by Karen Fenech
Tears blurred her vision as she reached out to the paint can. Move. Move. She closed her fingers around the tall, white candle and stabbed Logan in the eye.
Logan screamed. Blood flowed from the socket. He reared back from her, knocking over paint cans like bowling pins. The candles on them toppled to the floor. The sawdust caught fire.
Logan’s arms and legs flailed. His shrieks filled the air. Both of his hands went to his bleeding eye. He dropped the knife. Hands trembling, Faith grabbed it and stuck the blade into his belly up to the hilt.
Logan staggered back. Blood pooled around the spot where the blade pierced him. Her stomach heaved.
His hand hovered above the knife, trying to remove it, but his arm fell limply to his side before he could. He shrieked and lunged at Faith. With her reflexes hampered, she couldn’t get out of his way but he landed beside her, not on top of her, and then his body went still.
Crying, shaking, Faith tried to get up, but her lower body still would not move. The entire structure was made of wood and burned like a tinder box. Flames spread rapidly over the room. She had to get out of here. Dragging herself across the floor, she moved toward the doorway.
The fire reached the workbench, melting the plastic container of kerosene on it. The fluid ignited with a whoosh.
“Faith!”
Ryan’s shout came from somewhere outside. “Here!” Faith called out then choked as she inhaled smoke.
“Faith!” Ryan shouted again.
“Ry—” Her voice cracked and she coughed again.
He appeared in the doorway. Smoke rolled up from the floor like a cloud. As Ryan ran to her, she saw him take in the three bodies, all obviously dead. He didn’t break pace, kept coming to her.
Dropping to one knee in front of her, he scooped her into his arms. “I’ve got you.”
The flames continued to spread. Bits of burning debris and sparks rose around them. Ryan hunched over her, shielding her with his body.
He went out the way he’d come. It was raining. Fat drops that fell in a steady downpour. Sirens wailed and tires screeched as emergency response vehicles skidded to a halt in front of the burning structure. Fire fighters, cops, and medics descended on the scene. Ryan pushed through the people. Galbraith fell into step with Ryan and Ryan gave Galbraith a status report. Gaines. Colson. Logan. All inside. All dead.
Ryan reached his truck and placed her on the passenger seat with her feet on the running board. He stood in front of her. Oblivious or uncaring of the rain pouring down on him, he stared into her eyes. “How badly are you hurt?” His voice was raw. His gaze, tortured. His fingers dug into her shoulders.
“I’m not hurt. Drugged. Not hurt.”
She repeated the words, but her teeth began to chatter and tears flooded her eyes. The panic and fear of the last hours crashed down on her. She shook harder, bone-deep tremors that felt as if her body was breaking apart.
Ryan wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Faith had zoned out at some point after Ryan had carried her out of the fire. She’d shoved what had happened at the timber mill to a deep place in her mind. Eventually, she’d need to deal with it all, but in these last hours, she’d focused on the fact that she was safe.
The drug James had given her, Ketamine, she now knew, was still in her system, though she’d regained full mobility. There was nothing doctors could do to speed up the process of ridding her of it. She didn’t need a medical professional to watch her vomit, if it came to that, and she’d declined spending the night at Wade County General, where she was at the moment.
Dee had come by wanting to take Faith home with her once she was discharged, but Faith was back in the media spotlight. She didn’t want to subject Dee and her family to that. And more, she didn’t want to be with anyone, even Dee. Faith didn’t feel up to putting on a show of normalcy when she felt anything but normal.
“Gotta tell ya, I’m not happy to see you back here again.”
Faith returned her attention to the curly haired doctor. She was the same physician who’d treated her after her attack and now stood over Faith who was seated at the edge of the bed.
“That makes two of us,” Faith said.
The doctor pushed up her large glasses and cracked a smile. “Yeah. I’ll bet. Don’t let me see you in here again.” She squeezed Faith’s arm softly in a gesture that belied her gruff manner.
Faith tried to smile but didn’t manage to pull it off. “I’ll do my best.”
The doctor yanked open the blue curtain covering the emergency room cubicle and disappeared down the hall.
Ryan filled the entrance. Other than when she was examined when she’d arrived at the hospital, and again just now, he’d stayed by her side.
“I saw the doctor leave.” Ryan’s brows were low. His handsome face pulled taut with worry. “What did she say?”
Faith repeated what the doctor had told her about the Ketamine. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, left bare by the hospital gown. Goose bumps now pebbled her skin. “You doing okay?”
She gripped the side of the bed and bowed her head, glad that her hair curtained her face that was sure to betray just how close she was to becoming unglued. “I don’t know how I’m doing.” She shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense. I’m not making much sense right now.”
Ryan swept her hair back, baring her face to him, and put his arms around her, his grip tight. “You’re making perfect sense. What you just went through . . .” He stopped speaking as if he were unable to go on and pressed his face to her hair.
She wasn’t the only one hurting. He was hurting too. It would be some time before either one of them put what happened at the mill behind them. She turned her face into his shoulder and curled her arms around his waist, burrowing against him.
To bring herself out of that dark place she said, “Were you on the phone when the doctor was in here?” Ryan had been in the hall. With the curtain closed and the doctor speaking, Faith hadn’t been able to make out his words.
“Galbraith called.”
When Ryan didn’t say anything more, she realized that he wasn’t going to. She raised her head to look up at him. “And?”
He took one of her hands in his and pressed a kiss to her palm. “You have enough to think about. You need to turn off and rest. It can wait.”
She turned her hand in his and gripped his fingers. “I’m spending too much time in my own head right now. It’s not a good place to be at the moment. I’d like to know what Galbraith told you.”
Ryan took a deep breath then let it out. “Galbraith’s at Logan’s house with a forensics team. They found body parts in Logan’s freezer. A human tongue. Testing will need to be done to confirm that it belonged to Sharon Fahey, but at this point I’d say that’s just a formality.” He smoothed her hair. “A pair of lips were also found in the deep freeze.” When Faith went still, Ryan nodded. “Yeah. I’m betting those lips belonged to Lorraine Owens. It’s finished, baby. This evidence will clear your father’s name.”
Faith closed her eyes. It really was finished for her father. Finally, he could rest in peace. Tears leaked from beneath her lids. Ryan brought her close again.
It was also finished for James Gaines.
“When you left my place, before James abducted me,” Faith said slowly, “I was going to work on an appeal for a change of venue for James’s trial. Judge Houghton had denied my petition. I was worried that the bias against James would be too high for him to receive fair treatment in Wade. I was prepared to take it to a higher court.”
“You were right. Gaines didn’t kill Sharon Fahey.”
“I didn’t believe him. He told me that he was innocent. You were right, Ryan. I did want James’s case to be like my father’s.” Faith exhaled deeply. “I wanted to believe James just as I’d believed my father. But I didn’t. Even before James abducted me, I didn’t believe him.”
“And yet you did everything
you could to defend him. You went above and beyond your job.”
Faith licked her lips slowly. “James was not the kind of man my father had been, but there was still the possibility that he didn’t kill Sharon Fahey. That he was innocent.” She stopped speaking then said quietly. “And as we’ve found out, he was innocent. He was guilty of abducting me. I don’t think we’ll ever know if he’d fixated on women other than myself and Sharon Fahey, or if he’d committed crimes against any women other than me, but he wasn’t guilty of the crime he was going to stand trial for.” And there was the reason she would go on defending those believed to be indefensible, like her father, and like the James Gaines’s of the world. “In the end, he gave up his life to try to save me from Logan.”
Ryan’s mouth tightened forming two white slashes. His gaze became homicidal. “Logan.”
Softly she said, “My father and James were his victims as well. He’d chosen them both as the perfect fall guys.”
Ryan touched his lips to her forehead in a kiss so tender, Faith’s heart stuttered. “It’s over now,” he said.
“I’m going to need to remind myself of that about every five minutes.”
“I’ll remind you.”
He said it as if he would be around to do that. The case had brought them back together. But the case was finished now and they were back in the same place they’d been before it all started. No, that wasn’t true. She wouldn’t have believed it was possible, but she was more in love with him now.
Ryan ran a hand back through his hair. “Looks like we’re destined to having talks about us in this hospital.” Gently, he tilted her chin up and her gaze met his. “Here’s the bottom line for me. I almost lost you. Again. This time forever. That thought hits me like a sledgehammer in the pit of my stomach every time I take a breath. I spent the last year without you. I don’t want to lose another minute with you.” He rubbed his thumbs gently over her shoulders. “But I need to know that’s what you want too.” His grip on her shoulders tightened. “Tina and Gillingham reconciled. She’s relinquishing all claim to Jeremy.”
“Oh.” Faith felt pain for that precious little boy.
“Yeah.”
In that one word she heard a father’s pain for his son, and hurt for Ryan as well. “Where is Jeremy now?”
“With my former neighbor. I’ve set up a meeting with the lawyers. After that, Tina won’t be in our lives. Not as far as the court is concerned. But I can’t guarantee she’ll stay away permanently. Zach said she’s a person who isn’t happy with herself. He’s right. I think Gillingham won’t be enough for her and at some point she’ll come back.” Ryan cradled Faith’s face with both hands. His eyes blazed. “But if that day comes, it won’t change what I feel for you. Tina is my past. You are my always.”
She’d been living in fear of what might happen. Expecting the other shoe to drop. But looking in Ryan’s eyes now, she knew it never would. Tears filled her eyes. “You are my always too.”
Ryan’s grip on her cheeks tightened, then he bent his head and brought his mouth down on hers in a hard, fierce kiss. Faith curled her fingers around the front of his shirt and kissed him back.
Ryan held her to him another long moment, then tenderly brushed his lips to her brow. “You ready to blow this place?”
“Yes, I want to go home. But first let’s go get our son.”
* * *
Two days later Faith entered the small cemetery where her father had been laid to rest. Weak sunlight filtered through the clouds. The recent wind and rain had blown leaves and dirt on to the marker at her father’s grave. She tucked the small bouquet of flowers she held into the crook of her arm, then crouched and cleared the debris with her gloved hand. After, she kept her hand on the marker.
“It’s over, daddy.”
She removed the glove and brushed her fingers beneath her damp eyes then placed the bouquet on the grave. As she rose to her feet, she kissed her fingertips and pressed them to the marker.
Ryan was waiting for her outside the cemetery. He was leaning back against his truck with Jeremy in his arms. He straightened and began to walk toward her.
Faith smiled and ran to meet them.
A short note from Karen Fenech…
Writing is a solitary occupation for the most part but your wonderful emails and notes to Facebook remind me every day that though it’s solitary, it’s never lonely. Thank you for embracing The Protectors and all of my story people. Thank you for letting them, and me, be part of your world. I look forward to sharing many more adventures with you!
Warmest wishes,
Karen
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OTHER BOOKS BY KAREN FENECH
Romantic Suspense Novels
BREATH OF MALICE
GONE
UNHOLY ANGELS
BETRAYAL
IMPOSTER: The Protectors Series — Book One
SNOWBOUND: The Protectors Series — Book Two
PURSUED: The Protectors Series — Book Three
HIDE: The Protectors Series — Book Four
CAUGHT: The Protectors Series — Book 4.5 (A Protectors Series Novella)
GUILTY: The Protectors Series — Book Five
Erotic Romance Books By Karen Fenech
HIS TOUCH: The Surrender Series — Book One
To read excerpts and to find out more about Karen's books, visit her website: www.karenfenech.com/books.html
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A tremendous thank you to Sarah, Cindy, and Tara for their help in getting this novel ready for publication.
ABOUT KAREN FENECH
USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR KAREN FENECH writes romantic suspense, short works of suspense, and erotic romance. She is the author of the bestselling romantic suspense series, The Protectors. As of this writing, the first five books in the series and one novella are available:
Book 1:IMPOSTER
Book 2: SNOWBOUND
Book 3:PURSUED
Book 4:HIDE
Book 4.5: CAUGHT (A Protectors Series Novella)
Book 5: GUILTY
Karen also writes standalone romantic suspense.
BREATH OF MALICE
GONE
UNHOLY ANGELS
BETRAYAL
She has launched an erotic romance series, The Surrender Series.
HIS TOUCH: The Surrender Series — Book One
Karen's novels and short suspense fiction have received critical acclaim. Her novels have been translated into several languages and have been released in audio format. When Karen's not writing or spending time with her family, she loves to shop, watch movies, and just kick back in a comfortable chair and read.
If you'd like to know when Karen Fenech's next novel is released and receive a free eCopy of CAUGHT, sign up for her notification-only news at: www.karenfenech.com/books.html
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF KAREN FENECH
TITLE PAGE
ALSO BY KAREN FENECH
GUILTY
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
CONTENTS
BOOK DESCRIPTION
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
; CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
A short note from Karen Fenech…
Get CAUGHT, a Protectors Series novella, for free
OTHER BOOKS BY KAREN FENECH
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT KAREN FENECH
