Chapter Six
Kaylee
Rick fell to the ground in convulsions, and she stared down at him in horror, watching him writhe.
Her gaze finally followed the taser wires up to the outstretched arm of her coworker, Gillian, who stood a few feet away, holding the other end of the taser, dressed in black jeans and a hoodie.
Her waist-length purple hair was secured in a messy bun, and Kaylee didn’t know why she was so surprised to see her.
Gill only lived a few blocks down the road, so it made sense she was already there to cover Kaylee’s shift, but she’d had no idea Gillian carried anything more than a set of keys and a chip on her shoulder.
“Holy shit, Gill! What did you do?” Kaylee knelt and poked Rick’s shoulder. He groaned, a low, guttural sound.
Gill snapped the gum in her mouth, her green eyes wide as her gaze flicked between the taser in her hands and the electrodes attached to Rick’s back. “I got him!”
“Yeah, but …” Kaylee trailed off, panic seizing her chest as the repercussions of this moment sank in. Gill squatted next to Rick and removed the electrodes from his back. Kaylee squirmed, watching Rick’s still frame. Did people normally stay down so long after being tased?
“Who is he?” Gill asked, watching Kaylee rub her wrist. It wasn’t like Rick really hurt her, but she could still feel the warmth of his skin on hers like a brand.
“He’s—” My nemesis? The guy I poisoned? The fed who wants me to risk my life so he can make his career?
Rick groaned again, and she met Gill’s eyes, watching the other woman hold her taser up like she was going to hit him with round two.
“Don’t!” Her voice cracked with panic, and she cleared her throat. “I’ll take it from here. Go inside and don’t say a word about this to anyone. Got it?”
Gill frowned. “You don’t want to call the cops? He was attacking you.”
“He is a cop,” Kaylee murmured, watching Gill’s skin leach color.
Gill just tased an FBI agent! Kaylee wasn’t sure what the charges would be, but she could assume there would be a lot from what she’d seen on crime shows.
Hopefully, Rick hadn’t seen Gill or heard Kaylee call her by name.
She could go inside, as if nothing happened, and Rick would blame Kaylee.
Rick was slowly getting to his knees, holding on all fours and shaking his head. Shit, she should be running. This was exactly the distraction she’d needed to escape!
“He’s— Why— I have so many questions,” Gill says, her gaze flinging from Kaylee to the prone man on the ground.
“And I will answer them all, but right now, I need you to go inside.” Kaylee took off the coat she had grabbed before exiting the coffee shop and flung it over Rick’s head. “Now, now!”
Gill rushed to the back door, fumbling with her keys, while Kaylee took off down the alleyway, hurdling over icy patches covering the pavement. If she hurried, Kaylee might be able to hit home and grab the small bag at the back of her closet before Rick fully recovered.
Pumpkin!
Crap, she’d almost forgotten her guinea pig. She had to take her guinea pig. He wouldn’t understand if she didn’t come back.
“Kaylee!” Rick hollered behind her, and she picked up the pace, glancing back briefly to see him coming down the alleyway—
Her feet were suddenly gliding across a patch of ice she hadn’t clocked, and after a brief struggle to stay on her feet, she flew forward, landing on her stomach.
She barely managed to save herself from face-planting, pain bolting up her arms as she caught all her weight on them.
She’d almost made it, and now, it was over. Her freedom. Her life. All of it.
Kaylee blinked back tears, trying to clear her vision, but instead, her memories jerked her back to the night that changed everything.
She’d spent the week before speaking to her parents, the dean, and her teachers, who all signed off on her leaving school.
The night before she planned to head back home, Kaylee had heard Wyatt and Elasia arguing.
“You need to stop, Wyatt! What you’re doing is stupid and dangerous.”
“I’m so close, babe. A few more days, and I’ll have everything I need. Then you and I can go anywhere in the world.”
“Not if you’re dead.” There was a pause before Elasia added, “Let’s leave tonight. You don’t need to go back there. We can take what you have and just be happy.”
“I’ve worked too hard to stop now.”
“Fine, you greedy idiot! But if you walk out that door, don’t come back here.”
The door opened and closed with a bang.
Kaylee left her bedroom to find her friend on the couch, sobbing. “Elasia? What’s wrong?”
She let out a choked, bitter laugh. “Don’t ever fall in love, Kay. It makes you do incredibly stupid things.” She got up from the couch and grabbed her coat off the hook by the door.
“Wait, where are you going?”
“To save the dumb motherfucker.” Elasia stopped suddenly and rushed Kaylee, dragging her into a fierce hug. “If I’m not back in an hour, you get in the car and take off. Get as far away from here as you can and then call the cops, okay?”
“Elasia, what is happening? If you’re in trouble, come with me.”
She smoothed back Kaylee’s hair and kissed her cheek. “I love you, Kay. Always have, but I can’t lose him.”
Kaylee wanted to argue, to tell her that if he’s doing something illegal or dangerous, Elasia should stay out of it, but she was already out the door.
Kaylee went back to her room, hands shaking as she finished packing and continuously checked Elasia’s location.
When she saw her at The Den, Kaylee knew Elasia had gone to confront Ansel.
Despite the small voice in her head screaming at her to do what Elasia said, she’d gotten in her car and driven out to the bar.
She’d parked on the dirt road in the trees, giving her a view of the front and back entrances.
There were only a few cars in the parking lot, and the neon sign was off, giving the place a closed appearance.
She’d watched from the car as a half dozen men spilled out the back of the bar, Ansel leading the way.
A man with a blond bun, whom Kaylee recognized from the bar, grabbed Elasia by the arm and dragged her behind him.
Another man, this one the same bearded, bald-headed creep who’d hit on Kaylee and been punched by Ansel, made Wyatt kneel and watch while they pushed Elasia to her knees beside him.
Ansel handed off a gun to the blond man and stepped back into the shadows as the blond man placed the gun to Elasia’s forehead.
Kaylee covered her mouth, silencing her scream as a muffled pop sounded and her friend fell to the side, unmoving.
Wyatt shouted, and the bearded man hit him across the face.
Two others propped him back on his knees, and he appeared to be begging for his life before the blond man came up behind him and a second pop, quieter than a normal gunshot, took his life, too.
And while he hadn’t pulled the trigger, Kaylee watched Ansel standing back, orchestrating the entire show like a director waiting to yell Cut.
While Ansel and the blond man went back inside, the bearded man took off at a jog to the front of the building and pulled a truck around. Kaylee’s breathing quickened in panic as they loaded up the bodies of Elasia and her boyfriend. Where are they taking them?
This is all your fault, the small voice in her head snarled. You should have gone to the police like she wanted.
Kaylee started the car with shaky hands and pulled out of the parking lot, sobbing, and called the cops just a few miles down the road.
A patrolman met her outside the station and escorted her to a back office with a detective.
She’d taken screenshots of Elasia’s location and the time before whoever had her phone had turned it off.
Kaylee told the detectives everything, and they contacted the FBI, which was involved in an ongoing investigation.
A very nice agent showed up, and while he was leading her to his car, they encountered a man passing by on the sidewalk who was watching her intently. It wasn’t until the agent pulled out of the parking lot that Kaylee realized where she’d seen him before. The man was a Pit Viper.
Terror seared through her like a red-hot poker, all the while the agent told her how brave she was and that they would take her to a safe place. That he sent his partner to the dorm she’d shared with Elasia to grab Kaylee’s bags while she waited.
They’d barely parked at the motel two towns over when her phone vibrated and a text from an unknown number came through.
Hey Goldie Locks. Elasia gave me your number.
Kaylee’s breath caught.
We need to talk. Be careful with the feds. Wyatt was one of them.
Kaylee stared down at the text and then showed it to the FBI agent. “What does this mean?”
The agent stared at her with a heavy gaze. That’s when she learned Wyatt had been an undercover federal agent.
Anger still coiled inside Kaylee every time she thought of Wyatt.
If he hadn’t come on to Elasia, if he hadn’t brought them to that place?
Ansel would have never targeted her, and Elasia would be alive.
How could she trust her life to them when one of their agents had dragged Elasia and her into danger in the first place?
Kaylee knew that her first instinct to leave was the right choice all along, and that’s when she constructed the plan to take off as soon as the agent’s guard was down. She hadn’t counted on Rick or her reaction to him.
Or the fact that he was a stubborn son of a bitch who’d dogged her across two states and wouldn’t take the fucking truth at face value. She wasn’t going to testify. Ever.
Racing footsteps echoed in the alleyway behind her as she struggled to her feet, desperate to get away.
The steps slowed when Kaylee managed to get to her knees, staring at Rick’s crotch and her coat clasped in his left hand. Her gaze traveled up and landed on his furious expression. Kaylee’s eyes narrowed.
“I’d rather rot in a cell than testify.”