Bad to the Bone

by Debra Dixon

  “Best guess on our party guest?”

  “Not the shack on the left.” She moved her lips as little as possible while she talked. “Too obvious. Maybe in one of the barrels at the edge of the fence or under one of the boat tarps. Our fellow probably lost ten pounds in the heat. It’s show time.”

  Sully felt the dip and rise of the parking lot entrance. “Angle the car and give me a three count so I can open my door latch with yours.”

  She didn’t answer, but he knew she heard. As soon as the car stopped, she peeled three fingers, one after the other off the steering wheel. Click thunk. The door latches released at the same time, one noise. Hers was the only one that swung open.

  “Don’t you get dead on me, Jessie,” Sully whispered, just loud enough for her ears. “I’m not through with you.”

  Jessica almost wished she hadn’t heard him. This time, beneath the anger, was a promise she’d never heard from anyone before. A promise that presumed something real existed, something worth saving. That either one of them might actually have a future. Don’t make me want what I can’t have, Sully. Just let me do my job and get Iris back in one piece.

  She made herself get out of the car, refusing to think about Sully or the future. Her whole world had narrowed to one objective. She couldn’t hope, not and keep her mind on getting through what lay ahead. Her only focus had to be on the two men whose car doors winged open.

  As the driver unfolded himself from behind the wheel, he just kept coming—like an evil clown getting out of one of those little circus jalopies. He was six six, maybe six seven, and he didn’t look happy to be here. “You the lady?”

  Jessica nodded, surreptitiously scanning the area for Iris. Where are you? For a second she let hope flare. Maybe Iris had run out of gas or gotten stuck. Then as she walked almost to the car, she saw the red ATV down on the beach. Keeping the crushing disappointment off her face, she said, “I’m the lady.”

  The second man got out, dressed all in black, his weapon in his hand. “We need that token of good faith.”

  “You’ll have to write it down to show it to Phil. I memorized it because I didn’t want to tear a page out of the book.”

  “That’s not what we agreed to.”

  “Plans change.”

  “You got that right.” He jerked his head at the tall man, who casually opened the back door of the car and dragged Iris out of the floorboard. “We took some life insurance. If you don’t give us what we want right now, then Phil will. Just as soon as he’s conscious again.”

  Iris was bound and gagged. One knee was bloody like she had skinned it in a fall, but she stood unassisted. The fools had no idea what they had. Not even a flicker of Jessica’s concern showed in her eyes. Nor did the relief.

  “Boys, boys, boys.” Pretending annoyance, Jessica put her hands on her hips, letting her thumb slip into the skeletal frame of the gun and pulled it closer to her palm. As she talked, her hands circled into fists—one of them around the grip, but still on her hip. “How can Phil give you what you want? Phil no longer knows where the book is. Your insurance has expired.”

  Jessica prayed that Sully was watching her back because someone had a gun aimed right at her. She could feel it. All hell was about to break loose, and Iris was right in the middle of it.

  Good girl, Sully thought as she left the door ajar, giving him a view of the charter business. He gave her time to draw the attention of the two men, before he moved. When he heard voices carrying toward him, he changed his position in the car.

  Carefully stretching out on the front seat, he reached far enough to slowly inch open the driver’s door a little farther so he could see the entire building. The fence was about twenty-five feet away. A couple of small boats were a few feet beyond that. If Jessie was right, he’d hear the shot before he saw the man.

  Time seemed to crawl as he lay tensed on the seat. Waiting distorted every sound, and with every pulse of his heart he knew the first shot could be aimed at Jessie. No matter what she said about the logic of the kill that didn’t mean the man would follow it. Sully arrested criminals every day who forgot logic, criminals who got their kicks from pushing their limits.

  When the first shot came, instinct kicked in. Sully zeroed on the motion and sound in the blink of an eye. His target rose up out of a boat, tarp split on either side of him, attention focused on the kidnappers. The next two shots were simultaneous and belonged to Sully and the agent. A third shot was so close on the heels of the first two that it was practically indistinguishable.

  Jessie, please let that be your shot. Don’t get dead on me. Not now.

  Sully saw his man drop and kicked the passenger door open. His next concern was for Jessie and Iris. He wasn’t even out of the car before he was bringing his weapon to bear. A second later, he lowered it. Both men were down. Jessie and Iris were standing. The exhale of relief didn’t make it past his mouth. The breath turned into a shout of warning as he raised his gun.

  “Jessie!”

  Jessica was pulling the gag out of Iris’s mouth when she heard Sully’s shout of warning.

  “Jessie!”

  Her head came up a fraction. Looking behind Iris, she saw the muzzle. The man in black still had the strength to lift his gun.

  The decision was really no decision. Her life or Iris’s. No contest. One was good, and one was bad. This time the bad twin would die.

  Sully watched as Jessica twisted, throwing Iris out of the way. He died as the bullet slammed into her, knocking her backward. In less time than it takes to breathe, Sully knew he loved Jessie. Absolute terror ripped the secret from his soul, and it was too late.

  Too late.

  He fired and ran. The man on the ground didn’t move again.

  The words pounded through him breaking down everything he was, rebuilding what he was into something new. There wasn’t any room for the past. There wasn’t any room for hate. All that was left was Jessie.

  When he reached her, he tried to tell himself that it wasn’t a lot of blood. “You’re going to be okay, Jessie. I promise.”

  “Sully!” Iris was crying and yelling for him. “Daddy’s in the car. In the back.”

  Forcing himself to leave Jessie for a second, he grabbed Iris and untied her hands. “Darlin’, I need your help. There’s a cell phone in the car. Call nine-one-one. Can you do it? Please. Jessie needs you. Call nine-one-one, don’t hang up until they tell you, bring the phone here, and then help your dad. Can you do that, sweetie? Everything’s okay. But we have to call.”

  She nodded and ran toward the car at speed only scared children can attain. Sully peeled off his shirt and hit his knees beside Jessie. He lifted her only long enough to find the wound and use the shirt as a pressure bandage. He hadn’t cried or talked to God since he was eight years old. Pride didn’t matter anymore, he realized as he watched color drain from her face.

  “Okay, God, You got me where You wanted me, I’m on my knees. You wanted me to forgive the past. Let the anger go. Well, I did it. Don’t take her too. Don’t You make me do this alone. Don’t take away my anger, if You aren’t going to replace it.”

  Sully swiped the back of his hand across his wet cheek. “Don’t leave me alone. Not when I just figured out how to be a part of something. Just when I figured out what love is.”

  Iris came racing back, laying the phone beside him. “They’re coming, Sully. They told me five min—” Iris broke off as she looked at Jessie, realizing for the first time that this wasn’t a flesh wound like in the movies. Huge tears without sobs rolled down her face. “Jessie?”

  “Check your dad,” Sully ordered, rubbing his eyes. “Stay with him. Let me take care of Jessie.”

  Iris was on her knees, reaching for Jessie’s hand. “It was for me, Sully. It was for me.”

  “I know. Believe me, honey, I know exactly why she did it. Now, go to your dad.”

  When she left, Sully tried one more prayer. One for Jessie, because she couldn’t do it herself. He smooth
ed back the white streak and said, “There’s a lot of good in this woman. More than in me. She hates the dark, God. At least don’t leave her in the dark. She hates the dark.”

  Time stretched and yawned before him like an enemy. But he wouldn’t give up. Not on Jessie. She was his. The only one who ever had been. She was his.

  When the sound of sirens reached him, he kept trying. “Jessie, you hear that. Don’t you leave me. Stay with me. I love you. You can’t go.”

  Jessica didn’t like where she was, but she didn’t like the pain either. Little by little the pain was going and the place around her got lighter. But something kept dragging her back to the pain.

  It was Sully, she realized.

  His voice was so strong, and she grabbed hold of it, anchoring herself with it. Stay with me. She wasn’t alone. For the first time in sixteen years she had someone to trust, someone to love.

  I love you. You can’t go.

  Someone who loved her.

  When her eyes finally opened, she wasn’t at the marina. It was a hospital. And Sully sat vigil in a chair, chin on his chest. The man needed a shave, a haircut, and love. That last one she could give him. If he’d let her.

  He opened his eyes, and she found herself staring into the most unforgiving blue eyes she’d ever seen. For a heartbreaking moment, she thought it had all been a cruel dream. And then his gaze softened, and he said the words as if he’d been waiting to say them all his life. He didn’t even move. He just said them.

  “I love you.”

  Something broken inside her heart was suddenly whole. She didn’t mean to cry, but the tear just kind of slipped away from her as she said, “You came for me.”

  “And I always will, Jessie. The past doesn’t matter. Not mine. Not yours. All that matters is right now, and tomorrow, and forever.” He hauled himself out of the chair. “I love you forever.”

  “W-what?”

  “I love you forever. It’s what you’ve been mumbling for a couple of days.” He kissed her finally, so careful not to jostle her, but there was still something untamed about the touch of his lips to hers. Something that would always be there between them. “Now, you try it. It doesn’t hurt. Not much. I promise.”

  “I love you forever.” So few words to say everything that was inside her heart, and yet they were all she needed.

  “Forever,” he echoed as he kissed her again and twined his fingers with hers. “But now that you’re awake I need to take care of unfinished business.”

  Some of Jessica’s happiness evaporated at his hard tone. “You mean explanations for the police.”

  He shook his head. “I took care of that while you were in surgery. They took a nasty bullet out of your shoulder. It was bad, Jessie. You lost a lot of blood. You came closer to dying than I ever want to see again.” His fingers cupped the side of her neck, and his thumb brushed against her bottom lip. Sully thought he could spend the rest of his life touching Jessie. And he would. “You’re a brave woman. A hero. The department is all set to give you a medal.”

  “For what?”

  “For saving a little girl. For saving Phil. He’s lucky to have an old family friend like you, you know. We would, however, prefer that you notify the police in case of any future kidnappings, but they’re satisfied with mine and Iris’s version of the events. Children react so unpredictably when they get ransom calls. She really should have told us sooner.”

  “You didn’t.”

  “Oh, but we did. The child is an accomplished liar. I understand Phil is so grateful that he’s offered to pay all your medical bills.”

  “Nice of him.” Jessica tried to sit up but the first nasty eddy of pain convinced her that was a bad idea.

  “It’s the very least he could do.”

  “How is Iris? Really?”

  “Worried about you. But fine. And she’s going to stay that way.” His gaze hardened. “I’m going to see to it personally. I’m going to explain the proper care and feeding of children to Phil Munro.”

  “That’s your unfinished business?”

  “Not for long. By the time I’m through with Phil, Killers “R” Us will be nothing more than a bad memory.”

  “Yeah, one of Iris’s memories,” she added softly.

  “I know.”

  As he eased away from her, Jessica whispered, “What if he doesn’t listen? What if he puts her in danger again?”

  “There’ll be hell to pay.”

  Jessica smiled and closed her eyes as Sully walked out the door. He’d be back. He loved her forever.

  EPILOGUE

  MEMO

  Date: December 8, 1997

  To: Jack Benjamin

  From: Sullivan Kincaid

  Re: Family medical leave

  You told me to give you plenty of notice. Here it is.

  The obstetrician just put my wife to bed for the duration of the pregnancy. She’s not due for another month, but the doc says she probably won’t make it that long—not with twins. He’d like to see her carry another couple of weeks if she can, so the babies would be almost full term, but Jessie could deliver anytime. I suspect she’ll hang on for those two weeks. You know how stubborn she is.

  When the twins arrive, I’m going to need parental leave, my accumulated personal days, and my sick days. So you’d better plan on at least nine weeks of downtime for me. Maybe more. I know this will be hard on the department, Jack, and I know my request is beyond the city’s guideline for parental leave. But I waited a long time to start a family, and I intend to do this right.

  While we’re on the subject of time off, this spring I’m going to need some afternoons. I’m coaching Iris Munro’s softball team.

  THE EDITOR’S CORNER

  Welcome to Loveswept!

  Cure your spring fever with our blazing hot May releases:

  If you love stories that combine thrilling mysteries with sweet and sexy romance, don’t miss Judith E. French’s MORGAN’S WOMAN and Katie Rose’s A CASE FOR ROMANCE. These electrifying reads will keep your pulse racing and your heart melting.

  And since we love Debra Dixon’s wonderful stories so much, we’re absolutely thrilled about her six Loveswept releases in May: MIDNIGHT HOUR, MOUNTAIN MYSTIC, PLAYING WITH FIRE, SLOW HANDS, HOT AS SIN, and DOC HOLIDAY. Pick one up and you’ll want to read them all!

  If you love romance … then you’re ready to be Loveswept!

  Gina Wachtel

  Associate Publisher

  P.S. Watch for these terrific Loveswept titles coming soon: In June, we have Ruthie Knox’s super-sexy e-original ABOUT LAST NIGHT, Gayle Kasper’s dazzling HERE COMES THE BRIDE, Rebecca Kelley’s charming THE WEDDING CHASE, and Sally Goldenbaum’s captivating MOONLIGHT ON MONTEREY BAY. July brings Elisabeth Barrett’s debut e-original novel, the brilliant DEEP AUTUMN HEAT, Kristen Kyle’s incredibly appealing THE LAST WARRIOR, and Adrienne Staff’s stunning KEVIN’S STORY. Don’t miss any of these extraordinary reads. I promise that you’ll fall in love and treasure these stories for years to come ….

  Read on for excerpts from more Loveswept titles …

  Read on for an excerpt from Sandra Chastain’s The Redhead and the Preacher

  Chapter

  One

  LATE APRIL—1860

  MCKENZIE KATHRYN CALHOUN consoled herself afterward by saying that she hadn’t intended to commit a crime the day she took part in robbing the Bank of Promise in Promise, Kansas.

  But the morning it happened, it wouldn’t have done her any good to claim innocence. It was far too late. The people in Promise had long ago given up on the rangy, red-haired girl who wore men’s clothes, quoted from the classics, and called herself Macky. She was considered as peculiar as her father and as wild and out of control as her shiftless brother had been.

  Had Macky been anybody else, the town might have shown some consideration over her having buried her peace-loving father one day and learning the next that her brother, Todd, hadn’t shown up for the funeral because he’d dealt himself four
aces in a crooked poker game. There was nothing unusual about that, except this time he’d been shot to death by another gambler who caught him cheating.

  Macky could have told them that she had to sell her father’s horse to pay for his funeral and her own horse to pay for her brother’s, but nobody asked. All she had left the day of the holdup was a mule named Solomon, her mother’s cameo, and a worthless farm with the mortgage due. All she wanted to do was buy a stone for Papa’s grave and find a place where she could belong. Her plan to get even with the banker who’d cheated her father might fail, but that morning it was the only hope she had.

  It was late April, the time of year when spring crops should be planted, but not on Calhoun land in Promise, Kansas. It was fitting, Macky thought, that a light snow had fallen the night before, scalloping the prairie with white ruffles like the fading memory of frothy waves back home in Boston’s harbor. Like everything else in her life, even the earth seemed to be moving away from her.

  She closed her eyes for a moment to stop the spinning in her mind while she considered what to take with her. Deciding that it would be warmer to wear her clothes than carry them, she donned two of her brother Todd’s shirts, his trousers and his work boots, stuffed with rags so that she could keep them on.

  Instead of the braid she normally wore to restrain her unruly mass of red hair, she tucked it beneath her papa’s felt hat. Finally, she rolled her only dress in her bedroll, along with the last of the cheese and bread.

  Macky never had cared much about looking like a woman, but today even Papa wouldn’t have recognized the washed-out shell of a person she’d become. With her mother’s brooch tucked into the pocket of Papa’s coat, she mounted the mule and started into town.

  As she rode away, she looked back. There was nothing else of value left; there were no more livestock, no food supplies, only a rundown house ready to collapse in the wake of the next windstorm. If her father hadn’t died of heart problems, he’d have died of starvation for there was no money left for seed that wouldn’t grow.