Police vehicles swarmed into the parking lot.
McClain had pulled his weapon and turned it on Gavin.
Cops’ orders blended into a haze of discordant sounds as time slowed. The muzzle stopped moving and centered on his head.
Sarah gave a terrified cry and kicked out. Her shoe connected with McClain’s forearm and the weapon lifted, fired, then fell to the ground.
She drew back a fist and landed it square in the man’s nose. He cried out, blood spurted, and then he was facedown on the ground, officers cuffing his wrists behind him. Hands pulled her away. The next few moments were a blur, but Sarah soon found herself sitting in the back of an ambulance wrapped in a blanket with Gavin next to her. As soon as the paramedic turned his attention to McClain, Gavin said, “I’m glad you don’t follow orders well or I’d be dead.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So, you don’t hate me?”
“What for? Not telling me my father hired you to babysit me?”
He grimaced. “It wasn’t babysitting, I assure you.”
“No, I don’t hate you. I’m not happy he did it, but I think I’m coming to understand him a bit. And honestly, when we were falling through the sky, it was the least of my worries. So . . . I’m not going to worry about it now.”
He dropped his chin to his chest. “Thank God. I can’t tell you how that’s weighed on me.”
“I realized something else.”
“What?”
“I’ve been angry and rebellious for a very long time and I’m tired of it.” She shrugged. “It’s not very productive and has caused me to give up the peace God’s promised me.”
“Sounds like you can be wise when you want to.”
She laughed. “Wise might be stretching it, but I’m learning. And growing.”
He wrapped an arm around her. “I think you’re pretty amazing.”
“You said something while we were hovering above the earth.”
“I meant it too. I love you, Sarah. I’ve loved you for a long—”
Tears filled her eyes and spilled over onto her cheeks. “Oh no,” she whispered.
“What?” He frowned. “Sarah? What is it?”
“It’s happening.” There was no joy at Gavin’s proclamation of love. Only anguish filled her. Scenes blipped through her mind. Dustin’s loss, her past, the kidnapping, her father’s betrayal. She tried to shove it away, but it pressed in on her. Suffocating her. The pain of it all wanted to cripple her. She pressed her hands against her head. Then her chest. How could this be? Everything she’d ever done wrong was played out on a 3-D screen in her head. The anger at her mother for not telling her about her illness, followed by the hate of her father for his role in it and simply never being the father she longed for. The rebellion that led to the guys in high school. The shame of it all. The shame! She didn’t deserve love. Gavin’s or God’s. She wept and bolted from the ambulance.
“Sarah!”
She ran toward the traffic. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. End it. The shame and the pain had to end.
Hard hands caught her. Held her so she couldn’t escape. “Oh, Sarah.” The anguish in those two words reached her. “Fight it,” he whispered.
Gavin.
He’d never want to be with someone like her. Never. She was too messed up. Worthless. She shook her head. “No. No, I’m not. I’m not worthless.” A sob ripped from her. “Gavin? Why do I feel so worthless? I . . . I can’t do this . . . It has to stop. It all needs . . . to stop.” She jerked against his hold.
He turned and grabbed the paramedic’s attention. “We need to get to the hospital now.”
CHAPTE
R
TWENTY-SEVEN
Gavin paced outside Sarah’s hospital room, phone pressed to his ear. “She can’t talk right now, I’m sorry.”
“She gave me her number, you know. I have her permission to call her.”
“Kaylynn, I’m not keeping you from talking to her out of any kind of spite. The truth is, she had an accident and is in the hospital. I promise as soon as she wakes up and feels like talking, I’ll have her call you.”
A pause. “An accident? Really? Is she going to be okay?”
“Yes. Yes, she is.”
“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself.”
He sighed. “I just have to pray she will be okay.”
“Then I will too.”
“Thank you.” He was still reeling that Kaylynn had reached out to him. She must really want to talk to Sarah.
“Okay, then I guess I’ll go,” she said.
But she didn’t sound like she wanted to hang up. “Kaylynn, I’ll help you if you need help.”
For a moment, silence. “Thanks, Gavin. I’m not sure that I need help exactly. But maybe some advice. From Sarah.”
“Got it.” Must be some kind of girl thing.
“I called for one other reason.”
“What’s that?”
“I kind of owe you an apology.”
Could the day hold any more surprises? “Uh. No, I think I’m the one who owes you the apology.”
“He was a jerk.”
The druggie boyfriend. “At least we agree on that.”
“So . . . I couldn’t say it back then, but thanks.”
“Of course.”
She let out a little puff of sound that could have been a sigh or laughter. He couldn’t tell which. “Okay, I’ll be waiting for her call.”
“Bye, Kay.” The nickname she hated slipped out. “Sorry. Kaylynn.”
“You can call me Kay. Bye.” She hung up.
Still off-kilter from the conversation with his sister, Gavin watched Caden on his phone, pacing the small area in front of Sarah’s room. When Caden finally hung up, he sighed.
Gavin narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”
“Kilgore’s dead.”
“How?”
“He hung himself in his basement.”
Gavin flinched. So much pain, so much death. “It’s hard to feel sorry for him.”
“Yeah. I wanted him to pay for what he’d done, but I didn’t wish death on him. Donna will live to stand trial.”
“Good.” They fell silent for a moment, eyes on Sarah’s room. “Did you see her? In the parking lot?” Gavin asked.
“I saw her.” Caden shook his head and wiped eyes that had teared at the memory. “I’ve never seen anything like that. Is that what Dustin felt in his last moments?” His voice roughened with his effort to control his emotions.
Gavin understood the feeling. “I don’t know. I don’t want to think so.”
“Yeah.”
“It was like someone flipped a switch,” Caden said. “She was fine one minute—well, safe and happy to be that way—but then it was like a terrible sadness came over her and there was nothing she could do to stop it.”
“But absolutely had to stop it.”
“Any way she could.” A pause. “She would have run straight out into the road if you hadn’t caught her. It was blocked off, thanks to all of the law enforcement vehicles, but I have no doubt she would have kept going and . . . found a way to kill herself if you hadn’t grabbed her.”
Gavin drew in a deep breath. “Well, it’s over now. We just have to pray Heather’s right about the treatment.”
As though she heard him speak her name, Heather slipped out of Sarah’s room and let the door shut behind her. He caught her gaze and simply waited.
“She’s going to be all right,” Heather said.
“How do you know?”
“Because she has to be.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“I’m sorry. It’s all I can offer right now. But she’s very peaceful. Calm. No nightmares or restlessness. I’m very hopeful.”
Caden crossed his arms, then rubbed his chin. “I hope you’re right.”
“I’m not going to deny it was a long shot, but without the antidote, I thought it worth taking. All the people who survived the drug wit
h no more effects had undergone anesthesia for surgical procedures. One who slashed her wrists, one who tried to run through a sliding glass door, one who needed his stomach pumped . . . and more. I’m just praying that’s the case with Sarah.”
“But that was after they actually attempted suicide,” Caden said.
“Wilmont didn’t.” Gavin shifted, his worry meter set at high. “When he came out from under, he was fine.” He paused. “But his dose was an overdose—which caused him to go crazy in a very criminal sense. Maybe once the drug started to wear off, he would have tried to find a way to . . . you know.”
“I know,” Heather said. “Trust me, I know. But the anesthesia is the only connection I could find with the ones who survived and are recovering with no suicidal ideations. We have to pray it’s right.”
Brooke and Ava came into sight from the long hallway and hurried toward them. “Is she awake?” Brooke asked.
“Not yet.”
“What’s taking so long? Can’t you bring her out of it?”
Heather shook her head. “I want to let the anesthesia wear off naturally—just like with the others.”
Ava pressed her fingers to her lips, her eyes wet. “I can’t believe this.” She looked at Caden. “Thank you for the quick phone call to fill us in, but I still can’t wrap my head around it. You’re saying her kidnapping was all a ruse to get the money from her father?”
He nodded. “Yeah. That was why they held her in the cell at the compound. They were waiting for McClain to get there with the papers. Once Sarah signed them, he’d only have to convince”—he used air quotes—“the general to do it. McClain would have Sarah and if the general didn’t sign, he’d just threaten to kill her.”
“Which he would have done anyway once he had the signature,” Gavin said. “The plan was probably to kidnap Sarah, get her signature, keep her alive long enough to get the general’s signature, then kill them both.”
“Only Sarah managed to get a call out on her sat phone,” Heather murmured.
Footsteps sounded behind him. Slow, measured steps. He turned to see General Denning coming toward them with the help of a walker.
Caden stepped forward. “General.”
“I want to see Sarah,” the man growled. His pale face and shaky hands gave away the fact that he shouldn’t be out of bed.
“She’s still sleeping, General,” Heather said.
“Well, wake her up. I need to talk to her.”
“I can’t do that.” The steel in Heather’s words said she wouldn’t do it.
The general paused. His shoulders wilted. “I helped fund that drug, you know. I thought they were doing good things. I had no idea they were falsifying the data.”
“I know, Dad,” Caden said. He pulled a chair from the nurses’ station. “Why don’t you sit down?”
Once he was seated, he took a moment to catch his breath. Gavin eyed him, feeling slightly relieved when the man’s face pinked up a bit. “Tell me what that traitor McClain’s told you.”
Caden shrugged. “Basically everything. He’s hoping for something other than the death penalty. He’s gone into great detail about everything from Sarah’s kidnapping in Kabul—which we messed up for him—to him coming up with a new plan that involved getting to her here in the States. Kilgore and Nurse Donna were as greedy as he was.”
“And Max?” Heather asked.
“Max got too close, started asking too many questions, and scared them that he was going to ruin everything by exposing them and the drug. Thanks to him and Dustin’s evidence, we have all we need to put away those involved.”
“What about the other people around the country?” Ava asked.
“Law enforcement has already taken those involved into custody. It’ll take a long time to get it all sorted out, but at least there won’t be any more T-64 distributed.”
A nurse stuck her head out of the room. “She’s waking up.”
Sarah opened her eyes and blinked. Blinked again. And groaned. Another hospital? Great. She frowned. What had she done this time?
“Hey, sleepyhead, can you wake up and talk to us?”
Gavin. Warmth enveloped her. She’d never tire of hearing his voice. Her eyes finally focused, and she let her gaze drift around the room. Anxious faces stared down at her.
“Who shot me this time?”
Stilted laughter came from her visitors.
“How do you feel?” Heather asked.
“Sleepy.”
“Anything else?”
Was she supposed to feel something else? “Um . . . no, I don’t think so. What happened? Why am I here?”
“What’s the last thing you remember before landing here?” Brooke asked.
“Uh . . .” She struggled to formulate an answer. “I’m not sure. Everything is kind of fuzzy.” She gasped. “McClain. He sprayed me with something then . . . Nurse Donna was there. I think I remember being carried down a hallway and dumped in a room.” Her eyes locked on Gavin. Then her father. She struggled to sit up. Heather raised the bed. Gavin never let go of her hand. “You were there.”
He nodded. “What else do you remember?”
She shrugged. “That’s it.”
“Just like Wilmont,” Caden murmured.
Heather stepped next to her and looked into her eyes with a light. “You don’t feel sad or depressed?”
“What? No. I feel . . . refreshed. Like I had a really good night’s sleep with no nightmares.”
Tears sprang into Gavin’s eyes and he closed them. When he opened them, Sarah caught her breath at the emotion there.
“All right, then, everyone,” Caden said, “I think we can get out of here.” One by one her visitors left. Except Gavin, who didn’t move.
He leaned over and kissed her forehead.
At the door, Caden pulled Heather into a tight hug. “Thank you.” His whisper drifted to Sarah.
“What’s that all about?” she asked.
Heather smiled through her tears. “I’ll let Gavin bring you up to speed while I go fill out your discharge papers. Just press the button if you need anything.”
She left and Sarah lifted a brow.
Gavin’s phone buzzed and he glanced at the screen. “Well, seems you’ve made an impression on my sister.”
“Really? How?”
“I don’t know, but maybe you can give me some pointers. Come in!”
Sarah jumped. The door opened. Kaylynn stepped inside and shut it behind her. “I hope I’m not imposing.”
“Not at all,” Sarah said. “Have a seat wherever you can find a spot.”
Kaylynn chose the seat under the window. “I know this is kind of weird, but you offered to help.”
“Of course.”
Gavin nodded.
“So, it’s kind of a long story, but I’ll give you the condensed version. And I’ll probably be blunt.”
“Just say it,” Gavin said.
“A professor at my school has been soliciting sex for As.”
Gavin lost his laid-back posture and his feet hit the floor. “I’m sorry, did you just say—”
“Yes, I did. Please don’t make me say it again.”
“Go on.”
She fished into her pocket and pulled out a flash drive. “A friend of mine complied and got her A, but she was devastated. She dropped out and went home. I can’t tell you how angry I was. I didn’t know what to do or how to do it, I just knew I was going to find a way to get the evidence I needed.” She rubbed the flash drive between her thumb and index finger while staring at it. “So, I did.” She lifted her eyes to meet Sarah’s. “When you said you were an investigative journalist, it gave me the idea. I set myself up as bait and he took it.”
Gavin’s gasp nearly sucked all of the oxygen from the room. “You did what?”
“I went to his place and recorded our . . . interaction.”
“You have him on video or audio?” Gavin said.
“Both.”
“Give it to me.
I’ll take care of it.” He paused. Looked at Sarah. “I mean, I’ll take care of it if you want me to. I won’t butt in if it’s something you’d rather handle yourself.”
His sister gaped and Sarah had to smother a giggle in spite of the seriousness of the situation.
Kaylynn raised a brow. “Where’d that come from?”
“I’ve been taking lessons on how not to be a dictator. Now do you want me to take care of it or not?”
“Sure. I wanted to do it myself, but he scared me the last time I was there.”
“Did he touch you?” Gavin’s tone had turned lethal.
“No, not at all. But I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t. I left his home, and when I turned around, he was watching me.” She paused and bit her lip, then sighed. “I’m sorry, Gavin. I’ve been so stupid.” She cleared her throat. “I’ve been angry with you.”
“No kidding.”
“But it was more than you, I was mad at myself too. Mostly I was angry with you because you took the choice to handle Mitchell away from me.” She sighed. “I knew he was into some drugs, but I thought it was just occasionally and he never did them around me. I thought he was in love with me and would change. For me. When you caught him with the drugs at Mom and Dad’s, it was a punch in the gut. I hated you for finding them and him for having them and I hated myself for thinking I could convince him to quit. But he obviously wasn’t going to—and I couldn’t make him. It made me sad and angry and spiteful. That night in the professor’s house when I wasn’t sure what he was going to do, I realized that I was wrong. Sometimes you need someone to step in and save you from yourself.” She stood and hugged him. “So . . . thanks.”
Sarah swiped a tear. Kaylynn was wise beyond her years. Sometimes you need someone to step in and save you from yourself. So true.
“Anyway, thanks. I won’t go back to his class until this is taken care of.”
Gavin turned to Sarah. “Will you be all right for a little while?”
“Of course.” She smiled. “This will give Kaylynn and me a chance to get to know each other a little better.”
Kaylynn grinned through a sheen of tears. “I’ve got stories.”
“Oh . . . do tell.”
Acceptable Risk Page 27
