Freed (Bad Boy Hitman Romance)

by Terry Towers

  “Okay.”

  “Do you know anyone who would want to harm you?”

  I didn’t hesitate, shaking my head. “No. No one I can think of.”

  “I see. What about your family? It’s my understanding your father was murdered a few years ago?”

  I squirmed a little on the bed.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “This is a touchy topic. The wounds are still fresh.” I gave him a lopsided smile. “You know? From what I understand, he was mugged and shot. That’s what I was told.”

  He looked hard at me, as if he were trying to see the truth in my words. “But you don’t believe that?”

  “I know what I was told.” I shrugged and then winced as the movement sent a piercing pain through my bad shoulder. “Why would I think anything different?”

  “Your father was a very public figure. Maybe he had enemies?”

  “I was an eighteen-year-old daughter of a strict preacher father. I wouldn’t know about enemies or anything like that. It doesn’t make sense to come after me four years after my father died. At least it doesn’t to me. What would it accomplish?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” He tapped his pen against the pad. Suddenly, he picked his eyes up from the pad and hit me with a piercing look. “What about your boyfriend? How long have you known him?”

  Hesitating a moment, I crinkled my nose up at him. “A few weeks, almost a month. Why?”

  “It’s just a question.”

  I didn’t think it was just a question, but I let it go. That was out of my hands. Kyle could handle himself. It had been his idea after all.

  “Is your sister coming to see you? She and your mother must be worried.”

  “I wouldn’t know. I just woke up. Were they even contacted?” Why would he even be asking me these questions? I’m sure he also knew this was the first time I was awake.

  He ignored my inquiry. “Have you noticed any unusual activity around you? Anyone suspicious? Usually violence isn’t random.”

  “Could they have been aiming for someone else and hit me instead?”

  “That’s very possible.” The detective leaned back into the plastic chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re checking into that as well.”

  I laid my head back against the pillow and closed my eyes. “I’m tired,” I murmured. Opening my eyes, I turned my head to look at the detective and officer. “Is there any more questions? I honestly have no information that can help you.”

  He sighed, standing. “Not for the moment, but we’ll be in touch.”

  “I’m easy to find.”

  After saying our goodbyes, I watched the two men leave the hospital room. I expected to see Kyle re-enter, but I didn’t. After a few minutes, I closed my eyes and attempted to go back to sleep. I was just beginning to feel the hands of sleep take hold of me when I heard my room door open.

  “Kyle?” I asked not opening my eyes, but a little rush of excitement went through me at the thought of seeing him.

  “No, it’s Vanessa.”

  I frowned and slowly opened my eyes. “Did you see Kyle?”

  Vanessa came up to the bed and shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “Yeah, umm.”

  My frowned deepened. “What’s going on?”

  “He left with the cops.”

  Alarm raced through me, but I fought to keep my composure. It was harder than normal to fake emotions when there was a constant throbbing pain radiating from my shoulder. “Why?” The pitch of my voice was higher than I’d intended.

  “Oh, don’t worry.” She sandwiched my hand which lay on her side of the bed between hers. “It’s just routine. He said he’d be right back after they’re done.”

  I sighed. “I know.” Giving my head a shake, I continued, “My head is just spinning in a million different directions.”

  “Of course it is. Don’t worry. I was talking to the nurse, and she said you’ll only be in here a few days, so you might be able to get back to classes by Monday or Tuesday. If you want, I can bring you some books so you can keep ahead.”

  “Thank you, I’d like that.” With so much going on and the anticipated arrival of my sister, I doubted I’d get much done.

  * TT *

  Kyle

  Well, that will be the end of that. I hadn’t been surprised when the detective asked me to go to the station with him for questioning. In many cases, it was someone the victim knew who kills or attempts to kill them – more specifically, their partner. I would automatically be a suspect.

  Going into the station, I knew the detective was suspicious of me, but after I volunteered for a lie detector test and passed with flying colors when it was administered, I knew I was off of his radar. It just so happened they had an administrator on site when they had me in. Bonus for me. Lie detectors were easy to pass when you knew how to beat them. In fact, I got a rise out of the challenge they provided. So to say as I walked down the corridor that I was happy was an understatement. I was elated.

  As I walked down the hospital corridor, several nurses gave me a smile, and I smiled back, winking at a couple and making them blush and turn away.

  Reaching Rebecca’s room, I didn’t bother to knock, but entered her room. She was alone, her eyes closed, and she was snoring softly. A smile touched my lips as I stood in the open doorway and watched her a minute. Looking at her made me feel damned good. This woman was a powerhouse. She had it all. She was smart, beautiful, cunning, and I thought she was the bravest person I’d ever met – myself included.

  Would I have been willing to let someone take a shot at me and trust them to pull it off? Nope, no fucking way. But she trusted me. Why, I had no idea. Maybe she was crazier than I originally thought.

  But the other reason was even more out of this world than the thought that she was crazy. The second reason was plain and simple and left me floored because I never in a million years would have expected this to happen, but….

  Rebecca trusted me because somehow, she found a way to fall in love with me.

  Chapter 24

  Rebecca

  I wanted to throw him out the window of his highly overpriced apartment. He was sitting next to me on the sofa pretending as though nothing had happened. Sure, we’d decided on the plan together, but still a little pampering would have been nice.

  “I can’t believe she never came to see me. I was in the hospital for days!” I said, looking over at Kyle. I really thought she’d come, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was actually disappointed she didn’t arrive. Not because I wanted answers, but because by not coming, it was as if she was saying I wasn’t important to her. That really bothered me.

  He paused the movie we were watching and turned to face me. “It is possible it didn’t make the news wherever they are.”

  “It made national news, Kyle.” How could she not have heard about it?

  “It’s also possible they are so deeply holed up they didn’t see the news even if it’s being blasted all around them.”

  “Hmm, maybe.” A million possibilities had run through my head, and that definitely was one of them.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing.” I refused to meet his stare and grabbed the remote, turning the volume back up.

  Kyle snatched the remote back from me and turned the television off.

  “Hey, I was watching that.”

  “Bullshit, you’re just avoiding talking to me.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, returning his stare. “What do you care anyhow? You’ll find them one way or the other.”

  “I’m not concerned about finding them right now. We swung for the fence, and it didn’t work out. I’m not going to obsess over it. What I am going to obsess over, however, is you.”

  I smiled. “Be careful now, you’re starting to sound like you care.”

  His expression grew serious. “I’m falling in love with you, Rebecca. So, yes, I do care.”

  I opene
d my mouth to respond, but no sound came out. I didn’t know what to say or how to respond. How was that possible? Was he just saying what he wanted me to hear to make me feel better?

  A anxious laugh escaped my lips. I was actually nervous, which wasn’t a very familiar feeling. Kyle had brought out a lot of emotions within me, many of which were foreign. This man was gaining way too much control over me, but I felt powerless to stop it.

  “Be serious, Kyle. We both know love isn’t an emotion we are capable of. Infatuation maybe. Lust, sure.”

  “Jesus Rebecca, must you psychoanalyze everything?”

  He looked rather annoyed, but I wasn’t going to allow that to stop me from getting answers. “Are you pissed because I’m right or because I’m questioning you?”

  “Both.”

  I was surprised by his honesty. And I would be lying if I were to say it didn’t thrill me he felt that way – or thought he felt that way – it made what I was feeling less insane.

  Falling in love with you… His words kept cycling through my mind.

  The doorbell chimed, followed by a knocking. I let out a breath of relief because I had no idea how I was going to respond to the information he’d just thrown at me.

  “Just hold on a minute.” He got up and headed to the door as another chime sounded. I craned my head and watched him from behind. Damn, he had a nice ass defined under the jeans he was wearing. Mouth-watering. It was going to be a while before we could be intimate again because of this damned gunshot wound which was all for nothing. That was the biggest piss off of the entire thing.

  Kyle opened the door, but I couldn’t see who it was in the hallway. When I leaned forward too much, a shot of pain would rush through me, so I was stuck sitting here doing nothing.

  “I was told Rebecca would be here.” My entire body froze, and I really thought my heart stopped for a moment.

  It was Emily.

  “Emily.” I struggled to my feet.

  * TT *

  Kyle

  I gave myself a mental high-five. I knew she’d show up. There was a small part of me that hoped she and Tanner wouldn’t, and I could just drop the whole thing, telling my father I couldn’t find them after all. I was actually considering staying in L.A and attending classes, maybe try living a normal life with Rebecca for a while and see how that worked out, and how it suited me. It was possible Rebecca would be enough stimulus to keep me on my toes and keep the darkness within me sated.

  Hearing a soft grunt, I heard Rebecca getting up from the sofa and cross the room towards us. No doubt, she recognized her sister’s voice.

  And now I was faced with a dilemma.

  What do I do?

  “Emily?” Rebecca stepped up in front of me and gasped. “You’re pregnant?”

  My eyes lowered to Emily’s stomach, and sure enough, there was a small baby bump. When I looked back up to Emily’s face, I noticed that while there were a few features they shared, for the most part, they didn’t look much alike. Maybe it was the look in her eyes. When I looked into Rebecca’s eyes, I saw a predator, a force to be reckoned with. But when I looked into Emily’s eyes, all I saw was concern and compassion – weakness.

  Fuck.

  “Well, I pretty much figured you people were behind this.” I looked up from Emily and over her left shoulder to see the very person I was here for – Emily was only a consolation prize – it was Tanner in the flesh. “It’s been a long time, Kyle. I assume your father is doing well.”

  I stood a little straighter, cursing myself for not taking a gun with me to the door – I was so much better than this. But then again, I was currently thinking on my feet.

  “Emily, back away from him.” When she hesitated, Tanner grabbed her arm and put himself between us and Emily. “Now.” His voice was stern, and she backed a little ways down the hall, a look of uncertainty in her expression.

  “Rebecca. Are you okay?” she asked as she kept a safe distance between us and herself. She was only a few seconds run from being around the corner and at the elevators.

  I looked down at Rebecca, who was wearing a black tank top over the large bandage covering her right shoulder and chest.

  When Rebecca didn’t answer, Emily stepped forward again, focusing her stare on me, anger infused in her gaze. “Did you do that to her, you… you, bastard!”

  “Emily.” She advanced again, but Tanner put a hand out, stopping her advance on me.

  “Let’s just get down to it. What does Flynn want?”

  “You know what he wants, Tanner.”

  “Well, I’m telling you now that’s not going to happen. The only reason we’re here is to make sure Rebecca is fine, and if she’s not - ” he opened the front left side of his denim jacket to reveal a pistol, silence suppressor attached and ready to go. “ – we’re here to make it right.”

  I forced my eyes to keep from falling to the gun and to remain holding his stare as my mind raced going through scenarios on how this would go down. No scenario ended with me on the bad end. They all ended with Tanner lying in a pool of his own blood. Tanner was slightly larger than me, both in stature and height, but that didn’t mean much, because I was younger and quicker.

  “Kyle.” Rebecca placed her hand on my shoulder and pushed me out of her way as she stepped between me and Tanner. “Back off. This doesn’t have to go bad.”

  I looked down at her and frowned. She fucking knew how this was going to go down, and placing herself between us was just going to make this a hell of a lot harder.

  “Get out of the way, Rebecca.” I attempted to grab her arm, but she shook off my grip.

  “Stop it.” She shot me a dirty look. “Emily is pregnant.”

  “So?” The baby hardly needed the likes of Tanner in its life. It might have a fighting chance of being normal if it didn’t have Tanner raising it. If anything, I was doing the baby a service. Rebecca and I both had psychopathic fathers and look how we both turned out, seriously fucked up with a capital F.

  “Rebecca, get out of the way,” I repeated, adding sternness to my tone. Not that it would do much good, the woman did only what she wanted to—a lesson I’d been quickly learning.

  “Rebecca, are you all right? Did that son of a bitch do that to you?” Emily asked, shooting me a nasty stare. She might be a goodie-goodie as Rebecca had described it, but I would have bet money she would have loved to have gotten her little hands around my neck at this moment.

  To my surprise, Rebecca came to my defense. “Tanner kidnapped you, so you hardly have a right to pass judgement.”

  “We’re here for Rebecca. That’s all we want,” Tanner cut in. “I don’t want trouble. I also came to tell you to pass along to Flynn, as long as he stays away from me and Emily, we’ll keep our mouths shut and stay just as far away from him. As you can see, Emily and I are starting a life. We don’t want anything to do with the Organization and its dealings.”

  “It’s not that easy.” I was a little conflicted at this moment. I had my orders, but at the same time I had no interest in this assignment to begin with. It would be so much easier to just let this go and carry on with my life.

  Looking down at Rebecca, I saw the conviction in her eyes. She’d been playing possum all along, though I suspected as much. She just wanted to see her sister and get some answers, and that’s why she played along. She wasn’t going to permit me to do anything to either of them. I sighed, raking a hand into my hair. Why couldn’t things just be easy for a change? Though I did bring the complication onto myself.

  What in the fuck do I do now? At one point in time, not to long ago, I had my plan fully intact, but now it had all gone to hell in a handbasket.

  Sensing my reluctance to take an aggressive action, the tension in Tanner’s body slowly dissolved, and his hand moved away from the gun. “Why isn’t it?”

  I nodded my head towards my apartment. “Come in. We shouldn’t be having this conversation in the hallway.”

  Tanner hesitated, then looked back at Emi
ly. “Go back to the car, and if I’m not down there in twenty minutes, leave and never come back.”

  Emily’s eyes, identical to Rebecca’s, shone with worry. “No. I’m not leaving.” She took a couple steps towards Tanner, but Tanner raised his hand stopping her. “This is non-negotiable. Go, now! I shouldn’t have let you come up here in the first place. If things get worked out and become safe, then I’ll come get you.”

  She looked like she was going to protest again, but nodded and wordlessly turned and left.

  Tanner looked back at me and proceeded into the apartment when I stepped aside and waved him in. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Chapter 25

  Rebecca

  “I’m going after Emily.” I started rushing out the door to have Tanner grab my arm as I started down the hallway, nearly causing me to fall back onto my ass.

  “No way.” He spun me around to face him, his hand tight around my upper arm, pinching it.

  I yelped and attempted to pull myself free, but his grip was relentless. “Let me go!” I balled my fist and punched at his arm. His grip tightened.

  “I know what you are, and I don’t trust you.” Tanner’s dark eyes looked deep into mine. They were like an empty abyss – cold and unyielding. “Do you seriously think I’m going to let you alone with her?”

  “You’re damned right you will,” Kyle’s voice growled as he stepped up, drew his hand back, and slammed his fist into Tanner’s jaw. The attack threw Tanner off just enough that his grip loosened on my arm, and I was able to pull it free. Tanner fell back a few steps and against the wall, his hand going to his jaw where Kyle had punched him.

  Kyle charged, and at that moment, Tanner drew his gun. Instead of pointing it at Kyle, he pointed it at me, the barrel of his gun less than five feet away from me and aimed at my head.

  “Back off Kyle, or your girlfriend is losing a head.”

  Kyle didn’t even look in my direction, but I saw the cold mask he used to wear when I first met him appear. “I already shot the bitch to get you here. Do you honestly think I give a rat’s ass about her?” Despite his words, he halted his approach. “You know what I am as much as I do. Who are you kidding?”