Prophecy: Rapture

by Brenna Lyons

  The hands and shouts went up again. He chose a young newspaper reporter from the Press.

  “What religion are Miz Keating and Mr. Connor?”

  Robbins stared at her in disbelief. “I don’t have any clue, nor do I care.” In fact, Robbins hadn’t even asked the question of Kyla. “Does it matter?”

  Heads turned to face the young woman. She shook her head, and Robbins made a mental note not to call on her again. Robbins pointed to a young woman from Channel 2.

  “Mr. Robbins, is it true that Miss Keating and Mr. Connor are married?”

  Robbins knew this was a potential bomb, but it wasn’t the only one. “It’s true that Bishop Johnson performed a marriage ceremony for them while they were captives. For obvious reasons, it’s not legally binding yet.” He smiled at the crowd.

  The roar went up, but the reporter from Channel 2 wasn’t done yet. “Mr. Robbins,” she yelled above the crowd. “Why are they in separate rooms?”

  Robbins was ready for this one. “Their injuries are very different, requiring different specialists. Until one of their doctors feels confident, they will remain separate.”

  A young man from Channel 4 was next. “Mr. Robbins, is there any truth to the rumors that they are being kept separate while the investigation continues or to avoid another attack?”

  “None whatsoever. They have already given a full morning to the police, and in fact, Miz Keating’s doctor approved a short visit with Mr. Connor earlier today.”

  “But there are police guards stationed at their doors. Why is that?”

  “The safety and comfort — even the privacy of these two people is paramount. We have already had several instances of well-wishers and media attempting to sneak in to disturb them. One rather overzealous reporter was thrown out by security after scaring Miz Keating and her family half to death by rushing at them in the hall.”

  “One final question, Mr. Robbins. What are their injuries?”

  “You know I can’t tell you that without their permission. All I can say is that they are both in fair condition.”

  A reporter with a CNN badge was next. “Mr. Robbins, when will they be released?”

  “I can’t say until they progress. Their doctors haven’t set a date for their release.”

  “Is there any truth to the rumor that Mr. Connor sustained his injuries while acting as a human shield for his wife?”

  “I really wouldn’t know. That’s a police issue, not mine.”

  Ms. Channel 2 asked a new question. “Is it true that when they were found, they had slipped their bound arms around each other so that they were locked in an embrace?”

  “I’ve heard the same story.” Robbins smiled. It did sound wonderful. “I wasn’t there when they were found. Perhaps that is a question for Detective Waters,” he suggested.

  The young man from Channel 4 broke in. “Have you seen anything suspicious about Miss Keating?” he asked.

  Robbins stared at him. “Not at all. She is a lovely, intelligent woman who has been through hell.” Robbins wondered what the man could possibly mean by the question. “Other than that, I’d say she suffered due to a tragic and misguided choice made by several people who agree they didn’t even know her before they kidnapped her.”

  He knew he had gotten off topic. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work.” As Robbins left the podium, he knew it was a lost cause. In the case of Kyla Keating, the truth was more alluring than any fiction.

  * * *

  Leo kept waiting for that final piece to fall into place, but it was elusive. On the surface, it seemed like everything fit, but underneath, there were pockets of missing information.

  For instance, Samantha Allen was supposedly an old friend of Kyla’s. Kyla claimed she had known the older woman for years. Still, there was absolutely no proof that Kyla knew Gram before six weeks earlier. There was no proof she didn’t know Gram. Rather, there was a lack of any proof at all.

  Gram, however, did know Kyla. Investigators found a photo album with candid shots of Kyla Keating throughout her life. If Kyla did know the older woman, what power did Gram hold over her that such an intelligent young woman would go along with this hair-brained scheme?

  Then there were the convent explosions. There was no sign of arson. It looked like electrical fires in the old wiring, but it was completely unbelievable that so many fires would erupt at once. That meant it was a professional job like none of the lab guys had ever seen before.

  If some of Kyla and Joe’s army had helped free them, there would be concern about hiding the fact, but none of them would have set fires to erupt before Kyla and Joe were safe. Beyond that, Brian and Cole both agreed that Gram and Stacie were the only members of the small band at the convent with Kyla and Joe.

  Brian and Cole both had people capable of setting a fire; not necessarily like that, but doing it nonetheless. Both denied any knowledge of it. Cole was convinced that it was a divine intervention designed to eradicate the foul deeds from His sight. Leo was about ready to believe it.

  The one thing that did surprise him was that the pieces fit regarding Joe as Kyla’s bodyguard-boyfriend. Apparently, Kyla hadn’t told her family and friends about her bodyguard, but when her relationship with Joe became serious — and much less than professional — she started introducing him as her boyfriend and telling everyone she had been seeing him for a few months.

  Joe had been telling the truth about the bugs. They found eight separate ones in her apartment and three in her workspace.

  They found a stash of money order receipts in the photo album that were marked as Joe’s paychecks and corresponded to deposits in his account. A check of Gram’s bank account completed the trail of money.

  The idea of Harris and his men fighting with Cole and his plagued Leo at first, but it eventually fell together. Cole was only interested in killing Kyla. Brian said he and his men needed information about what Kyla knew about their operation and who she had told. There was a tangible threat inherent in not knowing if she was the only one they had to worry about. In short, they couldn’t allow Cole to kill her until they finished their interrogation of her.

  Leo shuddered at the thought. If the few minutes Harris had to interrogate Kyla at her apartment were any indication, he doubted the young woman would have survived very long once he started again.

  Leo sighed and drained his rum and Coke. Whatever the answer was, it wouldn’t be solved tonight, if it ever was.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  May 29th

  A small object crashed through the window onto Kyla’s bed. She flipped out of bed and onto the hard tile floor.

  The pain in her ribs snapped her out of the dream. There was no object hurtling through the window. It had been a nightmare. She cursed the hospital again. Joe kept the nightmares away. When the nightmares were real, he was the cure.

  Kyla pulled herself to her feet. That was a whole new agony. She felt a trickle down her side and ran her fingertips over it. Kyla knew what she would find before she pulled her hand away. It was blood, seeping heavily through the bandage and her nightgown. She swore quietly and headed for the door.

  She pulled the door open to say something to the officer outside, but he wasn’t there. Kyla looked up and down the hall, but no one was in sight. No nurses, no security, and no police.

  It was abruptly hard to breathe. Kyla tried to calm herself, but she felt antsy, trapped. Harris? She reminded herself several times that Harris was dead.

  “There’s still an enemy. Don’t ignore it, this time.”

  Kyla headed down the hall toward the elevator. Her bare feet padded on the tile floor. The elevator was in motion. Her mind screamed that it was bad news, and Kyla ducked into the kitchenette and pressed herself against the wall.

  The elevator doors opened, and someone walked down the hall the way she’d come. “Which room is it?” one man asked.

  “Number four-two-five.”

  Kyla closed her eyes and stifled a so
b. It wasn’t a mistake. They wanted her.

  “Are you sure no one is coming back?”

  “No, he’s been well paid, and the nurse is occupied.”

  They were around the corner and out of earshot before she moved. Kyla didn’t wait for the elevator. She hit the stairs at a full run, her hand locked over the ripped stitches, and burst out the other side, one floor down. She made the final turn, and the end was in sight.

  The officer at the end of the hall looked up sharply, as Kyla ran at him. “What the hell?” he exclaimed. Recognition burned in his eyes.

  Kyla hadn’t met him before, but he knew who she was. He caught her as she reached the door and glanced down at the blood evident on her clothes and bandaged hand.

  * * *

  Joe snapped awake at the curse from the guard outside the door. It had to be Kyla.

  “Where’s Parker?” the officer barked.

  “Don’t know. Two men—my room.” She was out of breath.

  She wasn’t running. “She couldn’t—” Never mind, Joe reminded himself. He realized he could never say that about her.

  “In.”

  Kyla crashed through the door and ran straight to his side. Blood was seeping through her nightgown and around her fingers. Her eyes were wild, her face flushed, and her breathing was uneven and forced.

  Joe grabbed her other hand, and Kyla focused on him for the first time. He glanced down at the blood on her hand, and she followed his line of sight.

  “I ripped my stitches open.” Kyla started to cry.

  Joe moved over as far as he could and guided her by the hand to lie next to him. She curled up on the bed and wrapped her arm over his chest. Kyla sobbed while Joe stroked her hair and talked to her. A nurse poked her head in and started to protest, but Joe ordered her to leave. He went back to comforting Kyla.

  Kyla had calmed down by the time the duty doctor came in.

  “I understand you’re injured again,” he commented.

  Joe answered for her. “Her stitches ripped open.”

  “We can fix that. I’ll get a wheelchair—”

  “No.” Kyla shook her head. “I’m staying here.”

  “This would be better done somewhere else.”

  She buried her face in Joe’s chest, and he took over. “She’s not leaving this room. Get your supplies and another bed or gurney in here and do your thing.”

  The doctor nodded. “Okay. Until this is settled, we’ll play it your way.” He left again.

  Joe kissed Kyla’s hair. “We’re done with this. This time, you’re staying here.”

  The stitches were almost repaired when Det. Waters and Joel Stanton, the hospital administrator, showed up. Kyla lay on her side in a second bed and held Joe’s hand while the doctor worked.

  She had explained what happened to him via the link, and Joe felt his anger rising as he heard more and more of the story. Why did he think Waters’ guys could do the job?

  “This isn’t nearly as bad as I thought,” the doctor commented. “You only ripped out a third of them and it’s not gaping. The bleeding is mostly due to opening the scab.”

  “Yahoo,” Kyla remarked in her classic deadpan. “Something’s going right today.”

  Joe smiled widely and tried to stifle his laughter.

  The doctor looked at him strangely. “Why is that funny?”

  “You had to be there.”

  Waters cut in. “Okay, we have the two men in custody. They’re not talking, but they have no reason to be where they were, especially with a gun.”

  “Where was your man?” Joe demanded.

  “Getting coffee and using the restroom—”

  “What?”

  “Calm down. He did what he was supposed to do. He snagged one of the security guards to cover him. We’re looking for him now.”

  “Parker?” Kyla asked quietly.

  “Yes,” Stanton said. “We don’t know yet why he wasn’t there. He’s supposed to be sent here as soon as he’s located.”

  The doctor finished taping the new bandage over the stitches and raised the sheet and blanket from her hip over the ripped gown and up to Kyla’s shoulder. He turned to leave.

  A knock on the door caught everyone’s attention. The doctor stopped with the cart and opened the door. As he went out, three security guards came in. The one in the center was disheveled.

  Stanton turned to face him. “Parker, where the hell were you?”

  Parker looked at him sheepishly. “I stepped away for a minute. When I got back, the door was open, and she was gone. I knew she couldn’t be far, so I started looking for her. I saw two guys get off the elevator, and when I approached them, they overpowered me and stashed me in the kitchenette.”

  “Why didn’t you radio any of this in?” Waters asked.

  “Because he’s lying,” Kyla answered.

  “No,” Parker protested. “I knew I screwed up. I figured if I found her before the police got back, I might not lose my job over it.”

  “He’s lying,” Kyla repeated.

  “Why is he lying, Kyla?” Waters asked.

  “I was in the kitchenette, hiding from the two men as they got off the elevator. They were talking, and I could hear every word. They knew there would be no guard. They paid him off and caused some diversion for the nurse. Plus, if he met them in the hall, I would have heard it. I waited until they were almost to my room before I took the stairs.”

  “Why did you take off in the first place?” Waters asked her.

  “I had a nightmare and landed pretty heavily on the floor. I knew I ripped out my stitches, so I stuck my head out to let the officer know I was all right and to ask for a nurse to help me. Nobody was there. No one. I panicked. I knew Joe and his guard were my best bet, so I ran. When I saw the elevator moving, I hid. I figured if it was the police, they’d understand, and if it wasn’t—” She sighed deeply. “It wasn’t.”

  “She’s lying,” Parker shouted. “Why would I do that?”

  Joe could see Kyla’s anger rising, then a look of surprise crossed her face. “Maybe they pay really well,” she whispered.

  Parker pulled out his wallet and hurled it at her, but Joe snatched it out of the air before it connected. Waters looked at him in surprise, then stared at Parker as he erupted.

  “Check it. Check my pockets. If I was paid, where is it?”

  A serious look settled on Kyla’s face. Her voice sounded in his head. “A locker. It’s in a locker. I don’t think it’s his locker.”

  “I love when you do that.” Joe regarded Parker with a straight face. He tossed the wallet back unopened. “No, Parker. You’re not that stupid. Are you? You’d hide it somewhere safe, wouldn’t you? The trunk of your car. Your locker, maybe. No, they might check that. Another locker? An empty one or someone you know isn’t coming in for a few days?”

  Parker paled visibly. It was over, and he knew it. He lunged at Joe, but Waters was ready for the move. He straight-armed Parker back into the other guards, who were visibly stunned by the turn of events.

  “You’re under arrest. Hold him until my guys take him away.” Waters looked at Stanton. “Looks like we have some lockers to search.”

  Joe stared at Kyla, and she nodded and squeezed his hand. He noticed Waters watching them before he left.

  Let him wonder, Joe thought half-heartedly. They couldn’t do much more of that in front of the officer, or they’d be cooked.

  * * *

  Kyla was having trouble keeping her eyes open. The discussion around her turned to the matter of security. For what seemed like hours, the men debated how best to keep her safe from another attack.

  Det. Waters sighed. “Well, we better get Kyla back to her room before things start jumping for the morning.”

  “No,” Kyla grumbled. “I’m staying here.”

  Waters spoke up. “They’ve already tried for you once. Together, you’re an easier target.”

  “Together, we’re easier to guard. You keep two officers on the
door. They spell each other. The hospital clears X-rays and such where one of us has to travel with the officers to make sure they’re both available. If the hospital doesn’t remove us, we stay put. No bopping from room to room to see each other.”

  Kyla took a deep breath. “Either that, or I sign out AMA and disappear again. You know I can do it, and I’ll make sure the whole world knows why.” She stared at Waters intently.

  “You’ll walk out of here?” Waters asked.

  “In a heartbeat. Once I get to a phone that works, I can disappear in two collect phone calls. You know I can.”

  Joe’s laughter filled her head. “You can do it with no phone calls.”

  Kyla found it hard to keep a straight face in light of that.

  “What about Joe?” Waters argued.

  Kyla glanced at him and smiled. Joe squeezed her hand and nodded.

  “He’s not the target. I am. I always have been. He knows how to find me.”

  Waters grinned. “You can’t even walk.”

  “I ran. Ask your officer. He saw it.”

  “We can protect you,” he insisted.

  “Then do it together or don’t do it at all. Look Detective, I know you have a high opinion of your people, but this is a matter of trust. There are nine or ten people I trust to watch my back. Your guys and the hospital’s guys didn’t make the cut.”

  “Who does?” Waters asked.

  “If I tell you that, you’d know how to find me too. We can’t have that, now can we?” Kyla smiled. “Even with a broken leg, one of them is Joe. If it makes you feel better, one of them is you.”

  “If my guys don’t make the cut, why does the two of you together guarded by my guys make the cut?”

  Kyla’s smile turned sugary sweet. “Because of Joe, and because I don’t have any choice about the matter if I stay here. The only way to get the guards I really trust is to leave, but I’d prefer not to do that.”

  “He has a broken leg,” Waters protested.