Beyond the Fire

by Cheryl Pierson

  “Oh, please do. I’d love to hear this!”

  “What about you, Kendi?” he asked quietly, ignoring her sarcasm. “Did I...did I break your heart, too?”

  Her resolve began to soften. She looked away for a moment, then met his eyes again through the glass, not answering.

  “Let me in, Kendi.” He put a hand toward the door, and she raised the gun a little. “You don’t understand that I did what I did to protect our family. This business is unforgiving—and deadly. I didn’t want my actions to bring danger to Mom and Dad, or to you. Just let me come inside where we can talk.”

  She shook her head doggedly. “No. Not...not right now.”

  “Not right now? Why not?”

  She sank her teeth into her bottom lip.

  “I’m looking for someone, Kendi.”

  “Obviously, I’m not who you’re looking for, so—” She started to shut the wood door.

  “Wait! Ken, I need to know something!”

  She stopped, raising her eyes to his again, but made no move to unlock the glass storm door.

  “What?”

  He took a deep breath. “There’s a man. He’s...he’s hurt. Badly hurt. He needs a hospital. A few nights ago he—”

  Kendi took a step back, her breath coming out in an outraged rush. “It was you!” Her shock and anger nearly debilitated her. A dull red haze surrounded her vision, and her knees trembled. There was a roar in her head as she forced herself to turn and lay the gun on the end table by the door. She had to put it down to keep herself from being tempted to shoot her brother for the part he’d played in Jack’s “murder”. Her brother was Jack’s partner! How could he have left him out there to die?

  “Will you let me in, for chrissakes, Kendi?”

  Oh, boy, will I ever! She nearly jerked the twist lock on the door off, then hit the handle to open it. Taking a step back, she picked the gun up from the table and trained it on her brother’s chest as he walked in, closing the wood door behind him and locking it.

  I don’t know him anymore. Her eyes stung. The brother she remembered was kind-hearted and funny. Charming, with a grin for everyone. Not a cold bastard who would leave his partner to die, beaten and bleeding, out in the severe elements.

  “You better talk fast, and it better be good, Jason.”

  “Kendi—”

  She moved the gun slightly to the side and pulled the trigger. The blast was deafening in the enclosed space, and the lamp on the table behind Jason exploded into ceramic fragments.

  “What the hell!”

  “I mean business, damn you!”

  “Kendi...I want to help him—”

  “Why the hell did you wait so long?” she hissed. “Why didn’t you help him last night? And where in the world have you been for the last twelve effin’ years?”

  Jason took a step toward her, and Kendi moved the gun to blow out his heart if he took another. “I will do it, damn you, Jason.” Tears of anger streamed down her cheeks, and she sniffed in frustration.

  “You...you found him?”

  “Concerned, brother? Hmm?” She shook her head, not willing to verify his question, but knowing she’d already given away the answer.

  “Yes. I am. He’s my partner, Kendi.” Jason raked his fingers through his short brown hair. “Look, if you’ll just give me a chance, I can explain everything. But it’s damn hard to talk when you’ve got that gun pointed at me. How ’bout if I just sit down over here.” He eased into the frayed, tan recliner, trying to lean back in it, but the entire chair tilted brokenly to one side. He caught himself just in time.

  She saw him look around slowly, noting the state of disrepair and neglect throughout the downstairs. The tattered curtains, the bent blinds, the worn carpet—she watched it register in his expression.

  Her chin went up a notch. She’d done the best she could do, and he had never contributed a penny to the upkeep of the place. As if he’d read her mind, he turned back to look at her once more and said, “You’ve had a rough go of it, honey.”

  His voice lowered as he went on to a reminiscent tone. “I loved growing up in this house. After Heather died...I just...I had to do something. Being a lawyer just wasn’t enough. I legally changed my name and I stopped coming home. I wanted to keep you safe. It was the only way I could make sure none of you would be connected with...my work.”

  “There had to be another way.” Kendi could barely get the words out.

  “Well, sis, I wish I’d known another way.” His tone was wistful. “I gave up everything, too, you know. I realized today how much I’d missed it...you. Walking through these woods again, going into the cave...” He laughed softly. “It seemed so small—when I was a boy, it was like a cavern.”

  He put a hand out toward her. “Look at you. All grown up now. A woman.” He glanced around the room. “This place looks like it did, though, back then. Like stepping back in time. I can tell you’ve struggled, Kendi.”

  She took a steadying breath. “You don’t know the half of it.”

  He sighed wearily. “Will you please put that gun down?”

  “No. Not yet. Not until—”

  “Not until what?”

  “I think she’s waiting for my okay, partner.” Jack’s voice was strong and sure from the top of the stairs. “If I’m not mistaken.”

  He stood leaning against the baluster, surprise evident in his dark features. Somehow, that made her even angrier. Jason had hidden his secrets well, obviously keeping them from everyone—including his trusted partner. Somehow, Jack had shrugged into one of the shirts she’d found and gotten into his jeans. Kendi wondered how, as painful as it must have been.

  The bandaging across his chest and belly had slipped in places, allowing the lacerated, wounded flesh to show through, the dark purpling bruises and still-raw abrasions making Kendi grimace inwardly. His raven-dark hair was tousled, but he stretched languidly, looking for all the world as if...as if he’d just arisen from a night of hot lovemaking.

  Kendi’s breath caught as their eyes met. He smiled at her appreciatively, and she felt the heat rise to her cheeks as Jason’s look also turned knowing.

  “I would ask if you’re okay, but I see you’re doing fine, Jack. You work fast.”

  Kendi took a step forward. “You shut your mouth, Jason!” Her fingers were shaking. She was caught between the heat of the fire in Jack’s eyes and the anger she felt at her brother for finally deciding to waltz back into her life. She’d be damned if she would listen to anything Jason had to say about her, or her choices.

  Jack just laughed and shook his head. “I’m fine...on all counts. Thanks for askin’.” He cocked his head back toward the bedroom. “C’mon up, you two. I guess maybe...I’m doin’ fine as long’s I’m not standin’ for too long.” He glanced at Kendi, putting her nerves at ease with a look.

  “After you,” Kendi said, when Jason stood up. She motioned with the gun, and he rolled his eyes. But he stood up and headed for the stairs.

  “Want me to put my hands up?” he asked over his shoulder.

  “Not necessary. I can’t miss from this distance.” Her voice was cold and confident.

  “She’s not listening to you, partner,” Jason called as he started up the stairs. “Put that gun away, Kendi,” he said more quietly. “You don’t need it. I came to help—”

  “Oh, like you helped the other night?” Kendi gave a sarcastic chuckle. “Please. That was about all the help Jack could stand. Nails through one palm, burns on the other, his back cut to ribbons, and his face—well, I’m sure you were there while it was being done. What did you do to help then?”

  They had reached the landing at the top of the stairs. Jason turned to glance over his shoulder. “I did what I could, Kendi. You...you wouldn’t understand. But Jack does.”

  She gave a skeptical laugh. “Yes. So he says. Unfortunately, I’m not so forgiving. I know what kind of lying, double-crossing asshole you really are.” She shook her head in disbelief. “And here you
are, turning up again—just like a bad penny.”

  They entered the bedroom, and Kendi motioned to the floor with her gun. “Sit,” she ordered tersely.

  “Where, ma’am?” Jason sniped.

  “On the floor.”

  “On my knees? Arms behind my head, execution style?”

  Kendi’s lips curved up. “How I wish the fireplace was a tad larger. Guess I’ll have to depend on hell to give you what you really deserve.”

  Jason went to his knees, wordlessly. Silence filled the room. Kendi hated her brother at that moment, more than she thought possible. All the years of pain he’d caused their family couldn’t possibly be forgiven. For two cents, she would pull the trigger and shoot him dead. When she thought of how her mother had set a place for him every Christmas, hoping he’d surprise them, and the way her father had spoken less and less frequently of him, until finally, he never mentioned his name. She thought of how he’d abandoned her when she needed him most—there was no way she would ever forgive him. Never.

  “Why—” she heard herself ask. Her voice sounded thin and strained. “Why did you...leave?” She dug her nails into the palm of her left hand, the gun in her right still trained on him. She was not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing how much he had hurt her. But when she spoke, her voice betrayed her with one word. “Why?”

  Jason relaxed, sitting down on his knees, his eyes staring ahead without focus. “I was trying to protect you, sis. You, and Mom...and Dad. After Heather died—I went a little crazy. I couldn’t forget. I knew I had to do something.” He glanced up at Jack, who sat on the edge of the bed, watching. “Can’t believe you were tucked up here in bed with my sister. I was worried sick.”

  Jack leaned forward, eye level with his partner. His expression was shuttered, but there was no mistaking the warning in his tone. “Steer clear of that, my friend. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Jason gave a caustic snort. “I know the look of a woman who’s been bedded well.”

  Jack’s lips curved coldly. “Are you through trying to hack into my personal life, partner? If so, there are a few things I’d like to know.” Jack slowly leaned back in the bed, propping against the stack of pillows Kendi had given him.

  “I’ll tell you everything you missed out on while you were getting the hell beaten out of you. But you’ll answer to me when it comes to my sister.”

  Kendi groaned from where she stood beside him.

  A small grin touched Jack’s mouth. “I’d say you’re the one who has some answers to provide—to both your sister and your partner. I had no idea this was your old homestead.” Jack shook his head. “You might have said something at some point. After all those years of trying to keep your family safe, you’ve brought everything down on Kendi’s head. You should never have come back here, of all places.”

  “Listen, Jack. You don’t have any right—”

  The click of the revolver being cocked next to his ear cut his words off in mid-sentence.

  “He has every right. More than you have, at this point.”

  Jason turned slowly to look up into Kendi’s face. She glared at him over the top of the weapon.

  “Will you put that damn thing down, for God’s sake?” When she made no move to do so, he turned back to look at Jack. “Apparently, you are the only one who can talk to my sister anymore. Would you please tell her to lay the gun down?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Jack lifted his dark gaze to Kendi. She was distressed—and who wouldn’t be? From what she’d said about her brother, which was precious little, he knew she had been close to him at one point. But, it seemed Clint—Jason—had not bothered to even explain his voluntarily enforced absence to anyone in the family. That was something Jack couldn’t understand, or agree with.

  He couldn’t imagine leaving a family—if he’d ever been lucky enough to have one—with no word of explanation. Why had Clint taken that path? Changed his name, left behind everyone and everything that was dear to him, and never once looked back?

  And why had Clint brought him here, of all places, to dump him? Didn’t he realize it might put Kendi in danger if Sanchez came back to view Jackson’s body?

  Kendi’s hurt and solid disappointment in her brother was evident in her anger. The patience and tenderness she’d shown toward him last night and today let Jack know there was a damn good reason for her behavior. She wasn’t prone to anger like this.

  He held his hand out to Kendi, watching the rigid tension in her body melt away as she slowly lowered the gun, uncocked it, and came to him. She didn’t give Clint a second glance.

  Jason...not Clint, he thought.

  Jack turned slowly to his side to make a place for her to sit on the edge of the bed beside him.

  Jason’s mouth was set in a grim smirk. “Cozy,” he muttered.

  “What is it that bothers you so much?” Jack asked in a hard voice. He was getting damn tired of his partner’s remarks.

  “What bothers me?” Jason shook his head and looked down. “My partner is doing my sister and you ask what bothers me?”

  Jack heard Kendi’s shocked gasp in one part of his mind. The rest of his thoughts went up in an instant blaze of hot anger. He tried to put a lid on it, but for once, he wasn’t sure he could. “Jason, I’m going to give you that one. I know this is a big surprise for everyone. I know it’s an emotional trial for you—and for Kendi. But you will keep those thoughts to yourself from here on out. You will remember I didn’t know she was your sister...and she didn’t know you were my partner. Not that it really makes a damn bit of difference.”

  “And if I don’t restrain myself, Jackson? You’ll do what?”

  Jack sat up slowly, putting his legs over the edge of the bed. He met Jason’s defiant glare head-on with a steady look. “You know what I’m capable of. You will keep a leash on it, Jason, or I will prove it to you once again. I was dangerous before—when I had nothing to lose. What will I be like now...with everything on the line?” He shook his head. “You don’t want to try me.”

  Jason finally looked away with a heavy sigh. “No. I don’t.” His mouth compressed in a thin, tight line. “I’ve got a lot on my mind right now. I’m afraid Sanchez—” He broke off and glanced at Kendi, as if he’d just remembered she was there.

  “It’s okay,” Jack told him, his lips curving. “I believe we can trust her.”

  Jason gave a short laugh. “Shows how crazy life is for us, doesn’t it? I’m sorry, Jack.” He nodded at Kendi. “Sorry, sis. I...don’t know where to even begin.”

  “Why don’t you get up off the floor?” Kendi suggested, the first sign of warmth in her voice. “Sit in the chair, and we’ll talk.”

  “I should’ve done things differently.” Jason rose and stretched. He looked at Jack. “I should have offed Bull and gone straight to the hospital with you. Things didn’t work out like we planned.”

  “When do they ever?” Jack gave him a faint grin.

  “Yeah, but it’s bad this time.”

  Jack tried to relax and let his tense muscles rest for a few seconds. He never should have gotten up out of bed. His ribs were aching like a blue bitch, but he didn’t want to worry Kendi. He thought he could deal a while longer. At least, his back had stopped burning constantly. His right hand had re-opened when he’d pulled his jeans on, but he kept it turned so Kendi wouldn’t notice the fresh blood.

  “Jack? You okay?” Jason’s voice came to him in a fog, and he realized sleep was settling over him. He opened his eyes at the concern in his partner’s tone.

  “I’m okay. Tell me what happened when you left me the other night.”

  Jason settled into the chair and crossed his legs. “Bull and I drove back to town. Sure as shit, it started raining to beat hell.” He glanced toward the fire. “When it turned to ice, I knew I’d left you in a hell of a mess. I planned to get back out here later that night, but they were watching.”

  Jason’s eyes met Kendi’s briefly, then he
looked at Jack again. “I think Sanchez knows I’m the one he’s looking for. He called a meeting that next morning—early. I’d been up all night, anyhow. In the meeting, he brought up the fact you were no longer with us...and why. He served notice that he didn’t think you were working alone, and he wouldn’t be double-crossed—‘as Jackson Taylor found out’, he said. Then, this afternoon after I finally made it back to check on you, he and Bull showed up here, too.”

  Jack’s eyes narrowed and he shifted in the bed. “They see you?”

  “No.” Jason shook his head. “I’d parked farther up, in the woods. When I heard them, I went to a cave I used to play in as a boy and waited until they left. I searched just pretty much every inch of these woods looking for you after they headed out.”

  “Well...Sanchez won’t be content, now. He won’t know where I am, but there’ll only be a couple of places—” Jack broke from his thoughts and glanced at Kendi. “This’ll be the first place they’ll try.”

  “It’s okay, Jack—”

  “It’s not okay! Dammit, you’re in danger now, and there’s nothing we can do.” He bent a hard look on Jason. “What the hell were you thinking, Jason?”

  Jason stood up from the chair, agitated, and moved in front of the fire, looking into the flames. “It was a stupid mistake. I thought I’d bring you someplace I was familiar with. I knew about the cave—thought maybe I could get you in there for shelter until I could take you someplace safe.”

  He sighed heavily. “I believe you’re right about Sanchez, though. He called me earlier this afternoon, right after they’d left. Of course, I was still here in the woods—but he asked where I was. I said I was at Junior’s Barbecue, but…I’m not sure he believed me. I’ll have to meet with him tomorrow morning, as he dictated—no getting around that.” He turned to look at Kendi. “How much did you see?”

  “Everything!” She glanced down, seeing the fresh blood on Jack’s palm. He noticed the concern in her eyes and waved her off.

  “Finish this, sweetheart. It’s stopped, now, anyway.”

  Kendi looked at her brother. “I heard the truck motor. I’ve been having some trouble with the local high school kids coming out here to party. I went down to scare them off. I was going to fire a shot in the air.”