“Why on earth are you doing this, Justin? That is you, isn’t it? What could my dad have possibly done to you that was so bad that you felt the need to kidnap me as some sort of revenge?”
Kerri wanted to keep him distracted, so she kept on talking. She remembered that an accident had caused total hearing loss in one of his ears, so if she kept the noise up, then maybe he wouldn’t hear Chase. Judging by the way Justin’s muscles tensed and his breathing picked up a few moments ago, Chase was already there. Justin knew it just as well as she did. He was becoming jumpy, but he never took his eyes off the front entrance of the barn. This was another mistake on his part. Either he didn’t know there was a back entrance, or he just assumed that the threat would come from the front. Kerri guessed that he was using his good ear to detect movement from behind.
“You do know that you’re trapped, right? There is no way you are making it off this property with me. I suggest you give up this whole revenge mission, and you may walk out of here alive.”
“Shut up!” Justin practically screamed in her ear.
Way to go, idiot! If Chase didn’t know where we were by now you just told him. Kerri had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Justin may have been a joke, but he was still dangerous, and she didn’t want to do anything to set him off before Chase got into position.
Justin was beginning to sweat profusely, and that let Kerri know that he was beginning to panic. He was like a cornered animal, and that meant this situation could go one of two ways. Either he would ditch his plan and try to save himself by making a run for it, or he would feel that there was no hope and go out with guns blazing. Kerri had a feeling Justin was the type of man to choose option two. If he had to go out, then he was taking as many people with him as possible. She hoped that she hadn’t made a mistake by using herself as bait. Keep him talking. Buy yourself some time.
“The least you could do is tell me why you are using me to get to my dad. I think I deserve that much.”
“You don’t need to know anything. Your dad knows why I am doing this, and that’s all that matters. He will have to live with the consequences of his decision for the rest of his life.”
The entire time Justin was talking, Kerri was removing the small blade strapped to her wrist. She palmed the handle, but left her sleeve down to cover the blade. She felt that if she could just slice through the tendons on the wrist holding the gun, the he would lose his grip and drop it. Her aim had to be precise because if she didn’t sever the tendons, then he would still be able to pull the trigger and probably would. Wouldn’t that suck? Kerri managed to hold back the giggle threatening to escape. Leave it to my morbid mind to find humor in this situation, she thought to herself, trying not to laugh. It was either that or hysterical screams.
Just as Kerri was about to take a swing with the knife, her dad came strolling through the doors with his hands out by his sides, signaling that he was unarmed. She couldn’t say that she was surprised to see him here. Her dad always found a way, and she had a feeling that there was nothing that was going to stop him from missing this confrontation.
* * * *
When Daniel saw Kerri slip the knife out of her sleeve, he knew exactly what she was planning to do. There was no way he was going to let that happen. If she missed, then Justin could and probably would pull the trigger. Daniel trained Kerri and knew that she had the skills to pull the move off, but he had no intentions of letting her put her life in danger any more than she already had. Daniel did the only thing that he could, and that was to reveal himself. From the look in Justin’s eyes when he stepped through the door, he was not expecting Daniel to be there. The man knew that he was screwed, and the desperation showed on his face.
“Come on, Justin, why don’t you let her go? I’m the one you really want. Your grudge is with me, not her.”
Daniel casually leaned against the door and crossed his legs at the ankles. He pretended that he didn’t have a care in the world, but on the inside he was boiling with anger at the sight of the gun pressed against his daughter’s head. He wanted to march over and rip the gun out of Justin’s hand and beat him with it. He wouldn’t kill him right away. That would be too easy. He would make him suffer for a while before he slowly killed him. Daniel hated that side of himself. He tried to keep the side that was blood hungry hidden, but he wouldn’t have survived as long as he had without it. He never wanted his daughter to see that side of him, but he had a feeling Kerri would tonight.
“You think you are so special. You took everything from me, so now it’s my turn to return the favor,” Justin spat. “All my life all I’ve ever wanted to do was be a soldier. When I got too old for that, I thought I found my dream job working for you. You took that away from me when you fired me. Now I’m nothing.”
“I didn’t fire you. You chose to leave,” Daniel said.
“It doesn’t matter! You refused to let me back out into the field. Do you think some desk job made it all better? I’m not made to sit behind a desk, and I didn’t want your pity.”
Daniel watched Justin wave his gun around as he talked. He was getting careless, and that’s what Daniel wanted. He was positive Chase was in position by now, and when the time was right, Daniel would give him the signal to take Justin out. Chase wouldn’t kill him, just wound Justin enough to put him out of commission for a while. The honor of killing the man belonged to Daniel. He tuned back into Justin’s rants only to hear the tail end of his statement.
“…that is why I am going to take away that which is most precious to you.”
Daniel watched in horror as Justin pressed the gun against Kerri’s temple and began to squeeze the trigger. His eyes connected with Kerri’s for a split second before he watched her right arm come across her body and swing down. She then dropped to the floor and rolled. When she came back up, she was positioned on one knee in front of Justin with a knife that she pulled from her boot and imbedded in Justin’s stomach.
The whole world seemed to freeze and go quiet at that moment. It seemed everyone was in shock. None more than Justin. Everything happened so fast that he didn’t know what hit him. His eyes just kept tracking from his gun on the floor, to the knife in his belly, and back to Kerri. She still had the small blade in hand, held out and ready to defend herself. The world took a collective breath and began moving again when Justin lunged at Kerri. He didn’t make it a step before two gun shots and a sickening, wet thunk sounded. Justin was dead before he hit the ground. Daniel’s bullet had hit him in the chest, Chase’s hit the back of his head, and Kerri had managed to throw her blade, lodging it in Justin’s throat. It wasn’t the slow, painful death that Daniel was hoping for, but it would do. He looked at Kerri, still kneeling on her bad leg, and felt a rush of pride. He was proud, not only because she actually listened and took all of his lessons to heart, but because she had the courage to do what had to be done without hesitation.
Daniel went over to help Kerri up, but was beaten to her by Chase. He stepped back and watched Chase run his hands over her, checking for injuries. When he didn’t find any, he pulled Kerri to his chest and hugged her tightly. Daniel could see tears in the big man’s eyes and watched as his body trembled. This told Daniel everything he needed to know about Chase’s relationship with his daughter. No man would be this shook up if it wasn’t love. It saddened Daniel that he was no longer Kerri’s protector, but he knew that she was in good hands with Chase. Justin was right about Kerri being the most precious thing to him, and he was willing to trust Chase with her.
Daniel stepped in as Kerri stood and hugged his daughter. “Hey, pumpkin, are you okay?”
Kerri shook her head. “No, but I will be.”
She gave him a crooked smile, but Daniel knew that she was more affected than she let on. It was one thing to train for combat, but it was completely another to put that combat to use. He suspected that when Kerri came down from her adrenaline rush, the whole situation was going to hit her hard. Daniel looked over at Chase and saw the same
look of concern in his eyes. He was thinking the same thing.
“Take her home, and get her taken care of. I will handle this mess,” Daniel said as he toed Justin’s body
Chase nodded, and without another word, swung Kerri up in his arms and carried her out of the barn.
* * * *
Chase took Kerri to the house and straight to the bathroom, sitting her on the counter and turning the shower on. While he waited for it to heat up, he went to the closet and opened the door to the safe room. Duncan met him at the top of the stairs with a sleeping Cane in his arms. Logan followed close behind with two smaller bundles in his. They both wore huge grins. Chase quickly filled them in on everything that happened while they were busy delivering babies.
Once they left to get Cane and the babies checked out at the hospital, Chase went back to the bathroom. Kerri had stripped and was standing under the spray with her head hanging down. He had removed his shirt and was unbuttoning his jeans when he saw her shoulders shaking. Chase forgot about the jeans and climbed in the shower behind Kerri. He wrapped Kerri in his arms and held her. He knew that she had to work through her feelings by herself, and there was nothing that he could say to make the situation better, so he stayed silent as she cried. As he held her, he thought about the events of the night. He could have lost her. If things had gone differently, then it was likely that he would have. He stopped that line of thought quickly in its tracks. Things went the way they should have, and he wasn’t going to worry about what could have happened. Still, he thought his heart had stopped when he saw Kerri twist in Justin’s arms and swing that knife at him. From his point of view, Chase never saw the blade that she was carrying, so he didn’t know what she was doing. His heart hadn’t started beating again until Justin lay on the ground, dead. Chase didn’t know whether to be angry at Kerri for putting herself in that situation or to be awed at her strength and courage. He would tell Kerri how proud he was of her, but later when she was ready to hear it. When her tears dried up, Chase washed her from head to toe and turned the water off. Once he had them both dried off, he carried her over to the bed and climbed in.
“Sleep, little bit. I will be right here if you need me. Tomorrow we will go see Cane and the babies and start living our lives.” Chase felt his adrenaline crashing, causing him to quickly follow Kerri into sleep.
Epilogue
Kerri sat slowly back in the chair, trying not to wake the baby in her arms. She held her breath as the baby squirmed and settled back down. The twins were gorgeous, but Kerri didn’t understand how something so small could be so loud. She held Michael, who took after the Matthews men with his curly, black hair. He was only happy when being held by women. Kerri snorted. Mikey was going to be a heartbreaker when he got older, and the eyes were going to bring women to their knees. He took after his momma with his eyes. One eye was light amber, and the other was pale blue. The eyes together with the black hair made him breathtaking. Kerri looked across the table to Chase and smiled. He looked perfect holding Madison. She was the complete opposite of brother. She had all the Matthews men wrapped around her tiny little finger. When she batted those long, pale eyelashes they came running, especially Chase. Maddy took after her momma with her white hair. It hadn’t completely grown in yet, so it stuck up, spiked on the top of her head. When the hair was added to her bright-emerald-green eyes, she was stunning, like a tiny pale fairy. Kerri felt sorry for whatever guy felt he was good enough to date Maddy when she got older. Her daddies and uncles were already very protective of her.
Kerri smiled as she looked around the back yard. Everyone was there to celebrate Ali’s eighteenth birthday. Ali only requested close friends and family to celebrate with her, and Kerri was honored to be included. She wanted this. She wanted the close family and friends. She wanted Chase to hold their baby in his arms and smile down at it like he did Maddy. She wanted Chase’s smile to widen and his eyes to sparkle when she entered a room, like Duncan’s and Logan’s did for Cane. Now that everything was over, nothing was stopping her from getting everything that she always wanted.
Kerri had a long talk with her dad once the whole ordeal with Justin was over. She hoped that it wasn’t guilt that caused him to make the decision to step down and become a silent partner in the company, but he assured her that the decision had been a longtime coming. She hoped, now that he wasn’t married to the company, her dad could settle down and find someone who made him happy like she was. Chase interrupted her thoughts when he put his arm around her.
“You look good like this, little bit.”
Kerri shivered when she felt his breath on the side of her neck. “You don’t look so bad yourself, handsome,” Kerri whispered. “You are still sexy, even if you have baby vomit running down the side of your neck.”
Chase laughed and grabbed a napkin off the table. “You’re going to make me wake up Maddy, and it took me forever to get her to sleep.”
“I know what you mean. Mikey was the same way. I think it is all the excitement going on. They wanted to stay up and party, too.”
Chase leaned over again and whispered, “I meant you looked good with the baby. We need us a few so Maddy and Mikey have someone to play with.”
Kerri froze. She looked over at Chase to see if he was joking, but his face was serious. She was afraid to ask but did anyway. “What do you mean?”
“I meant, little bit, that I am in love with you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to grow old and sit on the porch with you while we watch our grandbabies play. You are it for me, and hopefully I’m it for you, so I’m asking you to marry me and make me the happiest man alive by having tons of babies with me.”
Kerri was stunned. No one had ever said anything more beautiful to her. There was no way she could top that. She tried to put how she felt about Chase into words, but she couldn’t come up with the perfect way to describe how she felt. Chase’s throat clearing cause her to realize that he was waiting on her answer. She wanted to wipe the uneasy look off his face, so she just blurted out “Yes.” Mikey jerked and started to cry, causing Maddy to wake up to see what was wrong with her brother. Evidently she didn’t like the fact that he was crying, so she, too, started to scream at the top of her lungs. Kerri laughed. She was just too happy to care about crying babies.
Riley and his date, Jessica, took over babysitting duties after she and Chase were able to calm the babies down. Everyone was helping out so that Cane, Duncan, and Logan could enjoy the party since this was their first time out since the babies were born. Chase pulled her out on the dance floor when a slow song came on.
“So you have no problems with becoming Mrs. Chase Matthews?”
Kerri nodded. “I have wanted to be Mrs. Chase Matthews ever since I was fourteen and met you. I’m pretty sure if I dug deep enough, I could find a few notebooks from school with your name scribbled all over them.” She laughed. “I used to watch you when I tagged along with my dad on training missions. You were the guy I compared all the boys in high school and college to. No one ever measured up.”
Chase grunted. “I don’t want to hear about any other guys. You’re mine now, and I am not letting you go.”
Overdosing on happiness, Kerri sighed and laid her head on Chase’s shoulder as they slowly twirled.
When she felt Chase tense and heard him growl, Kerri turned to see what was wrong. A loud squeal directed her attention to Ali, who was wrapped in Angel’s arms. She kissed him on the cheek and then turned to kiss Gavin. She held a gold necklace in her hand, and Kerri assumed it was a birthday present from the guys. She knew Ali was in love with the two men, and she had a feeling they felt the same about her. Ali deserved to be happy and not have her overprotective brothers interfere. Kerri turned to Chase and rubbed her hand down his chest to get his attention. She tucked her fingers into the top of his jeans and stopped.
“I was just thinking,” she said as she smiled up at him, “there is really no reason why we have to wait to get started on making tho
se babies. I mean if you think about it, if Maddy and Mikey are going to have someone to play with, then we really need to get started now.”
Kerri giggled when Chase threw her over his shoulder and carried her into the house. He didn’t stop until they were in his room. He tossed her on the bed and crawled on top of her. He leaned down and traced her bottom lip with his tongue before fully kissing her. When she was out of breath, she pulled away and looked at Chase. She couldn’t believe that she was going to wake up and go to bed with this man for the rest of her life. She reached up to stroke his face and paused. On her ring finger was a beautiful diamond solitaire engagement ring. She hadn’t even felt him slip it on. Goes to show that the man’s kisses are dangerous.
“I wanted to ask you later after the party was over so that we didn’t take the attention away from Ali,” Chase said. “Seeing you sitting there holding Mikey with that look on your face, I couldn’t resist. You looked happy, content, and peaceful all at the same time.”
Kerri smiled through tears as she rubbed his jaw. “I have loved you since I was fourteen years old, Chase Matthews, and I plan on loving you for the rest of our lives.” Kerri meant every word she said. She finally had what she’d wanted for so long, and she was going to take every day to show Chase how much he meant to her. She smiled. No time like the present to get started.
* * * *
Daniel watched as Chase threw Kerri over his shoulder and carried her out of the party. He was glad to see that she was happy and hoped that she had no lasting effects from her ordeal. He knew that it was going to take a long time for her to come to terms with the fact that she helped kill a man. It was something that she would never get over, but she had Chase now, and he knew how to help keep her demons locked up tight. Daniel knew all about demons. He had too many to count.
Davis, Keyonna - Faceless Enemy [Pine Valley 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 11
