She spit out Dan’s blood and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her voice was filled with disgust as she said, “You’ve better not have given me hepatitis, fucking creep.”
Dan’s expression was livid as he examined his bloody hand. Crimson drops were falling steadily on the floor. He brought his hand protectively to his chest and covered his wound with the hem of his shirt. “You’re like a rabid dog. You need to be put down, crazy bitch.” His eyes were murderous as he turned back towards her.
She continued her stare down with Dan for several long seconds until she finally glanced over at Jared. He still had his gun raised in Dan’s direction and Jared’s trigger finger kept flexing back and forth as if he had to make a conscientious effort not to shoot the gun. She put a hand on his arm. “Jared, should I call the police now?”
Jared’s response was mechanical. “Yes, Kate. I want you to take my phone out of my pocket and go outside and call. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Kate removed his phone from the front pockets of his khakis, but didn’t leave the house. She questioned what Jared had in store for Dan. He was unarmed and temporarily incapacitated from the injuries to his side and hand. The knife was across the room and, as far as she could discern, he didn’t have another weapon to use against the loaded Glock pointed at his chest.
Before she could question Jared’s intentions, she addressed Dan. “Where’s my mom? I hope for your sake you were lying about killing her.” She bared her teeth at him hoping he could still see his blood in her mouth. She didn’t plan on murdering him, but she wasn’t above hurting him to discover the truth.
“You better start talking.” Jared cut a menacing figure as he stormed over. He cocked the gun and pointed it at Dan’s head. If Jared pulled the trigger at close range, Dan’s brains would be splattered across the floor.
Dan cowered and whispered, “She’s in the trunk of my SUV. She’s drugged and tied up, but not dead.”
“You were going to kill us both at the lake,” Kate whispered shakily. She was relieved at her mom’s safety, but also shaken up over how close they’d come to being sent to a watery grave. Kate’s wrist ached, but if a broken wrist was the only injury she was walking away with, she’d count her blessings.
Dan didn’t say anything and his silence apparently egged Jared on. “And where is Michelle and her son? Kate’s seen them both in her visions and knows you’re responsible.”
She clamped her mouth shut and decided it wasn’t the best time to explain Dan/Peter’s connection to Michelle and Matt. She could tell Jared everything after Dan was taken into custody and her mom was released from the trunk. Kate looked longingly towards the front door, but she accepted it was impossible to leave Jared alone with Dan—one of them would certainly end up dead.
Dan scowled in response. “Michelle and Matt are the one card I have left to play. I’m not telling anyone where they are unless I get offered a plea deal.”
Jared swore under his breath, and then grabbed Dan by the arm and snaked around him. A push from behind and he smacked his face on the tile; hard. Once he hit the floor, Jared slammed his foot down on Dan’s injured hand and he howled in pain. Kate stumbled backwards and averted her eyes. She had no sympathy for Dan; after all, her scars had been singing since he attacked her, but it was hard to reconcile her stalker with the image of her mom’s laidback boyfriend who’d always been friendly and kind. As Kate’s fingers brushed over the blood on her neck, she hardened herself against him and acknowledged Dan had never existed.
“Fine,” Dan croaked out as Jared pulled back his foot, “but you better tell them I cooperated. She’s in a house I own in Irvine. The address is 65 Greenlawn Avenue. Michelle’s in the basement and Matt’s locked upstairs in the bedroom. I left them food and water, they’ll be fine.”
Jared seemed to mentally file away the information before tightening his grip back onto the gun. Her premonitions were gaining momentum and a gathering storm was on the horizon. The moment had arrived where she needed to save Jared from exacting revenge against Dan. The specifics had changed, but Kate understood Jared was going to commit murder in the next few minutes if she didn’t convince him otherwise.
“Jared, my mom is still in his car. I have to check on her to make sure she’s okay. But you can’t hurt him again. We have the information we need and it’s time to have him locked away,” Kate said.
“Kate, he’s not going to let you go. He didn’t give up after the first time he tried and failed to kill you. He has to die, it’s the only way you’ll be able to live a normal life.”
“You can’t kill an unarmed man. As far as I know, martial law hasn’t gone into effect yet. He needs due process or whatever.” She spoke emphatically and gestured wildly, she was relying on distraction to buy time and hope Jared would see reason.
“Don’t do me any favors. I’ll never be indebted to you,” Dan said, his voice muffled by the floor.
“Shut up. I’m trying to save your worthless hide,” she sneered.
She stared intently into Jared’s troubled eyes and tried to send him a silent message: Please don’t do anything that will take you away from me. I need you. I love you.
“Kate, what if I let him go and he figures out a way to hurt you again? I’ll always think back to this moment and regret not protecting you the best way I know how,” he said. His voice was barely audible and she strained to hear him.
“Being with me is the best protection. You can’t leave me alone and get sent to jail. He’s not worth it.” She gestured to Dan while not taking her eyes off Jared. “With my gift and your job, there could be more crazies in our future we have to deal with. But as long as we’re together, we’ll be okay,” she said and moved to his side to rest her head against his shoulder. She hoped her words penetrated. She’d be lost if she had to continue on without him. She wanted her Jared back, not the man tormented by his losses who’d risk his own hide to rectify the wrongs of the past.
He looked haunted by her words and she could see his defenses were breaking down. She knew Jared could kill Dan without remorse, but she was certain the idea of not being with her after how hard they fought to be together was inconceivable.
“Alright,” Jared said reluctantly. “I want this over as much as you do. Call the police station and go to your mom. She might need an ambulance if she’s been hurt.”
Kate could’ve broken out in a song and dance routine over the palpable relief that took over at his willingness to let go. She felt her knees buckle and wondered if she was close to collapsing. Months of fearing the unknown had taken their toll on her. As long as Dan was telling the truth and her mom and his former family were safe, Kate’s horror story would be finished.
She looked over at Jared, her love, her everything, and for the first time in months, she was no longer being suffocated by her own dread. She could see their future and it was filled with all the things she never thought she could have: a life with love and security.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The champagne was flowing as the bride and groom glided across the dance floor, commemorating their first dance as husband and wife. The music was romantic and the lyrics were about holding onto love and promising to never let go. The groom planted a chaste kiss on the bride’s scarlet lips. He was enraptured by her beauty and never thought to wipe off the lipstick stain left behind on his own mouth.
The maid of honor stood off to the sidelines and wiped a stray tear rolling down her cheek. She clutched the flowers tighter to her dress and tried to stop the blubbering that was about to start any moment.
“So, you cry at weddings? I never knew that about you,” a husky voice whispered behind her. Gooseflesh erupted on her bare arms and she felt a pleasurable chill go up and down her spine.
“If memory serves me right, you seduced me at my cousin’s wedding. So you know that’s not true. It must be allergies or something,” she said with a shrug.
Kate turned around and beamed at Jared. He wa
s looking particularly handsome in his dark suit paired with a black and crimson striped tie and deep red dress shirt. He handed her a champagne flute and returned her grin. “Sure; it must be allergies.” He laughed and she reveled in the sound. “And I believe you were the one who did all the seducing that night.”
“Besides, I wouldn’t cry at my cousin’s wedding. My cousin is insufferable. Julie is a completely different story,” she said and turned back to watch her best friend giggle as she swayed with Gage. Although Kate may have been bias, she was certain there was never a more beautiful bride than Julie.
Since Julie had a model build, she was able to accentuate her tall, thin frame with a mermaid style ivory dress that clung to her figure. The dress had a sweetheart neckline with cascading ruffles starting at the dropped waist. The lace embellishments and chapel train had left the entire church breathless when she walked down the aisle.
Kate decided Julie mustn’t have been concerned about her bridal party outshining her because she’d picked out cute dresses for them to wear. The dress was a peach color constructed from delicate chiffon with a hemline resting at the thighs. The sweetheart neckline and low back showed a lot of skin. Kate had short legs, but the tan high heels lengthened her legs and put her nearer Jared’s six feet.
“Julie has such natural poise and beauty. She owned it today,” Kate remarked.
“Julie got married? I didn’t notice. I was too busy looking at your legs in that dress,” he said and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I did notice you checking me out while I was standing at the altar! It made me blush and ruined all the churchy thoughts I was having.”
His hand dipped lower towards her hip and she smacked it away playfully.
“Why don’t we go home and I’ll give you a holy experience?” His warm breath tickled her neck as he leaned in and pressed his hard frame against her back. A pleasurable sensation began to build deep in her belly.
She burst out laughing. “I can’t believe you said that and kept a straight face the entire time.”
“You’re very difficult to seduce, Kate Edwards.”
“Baby, you don’t need to bring your game, you already won me.” She turned around and brushed a gentle kiss across his lips. The corners of his eyes crinkled as she began to sway them both to the music. She liked seeing him happy and intended to keep him that way for a long time.
It had been a long four weeks since Dan was arrested. Kate felt like their second home was the police station as they went over everything again and again with John Thompson and Jared’s superiors. She’d only wanted to move forward, but their investigation required they give them every minute detail about what had transpired.
Jared hadn’t been pleased to find out she’d been keeping information from him about breaking into Michelle’s house and discovering the woman’s identity. But when Kate pointed out she was only doing it to save him from uncertain death, he yielded and forgave her.
Her mom was exactly where Dan had said she was and had been tied up and knocked out with chloroform. Physically she wasn’t going to suffer any long-term damage. Mentally was a completely different story. Kate had caught her mom reading Why Good Women Love Bad Men religiously since Dan’s arrest. She was devastated she’d allowed someone so devious into their lives. Kate had spent many nights consoling her mom while sharing a bottle of wine since her rescue.
Kate’s dad was no longer being investigated since Dan admitted to planting evidence to point the police in Robert’s direction. It didn’t absolve her dad of his lies about her grandparents’ wills, but she wanted to improve their relationship. He’d have to be more accepting of her lifestyle and she’d try to agree to disagree more often with him.
Michelle and Matt were freed of the house Dan had kept them trapped inside for weeks. His apparent plan was to eventually “rescue” them from the masked maniac and once again be his son’s hero. Michelle had feared her ex-husband was behind her abduction, but he’d apparently called Matt after getting released from prison a year prior and claimed to be leaving the state. Instead, Dan was plotting ways to settle the score with Kate and force his family back together.
He’d planned out every aspect: even using her phone to send Declan and Jared text messages. In the messages, he told them to meet her in two secluded wooded areas over an hour away from Franklin. While they were occupied, Dan would’ve whisked her away and murdered her. Jared became suspicious after she failed to return any of his phone calls and he returned home. Lucky he did or she may have ended up as chum bait in the bottom of Lake Cooper.
Jared and Declan’s babysitting efforts had kept her from being alone and vulnerable to Dan. Declan was livid that Dan had been right under their noses and neither psychic had figured out his intentions earlier. Kate reasoned it was because he’d become two entirely different people: Dan and Peter. Dan understood how Kate’s powers worked and made a conscience effort to be the benign Dan persona as much as possible. His appearance hadn’t only changed since he went to jail, but he perfected the act of concealing his darker and abusive side. Peter had battered Michelle for years, but Dan hadn’t laid a hand on Kate’s mother. He was lucky—Kate would’ve visited him in jail and given him an ass whooping before he, hopefully, became a lifer at the state pen.
“Your mom looks like she’s having a good time,” Jared pointed in the direction of her mom; who was in a deep conversation with Julie’s mom. Darlene had garnered some unwanted attention since being associated with a murderous lunatic. It made her more sympathetic over what Kate had gone through after being thrust in the media spotlight unwillingly.
“She’ll be okay eventually. Maybe she’ll even date again one day. Declan offered to be her man candy until she finds someone new.” Kate smiled at the memory. Things with Declan were good and any traces of lingering regrets between them were already starting to fade. She didn’t need to see the future to know that he’d be her best friend and psychic partner for a very long time.
“He can’t have you, so he’ll be with your mom instead. He’s definitely a little twisted,” Jared said.
“I thought it was sweet. He’s nursing a broken heart too; Camilla broke up with him after they were dating only a couple of weeks. She told him she could never be with someone who wasn’t sure if Puerto Rico was a state or not and who thought global warming was fake.”
Kate was relieved; she wanted her best friend to hold out for someone she’d have something in common with. The one night where the four of them went out together Camilla kept attempting to debate feminist theory and grew frustrated over Kate’s lack of knowledge about the subject.
“Maybe he should’ve tried to find more common ground with her. She did look annoyed when you were competing with Declan over who could sing the most annoying jingles. I think she wanted deeper conversation.”
Kate sniffed. “You’re just upset because you lost during the lightning round.”
Declan and Jared’s friendship had continued despite no longer needing each other to find Kate’s assailant. Jared was even accepting over the idea of Kate and Declan launching their own psychic investigation firm. Instead of searching blindly for cases, they hoped people would come to them when they needed psychic assistance. Declan was going to look at an office to rent the following week in downtown Franklin, and if it worked out, they’d set up their business and start accepting new clients.
“Ready for your speech?” Jared questioned.
Anxiously, her eyes surveyed the ballroom overflowing with over two hundred guests. The chandeliers cast a pleasant glow over the guests who’d joined Julie and Gage on the dance floor. Once the dances were over, Kate and Gage’s best man were set to deliver their toasts.
“I’m nervous, but I feel more confident now than I would’ve been a year ago. I think I might actually buy into this true love stuff.” She sighed and added, “I met a guy and he made me believe in the possibility of being together always. We must be fated for one another if we survived
everything thrown at us this past year.”
Jared didn’t reply, but instead pressed his lips against her cheek. She closed her eyes and memorized the soft feel of his mouth and the heat of his skin as he clung to her. She became lost in him and shut out the wedding band and the noise of the reception hall. It had been an amazing four weeks between them. Almost being murdered had made them unable to keep their hands off one another. If they ever needed an aphrodisiac, she’d just put them in mortal danger again.
A booming voice drew her out of her own head. “Julie’s maid of honor, Kate Edwards, would now like to say a few words…”
Jared tapped her on the shoulder. “You’re up,” he whispered as the crowd stared, awaiting her to take the microphone and begin her speech. He added, “I think I believe in fate now, too. Good luck.”
Kate glanced over her shoulder as she made her way to the microphone.
Jared’s eyes were filled with warmth and love.
She mouthed I love you and he did the same in return. As she began her speech about belonging to someone, she kept her eyes on him, letting him know the words were for him as much as they were for the bride and groom.
***
Her dress didn’t last past the foyer. As soon as Jared’s foot kicked out and closed the door behind them, she was unzipped with the dress falling with a gentle caress to the floor. Their lips became glued as she simultaneously assisted him in removing his suit. She savored the feel of his strong, toned body as she pulled at each piece of clothing. Once they were both down to their underwear, he’d lifted her into his arms and carried her to their bedroom.
The first time of the night was frantic and hot—they finished in a rush together and Kate’s voice became hoarse as she cried out. She’d been ready for him long before her underwear was tossed aside and he was inside of her. Within minutes, she felt like she was in the throngs of an exorcism—head lolling side to side and her back bucking wildly.
The Final Omen: Second Sight Book Four Page 19
