Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Kylie
The stronger I got, the more time I spent outside.
The temperature was relatively mild compared to the summer, so it wasn’t horrible.
I still got a chill, even when I was sitting outside, but it wasn’t quite so bad.
Plus, I was willing to ignore almost any of my aches and pains simply so I didn’t have to be confined within the walls and windows.
If I wasn’t sitting on the back deck, I was down by the river, watching the water move. I’d never really been one to commune with nature, but I had a new appreciation for the outdoors.
Granted, I would’ve preferred to be at home. And for me, home was wherever my husbands and kids were. I missed them with an intensity that had the power to level me.
Sixteen days had passed since my conversation with Kieran in the kitchen.
He had promised I would be home before Halloween.
Now that we were in October, I was dangerously close to calling an audible and forcing him to take me home.
I was trying to be strong, trying to do what was necessary for Kieran and Allison to take down Martin once and for all, but it felt like I was wasting precious time. Time I could’ve spent with my kids.
Unfortunately, Allison and Kieran weren’t making much progress.
I knew because I had insisted on daily updates.
I was tired of being left in the dark, and since I was the one being kept from my family, it was only fair.
I’d learned that Allison was spending a decent amount of time lingering in and around Coyote Ridge.
She claimed she was trying to determine whether Martin had eyes on things there.
She seemed to think he had someone embedded in the community.
That thought did not sit well with me, so I was holding on for their benefit.
It helped that for the past few weeks, I’d been having dreams of Kate.
While I’d dreamed about all of my kids many times, these dreams felt different.
I wasn’t sure how to explain them, but it was almost as though we had a connection.
In the dreams, she was asking me to come home.
Because I couldn’t explain what was going on in terms that she would understand, I just kept telling her to hold on a little while longer.
She promised me she would and that she would tell her dads to do the same.
Those dreams left me with a heavy heart each morning when I woke up. Not to mention more determination to get back to my babies.
My stomach rumbled, a subtle reminder that I hadn’t yet had breakfast. At one point in my life, I would’ve ignored the hunger, but after months of starvation, I no longer had that luxury.
My brain became focused, as though to remind me that I had lost a dangerous amount of weight and putting the pounds back on was crucial to my survival, both physically and mentally.
At least according to the doctor who’d come out to check on me a few times.
She hadn’t shared her name, and I figured that was for her own protection.
Nor had I asked. I wasn’t interested in pinning a target on anyone else’s back.
Martin was a dangerous man, and until he was stopped, no one was safe.
By the time I made it inside, I was exhausted. The short trek from the porch to the water was easy for most, but for me, it was the equivalent of a one-mile walk. Uphill. Both ways.
I stepped into the cool interior of the house, instantly alerted to the presence of others.
Allison and Kieran were sitting at the kitchen island, sipping coffee and talking.
“I have to,” Allison insisted, her voice low.
“Have to what?” I asked, walking toward the refrigerator.
Allison sat up straight and reached for her coffee, but she didn’t answer.
“She wants to go back to Coyote Ridge,” Kieran explained, sipping coffee.
I took one of the chocolate Ensure’s out of the refrigerator and turned to stand on the opposite side of the island. “For what?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Kieran noted, turning his attention to Allison. “They saw you last time. If Martin figures out what you’re doin’—”
Allison cut him off by jumping to her feet. “I don’t give a damn about Martin. I can’t do this anymore.”
Frowning, I watched as she came unhinged.
It was strange, really. I’d come to know Allison as level-headed and calm.
She relayed information without adding opinions or emotion, and she took charge when necessary.
From her reaction, it didn’t appear she was holding those reins anymore.
And if she were, her grip was quickly loosening.
“So what do you want to do?” Kieran barked, his frustration prominent.
“Talk to Brantley and Reese.”
I stood taller. “About what?”
Allison’s eyes slowly slid toward me. “I want them to help us get you home.”
I swallowed past the lump clogging my throat. The thought of going home—regardless of how it happened—was nearly enough to weaken my knees. “Really?”
“Not until we figure out who Martin has lookin’ for you,” Kieran said harshly. He was referring to Allison, not me.
“Why’s he lookin’ for you?” I asked Allison directly.
“It doesn’t matter,” Allison snapped, her focus on Kieran once again.
“Even if I wanted to, there’s nowhere I can hide.
He will find me. He’s everywhere. I’m done, Kieran.
I can’t do this. I can’t let him…” She sobbed and turned away, her arms crossing over her stomach as though she was trying to hold herself together.
I didn’t say a word, nor did Kieran. We watched her and waited.
When Allison turned back around, she wiped tears from her eyes and lifted her chin, holding her head high. “He’s had his hooks in me since I was a kid. I can’t let him do this anymore.”
Confused and curious, I stepped up to the island. “What do you mean? How did he get his hooks into you?”
I’d wondered how Allison had been drawn into Martin’s orbit in the first place, but I’d never had the nerve to ask.
I knew she worked for the FBI and had a legitimate position as a surveillance specialist reporting directly to Martin, but I’d gotten the sense their relationship went deeper than the workplace.
Allison glanced at Kieran briefly, then turned her attention to me and sighed. “It’s a long story.”
I held up a hand to signify our surroundings. “I’ve got time.”
She cast another glance at Kieran before taking a seat on the barstool once more.
“I’m not sure whether you know the name Stewart Crawford.”
I shook my head. It didn’t sound familiar.
“He’s an oil mogul up in Dallas.”
“Okay.”
“My mother is his illegitimate daughter.”
I wasn’t sure where she was going with this, but I relaxed and settled in for the story.
“Anyway. Stewart’s legitimate son, Stephen, was arrested for blackmailing government officials.”
“Blackmailing them for what?”
“Anything and everything. His father’s company was big on skirting the rules, and they were being cited left and right for illegal drilling.
Evidently, Stephen thought blackmail would solve the problem.
It didn’t. When he went to jail, that left a perfect little hole for Martin to squeeze into.
He realized he had found the golden ticket: My mother. ”
Allison paused to take a drink of her coffee, which had to be cold. When she set her cup down, I turned and grabbed the carafe and refilled it for her.
“Thanks.” She pulled the cup closer. “Martin blackmailed my parents, threatening to arrest them as accessories to Stephen’s crimes.
Didn’t matter that my mother and Stephen didn’t have anything to do with each other.
The only connection my mom had to Stewart was the money he’d given her.
That’s how Martin learned about her. He followed the money.
“Anyway. Martin played God like he always does and created some false evidence that would force them to comply. Whatever he had, it was enough to convince them they would go down for the crime if they didn’t do what he told them.
It took time, but Martin was able to finagle things so that my father ended up working for one of the Adorites’ businesses. ”
“Doing what?” I asked.
“Construction. Nothing major, not high up on the ladder or anything, but it gave Martin some insight into what the Adorites were doing. Nothing ever came of it. But Martin doesn’t give up.
Because he had such a stronghold on my parents, he decided I would be a perfect chess piece.
I was still in high school when he decided I would come work for him. ”
Based on her expression, that hadn’t gone over well, but I didn’t interrupt, wanting to hear her tell it.
“I was four years old when I started playing the piano.”
Confused momentarily by the change in topic, I patiently listened.
“By the time I was eight, I was considered a prodigy, playing pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin. When Martin decided to derail my life, I had already been accepted to Juilliard.”
“Wow.” I didn’t mean to speak, but I couldn’t help it. To think of what Allison could’ve become if her parents hadn’t crossed paths with Martin Calloway.
“I became Martin’s most valued human chess piece.
At least that’s what he likes to say. I graduated at midterm my senior year and was enrolled in my first semester at Texas State University before the holidays were over.
By the time I was twenty-four, I had a master’s degree in criminal justice and two years of interning with the FBI Forensic Science Research Lab.
That was when Martin brought me onto his team. ”
“So you’ve been under his thumb since you were a teenager,” I said.
“Yes.” Allison sat up straight. “And I’m tired of doin’ his dirty work. Fucking tired.” She looked at Kieran. “I have to go to Coyote Ridge. I have to get help. We have to take him down once and for all.”
“He’ll kill you if he realizes what you’ve done,” Kieran stated; this time there was fear in his tone.
Allison turned to face him. “Yes, he will. And then you’ll take him down.”
I reeled from her words. She was admitting this was a suicide mission, and she was walking right into the line of fire.
Kieran jumped to his feet. “I won’t let you do that.”
“You’re not my partner, Kieran. You were sent here to take us down. And that’s what you need to do.”
He shook his head. “I won’t let you be collateral damage.”
Her chin tilted slightly. “Too late for that.” Allison’s gaze shifted to my face as she got to her feet. “I’m gonna talk to Brantley and Reese. Let them know what’s really going on. You’ll be back with your family soon. I give you my word.”
Before I could say anything, Allison spun on her heel and marched toward the front door. A second later, there was nothing but the sound of her absence, which was the equivalent of a sonic boom.