by Rebecca Deel
A voice called out, “I got your friend, blondie.”
She stilled. Beard man. Was it a trick to get her out in the open and pick off Rod or was Beard man telling the truth?
“The next bullet goes in his head.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The next bullet? Her mind replayed the shot and thud. Beard man shot Rod? She didn’t want to believe, but feared it was the truth. Rod would have found a way to warn her by now.
Meg couldn’t leave him. She took one step down the rise toward Beard man. Two steps. Three.
Beard man stepped into view, a rifle pointed at her chest, Dallas jumping around his legs. A gun poked out of his belt in the front. Something in her gut told Meg the gleaming weapon was Rod’s. He would never give up his gun voluntarily.
“Where is he?” Meg slid the final few feet to the bottom of the hill.
He motioned to his left with his head. “No more tricks, blondie, or he’s a dead man.”
She dropped to her knees beside a white-faced, unmoving Rod. Blood soaked his right side near his waist. When she touched his face, he moaned. At least he was still alive. She had to get him to a hospital.
“Don’t let him die. Please.” She turned her face toward Beard man. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Meg.”
Her gaze swung back to Rod’s blue eyes, glazed with pain. She leaned close. “Rod.”
“Leave me,” he whispered. “Get help.”
“Shut up, Kelter,” she whispered back, her tone fierce. “We run or stay together.”
His eyes flickered behind her. Meg knew without turning Beard man had the gun at her back.
“Get him on his feet or we leave him behind.” Beard man poked her in the back with the tip of the rifle. “Move.”
She helped Rod sit up, noting the sweat breaking out on his forehead, evidence of the strain. He struggled to his feet and swayed where he stood until Meg maneuvered under his left arm and circled his waist with her arm.
They made slow progress toward the cabin. The further they walked, the more Rod leaned on her. “Meg,” he murmured, “if I go down, you have to run.”
She glared up at him. “If you go down, I’ll find a way to get both of us out of there. I’m not leaving you.”
“Shut up and walk,” Beard man said.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re going.” Meg tightened her grip on Rod’s hand. Her legs trembled with fatigue from her earlier run and now from Rod’s added weight. No matter what, she wouldn’t leave him behind. He couldn’t walk out of here on his own. At least if he was with her, she had a chance of protecting him. She tossed a glare over her shoulder at the lumbering mountain man trudging behind them. She didn’t doubt Beard man would leave Rod out here to die in the cold.
By the time they reached the stairs at the front of the cabin, Rod was breathing heavy. His foot didn’t clear the first step and he sprawled on the stairs, taking Meg down with him. Her knee took the brunt of the hit. She breathed through clenched teeth, waiting for waves of pain to subside before trying to move again.
“Come on, move.” The rifle jabbed into her shoulder. “It’s cold out here.”
She glanced at Rod’s pasty expression and sensed he needed another minute to gather his strength. The porch light illuminated his pallor. “Why didn’t you leave us out there? You could have told the Boss we got away and warmed yourself by the fire. It’s not too late for that. Turn away and we’ll be out of sight before you count to twenty.”
Beard man aimed the rifle at Rod. “Get up.” The dog barked as if emphasizing the suggestion.
Rod squeezed Meg’s arm and gave a slight nod. She helped him to his feet and up the stairs. The door knob turned easily under her hand. The warmth inside the cabin was a welcome relief from winter’s chill bite. She felt Rod shivering and hoped the reaction came from the sudden temperature change, not blood loss.
Once inside, Beard man shut the door and pointed to the hallway. “Straight back. The Boss is waiting.”
Meg scanned the photos lining the hallway. Her stomach churned. This cabin belonged to the Drakes. Pictures of Kyle and Ty grinning with their latest catch, waving from the family canoe, one of the boys standing at the dock, silhouetted in the sunset. A younger Rod grinned at her from a few of the pictures.
She paused at the threshold, earning herself another jab in the back. “Okay, already.” Rod tucked her tighter against his side. Meg acknowledged the gesture of support with a quick smile. No matter who or what waited for them inside, they would face it together.
Meg stiffened her spine and propelled them forward. At the far end of the room, Kyle Drake turned, a gun in his hand.
Rod kept his hold on Megan, fighting to stay on his feet and keep his focus. Blood trickled down his leg and seeped into his sock. “You don’t want to do this, Kyle.”
“You’re right.” Kyle’s eyes glittered. “I don’t want to, but I have no choice.”
“We always have choices,” Meg said. “And with those choices come consequences.”
Kyle laughed, bitterness leaching into his tone. “Sometimes those consequences are unintended and lead to things no one imagined.” He glanced at Beard man. “Thanks, Joe. Consider your debt paid in full. You have the new I.D. and money?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Take your cousin and get out of here.”
A moment of silence. “You sure you can handle them alone?”
Rod deliberately swayed.
A smirk appeared on Kyle’s face. “No problem.”
After Joe left, the weapon’s barrel shifted to Meg. “Where are they, Meg?”
“What are you talking about?”
Kyle gestured toward her laptop, sitting on the desk. “Where are the editorial and the manuscript?”
“Which one?”
“Don’t play with me. The editorial naming Sherri’s killer.” Kyle’s voice took on a sharp edge.
Rod pressed his fingers tighter around Meg’s shoulder in silent warning. He knew that tone. He’d been around Kyle enough in college to recognize his step closer to losing control.
“Why did you kill Sherri?” she countered.
Kyle scowled and sighted his weapon.
“No.” Rod shoved Meg behind him. The world around him spun. He bit his tongue and used the pain to focus. “Enough people have died already.” Reaching one hand back, Rod pulled Meg right up against his back. When she would have withdrawn her hand, he squeezed hard. She drew in a sharp breath, but quit trying to wriggle free of his hand. “Tell him where it is, baby.”
“Are you sure?” she whispered.
He nodded, praying for strength to stay on his feet. He shifted them toward the chair on his right.
“Don’t move.” Kyle took a step closer, eyeing them in turn.
“Chill.” Rod leaned his hip against the heavy leather recliner. “You want the editorial don’t you? You kill either one of us, you won’t get it.”
Kyle’s eyes narrowed. “Why not? What’s to keep me from killing both of you? All I have to do is erase the hard drive on the laptop and wipe the thumb drives clean.”
Rod forced himself to smile. “Because that’s not where she left the editorial.” As he talked, he guided Meg’s hand to his right hip pocket and pressed hard against the phone. When Meg wiggled her fingers, he released her hand, but kept his arm in the same position.
“You know where it is?”
“Sure.”
Meg withdrew the cell phone from his pocket.
“What’s the catch? You wouldn’t hand me your only bargaining chip.” Kyle moved another step closer. “Meg, step away from him so I can see you.”
“Your man did a number on him. I’m holding Rod up.” She slipped the phone back in his pocket.
“Move or I’ll shoot him where he stands.”
Rod stilled, preparing to leap toward Kyle. If he moved fast enough, took Kyle down, Meg could get away.
Meg stepped to the side, her arm brushing Rod�
�s. “You want that editorial, don’t you? If you kill either one of us, you won’t get it.”
“Why not?”
“It’s on my computer at home and the file is password protected. Both of us put in half the password. Neither of us knows what the other used.” Meg smiled. “But, I’m sure one of Ethan’s computer geek friends at the FBI will figure out the password in a matter of minutes with one of those programs that crack codes.”
“Give it up, Kyle.” Rod grasped the back of the recliner for support and infused harshness in his tone. “You can’t win this.”
“You think you’re so clever.” Kyle sneered. “All I have to do is destroy Meg’s computer. Two for one deal. I’ll bet that’s where the manuscript is, too.”
“Why did you kill Sherri?” Rod asked. “None of this makes any sense. Was it because of Ty’s adoption?”
“Ty’s adoption has nothing to do with why Sherri had to die.”
“Did you kill her to protect your father?” Meg asked.
“You must be joking.” Kyle snorted. “Dear old Dad’s going to die in a few months. Why would I bother to protect him?”
“Wouldn’t a senator buying a child hurt your chances of being elected President?”
“Nobody cares about the President’s relatives anymore.”
At that moment, the pieces of the puzzle sifted into place in Rod’s mind. “The manuscript. This is about the book Meg’s writing, isn’t it?”
Kyle gave a mocking smile. “Took you long enough, Sherlock. And here I thought you were the golden boy of Otter Creek’s cops.”
“But that’s crazy,” Meg said. “The only person with something to fear is . . .” She stopped, the color in her face draining.
“Go ahead.” Kyle motioned at her with the nine millimeter Ruger semi-automatic. “Finish the statement.”
Meg remained silent.
“The only person with something to fear is Sherri’s rapist.” His face hardened into a mask of hatred. “But she lied. It wasn’t rape. I loved her.”
“You make me sick.” Her voice cracked.
Rod captured Meg’s clenched fist. “I saw the police reports, the pictures of her injuries. You’re lying to yourself, man.”
“I didn’t want to hurt her, but she didn’t give me a choice.”
Meg tried to jerk her fist out of Rod’s clasp, but he tightened his grip. He’d let her take a swing at Kyle if the man didn’t have a gun in his hand and if she let Rod have the first punch.
“She was in the hospital a week because of the injuries you inflicted. She was never the same,” Meg said, fury infusing her tone. “She became a prisoner in her own house after dark.”
“She threatened to go to the cops.”
“I thought you loved Ty. How could you hurt him that way?”
“He didn’t deserve Sherri. Ty resumed his skirt chasing habit a few months after the wedding. I would never have done that to her.”
“Nobody would use you as the poster child for sexual purity.”
Rod controlled a flinch at Meg’s acid tone. Kyle didn’t need much to push him over the edge and Meg’s diatribe might shove him into a freefall.
“I would have been faithful to her when we married.”
“She was already married to your brother.”
Kyle scowled. “He’s no blood relation to me.” He aimed the Ruger at Rod. “Enough talk, Meg. Tell me where the manuscript is or I’ll finish my old friend off right now.”
Rod stared at Kyle and knew the last grain of sand was sliding closer to the hour glass funnel. “What happened that night, Kyle?” He didn’t have to specify which night.
“She was home alone. Again. Crying because of Ty.” He said the name almost as a curse. “I took her for a walk around the grounds. I was so careful with her, gentle. I wanted her to know how different I was from Ty, that she could depend on me. I would always be there for her. I held her while she cried for a man who didn’t appreciate her.”
He frowned. “I just wanted to show her how much I loved her. When I kissed her, she tried to tear herself from my arms, but I couldn’t let her go. She said it was wrong, that God wouldn’t approve. I told her how much I loved her and begged her to marry me, join me as the First Lady. Sherri broke away and started to run.”
The clock chimes tolled the hour. Eleven o’clock.
“I caught her and tried to show Sherri how much I loved her.” Kyle’s voiced dropped to a near whisper. “Things just got out of hand.”
“Why didn’t she turn you in to the cops?” Rod asked. “Why the lies about not knowing her attacker’s identity?”
Kyle’s face hardened though his lips remained closed.
“You threatened her, didn’t you?” Meg said. “You threatened to tell Ty yourself, but with your own spin on the story. Ty idolized you, counted himself lucky to have such a prince of a brother. She wouldn’t have wanted to destroy the only family Ty had and you used that against her.”
“She promised to keep my name a secret if I stayed away from her.”
Rod shook his head. “That’s why you and the Senator were on the road all the time.”
A tear slipped down Meg’s cheek. “And then she found out the Senator bought Ty. She only wanted to give Ty his best Christmas present ever, the information about his birth mother.”
“You followed her to the walking trail, didn’t you?” Rod said. “Why?”
“She overheard me talking to one of Dad’s contacts on the phone about brokering a baby deal for her and Ty. I tried to reason with her, but she was hysterical.” He blinked, seeming to bring himself back to the present. “I brought the gun to get her attention, let her know I was serious about her staying silent. She went crazy at the parking lot and tried to take the gun from me. It went off by accident.”
“An accident? Right. That’s why the bullet struck Sherri in the back.” Kyle said earlier he didn’t care anything about his father’s actions in buying Ty. Was he lying or was there some other reason Sherri would have run out of the house and straight to Meg? Rod’s eyes narrowed. It was at night, a time when normally Sherri would have been locked inside her suite at the Drake mansion. Instead she braved her fear and chose a secret place to meet, one not well lighted, one not populated. A meeting with only Meg.
Heat burned in Rod’s cheeks. The truth had been staring him in the face for days. “She overheard you talking about your plans for Megan, didn’t she? What was your plan? Hire Meg for campaign PR, then White House press secretary with a courtship on the side? Vetting candidates for a wife, Kyle?” A harsh laugh escaped. “Would have been the social event of your Presidency, provided a newsie like Meg didn’t expose your serpent personality during the campaign.”
Kyle shrugged one shoulder. “My fault, really. I should have made sure the study door was locked.”
“Sherri died because of me.” Meg’s voice quivered.
“No, Meg,” Rod said, his tone quiet. “Sherri died because Kyle tried to cover his tracks.” He turned to Kyle. “You killed Sherri so she wouldn’t tell Meg about you. You knew if Meg learned you raped Sherri, she would make sure the assault made headlines and squash your White House hopes.”
“No sex offenders in the White House,” Kyle said.
“Why the attempts on my life if you had plans for me?” Meg asked.
“I thought you were smarter than that.” Kyle looked disgusted. “I wanted you distracted enough to stop any progress on the book. I knew if you kept digging, you would find out the truth about that night. I was just trying to scare you. The explosive in your ‘Vette was triggered by my cell phone. I made sure you weren’t in the car.”
Meg’s eyes narrowed. “And that makes it okay? You blew up my car, you little creep.”
Kyle leveled the Ruger at her. “I should have blown you up with the car. You are nothing but trouble. Because of you, I have to relocate a couple of good friends and set them up for life in a foreign country. You and your boyfriend messed up everything.”
“So you’re going to kill us?” Rod asked. “This isn’t going to work, man. Ethan knows I’m out here. We can’t just disappear. He’ll never give up searching for his sister-in-law and his partner.” His lips curled. “Blackhawk will piece it together and toss you in jail to rot beside your father.”
An unpleasant smile curved Kyle’s mouth. “You don’t have proof I killed Sherri or I’d be sitting in jail right now. Blackhawk can’t charge me with your deaths if there are no bodies. Even if he does find proof, what’s two more? The state can only hook me to liquid death once.”
A noise in the hallway had all of them turning toward the door. Kyle cursed softly and stepped toward the entrance. “Not a word from either of you.”
Rod’s eyes narrowed. Was it Ethan or someone else working with Kyle? He slowly tugged Meg closer to his side, gaze fixed on the doorway. His eyes widened as a tall, thin figure appeared in the doorway.
Ty. Rod pushed Meg behind him, watching, calculating the new odds. Not good. Even injured, he probably could take Kyle down. If he was by himself. If Ty was in on this with his brother, his and Meg’s chances for surviving the next ten minutes just plunged below sea level.
He couldn’t imagine Ty working with Kyle in all of this. Was he an accessory in Sherri’s death? Rod thought back through the interviews with Ty. Nothing that indicated he was less than a heartbroken though two-timing husband. Could his friend be that good an actor?
“What’s going on?” Ty stared at Meg and Rod, pausing as he noticed Rod’s bloody shirt. His eyes widened. “You’re bleeding!” He started forward, but halted when he noticed the gun in Kyle’s hand. “What’s with the gun, bro?”
“Get out of here, Ty.” Kyle kept his focus on Rod. “You don’t want to be part of this.”
Ty stepped closer to Rod, examining the bloodstain. He drew in a sharp breath. “You shot him?” Ty’s voice rose. “Are you crazy? He’s a cop. This isn’t the way to help Dad.”
“I know what I’m doing, okay? It’s all going to work out fine if you’ll trust me.”
“Give me the gun, Kyle,” Ty said. “We’ll get the best lawyer in the country. He’ll get you off.”
