Chapter Eighteen #3
“I gave her a dose of what I gave you. A large one. She was screaming when I left. I didn’t bother to give her the paralytic, so it was fun to watch her jerk and break some bones.”
She hated this man. He was right about one thing, though. It would give him a hell of a distraction since everyone would need to help hold Lou down and pray she made it through.
She had to hope Tris and Tash were still watching. Her father would have left her mother in a sniper position, protecting the evacuation site. If they could get there, her mom would take them all out before they could consider doing anything.
But she wasn’t sure how far away that was or whether Huisman would have the same exit strategy.
She suspected he would have a helo somewhere. It was how he liked to roll.
She tucked her hand into Ben’s, threading their fingers together. They’d almost made it out.
“Take their guns,” Huisman ordered.
She squeezed his hand. It might be better to go out in a fight than to let him take them away. If he had them both, he would torture them in ways she couldn’t imagine. Except she had a really creative mind and so she could, and death might be preferable.
“Stay calm,” Ben said quietly.
He handed over his P90 and they took Kenzie’s SIG.
“I should have done this sooner,” Huisman said. “I’ve enjoyed this game of ours, Benjamin, but it’s time for you to face some consequences.”
Ben turned away from Huisman, cupping her face with both hands. “Kenzie, I love you. Do whatever it takes to survive.”
“I’m talking to you, Benjamin.” Huisman sounded awfully annoyed.
Ben leaned over, placing his forehead on hers. “You are everything, Kenzie Taggart. You are worth it all. Worth the pain. Worth the fear. Your love is the bedrock of my existence, and I’m so sorry to drag you into this.”
Tears pierced her eyes, and she was so happy Kala had the foresight to get him to sign that non-legally binding document because she wouldn’t make him grovel at all after those words. Those beautiful words. But she did enjoy a good grovel.
If they survived…
She moved into his space. “I wouldn’t change a thing. I would always want to be here with you. No matter what.”
Come what may, and what was coming was likely an enormous amount of pain.
Her heart hurt, an actual ache in her chest.
“Benjamin,” Huisman shouted.
Ben simply held her, hugging her tight.
“You ignore me for your whore?” Huisman was starting to sound unhinged. “This is your problem. You cannot see what is good for you. You have a small mind.”
“I’m pretty sure you have a small penis. And don’t you dare call my daughter a whore,” a familiar voice said.
That was when her father opened fire.
Ben immediately moved, hauling her down. He covered her body with his. “Keep your head down, baby. Let your dad and Zach do their work.”
Zach was here?
She heard the sound of doors closing and saw that while her dad and Zach had taken out all the guards, Manny had managed to get the door closed.
And they were on the wrong side. They were locked in with the madman.
“Huisman, let my kids go and I won’t have you murdered while you flee,” her father said.
Ben wouldn’t move. If anything, he shifted so she was completely covered. Like he was ready to take all the bullets that were coming their way.
Huisman was oddly quiet for a moment and then sounded somber.
“I think I’m finally caught, Mr. Taggart.
Rather like my father. But my father wasn’t as smart as I am.
If this is the end for me, it’s the same for you.
And you can thank your little freak Louisa for this.
I primed the bomb before I left her. It should be more than enough to blow this whole place sky high and scorch the earth around us. Your precious daughters all gone.”
She heard something smash against the door. Likely her father’s fists.
“Don’t. Don’t you fucking dare,” he screamed, though the heavy doors muffled the sound.
Someone took a couple of shots at the door, but it was definitely bulletproof.
Her father wouldn’t make it in time.
“I wish you had been a better friend, Benjamin. I blame you. If I had never met you perhaps my life would have been easier,” Huisman was saying.
“Stay still, Kenz,” Ben whispered. “It’ll be over soon. I love you so much.”
It would be over soon. For all of them.
She would miss her brothers, miss Seth’s concerts and lazy Sundays with Travis and Colton. She would miss Colton growing up, but they would be okay. They would know how much she loved them.
“Good-bye, Benjamin. Remember you brought this on yourself,” Huisman intoned.
Ben tensed over her, and the world seemed to explode around them. She heard the sickening sound of squishy things hitting the floor.
And then the door opened again.
How? What?
“Ben, you got some asshole on your back there,” her dad was saying.
“And I’m pretty sure he’s in your hair, too.” Zach sounded close. “Lou might have gone overboard with the C-4.”
She was confused. Ben moved off her.
“I’m so sorry, baby. I knew what Lou did. Tristan told me, but I didn’t have any way to tell you.” He held a hand out to help her up.
At least his front wasn’t covered in evil doctor.
“Lou wired the detonator to blow,” her dad explained. “Tris watched her on the security cams and figured out what she was doing. She modified the C-4 she was given through the process she developed. She wasn’t building Shannon’s bombs. She was building her own.”
“My mom’s going to be so proud of her,” Zach said with a grin. “Lucky for you Ben’s a big bastard or you would have… Kenzie, are you alright?”
“Hey, you went pale,” her father said.
Her chest was too tight. Far too tight, and they were surrounded by blood and a fine pink mist that was probably Huisman.
She couldn’t breathe.
Her father touched his earpiece. “I need Cooper down here now, and Lucy I’m going to need you to undo whatever you did to that helo because we’re going to need it. Kenzie’s having a heart attack.”
Was she? It was odd because she’d thought it was just emotion.
Pain shot down her arm.
Nope. Probably a heart attack. Asshole might still get her.
Her vision dimmed and Ben caught her, hauling her against his chest.
They started moving, but her last sight was of his gorgeous face.
He would survive, and so would her family.
It was enough.
* * * *
“Dude, you got to get covered in the blood of your enemy. Do you know how often I dream of that? You’re welcome.”
Ben looked up from his spot at Kenzie’s bedside. She was being monitored, but her heart seemed to have come through.
Her heart was such a mighty thing.
Kala stood at the end of the bed, dressed in her usual uniform of black on black on black, while Tristan was unusually casual in sweats and a T-shirt, his hair rumpled like he’d recently rolled out of bed.
“Shouldn’t it be Lou I’m thanking? I don’t think you rewired that detonator to explode,” Ben pointed out.
Tris shook his head. “Yeah, Kala’s good at a lot of things, but hiding a tiny, powerful bomb inside a detonator that then detonates itself is pure Lou.”
Kenzie’s hand squeezed his as her eyes opened. “She’s jealous you got to see it. How is Lou?”
Oh, every time she woke up, he breathed a sigh of relief. They had their chance now, and he wasn’t about to waste it.
Kala seemed to sober. “She’s in the room next door, and she’s going to be fine.
Thanks to Milena. She heard what happened and snuck in while we were trying desperately to figure out what to do.
They trained that kid well. She told me the doctor always had a counter drug in case he needed it.
Lou broke her leg when she was in the throes of it, though. ”
“How is TJ?” Kenzie asked.
TJ hadn’t left either. He and Ben had taken turns getting coffee and snacks so one of them was around. Watching over their women. Their hearts.
He had one again, and it was full.
“He slept on the floor by her bed because he didn’t want to risk touching her leg, but he wouldn’t let go of her hand,” Kala said with a hint of a smile.
“Slept like that all night and can’t figure out why he’s got cramps in his hand now.
Dumbass. Also, he’s hangry. Like super hangry.
I can’t help it that we’re in the ass end of nowhere Eastern Europe and there’s no street vendors to dole out hot dogs.
Lou is up now and asking about her nanite project.
Do you know where they put the suit? I’m sending Lucifer in to get it. ”
Lucy and Sami had been instrumental in getting them to the hospital, and Lucy proved she was good with logistics as she found a small hotel a block from the hospital. Not that he’d stayed there. He wouldn’t leave her side for more than a few moments.
He could have lost her.
He was never leaving her side again.
“There’s a room at the front of the lab wing where they had me change. I think it’s in one of the lockers,” Kenzie explained.
Tris pulled his cell. “I’ll let them know. The Brits are all out at the site.”
Kala nodded. “Oliver showed up last night. He’s pissed, by the way. He and Sami have been arguing for hours about him being left behind, so she gave him the fun job of dealing with Bulgarian intelligence. I’m pretty sure he already slept with the liaison they assigned to us. He’s so gross.”
He’d seen the attaché. She was lovely, but no one moved him any more except one pink-haired, gorgeous girl. “I think he called it supporting good political relationships, and as we haven’t had to deal with the local authorities, I’m going to thank Oliver’s dick.”
“He should call it spreading syphilis,” Kenzie quipped.
Kala ignored her. “Mom and Dad are on their way up. They’ve already called back to base, and we’ve got a shit ton of paperwork to do, but it looks like we’re going to be able to take down Disrupt now. Tris already found a ton of intel.”