.
“I couldn’t let him just leave me, Piper. Not after everything. Don’t you judge me.”
Holding my hands up in surrender, I shake my head. “I’m not. Just surprised is all.”
“Oh, okay…” Her gaze flicks to the rearview mirror and she hisses a curse. I glance in the side mirror and my heart jumps when I see the Bronco right on our heels.
Oh, fuck, Wyatt, what the hell are you doing?
She glances over at me and I turn, meeting her eyes. Her grip on the steering wheel tightens and she blows out a breath.
“This was all a trick?”
I shake my head. “No, Lil… it’s not a trick but he’s not just going to let me go.”
“I shouldn’t have left the gun,” she growls and I’m suddenly very glad for my quick thinking as I glance at the truck in the side mirror again. When I glance back at her, her eyes are sad and she shakes her head as a tear slips down her cheek.
“I don’t want to do it…”
My brows knit together and my heart sinks as I try to decipher her words. “You don’t want to do what?”
“I won’t let him take you from me…”
My eyes widen and I open my mouth to scream, beg her to rethink her plan but before I can get the words out, she jerks the wheel to the side and the car flies off the road. My head smashes against the window and everything flips upside down just before my world fades to black.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Wyatt
“What the fuck were you thinking, Piper?” I hiss to myself as I press my foot harder against the gas pedal as my chest feels tight and I struggle to pull air into my lungs.
Fuck.
I can’t lose her.
“Where are they headed?” Rodriguez ask over speakerphone and I relay our location to him. As soon as Lillian and Piper walked out of the backyard, I called Detective Rodriguez and told him what was going down. He urged me to just wait for him to get there but there was no way in hell that I was leaving my wife.
Hell no.
“We’re almost there.”
I nod. “Okay.”
The car jerks to the side out of nowhere, flying off of the road and I slam on the brakes, my whole world screeching to a halt as Piper’s car begins flipping through the air. I throw the truck in park, gasping for breath, and jump out as it comes to a stop on the roof, my heart pounding in my ears. Running my fingers through my hair, I stare at it for a second, unable to move before I start running toward it, toward her.
Shaking my head, I pull myself from the memory and stare up at the monitor as Piper’s heart rate steadily tracks across the screen. My knee bounces like crazy as I prop my chin on my hands and stare at it like at any moment, she could crash despite all the doctors telling me she looks good and it’s just a waiting game now. She’s been unconscious for thirty-six hours and while that might not seem like a lot to most people, it has felt like an eternity to me. Although, I suppose it’s better than the total dread that swarmed me as I watched the car fly off the highway.
I shake my head to clear the memory as I turn to look at her bruised face. When I got to the car, it was clear that Lillian had died in the crash but Piper was in and out of consciousness until the ambulance showed up along with Rodriguez and two other patrol cars.
“Hey,” someone says and I glance over at Chance and Storm as they walk into the room and sit in the chairs along the wall. I nod my greeting. “How is she holding up?”
I shrug. “Same.”
“She’ll wake up, man,” Storm assures me and I nod. I know he’s been exactly where I am now but he can’t promise me anything. Chance stands up and walks over to me, clapping my shoulder.
“You need anything?”
“No.”
He sighs. “All right. Call us if you do, okay? Moose and Henn are taking over guard duty for us.”
“I’ll be fine. Go see your wives.”
They walk back out of the room and I release breath as I run my hand through my hair. Blaze ordered everyone to the clubhouse after Veronica showed up and that is all where we’re hunkering down while we try to figure all of this out. I can’t wait to get Piper there, where I know she will be safe.
“Mr. Landry?” someone says and my heart jumps into my throat. Fuck, is it one of the doctors? Do they have more information on her condition? I spin around and scowl at the woman I don’t recognize. She forces a smile to her face. “I’m Dr. Brewer, your wife’s therapist.”
I nod, eyeing her. “And Lillian’s doctor.”
“Ah, yes… that’s why I’m here, actually. I wanted to tell you… well, both of you, how sorry I am. I knew Lillian had some deep seeded trauma but she was reluctant to open up to me and I had no idea that she was so…”
“Unhinged?” I hiss, glaring up at her and she nods.
“Yes. She… hell, I probably shouldn’t be saying this… but she was in another car crash when she was very young and she lost her sister. It… manifested itself with this fear that she would lose everyone she loved and so, she took matters into her own hands. I thought… I thought we were getting somewhere with her but if I had known about her developing feelings for Piper… I would have…”
“It’s not your fault.”
My head whips to Piper and relief rushes over me when I see her green eyes staring back at me and I don’t know how I don’t collapse on the floor.
“Baby,” I whisper, standing and leaning over her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. She closes her eyes and when she opens them again, she flashes me a smile.
“Hey, you.”
I shake my head, cupping her face as softly as I can so I don’t hurt her. “Don’t you ever do that to me again, you hear?”
“Yes, sir,” she answers, her voice scratchy and a dreamy smile on her face for a second before her eyes widen as she reaches up and grips my shirt in her hand. “The baby?”
I smile. “The baby is just fine, sweetheart.”
&nb
sp; “I’m just going to give you two a little time,” Dr. Brewer says and Piper shakes her head, glancing over at her.
“No, wait… I wanted to thank you.”
Dr. Brewer’s eyes widen. “Why? You were in that situation because of me.”
“No, I wasn’t. But I knew what to do and how to handle Lillian in her fragile state because of you. You saved all of our lives.”
“Oh,” she whispers, tears welling up in her eyes.
“And there is something I wanted to ask you.”
Nodding, Dr. Brewer takes a step forward. “Okay…”
“Do you offer couples counseling?” Piper asks, looking up at me with a grin and I roll my eyes. Leave it to my wife to get shot at, kidnapped, and put in a coma for a day and half and still remember the promise I made her about counseling. Dr. Brewer glances between the two of us and nods.
“I do… but are you sure you wouldn’t prefer someone else?”
I shake my head. “Nah. Piper was right. This wasn’t your fault and honestly, you already know all about our past and you’re probably the best person to help us.”
“Okay, then,” she answers with a smile. “Call me when you’re feeling a little bit better and we’ll schedule something, okay?”
We agree and she tells us good-bye before stepping out of the room, leaving us alone. I turn to look at my wife, wishing I could pull her into my arms but I don’t want to hurt her and she is bruised everywhere.
“Lillian?” she asks with a sigh, looking up at me and I shake my head. Tears well up in her eyes and she nods. “Oh.”
“I’m sorry, baby. I know she was your friend before all of this happened but I can’t be sad that she’s dead. You’re my everything and I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you.”
She nods. “I can’t believe I never saw it…”
“It sounds like she did a very good job of hiding how she really was,” I say and she nods with another heavy sigh.
“I know you’re right. I just wish I could have helped her.”
I flash her a grin and her eyebrows knit together as she stares up at me. “Well, look on the bright side, we can talk about it in therapy.”
