Chapter 26
Reese
Panic.
At one point in my life, I’d been faced with panic attacks. The period had been short lived and I’d quickly learned how to drive them away with breathing exercises and even counting numbers.
Not this time.
I didn’t need any light to know who’d slipped from the eerie depths of the shadows, wrapping his arm around my neck. My sense of his identify was based in a past I’d tried so hard to forget: his touch, which had always been forceful, without any concept of tenderness.
The feel of his body pressed against mine, once exciting with the way his cock had throbbed between my legs, now created nothing but repulsion.
And his scent, the exotic and very musky aroma that had fueled many fantasies, enough to create my love of erotic fiction.
That fragrance now disgusting in a way that turned my stomach.
Franklin.
A man associated with the word nightmare. Only he was very real.
And very deadly.
With the precision of an assassin, Kendrick turned to face us.
“Well. Well. If it isn’t Catcher,” he said, the jesting tone of his voice surprising me much like the violence I’d witnessed only seconds before.
As I’d experienced throughout our time spent together, tiny thrills tickled every nerve ending. He’d kept his promise, doing everything in his power to protect me.
Only with a gun pointed at my head, there was little wiggle room for my hero to do anything. I knew Kendrick at least well enough to know he would never risk my life. Even to take out a monster.
“You were told to leave things alone,” Franklin told him. Where Franklin had always been a master of controlling his emotions, I sensed something entirely different furrowing around his well-coiffed exterior.
Fear.
Maverick’s campaign had gotten to him. He was running scared.
With my hands wrapped around his arm, I glanced down at the duffle bag. I’d managed to pull the zipper, my fingers wrapping the sheath of the knife I’d seen Kendrick toss inside. With the glow of the lights shimmering in through the front windows, I could still see the carved handle in plain view.
“Since I’m a man of the law, I just couldn’t do that. Call it a necessary evil I must endure given my profession.” Kendrick took a calculated step closer, both hands firmly wrapped around his weapon.
Everything about the moment was surreal, including the three dead bodies lying in pools of blood only feet away. Like powerful, dark artwork carefully positioned for maximum effect.
As well as enjoyment.
Maybe there truly was something twisted inside, a desire for the macabre because I almost laughed. I was thrilled the bastards’ blood was staining the beautiful hardwood maple floors.
“A man of the law who crossed a line. How very noble of you.” Franklin laughed.
“Which is nothing you could ever claim. You’re a conniving son of a bitch.” The sarcastic words dripped from my mouth followed by a short laugh.
“Be careful, my sweet. I do have your life in my hands.” Franklin squeezed his arm, the pressure suffocating.
“How very cowardly of you,” Kendrick threw out, inching even closer. He never allowed his eyes to leave me, but I sensed he was as eager to end this as I was.
That would take careful coordination, working together as we’d become very good at doing.
There was no time for fear or hesitation.
I couldn’t allow the past to haunt me any longer.
My sister was still trapped by monsters determined to keep her from experiencing the life I’d help ensure she would have.
Fuck the asshole.
“I do what I need to keep my world the way I like it.” Franklin’s laugh was full of ire, maybe even amusement from the trouble we were putting him through.
“I hate to tell you this, Franklin, but your world is about to come crashing down. Would you like to tell him, my sweet slave?” Something I hadn’t discovered until tonight about the sexy man was his sense of humor.
“I’d love to, my handsome master. Do you remember my father, Franklin?
The one you pushed out of his own company?
Do you remember being so joyful in showing him pictures of his young daughter falling prey to the hands of an insufferable bastard?
My father chose to protect his family, allowing you to have the company he’d built from scratch, a firm he was proud of. ”
Franklin nuzzled into my neck and it was all I could to do to keep from vomiting a little in my mouth. My skin crawled from his hold. All he was trying to do was to intimidate me. Fat chance. I was finished with playing his victim or anyone else’s.
“Your father was a weak man, my beautiful Reese. He was easily manipulated. Such a good man. He simply had no idea there were so many vultures around him. But don’t worry. I’ve made good use of his software, only I will admit I’ve been a little selfish in doing so.”
“You can cut the act, Franklin. Not only am I aware of your software but so is every law agency in the country and abroad. Soon, you and your disciples will be enjoying a lavish prison cell. You might not want to leave yours. In case you don’t know, sex trafficking is seen as barely one step above being a pedophile. ”
“You can try to expose us, but you’ll fail.”
Franklin was so sure of himself. Why not drop the hammer.
“That’s where you’re wrong. You believed my father would stay quiet.
My guess is you lured my beautiful baby sister into your fold to use against him.
To keep him quiet. You had a little glitch you needed him to fix.
It backfired, Franklin. You’re no longer in control of the software program that you’ve been using.
Not for decency and humanity, but for yourself. ”
“You’re lying.” Franklin’s hiss was followed by his body tensing. With his hold tightening, stars floated in front of my eyes from limited air.
Kendrick laughed and while every move he made was now subtle, I sensed he was giving me directions. We’d become close in just under two weeks.
While he was just a man, in placing him front and center as my hero, I’d grabbed onto a lifeline that had kept me from spiraling into the dark abyss. By all rights, I should be petrified, incapable of moving, but I was invigorated by the moment. By the danger.
It would seem I wasn’t overly opposed to violence.
“I’m many things, but I do consider myself honorable in that I don’t lie unless forced…
Right now, the warehouse you and your vicious clan recently used for your illegal operations is being raided by the DEA.
In addition, your bank accounts are being frozen, every member within your organization exposed and for kicks and giggles, the recent murder of poor Marvin Devonshire is already under investigation.
In other words, your regime is about to crumble. ”
Kendrick took a decided step closer, pointing the weapon at Franklin’s face.
“And there’s one more thing. Your attempt to blackmail all your buddies had been brought to light.
Your buddy Lucifer is a very intelligent man.
I know Dante Rinaldi very well. If there’s one thing he doesn’t like, it’s a snitch.
I daresay your time on this earth is short.
But I’ve been authorized to make you an offer.
The location of every single young woman for full immunity and protection.
Once you’ve testified in court, you’ll be given a new identity. ”
“Witness protection?” he asked, laughing as soon as he did.
“Call it what you want, but you’ll be alive. It’s entirely up to you.”
While I sensed Kendrick was bluffing, Franklin didn’t know that. But I knew him far too well. He was capable of anything and there was nothing honorable about him.
So I did the only thing I could.
I fought back.
With a single yank that he hadn’t expected, I drove my heel into his groin, pitching my body forward. I landed next to the duffle bag, immediately driving my hand inside.
Just as I yanked the knife free, Kendrick drove his fist under Franklin’s chin, his weapon tossed aside.
Kendrick didn’t stop there, his anger reaching a new high. Punch after punch was delivered, Franklin’s body twisting as the blows were received. The last threw him against the door. Dazed and wheezing, his body began to slide to the floor.
“Are you alright?” Kendrick asked.
“I’m fine.” I was breathless, barely paying attention that I’d unsheathed the knife.
“Let me have that.”
I glanced at Franklin crumpled in a heap, the anger I’d felt for him for all these years breaching the surface.
“He’s finished. They all are.” Kendrick held out his hand and I was about to comply when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye.
“Kendrick!” My cry of warning was too late.
Franklin was already on his feet, throwing a brutal swing that drove Kendrick to the floor. With every nightmare I’d experienced over the years, every trepidation about forming any relationship with a man, I’d lost a part of myself.
All because of the man eager to take the life of someone I loved.
Maybe it was the admittance of how I felt about Kendrick that shoved aside every fear and every bit of panic. I threw myself at Franklin, driving the point of the blade into his skin of his neck.
“Where is my sister? Where? Talk to me or so help me God, I will kill you.”
Startled, Franklin took several deep breaths, eyeing me cautiously. “You won’t hurt me, Reese.”
“Don’t bet on it. Where is she? Where is my sister?”
“I’d tell her what she wants to know, Franklin.”
When he laughed, I jammed the blade deep enough a trickle of blood formed. “You don’t know anything about me, Franklin. Except for one thing. How much I love my sister. There was once a good man inside of you. A long time ago. You can’t allow my sister or the others to die. Where are they?”
“You’re wrong. I was never a good man.” As if fighting his conscience, he closed his eyes. “It’s too late anyway. You can’t get to them.”
“Where are they?” Kendrick growled.
Franklin took a deep breath. “They’re being shipped to Saudi Arabia tonight.”
“Which berth?” Kendrick was right beside me, the barrel of his weapon pointed at Franklin’s forehead. “Which one?”
“One eighty-one. You’ll never get there in time.”
“We’ll get there. Give me the knife, Reese. You don’t want to do this. We need to save your sister.”
Instead of complying, I drove the knife in by another centimeter or two. Enough Franklin crowded against the door.
“Reese. Come on, baby. Give me the knife.” Kendrick’s voice was soft, offering comfort and security. A reason not to cross the line.
Finally, I allowed the blade to slip from my hand, taking a step away. “I can’t wait to see you rot in prison.”
Kendrick slipped the knife into his pocket, keeping the weapon pointed at Franklin’s temple.
“What now, lawman? Are you going to take me into custody?”
“You’re a criminal, Franklin. You’ve done some terrible things in your life.”
“I never said I hadn’t. I gave you what you wanted. Now, you’re going to keep the promise you made.”
“You’re so certain about that? Do you think you know me so well, Franklin?
After everything you did to Reese? After everything you did to her family?
You must think I’m a fool. I’ve known men like you my entire life.
Corrupt bastards who believed themselves entitled to everything just because it was what they wanted.
Treating women as objects. Putting them in harm’s way.
Taking a life just because of greed or an addiction to booze or drugs.
Men like you are vermin, scum of the earth and you deserve to spend the rest of your miserable existence wallowing in the fires of hell.
And I have no problem sending you to exactly where you belong. ”
Franklin’s eyes opened wide. Kendrick could be very convincing.
His past had collided with the present much like mine had. There was so much pain, the kind of anger that feasted on a man, driving him to do things he would never think of doing.
Kendrick was on the edge. He’d killed in self-defense, but this was something entirely different.
This was life altering.
“Kendrick. Please. You’re not this man.”
“What makes you so certain, Reese?” Every muscle in Kendrick’s muscle was tense. “This is what I’ve become.”
“Listen to her, lawman. You’re one of the good ones.” Franklin was laughing.
“What time is the pickup?” Kendrick asked.
“They’re on their way now. You won’t make it. What a shame.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I snapped. “You’re right. Kendrick is one of the good ones, a man determined to do the right thing, to bring justice into this world. What have you ever done but lie and cheat your way into getting what you wanted? That ends today one way or the other.”
As soon as Kendrick cocked the weapon, the sharp click was a jolt to my system. I’d envisioned doing some terrible things to Franklin over the years. I’d wanted him to suffer in the same way he’d done to me, even imagining exactly what I would do given a chance to engage in some sense of revenge.
But now wasn’t the moment.
I wasn’t a killer.
And neither was the man I loved. My goodness. I was in love.
“Not like this, Kendrick,” I said softly. “Think about Emily. This isn’t what she would want.”
Kendrick turned his head, studying me with such emotion on his face that I momentarily forgot where we were.
“She’s right. Your little slave is right. You are one of the good guys. Or are you? Drake? You fit the role pretty well. Maybe you’re more like me than you believe.”
“Maybe I am.” Kendrick wasn’t giving up nor did he have any intention of allowing Franklin to intimidate him. So he shoved the barrel against his forehead. Right between his eyes.
Now Franklin was sweating.
“You promised witness protection,” Franklin continued.
Kendrick didn’t budge. Didn’t move a muscle. He simply held his position for another ten seconds before taking a step away.
The savage crack as the weapon was driven against the side of Franklin’s face was jarring.
Yet the moment was also freeing.
As he slumped to the floor once again, Kendrick stood over him. “I lied.”
He gathered me into his arms, holding me tightly against him. “It’s almost over, baby. I’m taking you to a safe place. Then I’m going to get your sister.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“Over my dead body.”
“You can’t stop me. This is my sister we’re talking about. I promise you that I will bring her back to me.”
I found myself clinging to him, wanting nothing more than to curl up in his arms.
“Trust me, my beautiful slave. I’ve never lied to you, and I don’t plan on starting now. Can you place your trust in me one last time?”
“I’ll always trust you. Please bring her home.” As he scooped me into his arms, I found myself melting into him and without hesitation or thoughts of what it would mean, I whispered words that created a sense of peace and hope for the future. Three little words I never thought I’d be able to say.
“I love you.”