Betrayal with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Three) (17 page)

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hristopher fell to the ground in front of her. Before she could feel relieved, though, Ben dropped to his knees, hands grasped his right side. She opened her mouth to call out to him, but he toppled over, landing on his side.

As she struggled with all of her might to free her hands, a loud screech spread through the room as Sarah rushed down the stairs. “Christopher,” she cried out. “What have you done?”

“The sheriff will be here in a matter of minutes,” Rilynne stated, trying to keep the panic from ringing in her voice. “If you want any chance of getting out of this without a life sentence, untie me now.”

Sarah hesitated for a moment before reaching for the knife on the counter. Rilynne thought for a brief moment that Sarah was going to attack her, but she dropped down to her knees and cut the ropes restraining her. “Help him,” she pleaded as the ropes fell to the floor. Rilynne pulled the knife out of her hand before crawling toward Christopher.

After pulling the gun from his hand, she reached down to check for a pulse.

“He’s still alive,” she said, her eyes shifting to the oozing hole in the left side of his chest. “Get over here and put pressure on this.”

She grabbed Sarah by the hand and placed in firmly over the wound.

“You have to help him,” Sarah pleaded, but Rilynne rose to her feet and ran across the room to Ben.

“What did you do?” she gasped as she dropped down at his side and rolled him onto his back. “Let me see.” She placed her hand gently over his and pulled it off of the wound. As she lifted his shirt, blood spilled out of the hole, pooling on the ground beneath him. She let out a shocked gasp, fear sending a shutter through her body.

Rilynne closed her eyes quickly to gather herself, knowing she had to be strong, no matter how difficult it was. She pulled her over-shirt off with shaking hands and pressed it firmly down with both hands as tears started rolling down her cheeks.

“Hey,” he said softly. “There isn’t any need for that.” He reached up and gently brushed the tears away. Rilynne closed her eyes and let her cheek fall against his hand. As another tear rolled down her face, he pulled her gently down to him. When her lips pressed against his, it felt as though her insides were going to explode. Both a heat and a chill spread through her, making her entire body quiver. She felt like she was floating, even after their lips parted. “Just for luck,” he said softly.

“They’ll be here soon,” she said, her heart still racing. “Can you raise your knees?”

He nodded and pulled his knees slowly up. As he did, she could see the pain spread across his face, but he didn’t cry out.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She let out an involuntary laugh, tears rolling down with it. “You’ve been shot, and you’re worried about me. It’s my turn to worry. Just hold on, please just hold on.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking past her to the body on the ground. “I didn’t know it was him. I’m so sorry, Rilynne. I didn’t know it was Christopher.”

“Shhh,” she said softly. “You saved my life, again. There’s nothing to be sorry about. Just hold on, because if you don’t, that I won’t forgive you for.” With her left hand still firmly pressed on this wound, she reached up with her right and ran her fingers through his soft, shaggy hair. “One of the first things I noticed about you was your hair,” she said, trying to distract him. “I always wondered if it was really as soft as it looks. Honestly, I think it’s even softer.”

He began to chuckle, but stopped abruptly when the pain seemed to have become too much for him to take.

“He stopped breathing,” she heard Sarah say frantically. “Rilynne, he isn’t breathing. You have to do something.”

Before Rilynne could even consider reacting, Detective Byman rushed through the door, followed by what appeared to be every member of the sheriff’s department. After directing the other men toward Christopher and Sarah, Byman dropped down next to Rilynne.

“What the hell happened here?” he asked angrily as he looked down at Ben. “I thought I said to wait for backup. I’m guessing that’s Lamar Mifflin?” he asked, motioning toward Christopher who was now receiving CPR by one of the deputies.

“No,” she said, not taking her eyes off of Ben. She could feel the anger trying to emerge, but her fear was too overpowering. “That’s Christopher Parker. He faked his death, then killed Mifflin when their paths crossed. The first suspected victim, Melissa Roberts, is in town somewhere right now. Her death was faked, as well.” Byman seemed to share the same confusion and shock that she had when she saw Christopher step through the cabin door. “We need to get Ben to a hospital,” she added, which seemed to shake him back into reality.

“It’ll take too long to get a chopper sent out to take him to Denver,” he said before calling one of the deputies over. “He’ll be better off if we take him to the clinic. I assure you that they’re capable of handling his injuries. How is he?” he asked the deputy.

“Fletcher is still working on him, but he doesn’t have any vitals,” he replied. “We’ll continue CPR until the paramedics get here, and let them pronounce.”

“Find out an ETA for the ambulance, and call the clinic and let them know what’s coming,” Byman said. “After that, I want you and Harkins to go into town and look for this woman,” he said as he reached for a photograph sitting on the end table. “Take her to the station, but don’t inform her of what’s happened. Keep her in an interrogation room until I get there. I don’t want her to have any contact with that one.” He motioned to Sarah before turning his attention back to Ben.

Rilynne ignored everything else and concentrated on Ben, knowing that if she allowed herself to think about all of the information she had just been hit with, she would most certainly fall apart. “How are you feeling?” she asked him gently.

“I don’t want to sound dramatic, but I feel a little like I’ve been shot,” he said, followed by soft chuckle.

“I can’t imagine why you feel that way,” she replied as she returned his grin. It didn’t last, though, as she noticed the color slowly start to drain from his face. “This is all my fault,” she continued. “You told me to wait, but I didn’t listen. It was stupid; I should have just waited for backup to arrive.”

He reached up and brushed the hair gently out of her face. “You wouldn’t be you if you were overly cautious all the time. I should just learn how to dodge better when I go places with you. And for the record, we’re counting this as your second kidnapping.”

The fact that he still had his sense of humor helped to lighten the panic building within her, though only slightly. “There’s no chance of me ever living this down.”

He shook his head, then let his eyes wonder around the room. “Where’s the baby?” he finally asked.

“What baby?” Byman asked, following Ben’s gaze.

“Sarah has a little girl,” Rilynne explained. She couldn’t believe that in all the chaos, she had completely forgotten about the child. “She’s upstairs.”

Byman left her with Ben as he ran up the stairs and disappeared around the corner. As he did, two paramedics stepped through the door.

“He’s been shot in the abdomen,” she said as the first man knelt down next to her. She watched him carefully as he pulled the blood soaked shirt away from the wound and applied a pressure dressing. “He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?” she asked him.

“You slowed the bleeding, which is good,” he said after looking him over. “His vitals are stable. We need to get him to the clinic and let the doctors take care of him.” As he finished, the second paramedic joined him. “How’s the other one?” he asked. The second medic responded by shaking his head. “Okay, then we need to go. There will be enough room for you in the back,” he said to Rilynne as they rolled Ben onto the stretcher.

“You should stay here,” Ben said as they pushed him out the door. “I know you still have questions that need to be answered.”

She didn’t even slow to consider his statement before climbing into the back of the ambulance. “They can wait,” she said as she reached out and grabbed his hand. “I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re all right.”

If he wanted to argue, he decided against it. Instead, he pulled her hand up and gently kissed it. Rilynne felt a flutter overwhelm her as her heart jumped in her chest. She leaned over-resting her elbows to the bed next to him-and pulled his hand up against her cheek. “I’m sorry I got you shot,” she said softly.

“I’m sorry I killed your husband,” he replied.

Something about the statement seemed almost funny to her. She rolled her eyes and grinned down at him. “You aren’t the first one to do it.”

“I should check you out also, ma’am,” the paramedic said as he pulled on clean pair of gloves.

“I’m not hurt,” she insisted, not taking her eyes off of Ben.

The paramedic reached out and moved the hair off of her shoulder. “You’re bleeding,” he stated. “Did you hit your head?”

“Uh, yeah.” She had been so concerned with Ben that she had completely forgotten about the blow she had taken herself. “I was hit with a frying pan. Yeah, I know,” she added at the bemused look Ben shot her. “Who hits people with frying pans?”

“Did you lose consciousness?” the paramedic asked. She nodded. “Do you know how long you were out?”

“I have no idea,” she responded. “How long was I in the house before Sarah closed the door?” she asked Ben.

“A little over five minutes,” he responded. “As soon as it shut, I made my way up to the deck and watched everything through the window.”

Rilynne felt the color drain from her face. The thought of Ben sitting outside the window made her feel nervous more than anything else, but she knew that she couldn’t ask him if he had heard their conversation without raising questions.

“I was unconscious for just under five minutes then,” she turned to the paramedic, trying to keep her uneasiness from showing. “I didn’t even know I was bleeding. It can wait until Ben is taken care of, though. It doesn’t even really hurt anymore.”

“You really should allow him to look at it,” Ben insisted. “You don’t have to be stubborn one hundred percent of the time.”

“Come on,” she chortled. “You know me better than that. Is there anyone you want me to call?”

“Yeah, actually. Call Summers and ask him to contact the director of the convention in Denver. The information is sitting on my desk. It doesn’t look like I’ll be making it, so they’ll need to make other arrangements.”

Rilynne laughed aloud. “You’ve been shot, and you’re concerned about canceling your speaking arrangements? I was talking more about loved ones that you want me to contact so they know what’s going on.”

He shook his head, his eyes firmly on her. “My parents and brother are gone. That just leaves you, and you’re already here.”

Rilynne squeezed his hand, not releasing it until they pulled in front of the clinic and the back doors to the ambulance swung open. They pulled Ben out first and had him to the door before she jumped out. The waiting room was empty when they walked in, aside for the woman sitting behind the admissions desk. She wasn’t the same one they had seen earlier in the week. This one was older, close to sixty. Her short hair was gray other than a few wisps of black streaking through it.

“What do we have?” Dr. Raab asked, walking in the door just behind them. Judging by the slinky red dress and black heels, Rilynne guessed she had been pulled away from a romantic evening out.

“He has a through and through gsw to the lower right abdomen,” the paramedic at the head of the stretcher said as he directed it toward the first room. “Blood pressure was 86/54 with a heart rate of one-twelve when we arrived at the scene. After administering an IV, they’ve stabilized.”

Dr. Raab pulled the dressing off of Ben’s abdomen and started examining the oozing wound. “What about the detective?”

“She has a laceration on the back of the head,” he replied.

“I’m fine,” Rilynne interjected. “It’s just a little bump.”

Dr. Raab stuck her head out of the door and called for a nurse. “Get Mr. Davis ready for surgery.”

The paramedics helped the nurse roll Ben out of the room. Rilynne started to follow them, but was stopped before making it to the door.

“Have a seat so I can take a look at your head,” she said as she pulled off the blood-covered gloves.

“No,” Rilynne replied abruptly, her worry not subsiding even with the confidence in Dr. Raab’s voice. “I’m fine. Just make sure that Ben gets taken care of.”