A Shot at Love

by Peggy Jaeger

  He continued to hold her in his behemoth grip as he pushed her up close to the man.

  Hands fisted on his hips, the man raked his gaze over her face, down her chest to her toes and then back up again. “You’ve proven to be a real pain in my ass, young lady.” For the first time, a thin line of fear shivered down her spine. His spoken voice was low, but tinged with such hate and menace, Gemma knew instantly this was a powerful man used to giving orders and having them followed to the letter.

  His mouth dipped at the corners, a snarl pulling back to reveal cigarette-stained teeth, decades in the making.

  Gemma shoved her fear down as far as she could. “I’m sorry? What have I ever done to you? I don’t even know you.”

  Beside her, Tiege’s breath audibly caught.

  The heat in the man’s snarl turned volcanic. He moved toward her, the edges of his eyes narrowing, his bushy brows pulling down, almost closing off his eyes to her view.

  “You don’t know who I am?”

  Gemma shook her head. “Why should I?”

  His hand came up so fast she didn’t have a second to pull back from the slap that lashed across her cheek. The force behind it knocked her to the side and she would have fallen to her knees if sheer will and determination hadn’t kicked in, helping her to stay upright.

  She whipped her head around, the painful sting from the slap throbbing immediately. The man grabbed a fistful of her hair and jerked her head so that his face was a kiss distance from hers.

  “You should know the name of the last man you’re ever going to see, little girl.” His breath was hot, fetid, and foul as his words wafted over her face.

  He yanked her hair, causing tears of pain to well up in her eyes.

  “I’m Antonio Ritandi and I’m gonna kill you.”

  Gemma stopped breathing. It was the only way she knew she could keep control. Slow her breathing and it would slow her heart rate as well, allowing her to stay calm and focused.

  “Let go of me. Now.”

  The snarl pulled back into a semblance of a smirk. “You’re a ballsy thing, I’ll give you that.”

  He jerked his hand from her hair.

  Gemma refused to let him see how much pain he’d caused. Her scalp stung, and she could feel her cheek already starting to swell.

  “So, you’re the one responsible for making my life a living hell?” she asked, pleased her voice sounded steady and strong. As he’d done to her, she raked her gaze down the length of him, hoping the expression on her face was one of disdain. She’d flattened her lips, narrowed her eyes and fisted her hands on her hips.

  It must have seemed so to Ritandi, because his face turned boiled-tomato red, the color spreading like wildfire up to his ears and then down his neck.

  “You little bitch. I was gonna do you quick and easy, but that mouth of yours just made me think slow and painful is better.”

  He reached out a hand to her, but Gemma sidestepped him.

  Ritandi stumbled, quickly recovered and snarled at her. Gemma took the moment’s distraction to bolt. She sprinted around the house toward the dock.

  “Get her!” Ritandi screamed. Just as she started down the steps she was grabbed from behind by Tiege. He yanked her to a halt and pulled both her hands behind her back, clasping her in handcuffs before she could fight him off.

  “You’re more trouble than you’re worth,” he spat into her ear as he spun her and dragged her back to the front of the cabin. “I’d have killed you first thing.”

  “Why didn’t you, then? Why bring me here?”

  “Not my call.”

  He shoved her so hard in front of Ritandi, she dropped to one knee. “Here. She’s all yours now. I’ve gotta get back.”

  “Not so fast,” Ritandi said.

  It was then Gemma noticed the gun in his hand pointing at Tiege. Ritandi’s finger hovered right over the trigger, cocked and ready. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  “What is this?” The SAC yelled. “I brought this bitch to you, I got Pappandreos arrested. Calafano’s dead. I’ve done everything you asked. Everything.”

  “Yeah, you have,” Ritandi said with a smile that never made it to his eyes.

  “So? What more do you want?”

  Ritandi shook his head and seemed to ponder the question. When he gazed at Tiege, Gemma felt her insides turn liquid. His brown eyes were the deadest she’d ever seen on a live person; cold, hard, and scary as all hell.

  His lips pulled back revealing stained teeth as he grinned at Tiege. There was a sharp edge of madness cut into his expression.

  “Nothing.” Ritandi pulled the trigger and shot Tiege straight between the eyes.

  Tiege’s body flung back, falling in one, single flat line. An eerie silence followed the echo of the shot as it moved through the tree line.

  “Get rid of him,” Ritandi told the two silent thugs. “I don’t care how.”

  He trained his cold eyes on her while they dragged Tiege’s body into the woods.

  “And now you.” He lifted the gun and pointed it at her face.

  “I thought you wanted to kill me slowly,” Gemma taunted. “Make me suffer.”

  Something shifted in his eyes at her words. He looked…gleeful.

  She tampered down the bile pushing toward release. This man was truly the definition of evil.

  A shot boomed from the direction the men had taken Tiege’s body. Ritandi raised his head to the sound, then cursed. He pulled Gemma up from her knees and yanked her against his body.

  “Walk!” he commanded as he pulled her along with him toward the dock.

  “What’s going on? Where are you taking me?”

  She struggled against his hold. With her hands secured behind her back in the cuffs, she could do little more than wiggle and pull against him.

  “Shut up and get moving.”

  She stumbled and would have dropped to her knees again, but his grip was as secure and tight as Tiege’s had been.

  “Stop! Federal agents!”

  A bullet hit the ground close to them.

  “Hold your fire! Hold your fire!” Winter’s voice called.

  Two agents in tactical gear appeared at the bottom of the dock stairs, weapons aimed up at them.

  “Shit!”

  Ritandi pivoted, keeping Gemma up against him as a shield, her back plastered against his front, his arm secure around her neck.

  Ky and Jon came around the side of the house, several agents, all armed, their weapons primed, with them.

  “Let her go, Ritandi,” Ky commanded.

  “Not a chance. She’s my ticket out of here.”

  Ky shook his head. “It’s over. You can’t get out of here alive. I’ve got agents everywhere, surrounding you. Your men are in custody. It’s just you and all of us. Let her go.”

  “I said not a chance.”

  Gemma could feel the man’s heart jack-hammering against her back. His grip tightened around her, almost cutting off her air.

  “I don’t want to shoot you, but I will if you don’t release her,” Ky said.

  “No you won’t.”

  Ky’s eyes shifted for a second to Gemma, then back to the mobster. “Yes, I will.”

  The man laughed, actually, laughed, at Ky.

  He was enjoying this.

  Gemma changed her description of him from evil to insane.

  She needed to get Ky’s attention on her again. She said his name. As soon as the word left her lips, two things happened.

  Ky’s gaze shot over her face and Ritandi’s arm around her neck constricted even more. She couldn’t move her hands, couldn’t wind them under his to gain any slack in his increasingly tight hold.

  With Ky looking straight at her, Gemma blinked and mouthed “Trust me” before closing her eyes and letting her body go slack.<
br />
  The effect of her knees dropping, purposefully allowing them to relax, pitched her forward. Ritandi lost his hold as she slid down. When he tried to reposition her, he fired off a shot.

  Gemma hit the ground, the sound of the gun’s explosion above her deafening, as Ritandi’s body fell backward. A hail of bullets from every direction sailed above her and the sickening thud of Ritandi’s now lifeless body hitting the ground next to her made her slam her eyes shut again.

  Gemma was hauled to her feet when she opened her eyes. Ky was saying something but her ears had gone silent, except for the high-pitched whistle screaming inside her brain. She shook her head at him. “I can’t hear you.”

  He dragged her into his arms, his hold so safe, so familiar, she leaned into it. She could feel the reverberations of him saying something with her head against his chest and in the next instant her hands were freed from the cuffs. Immediately, she wound them around his waist and held on, while he smoothed her hair and kissed her temple.

  The feel of his arms securely woven around her and the pounding of his heart against her cheek was nirvana.

  Little by little the whistling eased and she was able to distinguish the sounds of the agents talking around her.

  Ky’s voice was the only one she wanted to hear.

  He pulled back and stared down at her.

  “Can you hear me yet?” He cupped her cheeks in his hands, settled his worried gaze on hers.

  She nodded.

  “Gemma.” There was so much emotion infused in her name her knees almost went out on her again. He shook his head and placed his forehead against hers.

  Around them the agents were inspecting Ritandi’s lifeless body, removing his weapon, walking around the perimeter of the cabin. Jon Winters said something to one of the men and then came up to Gemma and Ky.

  “That went well,” he said with a grin. “Almost according to plan.”

  Gemma pulled from Ky’s arms to give the agent a hug, mindful of the supportive sling that encased his arm to his chest. She dropped a kiss on his cheek.

  “Except for Tiege and Ritandi getting killed,” Ky said behind her.

  “Hey, we got the son-of-a-bitch and rescued the girl,” Jon told his partner. “That’s what counts.”

  “Pappandreos! Winters!”

  All three of them turned to the man barreling down from the drive toward them.

  “Who is that?” Gemma asked, moving close to Ky again. When his hand spread across the small of her back, her shoulders relaxed. Just a touch calmed and comforted her more than any words ever could.

  “ASA Barly,” Ky told her.

  “You were given explicit orders not to use deadly force,” Barly shrieked at Ky.

  “Couldn’t be helped,” Winters said. “We were forced to defend ourselves. And Miss Laine.”

  Barly’s gaze flashed over Gemma. The photographer in her decided there was no conceivable way she could ever make him look appealing in a portrait. His reptilian eyes pulled almost closed while her stared at her. She felt as if she knew what an unsuspecting insect experienced just before a predator claimed it as a meal.

  “I’ll need a statement from you immediately,” he told her, without even introducing himself. “Detailing everything you can remember about what Tiege said to you before and after you arrived here.” He switched his attention to Ky. “Have one of your men bring her to my office now.”

  “It’ll get done, Barly,” Ky told him, “but Miss Laine’s been through enough. Her statement can wait.”

  From over the man’s shoulder’s Gemma spied a familiar face in the sea of agents and personnel who’d descended upon the cabin, standing off at the tree line, hands in his pockets, just observing the scene.

  “Excuse me,” Ky said to the attorney, cutting the man off midsentence while he’d been castigating him about shooting Ritandi.

  With Gemma’s hand in his, he led her to Rick Bannerman. “I’m gonna be tied up for a while,” Ky said while they walked. “Here and back at the bureau. I made arrangements for Bannerman to take you back to the city so you don’t have to wait around. I know how much you want to get home.”

  “I don’t mind waiting for you,” she said. “I can give that statement Barly’s so hot for.”

  He shook his head. “Like I told him, it’ll get done. It’s better if you go, Gemma. I need to finish this. I’ve got a lot of bureaucrats to deal with and reports to file, and I can’t do all that with you around.”

  “Oh.” Why did she feel like she’d been stabbed in the heart?

  “Bannerman can take you home. Either Jon or I will be in touch as soon as we can about taking your statement. It’s not necessary we have it immediately, despite what Barly says. It’s not going to change anything that happened here today.”

  “Looks like everything went as planned,” Rick said when they got to him.

  “We didn’t plan on Tiege getting himself killed,” Ky said, letting go of Gemma’s hand.

  “Collateral damage,” Bannerman said with a shrug. “You okay?” he asked Gemma, pulling her in for a hug.

  She nodded. “My ears are still ringing a little but it’ll pass.”

  “Yeah, it will. You did good, Cleo. Your boy here,” he chinned Ky, “says you were very convincing when Winters was pretending to arrest him.”

  Gemma snuck a glance at Ky. “That was the plan,” she said.

  “You did well,” Ky said. “It was obvious Tiege had no clue we knew he was the mole.”

  “If you don’t need us for anything,” Bannerman said to Ky, “I’d like to get out of here.”

  Ky turned to Gemma, took her hand and brought it to his lips. “I’ll find you as soon as I can.”

  Swallowing, she nodded.

  “Thanks for taking her,” he said to Bannerman. “And for…everything else. Without your help we would never have been able to arrange all this.”

  Rick nodded and held out his hand. Ky took it.

  “Never thought I’d hear myself say this about a bunch of feds, but working with you and your team has been a pleasure. Your partner couldn’t stop singing your praises when I met with him at the hospital. Says a lot about a man when his men respect him like that.”

  Ky nodded. With a final look at Gemma, he turned and made his way back to his agents.

  Her gaze followed him as he walked away.

  “Come on, Cleo.” Bannerman grabbed the hand Ky had just kissed. “Let’s get you home.”

  Like an obedient child, she let him lead her away.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Bannerman drove her straight, without stopping, back to her condo to a waiting Kandy.

  The sisters hugged, then Rick kissed her cheek and told her he’d check on her during the week. Once alone with just her older sister, Gemma collapsed in tears.

  Over several hours, and fortified with an entire bottle of much needed wine, Gemma relayed everything that had happened to her for the past week, including how her relationship with Ky had gone from professional to personal. As she had for their entire lives, Kandy listened quietly, asking simple questions when she needed clarification, and held her younger sister’s hand. She hadn’t judged, offered advice, or asked Gemma what she was going to do next.

  When Gemma’s eyes started to drift closed, Kandy put her to bed and called Josh to come pick her up.

  It was the next afternoon by the time Gemma opened her eyes again.

  For the first time in what seemed like a lifetime, she reached for her phone. Kandy had plugged it into the bedside charger before leaving and when Gemma typed in her password the phone began chirping incessantly, announcing all the messages and e-mails she’d received while she’d been out of touch.

  Gemma silenced the sound and took a quick glance at the screen.

  She couldn’t possibly have a thousand e-mails and tex
t messages.

  A quick scan through the scores of texts showed nothing from Ky. Gemma sighed and tried not to think about what that meant. Next to the charger was a glass of water with two aspirin.

  “God bless you, big sister.”

  A long, hot, and steamy shower later, filled with memories of the last time she’d showered with Ky, Gemma dressed and then hit the kitchen.

  The stocked refrigerator was a present from Kandy, but Gemma wasn’t hungry for all the delicious food her sister had stuffed it with. She grabbed a bottle of her favorite diet soda and chugged it down.

  Within seconds the caffeine hit her bloodstream.

  Showered and caffeinated, she took a look around her, happy to see that her living space had been put to rights and cleaned up from the previous attack. With another bottle of soda in her hand, she went into her home office and started answering her e-mails.

  Eight hours later she looked from the computer screen to see nighttime descending through the window. She’d answered a good deal of her e-mails, most of it scheduling requests, called her editor at the publishing house and explained about the delay with the Faces book, had spoken with her mother, Kandy, and the rest of her sisters who’d all been worried sick about her. Promises of lunch and shopping dates satisfied their questions that she was, indeed, home now, the threat eliminated.

  She paid the bills that had come in while she was gone, checked her bank balance for any Internet transactions and payments deposited in her absence and then realized she was hungry.

  Dinner was a bowl of Kandy’s fish chowder and a couple slices of sour dough bread, after which exhaustion once again dragged her to bed.

  One day home and no word from Ky. Before she fell asleep Gemma told herself he was busy righting all the wrongs Ritandi and Tiege had created. He’d call when he could.

  Day two she awoke with more energy. When her phone was still empty of any word from Ky, she pouted, got ready for the day and decided to work.

  Now that she’d joined the land of the living and employed again, she needed to pay attention to all her projects. She dug out her cameras and hooked them up to her home computer.