Vigilante

by Velvet Vaughn

  She looked at his face and sucked in a breath. “I met you and your father at the gala. Trent Charles.” Her gut had been right about him…he was pure evil.

  “That was a kick in the pants seeing you there.” He chuckled. “My roommate about had a coronary.”

  “I noticed. Ray Smith is his name?”

  “Sure is.”

  “So, Trent, you shot at me outside my apartment on Wednesday?” She hoped using his name would forge a bond that would make it harder for him to harm her.

  Trent shook his head. “That was Ray.”

  “Ray killed my roommate and her boyfriend later that night?”

  “No, that would be me.”

  She recoiled at the amused look on his face. Tamping down her reactions, she asked, “The shooting at the funeral?”

  “Ray again.”

  “And the bombs?”

  He smiled proudly. “Those are all me, though it was a pity the chick caught me putting the one under your car.”

  She gaped at him. “You killed eleven people at the television station, including Ray’s girlfriend, Mindy.”

  He clicked his tongue. “Yeah, that was too bad. She was a tiger in bed. And she was my girlfriend, not Ray’s. I just gave her his name so she wasn’t tied to me.”

  She held up her hands. “Why, Trent? I don’t even know you or Ray. I met you for the first time at the gala. Why are you trying to kill me?”

  “Eh, it was all Ray’s idea. Since the Vigilante seems to speak through you, he thought if we got rid of you, the guy would go away. Nothing personal.”

  Nothing personal? Was this guy delusional? Attempted murder was pretty damn personal. “Why would Ray think that?” Recognition dawned. “Did you get away with murder?”

  “A girl died while she was partying with us. We dumped her body but we were never charged with the crime. I tried telling Ray that the Vigilante wouldn’t come after us but he wouldn’t listen.” He made a circle against his temple with his finger. “Guy’s a little batshit.”

  Ya think? “If it was Ray’s idea and you thought he was crazy, why did you go along with it?”

  His smile was malicious. “That girl who died…it wasn’t an accident. I killed her. I wrapped my hands around her neck and squeezed the life out of her. The rush was intense. I developed quite a fondness for murder. Then I shot those two people in your apartment and now I can’t seem to stop. I followed some random girl home the other day and killed her, too.”

  My God, he truly was depraved. She couldn’t hide her reaction any longer. “You’re sick.”

  She wasn’t prepared for the blow across her cheek. Her head snapped to the side and pain exploded.

  “Shut up, bitch, or I’ll kill you right here.”

  She blinked back the tears welling in her eyes. She was in a battle for her life with a sadistic psychopath. She needed to keep her wits. “You’ll never get away with this, Trent.”

  “Oh, I think I will. After I get rid of you, I’ll make an anonymous call to the police and send them to Ray’s apartment. They’ll find him dead along with a note fessing up to all of the crimes.” Apparently done with his confession, he turned away to peer out the door. “Okay, your boyfriend is occupied. We’re going to calmly walk out of here and turn left. You make one sound, so much as a peep, and I’ll pump your boyfriend full of so much lead he’ll be able to use his dick as a pencil.”

  “Clever. Three Amigos?”

  “Ah, a movie buff, huh? Too bad I have to kill you.” His salacious gaze raked her body and she fought the urge to shudder. “I think we’d get along really well, Olivia. Don’t you?” Thankfully he didn’t give her time to answer as he tweaked her arm and reached for the handle. She managed to grab the strap of her purse. “Remember, not a sound or I’ll mow down every one in the area: men, women, kids, I don’t give a damn. Then you will die. Painfully. Understand?”

  She nodded. She had no doubt he’d do it. After seeing the bullet-ridden body of her roommate, she knew what he was capable of. There was madness in his eyes.

  He opened the door and they slipped out. She wanted to yell for Alex, scream out for help, but the poke of the firearm against her side stopped her. They made their way down the hall and into the stairwell without anyone noticing their presence.

  #

  Alex watched as Olivia padded down the hall to her producer’s room. He hoped like hell the guy wasn’t about to confess to being the Vigilante. It would crush her.

  Sawyer was on the phone with the office filling them in on the bombing and Ray Smith. He’d put money down that their techs would track the man down before the police.

  “Mylonas?”

  He turned to see Detective Benson striding towards him. “Hey, Derek. I just spoke with your partner.”

  “Yeah, she told me. This could be the break we need.”

  “What are you doing here? Interviewing bombing victims?”

  Benson nodded. “What about you?”

  “Olivia’s producer texted her needing to talk.”

  Benson studied his notebook in confusion. “Jonah Wyles?” At Alex’s confirmation, he added, “That’s strange. I just interviewed him and both of his wrists are broken. No way he could text.” He looked up from his notes. “Plus, he’s two floors up.”

  Panic sliced through Alex like a white-hot knife. “Sonofabitch.” He darted across the hall and shoved the door open with two hands. It crashed against the wall. Benson was on his heels, followed by Sawyer, who’d been alerted by his mad dash. “Olivia?” Something crunched under his foot. He glanced down to see the shattered remains of her cell phone. “The bastard has her.” Blackness swarmed around the edges of his vision. If he lost her, it would gut him.

  “You chipped her,” Sawyer reminded him, pulling him from the edge of the abyss.

  Damn, he should have thought of that but he was having trouble dragging air into his lungs. He’d attached a device to her watch. Fear made his hands tremble as he withdrew his cell and brought up the tracking program. “They’re going down that stairwell.” He pointed. “You two follow. I’ll go down the other one and we’ll cut him off.”

  With guns in hand, Sawyer and Derek bolted for the stairs. Adrenalin fueled Alex as he raced down the corridor to a different exit. He leaped from flight to flight barely touching the steps. He had to dodge a couple going up and he called out an apology over his shoulder. He shoved the door open and rounded the building to see Sawyer and Benson pointing guns on a man who held one to Olivia’s head. If he could sneak up behind them, he could surprise the bastard before sending him to meet the devil.

  Chapter Thirty

  Alex hadn’t witnessed Trent drag Olivia down the stairs, but she had no doubt he’d find her. Until he did, she needed to buy him some time. She faked tripping and grabbed the rail with both hands to stop her fall.

  “Get the hell up, bitch,” Trent snarled.

  Both of their heads snapped up when the door on the next landing opened. A man in scrubs stepped out. He paused when he saw them and swept out a hand. “After you.”

  Her captor threw his arm over her shoulder and yanked her close, his grip brutal. “Appreciate it,” he said to the doctor as they passed by him. The other man’s presence slowed their progress, but all too soon, they reached the door leading outside. Trent shouldered it open while the doctor continued down. She thought she heard heavy pounding on the stairs as they proceeded outside. They just cleared the building when the door burst open behind them. “Police. Freeze.”

  Her captor jerked to a stop. He hauled her in front of him and slowly turned, digging the barrel of his gun against her temple. “Drop the weapons and move back or I blow her pretty little brains out.”

  “You drop the weapon,” Benson insisted, taking a step forward. “You’re caught. There is no way out of this for you.”

  Olivia tried scanning the area for Alex but she didn’t see him. He was here, she knew it. She felt it. But she wasn’t helpless. She’d taken self-defe
nse classes.

  Benson and Sawyer inched closer. “Stop!” her captor ordered. “Do not come any closer. I’ll kill her and then I’ll kill you. I swear it.” He moved the gun from her head to point back and forth between the two men. Olivia seized the opportunity. She drove her elbow into his solar plexus and stomped on his foot.

  “Ow, bitch,” he howled. He grabbed her hair, yanking her head back. She couldn’t stop a whimper as needles pricked her scalp. She flailed around and landed a punch to his nose, causing him to release his grip. He cocked his hand back to whip her with the butt of his gun, but his arm jerked to a stop. The gun clattered to the pavement. Alex! He swept Trent’s legs out from under him and followed him down, trapping him on the ground. Trent roared and slammed his head into Alex’s face. Alex’s head snapped back and he grunted. Trent used his distraction to roll over to fight. Bad move. Alex gripped his neck and pinned him to the ground.

  “Do it,” Trent ground out. “Chicken shit. Kill me, dammit. Do it.”

  For a split second, Olivia was afraid Alex would take him up on his offer. There was a feral look in his eyes she hadn’t seen before. She knew it was brought on by his intense worry for her.

  “I got him, Alex,” Benson said gently.

  Breathing heavy, Alex rolled off of Trent, blood pouring from a cut under his eye where the man head-butted him. Red coated his sleeve, too, so he must’ve ripped the stitches. His wild gaze scanned the area and when he spotted her, he lurched to his feet, yanked her in his arms and crushed her to his chest. “Baby, I was so worried. When I realized you were gone and then I saw the gun against your head…” Tremors racked his big body.

  “Alex, I’m fine.” She placed a hand against his uninjured cheek. “I knew you’d find me.”

  “Here,” Sawyer handed him a handkerchief. “You don’t need to bleed all over the pretty lady.”

  Alex’s brows puckered. She took the cloth from Sawyer’s hand and gently pressed it against the cut.

  “You got nothing,” Trent screamed as Benson grabbed his arms and jerked him to his stomach. He slapped on cuffs and pulled out his wallet. He flipped to the driver’s license and held it up to Alex. “Trent Charles? I thought this was Ray Smith?”

  “Ray’s his roommate and accomplice,” Olivia told him.

  “In that case, Trent Charles, you are under arrest.”

  “Do you know who my father is?” Trent fought against the bonds. “My well-paid lawyers will have your badge for this. I’ll walk out of jail in less than an hour. You’ll see. You got nothing,” he repeated.

  Sawyer indicated Olivia’s purse. “May I?” She glanced down, surprised to see it was still strapped across her shoulder. At her okay, he dug around inside and withdrew a cell. She sighed in relief that his was still intact. He crouched down next to the handcuffed man.

  “What…where…” Trent’s confused gaze found her. “I crushed her phone.”

  Sawyer hit play and Trent Charles’ confession played loudly.

  “That’s illegal,” Trent roared. “You taped me without my consent. I’ll sue you.” A police car arrived and killed the siren, the red and blue lights reflecting off the limestone façade of the hospital. Two men got out and they hauled Charles to his feet. He fought against their hold, kicking and screaming. Somehow he managed to wrestle one of the officer’s guns from the holster even with his hands cuffed behind his back.

  Time slowed and sound ceased. Trent spun around, the gun behind his back. His grin was malevolent. He aimed at Olivia and fired. She didn’t have time to react. One minute, she was standing in Alex’s embrace, the next she was stumbling across the blacktop to land on her hands and knees in the grass. She twisted around and watched in horror as the bullet slammed into Alex’s chest. His arms flew out and he staggered backwards a few steps before his knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “No!” Olivia barely registered the other shots as she scrambled to her feet and rushed to Alex’s side. His eyes were closed and she couldn’t tell if he was breathing. She felt as if she was the one who had taken the bullet to the chest. She couldn’t breathe…couldn’t think. If anything happened to him, it would destroy her. “Alex. Oh God, Alex. You can’t be dead. I love you. I love you so much,” she sobbed. “Please wake up.”

  “Olivia.” Someone stroked her arm but she ignored them.

  “I can’t live without you, Alex. You are my everything. Please be okay.”

  “Olivia.”

  “I love you so much. Don’t leave me. I need you.”

  “Olivia.”

  Her eyes popped open to see Alex’s blue ones gazing at her. He was alive! With a cry of joy, she threw her arms around him. He grunted in pain. She jerked back as if burned. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Alex. Her hands roamed his chest.” She glanced around. “Someone call an ambulance!”

  “You said you love me.”

  Her eyes snapped to his. He was grinning like an idiot. Maybe he was in shock? “Why are you smiling? I saw the bullet hit you.”

  “I love you, too.” He coaxed her down and kissed her. She sighed against him and he sucked in a sharp breath. She lurched back again. “You are hurt.”

  He gingerly pulled up his t-shirt to reveal a black Kevlar vest with a bullet lodged in the O of COBRA Securities. She should’ve remembered the vest…she wore one just like it. He’d made her put one on every time they left the hotel, except for Darla’s funeral and the gala, and the only reason he agreed to let her leave without it was because it didn’t fit under the dresses.

  He winced as he touched the bullet. “Definitely going to have a bruise and I might have cracked a rib.”

  “That bullet was meant for me but you pushed me out of the way.” Olivia promptly burst into tears and fell onto his chest. Too late she processed his cracked rib comment. When she tried to pull back, he held her tight.

  Sawyer jogged over. “You okay, Mylonas?”

  “Peachy.” His voice was husky.

  Sawyer crouched down beside them and fingered the vest. “I’ll never question the requirement that we wear these at all times on an assignment.”

  “Me, either,” Alex agreed. “Olivia, baby, I need to get up. There’s a rock the size of Texas digging into my kidney.”

  She scrambled back and held his arm as Sawyer helped him to his feet. He grabbed his side and winced.

  “We need to get you to the hospital right now,” she fretted.

  “I am not going to the hospital,” he scoffed. “They can’t do anything for it anyway. I’ll just take it—”

  “You are going to the hospital.” Her voice was shrill and border-line hysterical, but she didn’t care. “You were shot, I thought you were dead!”

  “Olivia, baby.” He pulled her into his arms. “Shh, I’m fine. I’ll go to the hospital. Anything. Whatever you want, baby. Please don’t cry. It breaks my heart.”

  Olivia nodded against his chest but she couldn’t make the tears stop. She’d been scared when Trent kidnapped her at gunpoint, but she didn’t know true terror until she watched a bullet slam into him. She’d have nightmares for the rest of her life. She focused on the steady beat of his heart.

  “Who got him?” Alex asked Sawyer.

  “Toss-up between me, Benson or the other cop.”

  Olivia glanced over her shoulder. “Is he…”

  “Yep,” Sawyer confirmed. “You don’t have to worry about testifying at his trial.”

  She looked up at Alex. “He killed Darla.”

  “I’m sorry, babe.” His hands slid up to cup her face. Suddenly his eyes narrowed savagely and his muscles tensed. He tilted her head back. “That sonofabitch hit you.” She fingered her cheek. It hurt at the time but she’d completely forgotten about it. He grabbed her shoulders and eased her aside. “I’m going to resuscitate him so I can kill him again.”

  She grabbed his bicep to stop him and wrapped her arms around him. His muscles finally relaxed and he sighed into her hold. Th
e gash under his eye was bleeding again. What a pair they made. Finally, he asked, “Did he say why he came after you?”

  “Something about his paranoid roommate and a girl they killed. They thought if they got rid of me”—a shudder racked his body—“the Vigilante would go away.”

  “Idiots,” he growled.

  “You okay, Mylonas?” Benson walked over to check on him.

  “He needs to go to the hospital right now,” she insisted.

  Benson cleared his throat and she glanced at him. He jerked his head to the building a few feet away. “He’s already here.”

  In all the excitement, she’d completely forgotten where they were. She grabbed Alex’s hand and marched him inside. He grunted so she slowed her pace. Sawyer chuckled and said something that sounded liked “whipped”, which he tried to cover with a cough. Alex flipped him off. Olivia didn’t care what any of them thought. He was getting his injuries checked out.

  “I want them to look at your cheek, too. At the least, you need ice,” he insisted, but she wasn’t worried about herself.

  Already alerted to the activities outside the hospital, a nurse met them in the hall and ushered them to a treatment room, which was basically a bed between curtains. The nurse cleaned the cut under Alex’s eye and closed it with butterfly bandages. He already had a shiner started. When she cut away his shirt and removed his vest, Olivia gasped in horror. There was a small red hole where the bullet impacted. The mark was ringed in yellow that bloomed into a dark purplish red. It was very close to his other bullet wound. He squeezed her hand to reassure her but she couldn’t take her eyes off the spot. He’d risked his life for her…taken a bullet for her. If he hadn’t pushed her out of the way, the slug would’ve slammed into her head.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, I need to clean his arm.”

  “Oh, right.” Olivia moved out of the way so the nurse could repair the ripped stitches. Once it was bandaged, he was wheeled away to x-ray. She waited with an ice pack pressed to her cheek. When he returned, he smiled at her and her heart felt like bursting. She loved this man so much.