Chapter 24
LUKE
She’s bleeding too much. The knife is still embedded in her arm, and I think it nicked an artery. I lift her limp body into my arms, my own pain a distant sensation I don’t quite register. All I can think about right now is getting Kate to safety.
He could come back. Was he alone?
I carry her through the splintered door, down the stairs, and up to the SUV. Jackson has the door open, eyes wide as I deposit her into the vehicle. He jumps into the backseat with her, already opening his med kit.
“He got into a white van. Sam went after them.” Sam is one of my security guards that follows me from a distance.
I collapse into the driver’s seat, tearing out of the parking lot as he explains what happened after the attacker ran off.
“Do we need a hospital?” My heart is in my throat as I ask, glancing back to see him tying a cord around her arm.
“No. I’ve treated worse in the field. She’ll be fine.”
I blow out a breath, sending up a prayer of thanks. The Sunday lunchtime traffic is bad, but I weave in and out of the cars, earning honks as I go. I get out my phone, sending a quick text to my pilot.
I was almost too late.
I was on my way to Bradshaw Enterprises to search through Georginne’s office.
If she was the one who hired Kate without the qualifications, she could have planted the bugs in my penthouse.
If she’s working for Tycos, this all is starting to make more sense.
Kate working for me after our night together is still too much of a coincidence, but some of the pieces are beginning to fit together.
And now, this.
I was nearly at my downtown office when Jackson texted me to tell me that Kate went to see her dad and that she was upset.
I don’t know why I cared or wanted to comfort her, but I felt compelled to go see if she was okay.
What would’ve happened if I hadn’t gotten there when I did?
A tight feeling in my gut reminds me that I have let myself get more involved than I should have before knowing what her true agenda was.
“Did you see his face?” I ask.
“Nope, fucker kept the mask on. I got the plates, but I’m sure they’re stolen.”
I grit my teeth, bloodied knuckles gripping the steering wheel tighter. Who was he? Why was he after Kate?
After what she told me about getting hired the morning after we slept together, I’m assuming there was another party involved. Someone could be using her to get to me.
But who and why?
Unless the whole thing was a setup.
Would Kate really go so far to let the guy stab her?
I’ve seen my enemies do far worse to gain the upper hand, but this is Kate.
“We need to get to the safe house until I can find out who he was and who he’s working for. He wasn’t a cheap mercenary. He was a pro,” I tell Jackson.
The rubber screeches against the pavement as I make a left turn on a yellow light, nearly careening into a crowd of pedestrians standing on the edge of the street. We’re a few blocks from my penthouse, where the helicopter should already be waiting.
“Did you notice anything about him that we can start on?”
I think back to the aggressive confrontation in the apartment. It happened fast, and I was focused on taking him out, so I could help Kate.
“He’s got a knife wound in his ribs. Had a tattoo on his neck and hand. Couldn’t make them out. I also saw the ends of his blonde hair sticking out the bottom of the mask. Had to be long.”
Stephen Rail and his stringy hair appear in my mind. Could the guy nursing a blunt in the middle of a weekday in a filthy apartment be the same one that I fought with? I want to say no, but my instincts have been betraying me lately.
Kate screams unexpectedly from the backseat as I pull the SUV into the parking garage, rounding up to the top level at breakneck speed to get her to safety. My bloodstream turns to ice as I listen to her cries of pain.
I should’ve killed him, but I wanted him alive for questioning. Now, he’s gone, and if they aren’t working together, he’ll no doubt be back to finish the job.
Jackson tries to soothe her. “Whoa. Hey, you’re safe. You’ve got a nasty slice in your artery, but you’re going to live.”
She’s whimpering, and my blood pressure can’t take it. The asshole who did this to her will pay with his life even if they are partners.
“What about Luke? Where’s Luke? That guy had a knife, and he—” Her voice is panicked.
My grip tightens on the wheel.
“He’s fine. He’s driving you somewhere safe,” Jackson reassures her.
I glance in the rearview just in time to see her wide blue eyes find mine. She stares at me for a moment before closing them and releasing a sob. Emotion builds within me, mixing with the adrenaline to create a lethal concoction in my veins.
I slam on the brakes, grateful to see the helicopter on the roof waiting for us.
I jump out of the vehicle, opening her door and crushing her in a desperate embrace.
Careful to avoid her bandaged arm, I drop my mouth to her temple, gently kissing her hairline.
She whimpers into my shoulder, arms around my neck.
“I—I thought he was going to kill you,” she sobs, body shaking.
I lift her into my arms, moving toward the helicopter with its blades still spinning.
Jackson sidles up next to me, raising his voice above the noise. “I’m going back to the apartment to see if he left anything behind. I’ll see what kind of security footage is around the building.”
“Call me when you know something.”
He nods, turning to run back to the car.
The pilot has the door open, reaching down to take Kate from me. He helps her sit up in the passenger seat.
“I’m taking it. I’ll be in touch when we get back,” I tell him.
He nods, handing over the headset. He’s a relatively new hire, and I don’t know him well enough to trust him.
I climb into the pilot’s chair, fitting the headset around my head. I hand Kate hers, helping her slide them on since she can only use one arm.
“How do you feel?” I ask her, beginning to lift us off the roof.
“It hurts.” Her voice is strained, and I know she’s in pain.
“I have a full med kit on the jet we’re taking. I’ll get you a sedative soon, okay, Cabernet?”
She smiles weakly, leaning her head back on the seat. She looks pale. She’s lost a lot of blood. I wish I had somewhere close by to take her, but I can’t be certain that my penthouse isn’t being watched.
“Tell me if you get light-headed.”
“Okay.”
I radio in to the airstrip, instructing them to prepare the smallest plane I own.
The helicopter flight is short, and before long, we’re landing at the private airstrip we left only this morning. The flight crew is gone, but for the small jet we’re going to take, we don’t need them.
I unbuckle myself and her. She’s drowsy, the blood loss causing her body to move slowly.
“Almost there, sweetheart. You can sleep on the flight.”
She’s able to climb out of the helicopter, holding on to my arm with one hand. Her first steps falter, and she collapses, vomiting on the tarmac. It’s normal to get nauseous after losing a lot of blood, but a flash of panic shoots through me.
Does she need to go to a hospital?
I know she’s not safe here until we find the man who tried to kill her and whoever he’s working for. He was well trained, and if my experience as a Navy SEAL taught me anything, it’s that you get out when you have the chance, or you die.
“Hold on, Cabernet. Hold on for a little bit longer,” I whisper in her ear. My stomach is twisted, but I’ve shifted into escape-or-die mode. My only goal is to protect her from the looming danger.
I should’ve made Jackson come with us. He’s a trained naval surgeon. I know his treatment of her wound was sufficient, or he would’ve told me she needed further care.
But what if she’d lost more blood than he realized?
As I walk up to the VLJ aircraft, I notice the private airstrip’s operator is standing alone to greet us. This plane has the exact capacity we need to make it to my safe house in North Carolina.
“She’s fueled up and ready for takeoff, Mr. Bradshaw. Are you sure you don’t need a pilot?”
He doesn’t bat an eye at the bloodied and bruised state I’m in, carrying a sick woman with a stab wound.
“No, I’ll take it from here. No records.”
He nods. I told him we were going to San Francisco, but he knows that’s a lie.
“No, sir. I’m taking a walk at the botanical gardens with my wife right now.”
His pockets are padded well for his discretion.
I carry Kate up the stairs and into the belly of the jet. I lay her down on the bench seat inside, close to the pilot’s chair I’ll be operating from. In this plane, it’s all one open space. I grab the med kit stowed away in the above compartment, cracking it open to find a bottle of pain pills.
She tries to sit up, looking around us.
“Are you allergic to any medications?”
She shakes her head, and I notice the dried tears on her cheeks. I hold out the two pills for her. She opens her mouth. I place them on her tongue.
“I don’t have any water.”
She swallows them down. Her bandage is red, the blood seeping through.
“I’m going to get us out of here.”
She nods, and I reluctantly leave her on the bench to get us up in the air and as far away as possible from this place.
The tower at our destination has been radioed, and a helicopter will be waiting when we arrive.
Air travel is the only reasonable means for getting away from immediate danger when the attacker could very well be working for the Russian Mafia.
Their endless resources rival mine, but they’re a step ahead in the game now.
Which isn’t the position I want to be in when I have someone other than myself to look out for.
Until I know for sure, I’m just going to assume she’s innocent. I have no other choice. My internal struggle is too exhausting. I might very well be protecting a woman who’s on a mission to end my life, but so be it.