Chapter 68
KANE
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Trying to ignore the fear for Amy that’s clawing a hole in my gut, I complete my drive-by of Hutchinson’s house and park my Land Rover two streets away.
In minutes, I’m out of the car and scaling the neighbor’s wall into Graham’s property.
My instincts are screaming that this is where Nolene has planned her showdown.
Security is too tight at the Galen Research Institute.
Ross wanted to accompany me, but I refused, and we almost came to blows. Already, I regret dragging him and Mel into this mess of an operation.
“Your involvement ends now,” I told them before I left. There’s no way I’m risking leaving Mel a widow or the wife of a convicted felon.
Feeling the adrenaline pumping through me, hoping my instincts are correct, I cross Hutchinson’s lawn.
I debated contacting Andries and letting him know what happened, but I decided not to involve him.
This is something I’ll handle on my own.
I’ve already kissed the money goodbye. Right now, the loss of funding is the least of my worries.
Locating Hutchinson’s back door, I insert a metal pick into the lock and the door opens easily.
I ease my weapon from the waistband of my jeans and slip inside.
A faint murmur of voices is coming from the direction of Graham’s study.
I head over there and peer around the doorframe, taking in the scene: a still-breathing Amy tied up on the floor, Graham trussed up in his study chair, and Nolene with her back to me standing in front of a large desk.
More importantly, Nolene’s .22 lies on the desk, within her reach, but not in her hand.
I cross the room in two long strides and knock her .22 out of reach. I point my own weapon at Nolene, catching sight of what looks like a homemade pipe bomb on the desk. My heart thunders in my chest. Pipe bombs are notoriously volatile.
“Step away,” I order Nolene.
I deliberately don’t look at Amy. I’m afraid she’ll throw off my focus, but the vivid marks on her face are burned into my brain. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how they got there. Rage washes over me.
“Kane.” Surprisingly composed, Nolene smiles at me. “I always said you know me better than I know myself.”
“I’m warning you, Nolene, step away.”
She doesn’t move. I pull the trigger. Nolene shrieks and clutches her upper arm.
“You had your warning,” I tell her steadily.
Her eyes are glazed with shock and pain, but she says, “You still don’t have the guts to aim for my heart.”
I flick a glance at the pipe bomb. “Unlike you, I’m not a murderer.”
“If I’m going to prison, so are you.”
“It’s a flesh wound,” I say. “Easy to dress and conceal from airport security. If you leave now you can make your flight.” Ignoring the protests of both Graham and Amy, I say to Nolene, “I don’t ever want to see or hear from you again. If I do, I swear to you I will aim higher.”
Still clutching her arm, she nods. “Kane, I never wanted it to come to this.”
“Don’t,” I bite out. “Just go.”
Without another word, she stumbles past me, out of the study and out of my life.
Tuning out Graham’s heated demands to be untied right this instant, I inspect Nolene’s pipe bomb.
It’s a fifteen-centimeter metal pipe capped at both ends.
She’d drilled a hole into one of the end-caps and covered it with tape, presumably to keep the powder in, but she hadn’t yet run a fuse through the hole into the pipe. I’d arrived in time.
I kneel next to Amy to cut away the duct tape binding her arms and legs. I can’t cut fast enough. The moment I’m done, I haul her to her feet and crush her against me. “I’m sorry,” I whisper into her hair. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“I’m okay,” she reassures me shakily.
I pull back so I can examine her. My jaw tightens when I see her bruises. “She hurt you.”
“She can’t hurt me anymore.”
I rub her wrists gently as she grits her teeth against the agony of returning circulation.
“Why did you let Nolene go?” Amy asks.
I’m honest with her. “I didn’t have it in me to send her to jail.”
“Wait a minute!” Graham speaks up. “I know your voice!”
Still keeping an arm around Amy, I turn to face her father, watching as bewilderment and anger chase themselves across Graham’s face.
“You’re the man who came to my house with those horrible pictures of Amy. You had on a ski mask and a police uniform.”
“Yes,” I admit. “I kidnapped your daughter.”
Graham struggles against his restraints. “Amy, what are you doing? Get away from him. Don’t you know who he is?”
“I know exactly who he is,” she answers without hesitation. “Dad, this is the man I’ve fallen in love with.”
“Amy, don’t,” I protest, even as her confession burns my chest with a warmth I haven’t felt in a long, long time.
Graham stares aghast at his daughter. “Sweetheart, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ve been duped by this man. He’s obviously brainwashed you.”
“It’s not like that, Dad.”
Graham narrows his eyes at her. “Amy Nina Hutchinson, I want you to untie me. Right now. Then we can deal with this.”
“Your choice,” I tell her softly. “You can untie him now or you can wait until I’m gone. Which will have to be in the next few minutes.”
“No!” Her hand tightens on my arm. She looks stricken.
“Amy, the longer I stay, the more I increase my chances of getting caught.”
“Please don’t go,” she begs.
“Amy, don’t you listen to him!” Graham roars.
I cup her face. “I love you too. I love you with every fiber of my being. It took almost losing you for me to realize that.”
A voice splinters the silence following my declaration. “Well, well, how cozy. Not quite how I pictured this would all turn out.”