Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Wolfe
“Hey,” I greeted Lynx when Rhys took off out the door like his ass was on fire.
It had taken a couple of minutes to get the man to share the details of the call, and once he had, I understood his sudden panic. In fact, it had triggered my own.
“What’s up?”
“Where you at?”
“Home. Why?”
“We got a problem.” I went on to explain what Rhys had told me, trying to keep my voice low so that I didn’t wake Amy.
Rhys and I had decided we’d try to find a way to explain this to her without sending her spiraling into a full-blown panic attack.
I knew I probably needed to do so now, but until Rhys confirmed what was going on, we’d decided it was better to keep her in the dark.
Not that either of us liked it, but it was necessary.
“Son of a fuckin’ bitch,” Lynx roared. “I need to call Reagan. Fuckin’ A.”
Without another word, Lynx disconnected the call, and I stared at my phone. Less than a minute later, the damn thing was ringing again.
“You get ahold of her?”
“Fuck no. I just hope like hell it’s ’cause she’s pissed at me. I’m on my way to Amy’s right now.”
I heard a familiar ding-ding-ding that said Lynx was getting into his truck.
“Let me know when you get her.”
When the call disconnected that time, I tossed my phone on the counter.
My eyes slid to the shotgun sitting in the corner, and I pushed off the counter and headed over to it. I double-checked to ensure it was loaded, then set it back down.
If the devil himself showed up on my doorstep tonight, he was going to regret ever fucking with the woman I loved.
And if by chance he didn’t show up, if he was merely playin’ a game, it would be time to implement plan B. After all, my aunt had married into a pretty powerful family. A family that would take no shit from anyone. And I knew exactly which cousin I needed to call to help me on this.
Grabbing my phone, I skimmed through my contacts until I found the man I was looking for.
Time to give Travis Walker a call.
The phone rang twice before my cousin’s gruff voice answered. “’Lo?”
“Hey, Trav. It’s Wolfe.”
“What’s up, man? Things good?”
“Not really, no. I need your help.”
“You got it.”
That was what I loved about family. They were willing to help without even knowing what it was you needed.
“All right then. Here’s what’s goin’ on…”
Lynx
“Goddamn it,” I yelled, slamming my phone down on my leg. “Sorry, boy,” I told Copenhagen when the dog peered over at me.
Reagan wasn’t answering the damn phone and I was still five miles out. It was making me fucking crazy. If that crazy fucking lunatic bastard had made an appearance in Embers Ridge, the woman was a sitting duck.
There was no doubt about it, the asshole knew right where Amy was. Or rather, where she should be. Had probably known all along. There was no other explanation for the detective who’d arrived here to die here the same day. I didn’t even need Wolfe’s or Rhys’s confirmation that it was her.
It was her. And that bastard was lurking somewhere. Maybe h’ed come to snuff out the detective, but he wasn’t leaving without finishing what he came for. The accident reeked of desperation, which meant Amy damn sure wasn’t safe. And in turn, neither was Reagan.
“Fuck.” I white-knuckled the steering wheel. “We have to get to her, Cope. Have to. If that motherfucker thinks Reagan’s Amy…”
I didn’t want to think about that.
But it was possible.
It damn sure didn’t help that Reagan looked similar enough to Amy before she had dyed her hair. In a dark house, the asshole wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
“Goddammit!” I roared, hitting the steering wheel.
I hated this helpless feeling. Fucking hated it.
With my foot to the floor, I fishtailed off the main road and onto the dirt road that led to Amy’s place.
Three minutes.
I'd be there in three fucking minutes.
Right now, that felt like an eternity.
Reagan
I heard the noise when I was washing my face.
I slipped out of the bathroom, hand towel pressed to my cheek. Glancing left into the guest room where I'd been sleeping, I checked to see if it had come from there. I didn’t see anything.
That didn’t stop me from setting the hand towel down and picking up my sawed-off shotgun. This was my no-nonsense gun. It made grown men’s eyes widen and their nuts shrivel. That was the very reason I loved it.
The rest of the house was dark, so I turned to my right, moved slowly down the hall.
I heard it again. The sound of the lock on the front door.
My phone rang again, but I ignored it.
I knew Amy wasn’t the visitor at the front door. No way would she come home this late. For one, she couldn’t drive herself since her car was parked out front.
I stopped at the mouth of the hallway, shotgun up and aimed at the front door.
“Just to warn you,” I stated firmly, loud enough to warn the would-be intruder, “my daddy taught me never to point a gun at a man unless I intend to shoot him. Open that door and I will put an extra hole in your body.”
The noise stopped, but I remained where I was. Waiting.
Several seconds passed, my heart hammering hard, blood rushing in my ears.
A pounding on the front door had me damn near coming out of my skin.
“Reagan! Open the goddamn door!”
Lynx?
What the fuck?
With the gun still at the ready, I moved closer to the door. “What do you want?”
“You to answer the goddamn phone,” he yelled back.
Okay, so it was definitely Lynx. I'd ignored at least one of his calls, and I figured the others had been from him, too.
Reaching over, I flipped the lock, then took a step back, the shotgun still aimed at center mass.
The knob turned and the door opened a fraction of an inch.
Taking a deep breath of relief, I lowered the gun. “Why the hell’d you try to break in?” I questioned, pissed that he’d do something so freaking stupid.
He frowned. “What are you talkin’ about?”
“The lock.” I nodded toward the door.
Lynx glanced down and studied the brass deadbolt.
“Fuck. Come on. Let’s get the fuck outta here.”
“Why? What happened?”
“I’ll fill you in on the way out. Keep the gun with you. Let’s go.”
Lynx Caine could be a world-class asshole, but he wasn’t the type to order me around unless he felt it was necessary.
And that was the only reason I followed him out the door and into the night.
Without a lick of makeup on.
Kelly
I watched from the shadows as the oversized tattooed cowboy took the brunette out to his truck.
My heart was slamming against my ribs, the adrenaline making my dick hard.
That had been damn close.
Too close.
If it hadn’t been for the roar of that damn engine, I would’ve been a sitting duck when that asshole showed up.
But I was so close.
Taking a deep breath, I stood from the shadows when the headlights turned and aimed in the opposite direction. They were leaving.
Good.
That would give me time to come up with a plan. One that would eliminate Amy once and for all. Shit. I'd already gone too far, taking out Jo, but the woman had been a menace. She shouldn’t have stuck her nose in my business.
Thankfully, she was no longer a threat.
And once I got my hands on Amy, she wouldn’t be, either.
But tonight wouldn’t work. With the accident, the local cops would be busy for a while, but that also meant they were out and about.
Since I was supposed to be in San Antonio on business, I would do well to head that way and be seen.
Taking care of that damn nosy detective had been my main objective tonight and I'd accomplished that.
There would be plenty of time to come back for Amy later.
I'd let some of the heat die down. Maybe a day. Possibly two.
But I would be back.
And I would take care of her once and for all.
Amy
I had no idea how long I'd been asleep, but I had a good idea of what had woken me. From Wolfe’s bedroom, I could hear voices. Loud voices. More than one, at that.
I took a few minutes to get myself presentable, using the restroom, pulling my hair up in a ponytail, brushing my teeth, and putting on clothes. By the time I emerged from the bedroom, the voices had subsided.
“Hey, baby,” Wolfe greeted.
When he walked across the room and came right to me, I knew something was wrong.
“What is it?”
My attention was drawn to Lynx and Reagan sitting at the kitchen table, Copenhagen sleeping on the floor in the middle of the kitchen.
“What happened?” My gaze darted around the house, anxiety curling in my belly. “Where’s Rhys?”
“He had to go work an accident,” Wolfe explained. “Come here. Sit down.”
I pulled out of his grasp. “Tell me, Wolfe. What’s goin’ on?”
He sighed as he thrust his hands in his pockets. “Joanna Tannenbaum was killed tonight.”
My heart slammed against my ribs. “What?”
Oh, God. Oh, God.
I felt the panic bubbling up from my belly. It raced up into my throat, threatening to strangle me.
“Sit,” Wolfe ordered, urging me down on the sofa.
This time I didn’t resist. My legs were too weak.
He followed me down, his arm coming around my shoulders. “She was leavin’ town. Someone ran her off the road. Rhys called a few minutes ago to confirm it was her and that he didn’t suspect it was an accident.”
“He’s here. He’s in Embers Ridge.” I couldn’t breathe. My chest was too tight, my lungs weighed down by some unseen force.
I leaned over, trying to catch my breath. I saw Lynx’s big booted feet as he came to stand in front of me. He perched on the coffee table and I forced myself to look up at him.
“He tried to break into your house tonight,” Lynx told me.
My gaze swung to Reagan. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I was ready for him.” A smile formed on her lips as she nodded toward the door.
I looked over to see three shotguns leaning against the wall and one big, nasty-looking gun beside them.
“Lynx must’ve scared him off,” Wolfe said, his arm tightening around me.
“Do you think he’s still here?” I asked, knowing no one could really answer that.
“Hard to tell, but I doubt it. With the accident and the cops out on patrol, he’s probably hightailin’ it outta Dodge.”
I dropped my head into my hands and took deep, cleansing breaths. Poor Jo.
As I thought about the detective who had come here to protect me, anger seeped into my bloodstream, erasing some of the panic. After a few more deep breaths, I lifted my head and peered at the three people watching me.
“He has to be stopped,” I insisted.
“That he does,” Lynx agreed.
“So what do we do?” I asked, looking to Wolfe for answers. “How do we stop him?”
“Don’t know, darlin’, but we’ll figure somethin’ out.” He pulled me closer to him and his lips pressed to my forehead. “I promise you that.”
It was one thing to know he was coming after me, something else entirely for him to start eliminating random people. If he could take out a detective, it wasn’t far-fetched to believe he could take out Rhys and Wolfe, too.
My blood turned to ice, and for the first time in my life, I felt something other than fear when it came to Kelly Jackson.
No, this was something akin to a full-blown homicidal rage.