by Tara Thomas
“What a miserable life. Unable to do what you want because of a promise you made when you were a child? And of course, we can’t forget your true shining moment. How for years you slept with a serial kidnapper and killer. I, for one, love the irony, but it’s probably distressing to you. I’d probably be doing you a favor by shooting you.”
Alyssa’s body shook. She fully expected him to pull the trigger, which was why she was so shocked when he stepped away and took aim at Kipling.
“Then maybe, I tell myself, I should cut off the head first. The mighty Benedict firstborn and heir. But even I know that’s not a good enough reason to kill someone. Surely, if I think hard enough, I can think of a reason to not only justify killing you, but also for shooting you first. And then I remember that you’re the reason for everything, every life ruined, every life taken.”
It was such a preposterous statement, Alyssa stopped working the key in order to hear how that was at all possible. Kipling didn’t say anything, but she saw the confusion in his eyes. Even Jade looked surprised and Alyssa thought she knew just about everything pertaining to The Gentleman and his motives.
“You were conceived before your parents were married,” Howard continued, but that still didn’t make sense. What did that have to do with anything?
“Your mother, of course, knew she was expecting.” Howard didn’t stop, he was excited to tell this unknown detail to them. Alyssa could tell by the way his body trembled. “When I approached her the night before her wedding and begged her to run away with me, she wouldn’t do it because of you. So you see, if it hadn’t been for you, Helen would have been mine and none of this”—he swept his arm—“would have had to have happened. That means it’s all your fault. You know, it’s funny. I used to blame your dad, but he’s not the real culprit. The real problem is you.”
Howard looked from Kipling to her to Jade. “I don’t care which one of you dies first, but I’m not going to decide. Jade, give me a number.”
Jade didn’t hesitate. “Fuck you.”
Howard took aim at her. “Last warning.”
Jade lifted her chin. “Fuck. You.”
Howard shot her in her leg. “Give me a number.”
Alyssa was shocked that the young girl hadn’t cried out at all. There were only a few tears on her cheeks to show she was even hurt. “Jade,” Alyssa said. “He’s going to kill us all. Give him what he wants.”
Howard actually smiled. “That might be the smartest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”
“And no matter what,” Alyssa said, doing her best to tune him out. “I’m thrilled to be your aunt. I want you in my family very much.” She had rolled herself so Howard couldn’t see her mouth, but Jade could. Hoping the young woman understood, she mouthed I’m free. Go big, and nodded.
Jade addressed Howard, “Nine hundred ninety-nine thousand.”
Alyssa was willing to bet The Gentleman’s face was priceless. As it was, he sounded totally out of character when he replied, “What was that?”
“That was my number,” Jade explained.
It was the opening Alyssa was waiting for. “It’s a ridiculous number, Jade,” she said. “You should have picked something like three. You can count that. You can’t count nine hundred ninety-nine thousand. I mean seriously, try it.” This was it. Their only chance of escape. “One. Two. Three.”
She had a slight jump on The Gentleman. It wasn’t until she hit three, that he realized something was up and she wasn’t only counting to show Jade what a ridiculous number she picked. But by that time, she had already acted. Having unlocked the lock seconds before, when she counted three, she rolled over and reached for Jade’s back pocket. Jade shifted slightly, allowing her access. In one move, she grabbed a throwing star, hurled it at the hand The Gentleman held the gun with, and rolled them both out of the way of potential bullets.
She heard The Gentleman howl. Hoping against hope that she had struck him, she risked a glance at his hand. He no longer held the gun. It had dropped to the ground when the star hit his wrist.
Alyssa dove for the gun. Howard’s face turned a brilliant shade of red right as he realized he could not reach the gun before she could. But that didn’t stop him from kicking it out the way. Or at least trying to.
But Alyssa was faster and grabbed the gun before he could reach it with his foot. However, he did end up kicking her in the wrist. Gritting her teeth, she rolled the opposite direction from him, lifted the gun, and shot him between the eyes.
It seemed liked everything shifted to slow motion as his body first jerked backward and then fell forward. Alyssa thought he was dead, but she rose to her feet to check. Satisfied that no one would be alive following a gunshot to the brain, she dropped beside Jade and unchained her first.
“We need to get out of here, quickly, before those other two men show up.” Alyssa didn’t understand why Jade wasn’t moving faster. Didn’t she know they weren’t out of danger yet?
Jade rubbed her wrist where the bindings had been while Alyssa went to work to unlock Kipling. “I’m almost positive we’ll find their bodies somewhere in the building,” Jade said.
“You think he killed them?” Alyssa asked.
“I’m almost positive,” Jade said. “He told us he was planning to leave the country, right? If that’s the case, he wasn’t about to leave anyone behind. He’d never planned to leave anyone alive.”
“How about the pilot?”
“Unless he’s changed a lot in a short amount of time, he never had a personal pilot. I imagine it’s the same charter service he’s always used.”
That was at least one thing to feel good about. She quickly unchained Kipling, growing more and more concerned with each second that passed. His eyes looked glassy again, worse yet, his speech was slurred when he spoke.
“Is he gone?” he asked. “Because all of a sudden I don’t feel so good.”
Alyssa called his name over and over as he lost consciousness.
CHAPTER 17
Alyssa paced back and forth across the floor of the hospital waiting room. Kipling had been in surgery for several hours. No one was telling her anything about his condition and she couldn’t imagine anything worse. But then again they weren’t telling his family anything, either. They had all showed up: Keaton and Tilly, Knox and Bea. Even Lena. Only to be told absolutely nothing, other than that Kipling had been alive when he arrived at the hospital.
Before leaving the beach, they called in officers from an adjoining county. As it turned out, Jade was right. On the way out they ran across two dead bodies. Both of the men who had restrained them earlier, both with their throats cut.
Jade herself had been relatively quiet since returning from having her leg looked at. She spoke to no one. Choosing instead to sit in the corner of the hospital waiting room. Alone. Just as Alyssa suspected she spent most of her life. That would change, and she hoped soon. Right now, of course, everybody was too worried about Kipling to think about much of anything else. Alyssa felt sick with the uncertainty of it all.
It was another two hours before anybody cracked open the door to their waiting room. When the doctor entered the room, he looked tired, like he’d just fought in a mighty battle. And lost.
He looked around, quietly taking them all in.
“Benedict family?” he asked, with no emotion in his voice at all except for fatigue.
As the second oldest, Knox stood and took a step forward. “Yes,” he said. “We’re all Benedicts here.”
The doctor nodded toward a group of chairs that looked like they could handle them all. “Let’s have a seat.”
There was nothing hopeful about anything that was happening, Alyssa thought.
She felt like crying. She couldn’t lose him. Not now. Not after he told her he loved her. After they escaped everything. Tears prickled her eyes and the doctor hadn’t even said a word yet.
“He’s alive,” the doctor finally said. “I’m afraid that’s the only good news I have at the mome
nt.”
Tilly turned her head into Keaton’s chest and sobbed softly. Keaton looked like he was in shock. Lena prayed.
Someone nudged her hand and she looked down to find it was Jade. Her niece gave her a careful smile, but for the most part looked unsure. Alyssa wanted nothing more than to pull her close in a tight hug, but was afraid that would scare her, so she settled for squeezing her hand.
“He has many severe internal injuries,” the doctor continued. “The next twenty-four hours are going to be the most critical, but I have to be honest with you, it doesn’t look good. You need to prepare for the worst.”
No one had expected to hear that Kipling’s condition was that critical and the doctor’s prognosis left the group speechless. Knox finally coughed.
“Can we see him?” he asked, and his voice broke at the end. Bea sat at his side, holding his hand. Alyssa had never seen her look so pale.
The doctor sighed. “Typically, I’d say no, but to be honest, I don’t think it’s going to make a difference. Try to keep it to two at a time.”
Knox nodded.
The doctor stood. “I’ll let the nurse know to come get you when he’s settled.”
They moved as a group back to the other section of the waiting room. She kept holding on to Jade’s hand since her niece didn’t seem in a hurry to pull it away. She wasn’t sure who was more surprised when Tilly walked over to them and took a seat beside Jade, her or her niece.
She knew Tilly was a sweetheart, but she also knew that out of all the Benedicts, Tilly had always had a major problem with Jade. Alyssa looked around to try and catch Keaton’s eye and try to get a feel for what his financée was thinking. But at the moment, he was consoling Lena.
She told herself she didn’t have to tell Tilly that now was not the time to have a long drawn-out discussion. Even Jade looked worried. But Tilly’s smile was friendly and Alyssa felt herself relax.
“You know,” Tilly said. “I don’t think I’ve ever thanked you for helping Keaton with the secret passage. I might not be here today if it wasn’t for you. Thank you.”
Alyssa discovered at that moment that Jade had a beautiful smile.
* * *
They let Alyssa go by herself to see him. She knew the others had used their time to tell him good-bye. Though she had planned to do the same, as soon as she walked into his room and saw him, she knew she couldn’t do it.
She pulled a chair over to his bed and sat down. His left hand was above the covers and was one of the few parts of him that wasn’t either bruised or had a needle in it.
They’d been told he was in a medically induced coma and therefore would not be responsive. But she knew the brain was a curious thing and even though he might not be able to respond, there was a possibility that he could still hear. And right now she was counting on that.
She took hold of his left hand and studied it. Remembered how a few short nights ago, that same hand had loved her. The words hadn’t been said between them, but their bodies knew. She stroked her fingers from the top of his wrist, across his knuckles, and down to his fingertips. She’d been told he wouldn’t respond, but it still upset her.
She sniffled. “I’m supposed to be telling you good-bye, but I refuse. You don’t get to leave me after telling me you love me. Do you hear me, Kipling? You can’t leave me. So take as much time as you need to heal, but don’t even think about cutting out early.” She closed her eyes. “I love you, Kipling. Don’t leave me.”
But even as she said it, she wasn’t sure if she was making things harder or easier. Maybe she should tell him good-bye, just in case she didn’t have the opportunity to again. What if he died tonight? And she hadn’t told him goodbye?
She dropped her head as the tears started to fall and if it hadn’t been for that, she’d have missed it. His left hand twitched. They’d tell her later that it was an involuntary response, but she knew the truth. It probably wouldn’t be days or weeks, but he was coming back to her.
And if she had to wait for years for him, she would.
CHAPTER 18
Two weeks later, there had been little, if any change. The medication used to keep him in a coma had been gradually reduced until there was nothing keeping him under. And even then, there was still no change.
At times, Alyssa would wonder if she made up seeing his fingers twitch. But she knew she had, even if she only ever saw it happen that one time. And even if no one else ever did.
The first few days, everyone stayed at the hospital. After that, especially when it became apparent that change would not happen quickly, only one of the two brothers stayed at a time. Alyssa supposed that was a negative about a family business, you had to do everything. Alyssa stayed at the hospital almost all the time.
She told them all she couldn’t stand the thought of Kipling waking up and not being there. They understood, she knew they did, but that didn’t mean they didn’t keep trying to get her to leave for a while. The few times she attempted it, it was horrible. She kept wondering what was happening at the hospital and checking her phone to make sure no one had called or sent a text.
She hated her house. Hated that even though she knew better, she still didn’t feel safe in it. Ninety-nine percent of the time, she felt like a fish out of water. The only time she felt remotely normal was when she was in Kipling’s room. It didn’t matter that their conversations were one-sided or that no one was even sure if he could process or understand what was happening around him.
Jade stayed in the hospital with her and she truly enjoyed getting to know her niece. The young woman was unsurprisingly timid at first, but as they talked more, the timidity disappeared. At times, Jade would move in a certain way or she’d have an expression that looked so much like Allison, it took Alyssa’s breath away.
Recognizing her niece was homeless, Alyssa offered her the keys to her place and told her to make herself at home. She thought she’d jump at the chance, but Jade seemed uninterested, choosing instead to stay in the hospital waiting room and keeping her company.
She grew to know the nurses who cared for Kipling, though she was quite sure she wasn’t imagining the looks of sympathy they gave her. Being in the hospital gave her time to think. At times that was a double-edged sword because no matter what she thought, it always ended up circling back to Kipling.
After two weeks, it felt as if everyone was close to losing faith. Even Tilly, who had always been the most positive, stopped talking about how any second now he would wake up.
Of course they still really had no idea about what he had endured at Howard’s hands before Jade and Alyssa saw him. What little they had pieced together from the doctor didn’t quite tell the whole story. To be honest, Alyssa wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
She was sitting in Kipling’s room with Jade and though they spoke about what had happened that night with Howard, they’d never done so in Kipling’s hospital room before. It only came up then because, crazy as it sounded, Jade had been told the day before that Howard had left her a sizable fortune in his will.
“I’ve decided I’m going to keep it,” she told Alyssa. “But I’m going to use it to open a home or halfway house or something.” She looked up with the smile that was coming easier and easier every day. “You know, something that he would have despised but that I could do a lot of good with.”
“I think that’s a great idea.” Alyssa was working Kipling’s arm the way the physical therapist had shown her. “In fact, you may want to speak with Keaton and Tilly. You might be able to start it under the Benedict Community Development Division.”
“Yes!” Jade laughed. “That would have pissed him off even more.”
“Is this something you want to do and not something you’re just doing for spite? Opening that sort of property is a wonderful idea, but you don’t want your life’s work to be dictated by hate.”
Jade didn’t answer and she grew so quiet Alyssa glanced her way. Jade pointed to Kipling. His eyelids fluttered.
Al
yssa turned and almost shouted. “Kipling! Can you hear me? Are you awake? Jade, get the nurse!”
She didn’t dare breathe as she watched his eyes slowly open. “Alyssa,” he whispered, his voice raspy and coarse from disuse. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go. They wanted me to go and I almost did. But I couldn’t leave you.”
CHAPTER 19
His recovery was slow and oftentimes painful, but he was determined, and the hospital staff said that made all the difference. Even so, the air held a slight chill by the time he was finally able to go home.
“I’m never leaving this house again,” he said once he walked inside. “Knox, can you ensure that happens?”
Knox shook his head. “Make you into a recluse? I don’t think so.”
“Damn. Keaton?”
“No can do, bro,” his youngest brother replied.
Lena stepped into the hallway and appeared as if she wanted to say something but the words didn’t make it out.
“Lena.” Kipling walked the few steps to her and hugged her. “Something smells delicious. I hope you haven’t overdone it cooking for me.”
“There is no such thing as overdoing it on the day one of my boys comes home and you know it. You must be starving; that slop they call food in the hospital is disgusting.”
“I can’t disagree with you there.” He put his arm around her and followed her into the kitchen where she promised his favorite chocolate chess pie waited.
Alyssa’s spirits soared even higher watching the two of them disappear into the kitchen. She looked around for Jade but her niece wasn’t there.
“She walked away from the house as soon as she got out of the car,” Bea said. “I called after her, but she didn’t stop. I’m almost positive she heard me.”
Though she wished Jade had stayed, Alyssa understood why she left. In a way she felt the same. With Kipling home now, it was time for her to make the long-dreaded return to her own house. She looked toward the kitchen. Later. At the moment, she had a hot date with a hot man and some chocolate chess pie.
