Chapter 31
NOLAN
“No more needles for another year, I promise.”
Despite bribing Juno with a pup cup on the way home, she was still sulking in the back seat of the truck.
Visiting the veterinarian was her least favourite activity.
After Nolan found her, she’d spent months being treated for her broken leg, and she still bore a grudge toward anyone wearing scrubs or a stethoscope.
The driveway at the vineyard had turned dusty after the recent storm, the land once more desperate for rain, and Nolan slowed down as he headed for the house.
Most of last night’s dinner had gone in the trash, so he’d stopped at a deli in Sacramento to pick up lunch for Alexa on the way home.
A Reuben sandwich and half a dozen cookies.
She needed to eat, and he sure hoped she’d taken a nap after last night’s antics.
Next time, he’d tell the Priest guy that Alexa had more important things to do in the early hours than his dirty work, whatever that work involved.
She’d glossed over the details, but she’d been cursing the US government in general and politicians in particular over breakfast.
Juno leapt out of the truck the instant Nolan opened the door and hightailed it into the house.
He picked up a bag of food in each hand and followed, and it was only when he neared the back door that he wondered why it was open.
Alexa wouldn’t have left it that way. She was obsessive about security, always had been.
Even when she went to the mailbox, she locked up behind herself, that was if she couldn’t convince someone else to make the trip to the end of the driveway for her.
He glanced across at the chicken run, just in case she’d gone to feed them.
Since the summer, she’d gone from being a confirmed animal-phobe to being reasonably tolerant of Juno, and Nolan had a sneaking suspicion she was even starting to like the dog.
The chickens were growing on her too, although she still preferred them fricasseed.
She wasn’t at the chicken run.
Then he heard the barking.
Not excited, please-give-me-a-treat yips, but something far more urgent and ugly.
Nolan ran inside, following the sound, not just the barking but a scream too.
A woman’s scream. Alexa. His pulse raced, the sound of blood turbulent in his ears, loud, but not loud enough to drown out Juno’s yelp.
Where was Alexa’s gun? The bedroom? He didn’t have time to get it or his own revolver.
No time.
I can’t lose another one.
Ruby had died in his house, his home, his sanctuary. And now Alexa was in trouble.
He found her in the study, motionless and bleeding with Marielle’s slender fingers wrapped around her throat.
Still squeezing, focused on the task at hand even as Juno sank gleaming white teeth into a cashmere-clad shoulder and shook, trying to pull the enemy off, trying to save Nolan’s girl.
He didn’t even think, just grabbed the paper knife from the desk organiser and lashed out, catching Marielle by surprise. She looked up, eyes wide.
Shocked by his appearance?
Or by the river of scarlet that gushed from her neck?
“Nolan…” she started, then clutched at the wound with both hands, trying and failing to stem the flow.
Nolan stared in horror too, at the blood, at the knife clutched in his hand, but then Alexa groaned, and he snapped out of his stupor and fell to his knees beside her.
She was bleeding too, from a gash on her face, from her arms, from her hands.
“Don’t you die on me.”
For a long moment, he feared she might be obstinate enough to disregard his plea, but then her eyes fluttered open.
“B-b-b—”
“What, baby?”
“Bitch.”
She kicked out with surprising ferocity, and Marielle toppled sideways. A pair of scissors landed on the wooden floor with a clunk.
“Alexa? Fuck, I need to call someone. An ambulance. I need to call an ambulance. And the cops.”
He fumbled the phone out of his pocket, only to drop it as she grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what? You’re bleeding. Marielle’s bleeding. And those bruises on your neck…”
“Give…give me the phone.” Juno began licking Alexa’s face, and she rolled her head to the side. “Hey, get off!”
“Juno!”
Marielle made a gurgling sound, one that left Nolan nauseous, but Alexa just gave her another kick.
“Oh, shut up, Rayna.”
“Rayna? What’s Rayna?”
“It’s a long story.”
“We need help.”
“Yeah, I know.” Alexa took another shaky breath. “I’ll call someone.”
“The sheriff. We need to call the sheriff. And an ambulance—the EMTs might be able to save her.”
How long would they take to arrive? The nearest emergency room was in Jackson, a twenty-five-minute drive under normal circumstances. Would an ambulance make it in fifteen? Twenty?
“I’m, like, ninety percent sure they won’t. You got an artery.” Alexa was gaining strength as Marielle’s hold on life weakened. “So congrats, she has four more minutes, tops.”
“An artery? Shit, we have to do something.”
“Want me to google the last rites?” The last rites? Damn, that was cold. Alexa had never been warm and fuzzy, but this clinical side of her was new, especially when blood was involved. “Do you have to be a priest to do those? Or can regular people just read them out?”
“How the hell should I know? And you’re bleeding too. Hell, you’re bleeding.”
“Relax, I’ll have somebody come and take care of everything.”
“Relax? Are you kidding?”
“You want me to get a bottle of Xanax delivered? Or do you still have a stash?”
In on four, hold, out on four… “Alexa, there’s a half-dead body on the floor.”
And Nolan had taken a woman’s life. Oh hell, he was turning into his father.
Linus Sykes and all the detectives had been right—he was genetically flawed, born to kill, and the worst part?
He couldn’t bring himself to feel guilty about it.
Not when Marielle had been choking the life out of Alexa, not when she’d been so hell-bent on the job that not even Juno’s teeth could stop her.
What else could he have done? Then he felt guilty for not feeling guilty, and his racing heart signalled an anxiety attack coming on.
“Sit,” Alexa directed, struggling to her knees as Nolan crumpled onto the rug beside a now-still Marielle. “Don’t worry, I’ll fix it.”
Was Marielle dead? She looked dead.
“Fix it? You can’t bring her back to life.”
“Shhh.” Alexa picked up Nolan’s phone. “I’ll handle everything.”