Train Wreck: Bennett Dynasty Book 6

by Allenton, Kate

  Train Wreck

  Bennett Dynasty Book 6

  Kate Allenton

  Coastal Escape Publishing

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2020 Kate Allenton

  All rights reserved.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement (including infringement without monetary gain) is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Please purchase only authorize electronic editions and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or use fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Coastal Escape Publishing

  Discover other titles by Kate Allenton

  At

  http://www.kateallenton.com

  Created with Vellum

  Chapter One

  Most women dream of finding and marrying their soul mates.

  Not me.

  My soulmate wasn’t Mr. Right; he was Mr. Wrong, and hiding from him was becoming much more difficult every single day.

  “Honor, are you paying attention?” my sister, Faith, asked, pulling me out of the rabbit hole where my thoughts had led.

  “Of course, I am,” I said, shifting from one foot to the other and lifting the pamphlet, which was the stand-in for the bouquet of flowers I’d be holding at the wedding.

  If Faith wasn’t convinced, she didn’t say. She turned back to the preacher and Keaton, her soon-to-be husband for the remainder of the important practice instructions, which had been a month in the making.

  My family didn’t believe in long engagements. They also didn’t believe in making sure their soon-to-be spouses didn’t have any irritating habits like forgetting to put the cap on the toothpaste or leaving the toilet seat up. They’d learn soon enough.

  I’d been fortunate—well, unfortunate—to have lived with a boyfriend once in my life. That was enough experience for me to know I coveted my personal space.

  I’d never understand the girls’ willingness to accept the guys without digging in deeper and knowing more. They’d told me the heart knew what it wanted, and mine was telling me to run without ever looking back.

  My heart might be defective, but it would never be broken.

  The preacher cleared his throat and returned his gaze to my sister and Keaton. “When we get to this point in the ceremony, I’ll guide you through the vows and exchanging of the rings, and then comes the magical moment…”

  I held in my chuckle. Magical? Hardly. More like biological. The honeymoon phase would last until one of them forgot to take out the trash or pick up after themselves.

  I refrained from commenting out loud so all of my sisters didn’t kill me.

  They each had their guy, no matter how they’d come to find them. I envied most of them for finding a version of normal to our own personal weirdness. Except Faith, of course. She kind of got screwed, knowing her man was just as gifted. It was the price for falling in love, I guessed.

  “You may kiss your bride,” the preacher announced.

  The smooch Keaton laid on Faith wasn’t pretend. It was heated and hungry. Keaton pulled her closer, took her deeper, to seal the fake deal.

  “Save some for the honeymoon,” Nina called out with a chuckle.

  I glanced at my watch, stifling my yawn. I was cutting it close.

  Mercy nudged my arm and shook her head in blatant disapproval.

  I stuck out my tongue and crossed my eyes before turning back to the happy couple with a smile plastered on my lips.

  It was odd that the groomsmen were my sisters’ boyfriends. Keaton shared that cop mentality with most of them. Dating a Bennett sister was like signing up to join a crazy club.

  He didn’t have many friends. I get it. Neither did I, so when they all headed back up the aisle to end the practice, and I took Jimbo’s arm for him to usher me out, I knew it could be worse.

  Jimbo was tolerable. He was my sister’s best friend and the one person I wasn’t worried would think he’d get lucky.

  We sauntered down the aisle like we were out on a Sunday stroll, and I did the fake wave like I’d just won a beauty pageant to the empty pews that would hold wedding guests in two days’ time.

  “Seriously, Honor?” Faith asked. She’d been watching when I hadn’t realized we had an audience.

  I cleared the smile from my face. “Are we done?”

  Faith sighed. I knew that sigh. The one that said she was disappointed with me for whatever reason. All my sisters had mastered the sigh of annoyance and had used it on me at one point or another in my life.

  “Are we keeping you?” Faith asked.

  “Of course not,” Gwen answered, wrapping her arm through mine in a tight hold that reminded me I was breaking her rules.

  Rules that I hadn’t agreed to.

  Rule number one was the only one that mattered. Well, that and Gwen’s rule number two, which was that she’d beat us to a pulp if we didn’t follow rule number one.

  Rule number one stated that the sister getting married was meant to feel special during the entire process and we were not to insinuate it was a time suck. A rule I should feel bad about breaking.

  But I didn’t. God knew I had to go through this process several more times in my future.

  “I need to go. You understand, right?” I asked, slipping my arm free of Gwen’s and stepping out of her reach.

  “Sure,” Faith answered, and Keaton put his arm around her and pulled her close. If Keaton had been on the clock, he might have thrown me in jail for upsetting his bride-to-be.

  “I’ll be at dinner. I promise,” I said, half walking, half jogging for the door.

  As soon as I cleared the building, I let out a sigh of relief as I unlocked my car door and yanked it open.

  “One day, he’s going to catch you,” Mercy said, appearing by my side. She was fast for having a bum ankle after being chased by a lunatic and falling. I hadn’t even heard the sound of her crutches striking asphalt as she approached. I was that tired.

  “Who’s going to catch me?” I asked.

  “The man that drew the short end of the stick and is getting saddled with you.”

  “You say the sweetest things,” I said, slipping behind the wheel. “But today isn’t the day it’s going to happen.”

  “Honor, when are you going to stop running?” Mercy asked.

  “Either never or when he quits chasing me,” I answered while turning the key and slamming my door shut.

  Even then, never might not be long enough.

  Chapter Two
<
br />   Mercy

  “We need to do something.” Gwen walked up beside Mercy. Sweat from the morning heat dotted her forehead.

  “She’ll never listen to us,” Mercy complained. “She doesn’t believe in happily-ever-after.”

  Mercy and her sisters were different in their own ways. Their abilities were each as unique as the sister who had them. Changing their stubbornness, however misguided, would be like trying to blow up a mountain with dynamite the size of a toothpick.

  Wind caressed their faces as the sun dipped behind some angry-looking clouds.

  “Are you doing that?” Gwen asked, glancing up to the sky.

  “Nope.” Mercy shook her head. The rain that was coming hadn’t been Mercy’s ability in action, more like Mother Nature’s, and judging by the storm headed their way, Mother Nature wasn’t happy either.

  Gwen nudged Mercy’s shoulder. “We didn’t believe in love either, but look at us now. We got sucked in like couples on Valentine’s Day.”

  Their sister, Honor, was more than just fighting the inevitable. She was taunting it and teasing it with candy, only to yank it away. One day she wouldn’t be quick enough, and she’d get bitten.

  Mercy didn’t want to think about how she and her sisters would have to pick up the pieces in the aftermath, but Gwen was right. It was time Honor gave in so she could be happy too.

  “I think we should interfere,” Mercy said, unable to hold her tongue any longer. They were sisters. They were supposed to care.

  “She’d kill us,” Gwen said with a little more excitement in her voice than expected.

  “That’s an understatement. We might lose her for good,” Mercy countered, trying to predict the worst possible outcome.

  “Either way, only one of two things is going to happen. She’s going to quit running and face it head-on or run faster and hope her luck holds out. We both know how well that worked for the rest of us,” Gwen said.

  Mercy nodded, turned, and used her crutches to hobble toward the church door. “I think we need to even the playing field and steal her running shoes.”

  “I’m game,” Gwen said, yanking the church door open. “Now, we just have to convince the others to play.”

  “We don’t want to upset Honor before the wedding. She’ll be a no-show, and then Faith will blame us,” Mercy said.

  “So, we’ll wait until after the wedding and then make our move,” Gwen said with a grin.

  Chapter Three

  Honor

  The blaring alarm jolted me from the sweet dream I’d been having. Eyes scrunched tight; I patted my hand across the bedside table until I located the target.

  Smack.

  Blessed silence followed.

  Blackout curtains and extra window tint kept any sunlight from entering the room. Judging by the darkness, it could easily be midnight outside.

  Although it wasn’t.

  It was only six p.m. I had an hour to get ready to have dinner with my sisters. That was plenty of time to make some coffee and get my day started. My mornings were other people’s typical evening hours. I didn’t sleep after six if I could help it. When I did, I’d end up running smack-dab into danger. The kind of danger that meant losing my freedom.

  It was better this way. He stayed out of my life, and I stayed out of his, and neither of us would ever get hurt or feel the pain I knew would follow.

  I grabbed my phone on the bedside table and opened my messages. I had three from my sisters.

  “Honor, don’t be late.”

  “We’ll track you down if you are.”

  Yada, yada, yada.

  Don’t get me wrong. I loved my sisters. Most of the time.

  I slid out of the bed, showered, and got ready for the rehearsal dinner. There would be no reason to run tonight. No threats of not getting enough sleep and chancing a run-in with the mysterious man that haunted my dreams. Nope. No chance at all.

  A half-hour later, I’d gotten a text from the bride-to-be saying dinner was canceled because of the weather. Faith had asked us all to stay home and be safe instead of trying to travel on the roads.

  I peered out the window down the long dirt driveway. Standing water waved in the wind and was rising steadily with the downpour.

  Living in the woods had its perks. Most of the time.

  Except for when it came to drainage and other upkeep. Then we were like the red-headed stepchildren of the community. It was times like these that the broken tree limbs, which were a month away from getting cleared, would cause problems depending on how long it rained.

  Last time it rained, I’d had to wade through water that reached up to my calves.

  Still, the perks outweighed my concerns.

  There were no neighbors to deal with. My sisters had to go a bit more out of their way to visit, and I just liked the sheer quietness of it all.

  The moon was hidden behind angry rain clouds, making it darker than normal as rain pelted down, saturating everything it touched.

  I stepped away from the window and walked into the kitchen to start coffee. I was in for a long relaxing night of reading and drinking coffee in front of a cozy fire thanks to Mother Nature.

  Just as I settled in with a cup of coffee, a blanket for my lap, and a book in front of the fire, a knock sounded on the door, making my heart stutter.

  Tossing the cover off, I walked to the door. “Whichever sister is at my door better have a good reason for…” I yanked the door open.

  A man fell into my arms. I staggered under his weight and lost my fight to stay upright. We landed in a heap on the foyer floor.

  “Help me.” His words were whispered and laced with pain. His familiar face made my heart race. The one man I’d been running from had me pinned to the floor. I struggled harder to shove him off me, his eyes rolled back into his head and his body went limp.

  “Hey,” I said, shaking him. “Wake up.”

  He didn’t move. He didn’t even moan. He wasn’t going to be any help getting me out of this predicament.

  With a mighty heave at his shoulders, I finally managed to dislodge him, putting my hand under his head to keep it banging on the floor.

  Grabbing him from beneath the arms, I dragged him across the floor, having to stop several times to catch my breath.

  “You’re taller and more muscular in person,” I grunted as I heaved him the rest of the distance to the couch and rested his upper half on the cushions before picking up his big feet and resting those over the arm of the couch. His tall frame didn’t fit.

  His shirt was torn and caked with what looked like mud. Only the trail of blood I’d just left on my hardwood floor told me I had a worse problem than dirt.

  “Crap,” I whispered and leaped to shut the door to keep my house warm. I hurried back to the couch and tore at his shirt to get a better look at his wound. There were two frightening holes on his shoulder. One at the back, an exit point I was sure, and the other in front where the bullet had entered. His chest was covered in hypnotic tattoos. I’d run my fingers over of the design before I even realized what I was doing.

  “Focus,” I growled at myself, pushing away from the stranger. Patch him up and get him gone. That was my plan. Ignoring the countless intimate dreams, I’ve had of this stranger, he wasn’t sticking around. Not if I could help it. I raced into my bathroom and rummaged through all of my stuff, looking for something to pack the wound and stop the bleeding.

  On my knees back beside his inert body, I ripped one of my T-shirts to use as a makeshift bandage. I wadded a fistful of gauze against the wound and tied the torn strips of my favorite T-shirt tight, to hold the packing in place.

  Grabbing my phone, I dialed 9-1… I didn’t get to the last one because I lifted my gaze to find the man pointing a gun at me.

  “Throw the phone in the fire,” he demanded and gestured with the gun toward the fireplace. His voice was deeper in person. Everything about him and what I’d witnessed in my dreams was just a tad off.

  “Yeah, I don
’t think so,” I answered, taking a step back. “You’re hurt. I need to call an ambulance.” And the police. I opened my mind to read his with my telepathy and was met with a strong brick wall that made me pause.

  My telepathy had never failed me.

  Until now.

  “You can’t. They’ll kill me,” he said, and just as if the energy had drained from his body, his hand went limp again.

  I grabbed the gun and held it as I dialed the last 1 and hit Enter.

  I pressed the phone against my ear just in time to hear the all-lines-are-busy sound. I glanced at the screen. Only one bar wasn’t going to get my call through.

  I grabbed the cordless in the kitchen and tried again, only to find there wasn’t a dial tone at all. Had the stranger cut my phone line?

  Thunder rumbled, and lightning sizzled and flashed, brightening the entire living room.

  The lights flickered and then died. The only light in the room was from the dancing flames in the fireplace.

  “Perfect,” I whispered more to myself than to the unconscious man on my couch. “Now what the hell am I supposed to do with you?”

  I sat on the fireplace hearth across the room from the mysterious man who’d haunted my dreams. I didn’t know much about him, not from lack of digging for his identity. His was a nameless face I’d visit while I was sleeping. All the Bennett’s came with special gifts. One of mine happened to let my soul leave my body and take road trips. And this guy was like a magnet that called to my astral projected consciousness.