Killer Cuisine

by Velvet Vaughn

  Alex reached into Nelson’s car. “Look at this.” He held up a crack pipe.

  “If he smoked that, he’ll be unstable and aggressive.”

  After checking his clip, Dan and Alex hurried up the steps. The sound of glass shattering propelled him into action. He lifted his foot and slammed it into the door, sending it flying into the wall. McArthur was lying in a pool of blood, much like they’d found François and Ronald. Henry was pinning Kaitlyn to the floor and they were struggling for control of a gun.

  Dan tossed Alex his weapon and charged Nelson, jerking him off of Kaitlyn, but the man had gone berserk. He was thrashing for all he was worth and Dan was taking some punishing blows. The drugs Henry snorted had given him uncommon strength. They bumped into tables, sending more figurines crashing to the floor. Dan was an excellent fighter, with expertise in Krav Maga and Muay Thai, but it was hard to control someone who was freaking out of their mind. He finally managed to whip Nelson’s legs out from under him and trap him against the floor. The man bucked and cursed.

  “Can you get cuffs on him?” he huffed, barely managing to duck a blow from Henry’s head.

  Alex pulled out a pair of flexible restraints but before he could secure the band, Henry yanked a hand free, picked up a shard of glass and stabbed it into Alex’s thigh. Blood spurted in an arc.

  “Sonofabitch!” Alex cursed. With the butt of his gun, he slammed it into Henry’s temple. The man blinked out like a light. Dan scrambled up and grabbed the restraint to fasten Nelson’s wrists and then turned to Alex.

  “Did he get the femoral artery?”

  “I don’t think so.” Alex clenched his teeth. “But I think he might’ve sliced a muscle.” He reached for the sliver.

  “No, leave it in,” Dan ordered. “It’s plugging the hole.”

  “I know,” Alex gritted out. “But damn it, it hurts like holy hell.”

  “We don’t want you to bleed out.” He whipped off his t-shirt and used it to staunch the flow from Alex’s wound then he rushed to Kaitlyn’s side. She was struggling to sit. Small cuts marred her arms and face and a bruise was forming on her cheek. He’d stalk over and beat the shit out of Nelson if he didn’t need to hold her so badly. He picked her up and dropped to the couch with her on his lap, his legs giving out now that the adrenalin was wearing off. He’d been so damn worried. “Are you okay? You’re bleeding.”

  She threw her arms around him. “I knew you’d come for me.”

  “Always, baby. I’ll always come for you.”

  Epilogue

  Kaitlyn was a quivering mass of nerves. When it was Dan’s turn at Stage One, she almost vomited. But she sucked it up and focused on him, sending all of her positive vibes his way. A camera was trained on her, tracking her every move. They’d flashed her picture on the big screen with the caption, Dan’s Girlfriend. She felt like the luckiest woman in the world.

  She’d been jumping up and down so hard as he rounded the Curved Steps, she almost ripped Luke’s arm off. He’d been so busy screaming, he didn’t even notice. When Dan made the last leap to the cargo net and scrambled to the top to hit the buzzer, she’d hugged everyone around her, both friends and strangers. And to think, after all that excitement, she had to go through it three more times. She didn’t know if her heart could take it.

  She’d cheered just as loudly for all three of the Addison siblings. Maggie gave it a good run, but she’d timed out before she finished the next-to-last obstacle. It took her three tries to get up the warped wall and that used up much of her allotted time. Both Noah and Ethan made it through to the second round. She rooted hard for Kayla Hepburn and almost cried when her foot slipped on the Spider Wall and she slid into the water.

  During Stage Two, she lost her voice when Dan navigated the Butterfly Wall. She kept screaming anyway. She couldn’t help it. Her vocal cords would be burning tomorrow. All three of the remaining agents made it through to Stage Three, but Noah and Ethan both went down on the Ultimate Cliffhanger. Only Dan made it through to the final round.

  Now they were getting ready for Stage Four, the climb up Mount Mishoita. She couldn’t sit still. The sideline reporter had interviewed her and she wasn’t even sure what she said. She just hoped it made sense and that it was audible. Her voice wasn’t much more than scratch at this point.

  Practically the entire block of stands was devoted to COBRA Securities personnel—those who managed to snag tickets. The numbers were limited, so after family, they’d held contests to see who would fill the remaining seats. Logan, Jade, Isabella and Trudy were here, as were Luke, Ben and Rachel. Her family was now his family. She wished Grant could be here with them but he was off saving the world. Since Alex Mylonas and Dante Costa qualified for the finals but were unable to compete due to injuries, they were each given tickets. Boy, did she feel bad. It was pretty much her fault they were both injured. Every time she tried to apologize, they shushed her.

  Dante brought Kai, who proclaimed himself to be Dan’s biggest fan, along with Taylor and Gracie. Alex brought his sister Allie, Lauren and Daphne. The teenagers were in Heaven ogling all of the muscled hunks of man candy (Daphne’s words, not hers). The remaining tickets went to Dorian and Kendall, Jake Kincaid and his wife Violet, Peter Dennis and his wife April, and Wyatt Hollister, the big, blonde Aussie who always had a smile on his face. He decreed to everyone that next year, he would be the first Aussie-US Ninja Warrior. He probably would be. There were several other personnel in the stands as well. She’d been so happy to see Mason among the group.

  François and Ronald were both recovering nicely and wanted to come, but neither was up to travelling yet. She typed off a quick text to update them on Dan’s achievements. They’d both gone through rounds of surgery and therapy. It was touch and go for a while, especially for François, but thankfully, he was doing much better. He’d resigned his job in Paris and Ronald left his in Indianapolis and they’d moved into her bungalow to be close to the rehab center. She’d been sleeping in her old room at Luke’s—when she wasn’t staying with Dan. Now they were in negotiations with a construction company to build their dream home, nestled directly between their brothers’ properties.

  François and Ronald were serious about opening a restaurant together and Kaitlyn had no doubt they’d make it a success. Dion was even funding it. He’d been touch and go, too, but he’d finally recovered. His mother took over running his establishments while he was incapacitated. After all of the drama surrounding Fresh!, Dion made the tough decision to close the doors. Apparently there was such a thing as bad publicity, because it’d doomed the restaurant. Kaitlyn had been disappointed but understood his rationale. The building was undergoing a complete remodel and would open with a new name but the same commitment to healthy cooking.

  Kendall was making headway with the network on a television show for her, and they were nailing down the details. Kendall told her to expect news any day now. She would be excited if it came through but she had something more important to focus her life on now. Or someone.

  An announcement came over the loudspeaker and Kaitlyn stood to cheer.

  #

  “And now the last man standing…Dan Bradley,” the announcer said to a deafening roar from the crowd.

  Dan swung his arms and jumped up and down to loosen his muscles. Of all the athletes who qualified for the finals, only forty made it through Stage One. Dan mentally added two more to the count. He had no doubt Alex Mylonas and Dante Costa would’ve made it if they’d been able to compete. Maggie McQueen and Kayla Hepburn both gave a gallant effort, but fell short.

  Stage Two had been tough and only nine advanced to Stage Three. A third of those athletes were COBRA Securities agents. Noah and Ethan Addison made it with him. Somehow he was the only one to make it through Stage Three. Now he was facing the grueling climb up Mount Mishoita.

  He took a deep breath and found her in the crowd. Kaitlyn. His love. His life. When he’d started this journey, becoming the top US Ninja Warrior had been t
he most important thing in his life. Not anymore. That title now went to the black-haired beauty cheering her lungs out, wearing a #COBRANinja t-shirt with his goofy mug on the front. She was leading the section in a cheer and he loved her so much his heart felt near to bursting. Not a good thing when he was looking at a seventy-five-foot rope climb in less than thirty seconds.

  His eyes moved over to his brother Logan with Isabella perched on his shoulders. Logan was bopping up and down and Bella was wildly waving her tiny arms. His sister-in-law was joining in, trying to disguise herself in a floppy hat, sunglasses, and a #COBRANinja shirt that covered her slightly protruding belly. Kait’s brothers Luke and Ben were there, along with Ben’s wife Rachel. Both Dante and Alex were in the stands. Did Dan feel guilty that he was standing here, facing down Mount Mishoita and they weren’t? Absolutely. He had no doubt that if Dante was healthy, he’d kill the course. He’d probably even ascend the rope in like ten seconds. And man, Alex, his training partner. He really felt bad for him. Though he never said so, Dan knew he wanted to do this so that his love in New York might see it. Instead, he had to watch from the sidelines.

  When Alex had been stabbed and blood spurted, the first thing Dan thought was that his femoral artery had been punctured. If that were the case, he had minutes to live. When the artery was severed, death could be quick. Thankfully Nelson missed it but the injury was still severe enough that Alex had to drop out of the competition.

  Henry Nelson woke from the hit to his temple and immediately started bucking and thrashing. He’d been tased multiple times to calm him down and one of the shocks sent him into cardiac arrest. He died on the way to the hospital. No great loss there. An added bonus was that Kaitlyn wouldn’t have to testify at the trial of her former sous chef and friend. A win, win.

  The days following had been brutal not knowing if François or Ronald would pull through. Then they’d attended Abby’s and Shandee’s funerals. Mason was doing better and as he’d predicted, the COBRA Securities family had accepted him into the fold, even if he wasn’t an official member yet. He was even sitting in the stands today.

  He took a deep breath and grabbed the rope. His goal was to get up there as fast as possible—not so that he would be crowned the top ninja. It was because he wanted to get back to Kaitlyn.

  The buzzer sounded and he climbed his heart out. His arms felt like cooked spaghetti, his hands burned from the rope, but he pulled his weight for all he was worth. He had no idea what his time was, but he could tell he was going fast. When he reached the top and slapped the buzzer, the crowd erupted. He checked the timer: 28.89 seconds. He’d done it! He was officially a US Ninja Warrior.

  He scrambled to the top of the platform and raised his arms, looking for her. Her hands were covering her face. Luke nudged her and she looked at him. He gave her a thumbs up and she returned it. The announcer came over to him and stuck a microphone in his face.

  “Congratulations Dan Bradley, you are the top US Ninja Warrior. Only two other people have stood where you are standing on top of Mount Mishoita. It’s quite an accomplishment. Are there any words you’d like to say?”

  He took the microphone from the man’s hands, having cleared this ahead of time. “I’d like to thank all of my family and friends for their support, especially Logan, Jade, Trudy, Isabella and Fiji.” He knew it would make Bella happy that he’d thought of her precious pup. “But most of all, I want to thank the girl I’ve loved since first grade, my heart, my life, Kaitlyn Colton. Kait, will you marry me?”

  The audience erupted in cheers. A camera swung to capture Kait’s beautiful face, frozen in shock. Tears tracked down her cheeks. She nodded, never taking her eyes from him. “Yes,” she mouthed. “Of course I’ll marry you!”

  “You saw it here first, folks. That’s a yes!”

  ###

  Notes

  I hope you’ve enjoyed the seventh book in the COBRA Securities series. Several characters from previous books made appearances in Killer Cuisine. If you would like to read their stories, you can find them here:

  Lauren Dianetti from The List

  Logan, Jade, Isabella Bradley and Aunt Trudy from The Fan

  Ben and Rachel Colton, Peter and April Dennis from Committed

  Jake and Violet Kincaid from Violets are Blue

  Dorian Demarchis, Kendall Buckley and Alex Mylonas from Trust No One

  Maggie and Carter McQueen from Saving Santa

  Dante and Kai Costa and Taylor and Grace Hudson from Hide and Seek

  About the Author

  Velvet Vaughn is the author of The List, The Fan, Committed, Violets are Blue, Trust No One, and Hide and Seek, the first six books in the COBRA Securities series, as well as Saving Santa, a COBRA Securities Short Story. In addition, two novellas: A Christmas Miracle and Flying High Christmas are available as stand-alone books or in the anthologies All I Want For Christmas and Yuletide Treasures, respectively. The eighth book in the COBRA Securities series, Vigilante, will be published soon.

  Connect With Velvet

  Website: www.velvetvaughn.com

  Facebook Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/authorvelvetvaughn

  Blog: http://www.velvetvaughn.com/blog.html

  Email: velvet@velvetvaughn.com

  From Velvet

  Thanks so much for purchasing Killer Cuisine. I hope you enjoyed the story of Dan and Kaitlyn. If you did, I would appreciate you leaving feedback at Amazon.com, Goodreads, or anywhere that book reviews are accepted. Thank you!

  I sincerely appreciate those of you who have written to me, asking for Alex and Olivia’s story. It’s coming soon! Look for Vigilante, the eighth book in the series, to be published this fall.

  If you would like to read the story of one of the characters from my books, please let me know. You can reach me through the contact page on my website or my Facebook Fanpage. I'd love to hear from you. And be sure to like my Fanpage so you can take part in giveaways.

  Thank you again for your support!

  Giveaway

  To coincide with the release of Killer Cuisine, I’m giving away a limited edition Velvet Vaughn apron! Visit my website for more details and to enter. The giveaway ends on 8/16/2016.