Kansas Nights [Kansas Heat 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Jenny Penn

  The deep sound wound into a shrill one as the bookcase tilted precariously. Then with a final rush it reached its tipping point. In a raining shower of books, it toppled over, slamming into the next row with a clang and enough force to send it crashing down as well. The sudden whoosh combined with the clacking thunder of books slamming into each other was almost loud enough to disguise the high-pitched squeal of somebody getting caught beneath the wreckage.

  Kathy didn’t wait to find out if she’d actually succeeded in capturing her assailant, but gave in to the instinctive need to flee. In that second, she completely forgot about her plan. Instead of smashing through the window, she went with the stupidest of all options and the one that just seemed ingrained in her muscles and darted back toward the storage room.

  Panting more with fear than her exertion, Kathy flew across the library’s lobby, jumping over chairs and knocking down the main display as she dove for the protection of the counter. More bullets rained around her, assuring Kathy that she’d failed to subdue her attacker. That realization sank in as Kathy hesitated for a moment, crouching behind the counter as she tried to catch her breath and her sanity.

  She couldn’t afford to rest, not when Marion could be seconds away from being close enough to actually hit Kathy. No matter how bad a shot the old woman might be, Benny’s lifeless gaze assured Kathy that even Marion could get a good shot off once in a while. The sight of Benny crumpled on the floor flooded Kathy with renewed panic and had her scrambling back to her feet.

  She darted through the door to the storage room even as the frame splintered a mere inch from her cheek. Ignoring the shrapnel that scraped over her cheek, Kathy flew through the wide-open exit. Only instead of moonlight and fresh air leading her to freedom, she found herself slamming into a hard wall of muscles.

  Too caught up in the instinctive need to flee, Kathy reacted without thought, kicking and flailing as she tried to fight off her attacker.

  Chapter 29

  “Damnit, Kathy! Stop! It’s me!” Jack snarled with a harsh whisper, not that she appeared to understand him.

  Jack didn’t waste his breath arguing with her. Instead he kept his eyes trained on the doorway as he pulled her to safety behind the Dumpster. When she kicked him, though, Jack paused long enough to give her a hard shake.

  “It’s me, Kathy!” Jack kept his voice low, but sharp. “It’s Jack!”

  “Jack,” she repeated back in a whisper, going perfectly still for a second before erupting in another bout of manic flailing.

  This time, though, she sobbed his name and threw herself deeper into his embrace. Crouched as he was behind the Dumpster, Jack fell to his ass as he accepted her soft weight. Her arms whipped around his neck, strangling him even. At least she stopped kicking at him. Instead, Kathy wound her legs around his hips and squeezed with enough force to make him cringe. Jack didn’t complain, though. The strength in her limbs proved that she wasn’t just alive, but healthy as well.

  Worried didn’t even begin to describe the horrifying fear that had consumed him when he spotted the body slumped over in the storage room. Despite the fact that he could see it wasn’t Kathy or even a woman, it had taken Jack’s heart several painful moments to accept that fact. In those seconds all Jack knew was it hurt. Just the idea that it might be, could have been, may one day still be Kathy lying there had hurt so bad, he didn’t want to think about it ever again.

  Instead Jack just wanted to wallow in the warm, soft feel of her in his arms. For a blinding moment the instinctive need to comfort and cherish overwhelmed the fiercer emotions that had been driving him. All the tension and aggression wavered as muscles weakened at the feel of Kathy trembling in his arms. She felt so small and fragile, making him ache at the very thought of how willingly she threw herself into danger.

  Jack’s arms tightened around Kathy at the reminder of how quickly she could be taken from him. Nuzzling his face into the silky strands of her hair, he ignored their ticklish caress and breathed in her sweet scent, letting it warm and fill his heart. The pain and tension making it hard for him to breathe slowly eased, even as the rage that burned beneath his fear and panic remained. His anger only hardened, sharpening at the sound of Kathy’s breathless voice quivering with terror.

  “She’s…still…in there.” Kathy stuttered over her words as she shuddered hard enough for her teeth to clatter.

  “I know, baby.” Jack pacified her, sensing Kathy’s descent into shock. “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to take care of everything.”

  Even as Jack ran a soothing hand down her spine, he started to shift her weight, preparing to dump her so he could roll to his feet and greet the person hustling down the alley. Jack was a second from terrifying Kathy all the more when Collin passed through a puddle of light. Recognition didn’t bring any relief, not when Kathy still trembled in his arms.

  Ducked low to stay hidden behind the Dumpster, Collin’s gaze locked on Kathy’s back and refused to budge even when he spoke to Jack. “I called the sheriff’s department. They should be here any second but we need to get her out of here now.”

  “Agreed.” Jack nodded before nuzzling his lips in close to Kathy’s ear. “Honey, I need you to let go of me now.”

  “Uh-uh,” Kathy murmured, her arms and legs tightening around him.

  “Uh-huh,” Jack retorted, sliding his hands around her waist so he could start to lift her. “You need to go with Collin now. He’ll keep you safe.”

  “Come on, sweetness.” Collin grunted over his words as he tugged on a resisting Kathy, having no choice but to use his superior strength to pry her free. At first unwilling, Kathy quickly curled herself into Collin’s arms as Jack released her. Jack watched as Kathy whimpered and burrowed deep into Collin’s hold, feeling his heart tighten as he watched Collin dart back down the alley using his own back to keep Kathy safe.

  Jack had no doubt that Collin would lay down his life if necessary. It was that fundamental trust that allowed him to turn away from the woman who had been the obsessive focus of every single one of his thoughts for the past hour and focus on doing his job. Pulling his gun from its holster, he peered around the edge of the Dumpster. Nothing moved within the shadows of the library door or the storage room beyond, but the darkness was awfully deep and capable of hiding almost anything.

  With his gun pointed toward the ground, Jack lifted up onto his feet and darted quickly around the Dumpster to slam up against the back wall in time to miss the bullet that split a hole through the metal trash bin. Jack let out a slow breath, not needing to remember his training because it was already ingrained into his very nature. He stayed calm, keeping his breathing and heartbeat even as he shouted toward the door.

  “This is Agent Harrington with the Drug Enforcement Agency. I want you to put your gun down and come out with your hands up.”

  Like they ever did. That didn’t mean he could just skip the preamble. Jack couldn’t very well charge Marion Myers with attempting to kill a federal agent if he didn’t tell her he was one. While the standard option he offered Marion didn’t get accepted, it did get a response. Two more bullets shot through the doorway, slamming into the stone walls in a haphazard pattern.

  The first shot, the one that had pierced the Dumpster, had clearly come from deep within the storage room. Jack suspected that Marion had lingered in the door to the lobby, probably waiting to see if she had an opportunity to make a getaway. The next two, though, were high and wide, proving that now that she knew she couldn’t escape, she’d started to panic. His conclusion seemed to be confirmed by the sound of a crash and the echo of footsteps that followed.

  Somebody had just run into something heavy as they fled. Daring to hope he wouldn’t get singed in the process, Jack peeked around the edge of the door to find the storage room apparently empty. Still, he moved slowly, checking and clearing the whole room before inching up to the side of door leading into the lobby. Marion had ceased making noise, having disappeared into the blackness once ag
ain.

  Not daring to risk a shootout by calling out again, Jack ducked low beneath the main counter and cautiously crept into the library. Keeping his senses open for the slightest bit of movement, he rounded the counter and hesitated, choosing the path that had the best coverage in case Marion started opening fire again.

  What he saw was the debris of a rampage already waged gleaming in the pale moonlight that seeped in through the front windows. The counter’s edge was split and splintered where a bullet had clearly chopped chunks out. Magazines lay spewed across the floor in disarray while the racks that should have held them rested on their sides. The row of computers didn’t look neat or orderly, with chairs knocked over and cracked monitors lining the tabletop.

  In the path of destruction, Jack could see the flow of actions and knew instinctively that Kathy had fled this way as somebody shot at her. She must have disappeared into the stacks and ended up all the way to the front of the library where an entire section of bookcases had been toppled over.

  Jack could imagine that Marion had shoved them down, trying to pop Kathy out of hiding. That image formed in his mind even as his hand tightened over the handle of his gun. It took a moment for Jack to remember that he couldn’t kill Marion, no matter how much he wished her dead. Thankfully, life didn’t give him the chance to test his control.

  “Marion Myers?”

  The world went bright with that boomed-out question. Blinking through the pain, Jack spun, raising his gun toward the man who’d clicked on the lights. It took him barely a second to pull his finger back from the trigger even as he recognized the man darkening the edge of the storage doorway.

  * * * *

  Marion bowed her head, blinking against the sudden wash of lights as the florescent bulbs overhead flickered to life. They illuminated the harsh reality of her circumstance. Crouched there low amongst the musky rows of books nobody cared about, Marion couldn’t imagine sinking any lower.

  “This is Sheriff Anthony Black.” Tony introduced himself as if Marion hadn’t spent countless years attending the very same political and community functions he had. Despite that, no familiarity sounded in his voice as the sheriff tried to prod her. “If you don’t mind, ma’am, I need you to come on out now.”

  He spoke to her like one would an errant or wayward child, but even that bit of warmth wouldn’t last long. Marion had no doubt that the whole town would turn their backs on her once they found out about everything. George would cut her free and probably curse her name, anything that would save his political career.

  No, she’d be alone except for her children. They would stand by her side. That only meant she’d have to look them in the eye knowing they knew the truth about her. Marion couldn’t bear that.

  * * * *

  The sheriff paused to give Marion a chance to respond to that. Jack followed his gaze, peering around the counter to scan the rows of bookcases for any kind of movement. Nothing but grim silence greeted them as they waited. While Jack didn’t expect for Marion to make any kind of effort, Tony clearly held higher hopes of avoiding a shootout.

  “Now, Marion, you know we got this place surrounded.” Keeping his tone calm and rational, the sheriff still managed to project his words deep into the library. “So there is no escape and only two ways for you to get out of this library—”

  Bang!

  The deafening blast of a gun going off had Jack’s head snapping in the direction of the shot. It had come from somewhere way back in the stacks of bookcases, but no bullet had sailed from that direction. In that second, Jack knew Marion hadn’t been shooting at them, but had decided to make the only escape she could. Her statement couldn’t have been clearer, given she’d obviously removed the silencer from her gun. Marion Myers had killed herself.

  While Jack felt some amount of satisfaction in her decision, mostly he saw the complication. Now, all they had were two more dead bodies and Kathy left alone in the middle. There would be no way to convince Tagger that Kathy was innocent in all of this. Maybe legally a good lawyer could prove it, but that wouldn’t make a difference to the direction Jack knew the investigation was about to turn in.

  The weight of the future had Jack slumping to his ass even as chaos erupted all around him. The front windows shattered a second before deputies started pouring into the library. They moved in tight formations with guns up as they swept through the lobby and into the rows of bookcases. A small trickle of federal agents followed behind them, moving at a slower pace as they scanned the library, not simply for the shooter but for something more.

  The question of what had Jack’s gaze narrowing on them as he wondered how they’d gotten here so fast. No doubt Tagger was monitoring the local police transmissions, but that didn’t explain why there were so many. This wasn’t a last-minute, slapped-together team. Tagger was up to something. Spying the man lurking outside, half hidden in the shadows, Jack decided to go and ask him. Lifting up onto his feet, Jack shook the dust from his pants as Tony stepped up beside him.

  “I’m going to take care of everything here, but later I expect an answer for why your boys didn’t call earlier.” The smile Tony offered Jack was twisted full of the same violent promises gleaming in his eyes. “Then I’ll give you my response.”

  “You can take that attitude elsewhere. Collin called you the second we knew where Kathy was,” Jack shot back, not about to take heat for this mess. He hadn’t been the one to point out to Marion Myers that her resistance was futile.

  “Is that a fact?” Tony lifted a brow as several of the federal agents started to shout for aid as they began digging madly through the pile of books mounded over the toppled bookcases. “I think they found your boy. Like I said—later.”

  Jack ignored Tony’s threat as he scowled at the men yelling for an ambulance. They were digging somebody out and it sure as hell wasn’t Marion. Jack really couldn’t see, but he could hear well enough to know in those seconds that an agent was down. An agent who had been in the library while Marion had been hunting Kathy. Jack’s stomach tightened in a nauseating rush as he looked back to find Tagger staring him right in the eye, not a foot away.

  “We need to talk.”

  * * * *

  Everything happened so fast, Kathy felt like the world was spinning away from her. There were gunshots and shouting, glass breaking, and the shrill wail of sirens as light began to strobe over the street from all directions. Chaos broke out in every direction, and through it all, Collin held her tight, keeping her safe. Letting the warm comfort of his arms keep the craziness of the world at bay, Kathy ignored everything else until Collin finally forced her to let go.

  “Come on, Kathy.” Collin settled her into a chair, forcing her to straighten up as he slipped her arms free from his neck. “Wake up now, sweetness.”

  Kathy hadn’t figured she’d been asleep, but that didn’t make Collin wrong. Blinking as she looked around, she didn’t recognize the room he brought her to. That didn’t mean she couldn’t take a guess at where they were. The hard, linoleum floor, sterile white walls, utilitarian table and chairs spoke for themselves. Collin had brought her to an interrogation room.

  “You better not turn out to be a federal agent,” Kathy grumped as she pinned Collin with a tired look. “If you’ve been deceiving to me—”

  “Me?” Collin stumbled to a halt, choking on his own gasp. “Me?! Trust me, sweet meat, there is only one person in this relationship who finds it constantly necessary to lie, misdirect, manipulate, and deceive the rest of us, and it ain’t me!”

  Kathy cringed under the heated blast of that roar. While she deserved every last one of his curses, it had been a long night and she was too tired to fight anymore. It didn’t matter that she knew there were a lot of important things she had to explain and questions to answer, she felt drained and it took nearly all her energy just to hold her head up.

  Collin, clearly, had no such problem, but he managed to bite back whatever harsh words lingered behind his clenched jaw. The effor
t cost him, making his whole body tense as his nostrils flared with the kind of rage Kathy hadn’t thought Collin capable of. Right then he looked ready and willing to tear into her with the kind of vengeance that would certainly mark the end of their relationship.

  “Damnit, Kathy, don’t look at me like that.” Collin growled, giving her a small squeeze to go with his softening scowl. “I have every reason to be pissed at you.”

  “Yes, you do,” Kathy agreed softly. “But could you be mad later?”

  “Fine,” Collin grunted, sounding less than pleased with his own agreement. “But don’t think that changes much. You are going to get yelled at…by the sheriff, by Jack, probably by his boss, and I imagine any number of other people will join in on the chorus.”

  “Thanks, that makes me feel a whole lot better.” Kathy sighed deep, not resisting as he snuggled her into a bear hug. Collin nuzzled his chin through her hair to whisper softly in her ear.

  “But just remember, I am going to forgive you.”

  Like a warm ray of sunshine on a bitter winter day, that promise eased some of the tiredness weighing her down. Instinctively she rested her head against Collin’s shoulder, and gave herself over to the soothing stroke of his hand down her back.

  “Tell me who to trust,” Kathy ordered in a soft whisper, uncertain of the future and questions she knew would be coming. “I don’t think I know anymore, Collin.”

  Warm palms cupped her cheeks as his hands framed her face, lifting her chin until their gazes locked. “You trust me, don’t you?”

  “Always.” That might not have been true before tonight, but Kathy would stand by that vow from that day forth.

  “And Jack?”

  “Despite my better judgment.” It took a lot for Kathy to admit that, mostly because she knew he couldn’t return the sentiment. As a federal agent, his job had to come before her. Kathy might not like being on uneven terms with Jack, but that didn’t change the fact that she did trust him.