Hard as Stone (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnnon Sisters) (68 page)

“For God’s sake,
shoot him, Jake!” Harmony screamed, her fingers clawing at the hand holding the
knife to her throat.  “He’s going to kill me anyway!  Just shoot the damn gun!”
she ordered shrilly, silently willing him to end this nightmare for all of them.

“Darlin’, stay
calm,” Jake ordered, keeping his voice low and calm but his eyes trained on the
man standing behind her, holding the woman he loved in a punishing grip with a
lethally sharp blade to her throat.  One wrong move on any of their parts, and
that knife would cut through her carotid artery like butter.  “What’s your plan
here, Tanner?  Doesn’t sound like your buddy, Fuentes, is gonna be offering you
any kind of sanctuary.  So, whatcha gonna do?” Jake asked, praying to God that
Slade or Ice could find a shot from outside the house.

“I’m takin’ this
bitch and I’m out of here,” he growled in response, dragging Harmony a step
backward.  “You follow me and I promise, I’ll kill the bitch slow.  Maybe
you’ll find a piece or two of her when I’m done with her.  Then again, maybe
not.  I can tell you, you try to stop me now and I’ll gut her right here.  You
might put a bullet in me but not before you watch her bleed out in front of
your eyes.”

Staring at Jake,
Harmony’s eyes watered as she felt the knife biting into her flesh and blood
rolling freely down her neck.  He was like stone.  Cold and still, the only
sign of his heightened emotions was the regular tic in his jaw.  “Take the
shot,” she pled, her mind begging him to look into her eyes and see that she
needed this to end.  “Just do it, Jake.  Please!  I’d rather die by your bullet
than by his hands!” she screamed.  “DO IT!”

Jake saw Honor move
from the corner of his eyes, slowly climbing back to unsteady feet as she
turned and searched the counter behind her.  He didn’t dare shift an inch and
call attention to her.  Holding his breath as he saw the young woman lunge for
something on the counter, Honor’s low scream echoed off the walls as she fell
toward Tanner, burying something in his back that made him yowl at the top of
his lungs as his back arched, his belly bumping into Harmony and shuffling her
forward in his arms.

“No more!” Honor
screamed as she pulled the butcher knife that she’d found on the dirty countertop
from his back and brought it viciously down again, plunging it into his back as
blood sprayed her face. Twisting the steel violently inside his body, she heard
his flesh tearing.  “NomoreNomoreNomore!” she shrieked, finally letting go of
the knife and stumbling back against the counter again when Tanner twisted
toward her, one arm reaching out to grab her.

“Honor, down!” Zeke
roared the command in a booming voice that shook the room.

Feeling Tanner’s
arms slacken around her, Harmony hurled herself from his grip toward Jake as she
saw the hand holding his gun lift and steady.  Almost instantly, she heard the
blast of multiple weapons firing, the sound tearing through her body and
causing her to sag against Jake.  Turning as the man she loved caught her in
one arm against him, she watched as bullets tore through Tanner’s flesh, taking
him to his knees before he fell to his back on the floor.

As the smoke cleared,
Harmony leaned heavily against Jake as he curled an arm around her, holding her
tight to his side, his face buried in her neck.  “Thank Christ,” he muttered
against her skin.  “Thought I’d lost you.  Didn’t know how I was gonna get a
shot off around you and I couldn’t handle the idea of shooting you to get to
him.”  Unable to tear her eyes away from where her ex-husband lay writhing on
the floor as his blood spread across the dirty tiles, she shook her head.  
“I’m okay.  We’re all okay,” she whispered, turning into his embrace and
burying her face against his chest.

“Honor!” Harmony
heard Zeke call out gruffly, his voice thick with worry.  Lifting her head, she
searched for her sister and found her kneeling in a pool of Tanner’s blood, her
eyes glued to the dying man’s face.  “Oh, God!” Harmony cried, her throat
closing as she got a good look at her sister.  “Honor!” she moaned, awkwardly
lurching toward her youngest sibling.

Crawling on her
hands and knees toward Tanner, Honor shook her head.  “No!  Don’t you dare
die,” she yelled at the fallen man, slapping her hand against one of the holes
in his chest.  “Not until you tell me who else there was!” she screamed, her
voice thin and hysterical.  “Tell me who else hurt me, you bastard!”

Even fatally
injured, her ex-husband was a heartless prick and Harmony heard his gurgling
laughter as she reached Honor’s side at the same time Ezekiel did. 

“Who?  You owe me
that, Tanner!” Honor shrieked, slapping at Tanner’s wounds.  “Tell me, damn you!”
she begged frantically, her eyes glued to his moving lips.

“Never tell,”
Tanner wheezed, shaking his head weakly.  “Want you to think about me when they
come back for you, Peach.  They’re so much closer than you think.  They haven’t
forgotten you.  Haven’t forgotten how sweet you taste,” he rasped, lifting a
feeble hand to touch Honor’s cheek.  “They’re comin’ for you.”

“Nooooooo!!!” Honor
screamed in agony, jerking back from Tanner’s hand as if she’d been scalded. 
“Nononononooooooo!” she wailed as the evil man that had abused her rattled out
one last dying breath as she lunged for him again, beating her small fists
against his useless body as his eyes slowly became vacant and unseeing.  “Oh,
God, nooooo,” Honor wailed one last time before her body swayed to the side,
falling into Zeke’s strong arms.

Watching
powerlessly as her fragile sister dissolved before her eyes, Harmony felt tears
pour down her own cheeks as a sob clawed its way up her throat, only dimly
aware when Jake wrapped his arms around her from behind and curled her against
his warm chest.  Even in his death, her ex-husband had found a way to torture
them all.  Staring at Honor as she keened in Ezekiel’s embrace, she saw the man
wrap his arms protectively around Honor and lift her in his arms as he stood
up, holding her high against his chest.

“Gettin’ Honor out
of here and to the hospital,” Zeke growled, holding the tiny woman in his arms
against his chest like she was the most precious treasure on Earth.  “I don’t
give a fuck what you do with that piece of shit, but, you get him the hell out
of my town,” he continued, jerking his head toward Diego as his eyes bored into
Luis/Dante.  “Whether it happens in a body bag or in the back of a squad car,
that’s up to you, Jake,” Zeke added with an understanding look at Jacob. 
“Either way, he’s gone.” He stomped out, carrying an uncontrollably sobbing
Honor out the back door and past where Slade, Ice and Margaret now stood.

Staring at her
nearly destroyed sister, Harmony closed her eyes as Zeke carried her out. 
Opening her eyes, she looked up at Jake.  “I want my daughter,” she whispered,
meeting his worried eyes.  “I want to go home.”

Nodding, Jake
wrapped his arms around his woman and helped her back to her feet.  “I’m gonna
have Slade take you to her, darlin’.  You’re gonna go get those cuts on your
pretty neck seen to and go wait for me at home with our girl.  As soon as I
handle things here….”

Grabbing his arm,
Harmony’s eyes widened.  “No, this is over.  Tanner’s dead.  He’s finally in
hell where he belongs.  We’re going home together!”

Cupping her cheeks
in his warm hands, Jake nodded before he tipped his head down and pressed a
kiss to the center of his forehead.  “He is, darlin’.  And I’m so proud of you
for keeping it together until I got here.  I love you more than anything in the
world, but my sister’s murderer is standing right there,” he continued with a
curt nod toward where Diego stood beside Dante, the bead of Ice’s sniper rifle
on his chest.  “I have to deal with that.  I have to deal with him.  Been
waiting two decades to do that.”

“Jake,” Dante
interrupted irritably, “I already told you, Diego is workin’ with the DEA. 
He’s one of our assets.  I know what you want, man, but there’s no way in hell
I can stand here while you pull some vigilante bullshit!”

“From where I’m
standing,” Ice stated coldly from his position in the doorway, rifle poised in
his capable hands, “You don’t have much choice.  Piss me off and he’ll be dead
before you take your next breath.”

Stepping in front
of Diego, the red bead appeared on Dante’s chest just above his hear.  “You’ll
have to take me out first,” Luis warned.  “Can you handle putting down a man
that fights on the same side you do?”

“Jake,” Harmony
called, frantically tugging at Jake’s stiff arm.  “There are things you don’t
know!  I swear, he’s not guilty of what you think he’s guilty of doing,” she
added with a desperate look at a blank faced Diego.  “Say something!  Tell him
the truth!  Tell him what you told me!”

 “He won’t believe
me, Harmony,” Diego replied heavily, his eyes kind as they looked at her. 
“Perhaps, this is what I deserve.”

“No!” Harmony
denied sharply, wriggling to stand between Jake and Diego.  Grabbing both sides
of Jake’s face, she tilted his head down until he met her eyes.  “He didn’t
kill your sister, Jake.  I love you, and you
know
I’d never lie to you
about something so important after everything we’ve been through together. 
That man over there is not a good guy by any stretch of the imagination; I know
that,” she said forcefully, jabbing her finger in Diego’s direction.  “But, he
did everything he could do to keep Honor and me both safe today.  He took our
backs with Tanner.  One of
his
bullets is in that bastard’s belly.  And
most importantly, he did NOT murder your sister!  His father did, and he’s
worked
hard
to bring that bastard down.  He’s still trying, Jake.    I
promise, I’ll explain everything in detail later, but for now, let him go with
Dante or Luis or whatever he’s calling himself now.  Please?” she begged, willing
him to believe her.

Harmony held her
breath as she watched a fierce battle rage in Jake’s clear eyes.  She knew her
man wanted justice for what happened to his little sister.  It was a feeling
she was really familiar with herself, and she didn’t blame him for it. 
However, the truth was that when he knew the entire truth, if he killed Diego
today, he’d regret it.  Because he’d be exacting vengeance on the wrong damn
man.

“Swear to me that
he’s innocent,” Jake growled, his fingers tightening on her face as his eyes
bore into hers.

“I can’t,” she
whispered truthfully.  “He’s not innocent, but I don’t believe he’s responsible
either.  He was a pawn to his father, but he doesn’t deserve to die for it.” 
Lowering her voice, Harmony closed the distance between them.  “He loved her,
Jake.  He still carries her picture in his wallet.  He survives every day
knowing his father took the woman he loved.  Let him continue his quest to take
down the man
really
to blame for Nessa’s death.”

“Please listen to
your woman,” Luis urged Jake quietly.  “She’s telling you the truth, man.”

Ignoring his former
partner, Jake turned his attention to Diego.  “You don’t wanna beg for your
life?” he asked the silent man.

“I don’t fear
death, Jacob.  I’d welcome the chance to see Vanessa again,” Diego replied with
dignity.  “I only ask that you make sure that my father pays, too.  Make him
suffer.”

Son of a bitch,
Jake thought, staring at the man he’d hated for so long.  Harmony was right. 
The bastard was still in love with his sister.  He recognized that look shining
in the older man’s eyes.  He saw it every time he looked in the mirror at his
own reflection.  “Hurt him yourself,” Jake grunted, dropping one hand from
Harmony’s cheek to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her against him.  “I
have a woman to love and a daughter to raise.  I don’t have time for any more
vendettas.”

Diego smiled
faintly.  “She’ll tell you the rest of the story,” he said with a nod to
Harmony.  “Just know this, Jacob.  You have my word that Esteban Fuentes will
pay.  If it’s the last thing I ever do, I will destroy the man that took
Nessa’s light from this world.”

Inhaling deeply as
Harmony melted against him, Jacob slowly nodded.  It certainly wasn’t the
resolution he’d thought he wanted, but it was something.  He had what mattered
– the woman he loved in his arms and his daughter waiting at home for them to
return.  Shifting his gaze to Ice, he murmured, “Lower the gun, man.”

“You sure?” Ice
asked, keeping his eyes trained on Fuentes.

“I’m sure,” Jacob
replied softly as he saw Slade, Margaret and Luis visibly relax.  “Take him and
go, Luis.  Send me a postcard when you finally manage to cripple the old man.”

Luis nodded,
gesturing for Diego to proceed him out of the house and the last of the tension
evaporated as they all stood together in the kitchen. 

“Well,” Maggie
murmured, looking around at the destruction surrounding them as she carefully
walked around the littered kitchen in her now-ruined red high heels, “I don’t
know about everyone else, but I feel the need for tequila,” she announced,
reaching into her Fendi bag.  “Anyone care to join me?” she asked, pulling out
a solid gold flask and holding it up in front of her.

And for the first
time in a long time, Harmony giggled.

Several hours
later, Harmony sank to her side of Jake’s bed as she replaced the phone on her
lover’s nightstand and ran a hand through her still damp hair.  After three
showers, she was starting to feel moderately clean again.  Her skin had been
crawling since Tanner first laid his hands on her this afternoon, but that
feeling was slowly ebbing.  Touching a hand to the bandage on her neck, she
winced and flopped backward on the mattress, closing her eyes as she went.  She
wasn’t sure there was ever a time in her life when she’d felt this tired yet so
thoroughly invigorated.  She wasn’t certain how it was possible to feel like
she could sleep for a week yet not close her eyes at the same time, but
somehow, she was managing it.