Break (Lakefield Book 3)

by Jennifer Vester

  My knees nearly buckled with relief. “Logan?”

  My hood was pushed back and I looked up quickly into the clear blue eyes of Logan.

  I whimpered and a warm tear slid down my face.

  He looked down at my bloody coat. “Oh God, Kaitlyn! Where are you hurt?”

  His hands were suddenly everywhere. As they skimmed down my front they were getting covered with blood. He patted my legs and finally squeezed at my arms.

  I cried out, “Oh!”

  Most of the blood was from James but I turned and saw the sleeve of my jacket soaked with my own.

  “Baby, what’s wrong?!”

  I felt dizzy suddenly. It was like falling into a deep darkness that was reaching up to drag me down.

  “Shot,” was all I could manage to say before the blackness took me.

  * * *

  I woke up to chaos around me. I could hear voices of people talking around me. Someone was leaning over me that I didn’t know and I jerked away from him in alarm.

  “Steady there,” he said. “Just trying to get you onto a board so we can move you to the ambulance.”

  I felt a familiar hand against my cheek and it turned me toward Logan’s worried face.

  His blue eyes met mine. “I’m here Kate, just relax and we’ll take a trip to the hospital.”

  I nodded. “What happened?”

  He frowned down at me. “I’ll explain on the ride to the hospital.”

  I was lifted up on a board by Logan and two men. They carried me to an ambulance and away from the mayhem. Looking back, I saw men and women with law enforcement jackets swarming the area. They were talking in groups and walking around the front of the truck.

  Mitch was among them and he turned to look in our direction. Bells was in his arms looking smugly content as he scratched her behind her ears.

  He gave me a tight smile and walked away.

  “Bells?”

  Logan answered, “She’ll be okay with Mitch for a little while. Dr. Fuller is going to take her home with him in a few minutes.”

  “But, doesn’t he need to stay?” I asked as I looked up at him.

  He hesitated in answering for a moment then a look of sadness passed over his face. “There’s no one left to treat.”

  I shivered with cold and noticed that my coat was off. Looking down I saw that my arm was bandaged but still bleeding.

  Logan helped lift me into the ambulance, then helped secure me and hook me up to a few machines.

  I let them move my body where they needed me to, then settled on the bench and looked at the roof above me.

  No one left to treat? Did that mean both Peg and Sam were dead? I had so many questions in the back of my mind as I let Logan and the EMT talk about my condition. Finally, the EMT left and I could feel the truck start moving. The sound of the siren went off and we began lurching onto, what I assumed, was the road.

  I turned toward Logan to find him with his head in his hands. He looked sad or possibly frustrated in that position. After a few minutes, he rubbed his face and looked up at me.

  He gave me a tight smile and leaned down to kiss my forehead.

  “I love you, Kaitlyn. Do you feel okay?”

  “Yeah. I love you too. What’s wrong?”

  He sighed and took a long look at me.

  “Just bad news.”

  I frowned at him, “Tell me.”

  He looked over at one of the monitors then down at me again.

  “Start at the beginning Logan. How did you find me?”

  He made a strange face. “Your cat is a genius.”

  “Huh?”

  “Bells, she’s a genius. She’s going to get whatever she wants when we get home, any time she wants, for the rest of her life.”

  I frowned at him. “She’ll get spoiled and fat if you go that far.”

  He shrugged. “Cade and I got close to the cabin and saw smoke. It’s not a complete loss but we’re going to have to rebuild it. We drove up and the entire side of the cabin was just in flames. I ran in and Cade followed. Thank God he did, because I was terrified. I nearly panicked when I couldn’t find you.”

  My heart sunk at the news. My grandmother’s cabin. My cabin.

  “We saw some candles on the floor. I’m wondering if Bells knocked them over. I couldn’t say for sure, that’ll be up to the fire department to figure out but my instincts tell me it was Bells.”

  He let out a slow breath. “You weren’t there so we ran back outside because we had seen blood on the snow close to the drive. Neither one of us could piece it together. My head in that moment was just shut down. Cade saw Bells near the road. She ran back at us a couple of times then to the road again. I really can’t explain it but it just felt right to follow her.”

  My hand reached out to touch Logan’s arm. He took it and squeezed gently.

  “So, we’re following that damn cat, who is running like lightning towards Sam’s place. When we got there, it was pretty clear what was happening so we ducked into the trees and came up on his side. We heard what he was saying to you. Bells had already gone around and I guess Sam got distracted when he fired at you because that shot was so close I thought you were dead. When I saw you move, I thought everything was okay. I thought he had missed completely. Then I stepped out to get to you, Sam fired but Cade had stepped in front of me. Cade dropped. I grabbed his gun, and took a shot.”

  He paused and shook his head before lifting his hand to my face.

  “Peg came out and Sam shot her about the same time she fired off a shotgun at him. They’re both dead.”

  I frowned in confusion. “What about Cade? What—”

  He shook his head and a pained expression settled on his face. “Dead.”

  My heart clenched. “What?!”

  Logan looked up at one of the monitors. “Kaitlyn, just relax. Your heart rate is up. Just breathe.”

  I took a few slow breaths to try to calm down.

  “He was a good man,” I whispered.

  He looked back down at me. “Yes. One of the best. I owed him my life for what he did for me back home. I don’t know what to think. I don’t know how to process it right now but I do know he would have done anything to keep his friends safe. He was just as upset seeing you shot at by Sam as I was and I guess he just acted on instinct.”

  “Wasn’t he wearing a vest or something?”

  He gave me a small smile. “Not all of us are like Holden, sweetheart. We don’t go around wearing vests. I was surprised he was even armed to tell you the truth. In the end, it didn’t matter that he was but it could have made the difference.”

  “Peg?”

  “I’m not sure about that one. Maybe she saw what was happening. I’m not a profiler so that whole thing will be up to Mitch to figure out. What I do know is that sometimes killers can be the neighbor next door. The one no one sees as anything but the friendly guy. Maybe Peg figured it out. Good thing too, I’m rusty with my shooting skills.”

  I thought about that for a moment. “Hey, do you think she’s known for a while and has been trying to poison him? He’s gotten sick from her cooking a few times.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Wow, that’s quite a theory there, detective Kate.”

  I smirked. “Just a thought.”

  “I’m sure we’ll hear all about it soon enough. Mitch said he would fill me in at some point.”

  He kissed my face again and rubbed at my jaw. “I’m going to miss Cade, all the guys are. I’m just relieved you’re okay. I can’t begin to tell you how I felt when I saw you there on the ground. It was like my entire world stopped. I just keep thinking we’ve had the most incredible luck.”

  I pursed my lips. “How so?”

  “Because we’re alive, we have children on the way and we’re together.”

  Thinking back on it, he was right. We circled around each other for the longest time, until the moment came when he was at a breaking point and finally went into rehab. Moving to Colorado had been a good th
ing for me in a sense. I had come to realize that I could survive anything, good or bad. It had nothing to do with luck or lack thereof. It had everything to do with perspective.

  It had also given me the ability to see Logan in a different light. Scarred, yes, but strong enough to overcome his own difficulties. I didn’t put him into a box and think of him as a perfect person. He was simply Logan, a man who had fought his own demons, and one that was better for it. Better for both of us because I knew he would never let go now.

  Even with the events of the day, it made life seem even more precious. We were together. That was the most important part.

  “Do you think the babies are okay Logan?”

  He looked up at the monitors. “Oh yeah, they’re good. I can see their heart’s beating on the monitors.”

  I looked over at the machine beside me and saw three lines, each showing a beat.

  For most of my life I had felt alone. The weight of things had always landed squarely on my shoulders. I had made the best of it and tried to look at things with an open heart.

  Life had a funny way of twisting and turning. Some of it wasn’t always what I would have wished for. It was occasionally dark. Things didn’t always work out. I could list those things that I felt were bad or unlucky.

  I had put a happy face on it, clinging to the desire to force things to look or feel better. That worked for a time. I truly didn’t feel like that was a mistake, it was just that it wasn’t real in a way. The real things were both bad and good.

  Appreciating the small good things was always the best path, especially for me. On the other hand, appreciating the bad things could be good too. Not celebrating them, but recognizing that when unlucky or bad things happened, sometimes it led to things that were better.

  Everything had its cycles, just like the seasons.

  I felt like things up to this point had led to this moment. Looking at those heartbeats with Logan beside me.

  No matter what came after, we would be okay.

  I looked up at Logan and he smiled down at me. “What’s on your mind?”

  “I was just thinking of that old saying about what doesn’t break you only makes you stronger or whatever it is.”

  He smiled and let out a low chuckle. “That’s my Kate. Always finding the light in the darkness.”

  I shrugged.

  Life was still good. And bad. Either way it was just life. Now it included the four of us.

  The End

  About the Author

  Jennifer Vester is a romance author whose ambition is to entertain readers with quirky, off-beat female characters and the men that love them. Her work is infused with humor and suspense, while exploring relationships from the female perspective. Characters are often facing difficulties in life and love.

  For more information, please visit:

  Webpage: https://www.jennifervester.com/

  Follow on Facebook: facebook.com/authorjennifervester/

  Coming Soon!

  “Chase” by Jennifer Vester

  (The story of Andi and Brock)

  “Brock—”

  He interrupted me. “You didn’t name one thing that you can’t do from up here.”

  I smacked him on the leg again. “What is wrong with you? Were you dropped on your head as a child? I want to go home.”

  “I should have threatened to fuck some manners into you every time you used that hand. I’m now amending my threat and that hand will be tied to the nearest piece of furniture while I do it.”

  I let out a loud growl and looked at the ceiling. “You are the most frustrating, idiotic, stubborn man I’ve ever met!”

  He smiled, “I know but I’m extremely good-looking so it’s hard to stay mad at me for long. It’s a gift.”

  I glared at him and felt my eye start to twitch.

  He slid his hands under me suddenly and I was lifted into his arms in one smooth motion. I struggled against him when he stood up.

  “I’m going to start screaming if you don’t put me down!”

  He rolled his eyes and twisted me up over his shoulder so that it was digging into my stomach. My hands braced against his lower back but kept sliding down closer to his ass. Even from this angle it was nice.

  “BROCK! LET ME DOWN!”

  He walked out of the elevator whistling and headed down a hallway.

  My band fell out onto the floor. The entirety of my long hair streamed out and hung loose as he continued to carry me. As it fell around my head and face, it hindered my ability to see where we were going.

  I growled.

  “Tempted to hit me yet? Go ahead and start screaming, babe, no one would hear you up here. It’s sound proofed. In fact, you can’t even get off this floor without a code, so you might as well get comfortable.”

  He spanked me on my ass with a sharp swat.

  “Ouch!”

  I felt him chuckle before I heard him.

  “You can make your calls up here, while I get you some ice.”

  “I don’t have my phone!”

  He jostled me as we went through a door.

  “You can use one of mine and I can get the hairdresser to come up here if you want. As for your schedule, it’s been changed by management as of a few minutes ago. You’ll be working with me on that little project for a few days. Today though, you’ll be lounging around. You can go swimming, read a book, bend over my desk, sleep, whatever.”

  “I am NOT bending over your desk! At all! EVER!”

  “Okay, tomorrow then.”

  I huffed, “I officially hate you.”

  “Hmm, well that will make things interesting when you’re bent over my desk, won’t it?”