by CJ Snyder
The night Kat had come, she’d seen the other one, lying on the ground outside the house with blood all over his leg from the knee down. Tron, after an order from Vic, had hustled her back inside and then she’d heard a single gunshot. Certain it was Kat, she’d sobbed silently into her lone blanket until Tron had carried Kat’s still form into Lizzie’s room. After that, she’d forgotten everything but the miracle that Uncle Max’s Kat was there with her. Now she shivered, wondering about that shot.
The man on the hill hadn’t moved, other than to shield his eyes and scan the horizon every once in awhile. Lizzie yawned again and eased her seat back. She should probably be worried about the guy on the hill, but he wasn’t paying any attention to her. Noon was still hours away. It wouldn’t hurt to close her eyes for awhile.
If you sleep, the time will fly.
She grinned at the words she’d heard from Uncle Max hundreds of times. When Mom first got sick, they’d made the trip to Denver millions of times. He always told her that then. She frowned. Despite Mom’s repeated attempts to relieve her fears, this last trip wasn’t good. Max, well, he never out-right told her it was bad, but he never lied and said she’d be fine either, even this morning when she’d asked. Max’d also promised to stay, even though Mom had always said he’d disappear again someday.
Lizzie turned her head, getting her eyes out of the direct sunlight pouring into the car. Max hadn’t left yet, not once in all her life. She didn’t think he would, no matter what Mom said. He’d come for her, right? Sent Kat before that. At least she thought he’d sent Kat. She was just like Max said she was, pretty and smart. Actually, those were the same words Uncle Max used about her, when he wasn’t settling for just Lizard.
Flexing the ankle of her sore foot, she distracted her brain with questions. Uncle Max had asked about her toe. Now wasn’t the time to take off the dressing and look, but maybe it was time to face some facts. Like why had Max asked specifically about her toe? Why had he sent Kat instead of coming himself? Kat’d turned out to be not so stupid after all, despite Lizzie’s concerns when she’d first arrived. She knew she’d never been so glad to see anyone as when Tron had carried her into Lizzie’s room. Funny how easy she’d been to talk to, because Lizzie didn’t make new friends easily. Mostly because nobody new ever moved to Bluff River Falls, but even so. . .
Would Max marry Kat, now that she was back in his life? Would he move to Denver if he did? If they had kids, she’d be an aunt. Not as good as a sister, but better than nothing. Unless he moved to Denver. Why hadn’t they married before? If they had, they’d have kids her age, not just be starting on babies.
Lizzie scratched her nose, loosening a clump of dirt. Was there more? She flipped down the mirror over the visor, wrinkling her nose at the sight of her dirt-encrusted cheeks. The nose wiggling back at her didn’t even look like hers. Soil and heaven knows what else hid her freckles, made her skin darker. Not her nose at all, but familiar. Like, like. . .
Lizzie’s mouth flopped open and the mouth in the mirror did too. She didn’t pay any attention, only stared into eyes that were huge. She wiggled her nose again. Tried on a grin, then crinkled up her eyes. And started to count months.
##
Max waited only until the soldier had found his gun, the taser and the radio. “Did you follow me?”
The young man’s smile was grim. “Hell, no.” He waggled the radio. “Weren’t you listening?”
“To what?”
Cap wiped his face clean of expression, but not before Max had seen a glimmer of confusion. “I’m AWOL. So are you, now.” He gestured to the ground. “Sit.”
Max sat, keeping his hands behind his head. “AWOL?”
“AWOL. How many with you?”
Max lifted his hands a fraction of an inch. “Just me. And I’m on your side. Name’s Ice. They call you Cap?” Max sought out Lizzie, still visible in the car below. What the hell was going on?
Cap was suddenly stiff. “They call you a traitor.”
He kept his eyes on Lizzie. “Not all of them.”
“All I know.”
Why was Cap up here? He had to know Lizzie was just below.
“How did you get away? I heard Tron’s message. You went over the back wall.”
“Ghost let me go.”
“Like hell.” Cap’s voice registered disgust, but when Max glanced at him, his gaze looked reflective. “It wasn’t a ruse? With Tron and Crater?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“They sent you after me.”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
Max fixed his eyes steady on Cap. “Let’s come back to that.” If Ghost’s control wasn’t as firm as it had sounded, he might not have much time. Lizzie needed treatment, too. He had to make a decision, and soon, but not just yet. “How long you been with the unit, Cap?”
“Three years.”
Max’s gaze never faltered. “Ever seen anything like what went down in that house?” A shudder rippled over Cap and then disappeared.
“No, sir.”
“So Viper only recently took to maiming little girls?” Another reaction, not as visible as the first, but there. Except he had to be sure. Lizzie was too close.
“It was necessary to pull you in.”
“Bull shit. This team has never tortured civilians and you know it.”
“He had to bring you in.”
“By hurting my daughter? The woman in my life?”
Cap’s certainty quotient was beginning to nosedive. The gun in his hand dipped a hair’s breadth.
Go time. He might not survive, but unless Cap hit him in the forehead, neither would Cap. Lizzie would be safe. From the looks of the sun, it was nearing noon. Lizzie would call Reicher and tell her story. Reicher would call SWAT. Good cops would die, including the young soldier in front of him. A member of his unit, the unit he’d once upon a time sworn to protect with his life. “So you believe the company line? Whatever it takes?”
“Of course I do.”
Max watched his eyes. “No matter what?”
There it was again–that flash of uncertainty. Cap had sworn, just like Max had, but he’d never imagined a scenario like this. Cap also didn’t answer his question.
“What are you doing up here?” Max tried again.
This time there was no hesitation. “Waiting.”
“For what?”
The gun lifted just a hair. Cap was through answering questions. “What’s she to you?”
It was the first time he’d acknowledged Lizzie. Max was out of time. He should take him out now. Except everything inside screamed against it. “And the woman back there–Kat? What about her?”
Behind his head, Max straightened his fingers, ready to move. “The girl in the car is my daughter. Kat’s her mother.” He had Cap’s wrist in his hand before he finished speaking. “If you want to live, drop the gun.”
Cap opened his fingers and the gun fell free. Max picked it up and trained it on the younger man. “What are you doing here?”
Cap rubbed his wrist and managed to look surly and sheepish all at once. “Watching her. In case Viper got tired of waiting for me to find her and sent someone else.”
##
Lizzie knew the instant the man on the hill moved. But he didn’t start toward her, so she just watched, fascinated by how quickly he’d gone from sitting to a low crouch. Like a tiger, she thought, and then glanced at the phone. Just twenty more minutes and she could call. The police would find Max and she couldn’t wait to ask him. The math all worked, but it meant her mother wasn’t her mother and why would she lie?
When she looked back up the hill, she straightened in her seat. There were two men now, one seated, one crouched. The one sitting had his hands behind his head. As she watched, he turned his head and found the car. Found her.
Lizzie squeaked and ducked her head. When she peered back over the dash a second later, the second man hadn’t moved. His eyes were still on the car
. “Time’s up, Max,” she whispered, lowering her head as she dialed.
“Detective Reicher, please.” Darn! Her voice was too high, too scared. Kat. Kat wasn’t scared, hadn’t once sounded terrified as she’d faced Vic. Lizzie would make her voice like Kat’s. What was it Max had told her to say?
“Reicher here.”
“My name is Lizzie Clark. I need your assistance.” She gave the address and forgot the rest of her carefully rehearsed speech. “Max is in trouble, and Kat, too and you need to bring all your SWAT guys. Really fast.”
“Where are you, Lizzie?”
“In a car. North of the radio towers off of 120th.”
“Are you safe?”
“I was,” she breathed, risking another glimpse. Both men were on their feet. Headed her way. “Now I don’t know.”
“You just keep talking to me, honey.” Over the phone, she heard some muffled yelling, and then the detective’s calm voice again. “Whose car are you in?”
“I don’t know. Not Uncle Max’s. He went after Vic, and you were supposed to help him. You did, right? Only he didn’t come back and now there’s these two guys. They’re coming down the hill. One of them’s been here all morning, just sitting and the other one–“ Lizzie risked another glance, dropped the phone and scrambled out of the car. “Max!”
He held out one hand, warning her off. Lizzie stopped just a few feet from him and felt a shiver when she saw the gun in his hand. She looked at the other man and backed up. All the way to the car.
“I called,” she whispered, unable to look away from Cap. The front bumper hit her legs.
“Lizzie.” Max’s voice was soft.
She couldn’t look away from Cap. Using her hands, she hoisted herself onto the hood and kept backing up, sliding her bottom toward the windshield.
“Lizard.” Her gaze darted to Max, but then flew back to Cap.
Max gave a small grunt of disapproval.
“I’m s-sorry, Max. I know it wasn’t time, but he was–you were–“
Sirens sounded, loud and strong. Lizzie waited for Cap to attack. The radio in Max’s hand squawked.
“Ice?”
“Where’s Kat?”
“Here. Stable. Where are you?”
“In the neighborhood. Sending Cap to you to help clean. I need to change the deal because we’ve got company. Hear ‘em?”
Lizzie heard a soft chuckle. “Thanks for the warning. We’ll be going. I’ll be in touch, very soon.”
The sirens grew louder, more insistent. Lizzie flattened her palms on the warm glass of the windshield. “Max?” she called, finally daring to look away from the captured soldier.
“Hang on, Lizard. I’ll be right there.” Just as squealing tires announced the police’s arrival in the subdivision, Max lowered his gun. “Go.”
Cap gave a brief nod and Lizzie watched in utter astonishment as he turned and fled up the hill, into the field. He’d disappeared long before Max strode to the car, hauled her off the hood and into his arms.
Chapter Twenty
Kat stroked Max’s hand to get him to ease up on the pressure he applied to hers. She knew exactly how he felt–how close they’d all come to losing each other. In the dim quiet of her hospital room, she ran her fingers through his thick hair as he kissed her fingers and released them. He smiled at her and then his gaze drifted to his daughter, sleeping quietly in the next bed. Her eyes followed his, her heart twisting in unbelievable relief and joy. Max fought long, hard and uselessly to get Lizzie in the bed next to hers instead of in Pediatrics. Kat made a single phone call and the request was granted. Professional courtesy had its privileges.
“How’s Miriam?” she whispered.
“She’s stabilized enough they’re starting to think about surgery. The infection’s better.” He spoke so quietly she could barely hear. She grabbed Max’s hand, sealing her mouth with his palm. Max kissed her hair. “I’ll take Lizzie to see her tonight. I’ll tell her what happened, and that I know.” He cleared his throat and changed the subject. “Did you call your mom?”
She nodded, amazed, still unable to believe her mother was innocent. “She didn’t blame me. She said Colorado will be her first stop but she wants to travel for awhile before she settles down. All she said about me was it had taken me long enough to get the proof. You did find it, right?”
Max’s eyes reflected a cold, hard light for a moment and then it was gone. “We have a confession. On tape.”
Kat shuddered. “He taped it?”
“Yeah. He was one sick bastard.” Max eased her bangs off her forehead, tracing around the patches of white bandage.
“I hate that I didn’t see how sick he was. I can’t believe I married him.” Rage shook her voice. Max laced his fingers through hers.
“I worked for him. Trusted him for years. Killed a friend for him. Never saw the evil.”
She closed her eyes. So much pain. So much loss. Her father, her mother, Max, Lizzie, all the others he’d impacted. “Death is too simple. Killing him wasn’t enough.”
Max pressed a kiss against her hair. “Stops the evil. That’s all it does. Doesn’t give back what was lost. That’s up to us to reclaim. Some things are gone for good.”
“My father,” she whispered and he touched his forehead to hers in acknowledgement. “Your friend.”
“Crater let me know the end of the tape is missing. Reicher informed me they’ve got a lot of blood and no dead bodies at the scene. He wants to know what happened. I told him I couldn’t remember. He’ll be by to see if you remember tomorrow, and the answer is no, you don’t remember anything. The day after that Reicher’ll have a letter from a senator telling him the matter is settled and no further investigation is necessary.”
She understood all he hadn’t said. No trial, no publicity, no reports or paper trails. Best of all, no reliving the events a thousand times for a hundred officials. “Just another DPD cold case file. After Reicher’s encouraged to leave it alone, it’ll haunt him forever, you know.”
“Can’t be helped.”
“Who has the tape?” Her mother would be free!
“Crater. I spoke to Ghost while they were stitching you up. He wondered if I wanted to take over the unit.” Her heart thudded painfully in her chest until he smiled. “I told him thanks but no thanks. My original reasons for leaving are still intact. Doubled, actually.” He glanced at Lizzie’s sleeping form again.
This time, Kat watched him. Her heart filled up again. So much joy. So much hope. So much …. She cleared her throat, her fingers tightening within his. “No more secrets, Max. Not ever again. No secrets, no lying, no leaving. No more.”
“Never again. Ever,” he agreed and sealed it with a kiss.
“What did Ghost say? He’s scary.”
Max smiled at her description. “He likes you, too. And he’s not easy to charm. He’s going to take over. Put the pieces back together.” His eyes swung back to hers, filled with a touch of sorrow now. “He’s also going to help me find Blade’s widow, see if she needs anything. She was pregnant.” His voice trailed off.
Kat threaded her fingers through his and squeezed. “You didn’t know, Max.”
He sighed, then returned the pressure. “Yeah. Now I gotta do what I can. Ghost’ll find her, if anyone can. I’m glad he’s taking over the unit. Despite how it ended, we did a lot of good. Still a lot of bad guys out there.”
She pressed a kiss to the fingers that stroked her cheek. “Just so you’re not chasing them.”
“Only the one’s in Bluff River Falls.”
Dread descended again. “You’re not a cop–are you?” Incredible she hadn’t asked, not once, what he did now.
His fingers slid through her hair, sampling the texture. “Security systems,” he told her. “I keep the bad guys out now.” He cleared his throat again. “Speaking of which, yours isn’t very good. I can offer you a great deal.”
Her gaze sought out the wall, thinking of her empty house. And Vic’s, no Viper
’s cameras. She closed her eyes, prepared for a lecture on facing her fears. Only these weren’t just fears. Nightmares of reality had their own heading. “I’m not going back to that house.”
“Good.” Max tilted her chin and she opened his eyes to find his killer grin. “Then I’ve got a really good deal for you.”
