by Carolyn Lee
"You haven't answered my question." Katie stopped walking again.
"What question?" Nathan poked her hard. This time she felt the tip of the knife graze her skin. He had cut the fabric of her shirt.
"Why you wasted all that time with me."
"It was all part of the plan, baby."
"Awfully intricate plan to steal some bacteria. You could have just screwed Mandy and skipped right over me."
"There was so much more to it than that but you wouldn't play along. So, I had to find someone that would."
They were at the edge of the driveway. Kaiden and Keegan had their guns pointed at Nathan. He grabbed her and pulled her in front of him, pressing the hunting knife to her neck. Katie felt the sting of the blade as it cut into her.
"Nathan! Stop! You're hurting me!" she cried.
"Shut up already, Katherine!"
"Drop the knife, Marks!" Kaiden stepped out from behind the van, his face hard but his eyes filled with concern. "Let the girl go and we can talk!"
"No way, man! She is going with me one way or another, so if you prefer she leave here alive and with her head attached you will get the hell out of my way and let me leave!"
He pressed the knife tight to her neck this time. Katie felt a trickle of warmth run into her shirt. "Kaiden! Let him go, please!"
Kaiden suddenly stepped back, lowering his weapon. "Kee! Let them go!"
Keegan cursed but did what Kaiden asked.
Nathan dragged her to the SUV and shoved her in through the driver's side before climbing in behind her. He turned the key that hung in the ignition and threw the truck in gear. They peeled out of the drive in a cloud of dust and dirt and rocks.
Katie caught a glance of Kaiden in the mirror. There was a fierceness in his expression she'd never seen before.
Nathan had snapped. He would never let her out of this alive. Katie had to find a way to get out of that truck, even if it meant throwing herself out of it.
"Don't get any crazy ideas. You'll kill yourself. I'm going way too fast."
Did he read her mind?
"Come on, Katherine, don't look so surprised. We were engaged, I know how your brain works."
"What difference does it make? You're going to kill me anyway." She reached up and felt the blood on her neck.
"After all our history together, you fathom me a cold blooded killer?"
"Mandy's dead."
"She was stupid. She didn't know when to shut up."
"So, you killed her."
"She had an accident."
"An accident. Right."
She glanced over at the speedometer and gasped. The truck sped along at nearly one hundred miles per hour. "Nathan, slow down! These roads can't handle this kind of speed!"
"Shut up, Katherine!"
"You keep saying that and I am sick of it! Pull this truck over now and let me out! Go catch your plane but leave me alone! You and your little scheme have already ruined my life! What else do you want from me?"
"Ruined, huh? It seemed like you and little cop man back there are pretty tight. Things can't be all that bad."
The road curved suddenly and Nathan slammed on the brakes. Katie threw herself across the seat and grabbed the steering wheel with one hand while slapping and punching at Nathan's face with the other.
"Stop it, Katherine! You're gonna kill us both!"
"Good!" She jerked the wheel to the right, the tires of the truck slipped on the gravel of the shoulder and the SUV rolled over. Once, twice, three times the truck flipped before she lost consciousness.
30
Kaiden
"Where the hell did they go?"
"I don't know, Kaiden. There are no turns from this road."
"Maybe they went a different way?"
"We both saw them go this way."
"Can't you go any faster, Kee?"
"Not if you don't want us to crash!"
As they careened around a tight curve in the road, something caught Kaiden's eye. "Hey, did you see that?"
"See what?"
"Something. I don't know. Do you smell that?"
"Smells like something's burning."
"Keegan! Stop the car!"
"What?"
"Stop! Stop this thing and let me out!"
"But, Katie?"
"I think they wrecked!"
Keegan slammed on the brakes so hard the truck spun in a complete circle as dust and dirt filled the air around them. His brother hit the gas and drove right to the edge of the road where black smoke curled up from the valley below. Kaiden jumped from the truck and started running down the embankment. He could hear Keegan calling to him but he kept going. He had to get to Katie before the gas tank caught fire.
A huge explosion rocked the mountain as flames shot into the air and the valley filled with thick black smoke.
"Katie!" he screamed her name over and over as the flames burned loud and hot. He slid the rest of the way down the embankment without thinking about anything but Katie.
Her name rang in his head over and over and over again. The voice louder than the fire, louder than Keegan calling after him, louder than the sound of his racing pulse as fear and adrenaline gripped him in its iron fist.
"Get back, brother! There might be a secondary explosion!"
He heard Keegan calling out to him, knew he spoke the truth. He ignored his twin. All he could do was pray over and over that Katie had survived. Maybe she had been ejected? Maybe she had gotten out before the truck caught fire. Maybe—and most likely—she had died in the crash and now burned in the SUV.
No!
She wasn't dead. He could feel it in his very soul. Then why couldn't he find her? Keegan had finally caught up with him. His brother put an arm around him as they watched the fire consume the remains of the vehicle. "I'm so sorry, man."
Kaiden wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Son of a bitch. Son. Of. A. Bitch!"
"Shhh…! Do you hear that?" Keegan held a finger to his lips and placed a hand on his brother's arm. Kaiden tried to shrug him off but Keegan insisted he listen.
Above the sound of the fire and burning vehicle, there was something. Something so quiet he wasn't even sure he heard it. Then it happened again.
"Help!" It was her.
"Katie!" he called out.
"Help us, Kaiden!"
"There!" Keegan pointed to a large rock. "It's coming from over there!"
They took off at a run, arriving at the rock at exactly the same time. Behind the rock they found Katie and Nathan Marks. She had a cut on her face and her neck, blood in her hair and a black eye but she was alive.
"Katie!" He started to go to her but Keegan held him back.
"Hold on, brother. Be careful, you don't know what sort of injuries she has."
"I'm okay, Keegan. Just a little sore. I think I hit my head too." She reached up and touched her hair, fingers coming away with fresh blood.
Kaiden squatted next to her and took her in his arms. "It's okay now. You're going to be okay."
She buried her face in his shoulder. "I have no idea how many times we rolled over. I was sure we were going to die."
"What exactly happened here?" Keegan, always the voice of reason, asked.
"The truck went out of control and we went over the side. The fire started and I knew if I didn't get us out of there, we would die. Nathan wouldn't wake up so I dragged him over here."
Keegan had his phone out calling for help.
"I thought he was going to kill me," Katie whispered next to Kaiden's ear. "I tried to get him to stop the truck. That's how we ended up here—I grabbed the wheel from him." She started to cry then, large wracking sobs. Kaiden held her as she cried until they heard the sound of sirens in the distance.
"I caught Nathan. Is the case over now?" Katie looked up at him through damp lashes.
He couldn't help but smile. "You did a great job, honey."
"I get my life back now—" Her body fell limp in his arms.
"K
atie!" She didn't answer. "Kee—she's unconscious!"
"It's all right, brother. Help is on the way."
"I'm taking her up top!" Without waiting for his brother to reply he scooped Katie up in his arms and started the long, arduous trek up the incline. "It's okay, Katie. I'm going to get you help. Please just hang on."
By the time he made it up to the edge of the road, emergency vehicles had begun to arrive. An ambulance had parked next their truck. Kaiden ran to it and started banging on the doors. "Help! We need help! You have to help her!"
He had never felt so helpless in his entire life. Katie's limp body hung in his arms. "Why won't you wake up, sweetheart?"
One of the paramedics pulled open the back of the ambulance and dragged the stretcher out of it. "Here. Put her here!"
Kaiden placed Katie on the stretcher but refused to let her go.
"You have to step back, sir, and let us work," the second paramedic said. "What happened to her?"
"She was kidnapped at knife point and the kidnapper rolled his truck. I have no idea what happened in between those two things."
"And who are you?" the first paramedic demanded.
Kaiden pulled his id from his back pocket. "Agent Kaiden James, Homeland Security. I am working the case."
The second paramedic worked at putting in an IV line while the first paramedic was busy examining Katie. "She took quite a beating today."
"Will she be all right?" Kaiden asked, afraid to hear the answer.
"We have to get her to the hospital right now. That head injury—well, it's tough to tell how bad it really is."
He caught sight of Keegan coming up over the rise, Nathan Marks tossed over his shoulder. The paramedics were lifting Katie into the back of the ambulance. It was his case, he knew he had to deal with Marks but he couldn't stand the thought of leaving Katie. After Keegan deposited Marks on a stretcher he waved his brother over. "I should go with Marks."
"I can stay with him," Keegan said.
Kaiden sighed heavily. "Not if I hope to keep my job."
"How about I ride with Katie? I'll make sure she knows you wanted to be there. Heck, if she hit her head hard enough I might even be able to convince her I'm you." The look Kaiden shot his brother shut Keegan right up.
He didn't like the idea but knew that under the circumstances there was no better solution.
"Okay, fine. But don't you dare leave her side until I get there, and no funny business."
"Please, brother! I wouldn't do that to you."
Kaiden paced in front of Keegan. "I know you wouldn't. I don't know why I said it. Just make sure they take care of her, okay?"
Keegan clapped his brother on the shoulder. "You know I will." He turned to the paramedics loading Katie into their bus. "I'm going with you!"
"And you are?"
Keegan whipped out his old ID. "Agent Keegan James." Fortunately, no one asked him what agency he was with.
"All right, sir. Load up, we're heading out!"
Kaiden watched as the ambulance carrying his brother and Katie drove away. Anger turned his vision red as he clenched his fists and reminded himself he had a job to do. And do it he would. He stomped over to where Nathan had been strapped to a stretcher receiving IV fluids. He was awake as a paramedic asked him questions.
Kaiden elbowed the paramedic out of the way as he retrieved a pair of handcuffs out of his back pocket. "Mr. Marks, you are under arrest." He slapped one cuff on Nathan's wrist and the other to the bar on the side of the stretcher.
"For what?" Nathan mumbled through swollen lips.
"The list is long but topping it is conspiracy to commit domestic terrorism."
"Whoa! This dude's a terrorist? I don't get paid enough for that." The medic backed away from the stretcher.
"Just do your job and let me worry about him. I want him alive so they can fry him when he goes to court."
"The accident was her fault. She grabbed the wheel!"
"I suppose being kidnapped at knife point was her fault too?" Kaiden snapped.
"I wasn't going to hurt her. I just wanted to get to the airport."
"So, you cut her neck open? You're a real piece of work, Marks."
"Katherine's dramatic. That's why I kicked her to the curb. So much drama all the time."
It took all of his self-control not to pummel Nathan right there at the back of the ambulance. "Katie is too good for you."
"If you really believe that then you deserve her."
31
Katie
"Well, this is an interesting change of pace." Kaiden smiled as he sat in the chair next to Katie's hospital bed.
"It doesn't feel right, being on this side of things."
He reached over and took her hand. "It's okay, the doctor says you can go home in a bit. They want to check your vitals one more time and review the results of the MRI. You took quite a whack to the head."
Katie reached up and touched the bandage on her head. "Doc says I was lucky, the wound wasn't too bad. How's Nathan?"
Kaiden growled. "Does it matter?"
"Well, yeah, it does. I hate him but I don't want him dead."
"He's fine. On his way back to Virginia Beach as we speak."
"You didn't have to take him?"
"No, I made other arrangements. I figured I'd hang out with Ma for a few days."
"Oh?"
"Unless you are in a hurry to get back to the beach too?"
She shrugged. "I've got nothing to go back to."
"Does that mean you are going back to Staunton?"
"I don't know. I mean, there's really nothing there for me either. My parents spend most of their time on the road in their RV."
"Why don't you take a couple of days and think about it. Ma says we can hang at her place as long as we want to."
A knock on the door sounded and the doctor appeared. He was a young guy, barely out of med school, but there was something about him that Kaiden really liked. "All righty, Ms. McCoy, it looks like you are good to go. I'll have the nurse come by with the discharge papers. You take it easy for a couple of days. Your body is going to ache something fierce from that tumble you all took."
"Thanks, Doctor. I promise to take it easy."
"I promise she will too," Kaiden said.
"Good, good, good. You take care now." The doctor bid farewell and disappeared into the hall beyond the door.
A minute later the nurse showed up, Katie signed everything and they were on their way back to the mountain.
The doctor was right. Every muscle in her body ached. Clara had made her a cup of hot tea and sent her to bed the minute she and Kaiden entered the mountain house. Now, three hours later, her body screamed at her as she tried to sit up. The room tilted and spun as she made it to an upright position.
Once everything around her stood still, Katie lowered her feet to the floor and attempted to stand up. She swayed violently, grabbing for the bed when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her.
"Whoa there, young lady. Where exactly do you think you are going?"
"I was going to go and find you but I have this splitting headache that makes me dizzy."
"That's going to happen for a couple of days. You probably shouldn't go anywhere without me from now on." His words were light hearted but his blue eyes smoldered to a deep grey.
"Is that doctor's orders?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am. Didn't you hear? I'm your doctor now." He gently lowered her back to the bed and fluffed the pillows before insisting she settle back against them.
"I will get very lonely staying in this big empty room by myself." She scooted over to one side of the king-sized bed and patted the space beside her. "Will you stay with me for a while, Doctor James?"
He smiled broadly. "Let me clear my calendar. Oh wait, already done." He climbed up and settled down next to her. Kaiden was on his side, his head propped up on his hand when he took her hand in his other one. Katie watched as he traced circles across her palm with his th
umb.
"I'm sorry for all the trouble I have caused you and your family."
"Trouble? What do you mean?"
"Well, if I hadn't been involved with Nathan—"
"The Nathan Marks case was my job, remember? You were part of that case. You didn't personally cause me any trouble."
"I let him kidnap me."
"I was going to ask you about that."
Katie looked away. She remained quiet for a good long time before she spoke again. "I heard all the gunshots and the yelling. I was afraid you were hurt—or worse."
"And so you left the truck I told you not to leave and tried to help."
She nodded. "Nathan must have been running away from you when he found me."
"Well, he won't be bothering you anymore. He's going away for a long, long time."
"How can you be so sure?"
"He confessed. To everything. Mommy and Daddy refused to finance his defense fund so he is stuck with a court appointed attorney. Apparently, he didn't think he held a snowball's chance in hell of getting off so he confessed."
"What did he exactly confess to?"
"It was all a huge get rich quick scheme. With all the concerns of pandemics and things, Nathan got involved with a pharmaceutical company who wanted to cash in on people's fears. They were going to stage an outbreak of Legionnaires' to scare people enough to convince them they needed a series of immunizations against various diseases. Turns out the vaccinations were all placebos. He has been singing like a canary—several high profile arrests are going to be made."
"And the vials?"
"They have been recovered. Nothing was done with them. The plan was for that big meeting in Norfolk so we stopped them in time."
"He killed Mandy."
"I know. He confessed to that too."
"He told me she had an accident. Like she tripped and fell into a bullet. Bastard. I hate him and I was mad at Mandy but I never wished her dead."
"I know you didn't."
"I simply can't believe Nathan got mixed up in all that and I let him drag me into it."
"You didn't let him do anything. He is an evil, deceitful man and you trusted him. Nothing wrong with that."
"I'm a real fool, trusting my heart that way."
