Killer Love (28 page)

“You don’t understand. This is crazy.”

“I need to think. Need to decide what I believe. I don’t want to shoot you, so handcuff yourself and I’ll put the gun down.”

He shook his head and dropped the handcuffs. “No way in hell. You’ll have to shoot me.”

She aimed toward his right shoulder, to the left of the wolf’s head. She squeezed the trigger.

“Motherfucker.” He whirled and grabbed his shoulder. Blood oozed from beneath his fingers. “You fucking shot me!”

Some part of her was horrified at what she’d done...but she shoved the sympathy aside. She hadn’t hurt him. Not like he’d hurt her...and so many others. “I just nicked you, tough guy. I’m not playing, Luke. Handcuff yourself or the next one’s lower. After all that’s happened to me. After what Bryce has done. What I’ve seen you’re capable of with that guy at the motel, I won’t hesitate. I swear to God. I’m finished playing games.”

He bent and picked up the handcuffs, snapping them to one wrist.

“Sit on the floor by the bed and put your hands behind your back.”

He did as she said, eyes blazing with anger. “There’s something I need to tell you,” he said as she squatted behind him. She grabbed the cuffs and pulled his wrist back, securing the other hand behind the leg of the bed. “You really don’t want to do this.”

“Oh, I think I do. Nothing you say is going to make a difference.”

He winced as she pulled his hands together and snapped the other cuff. “DiMarco is on his way here.”

She dropped his hands. Her body trembled...realizing the exact extent of his betrayal before her mind did. “He’s what?” she whispered through the pain.

“He’s on his way to Solitaire.”

She moved in front of him, holding the gun at her side. “The guy told the truth, didn’t he? You told Bryce where to find me.”

He nodded as his eyes searched hers. “I’m so sorry, Jade.”

Tears blurred her vision but she swiped them away. “I knew it. I knew I couldn’t trust you. You sorry motherfucker. You were working with him the whole time.”

“No. That’s not how it was. I told him how to find you so I could take care of him once and for all. He’s never going to stop killing. You know that as well as I do. I figured if I brought him here, if I knew he was coming, I could take him out on my own terms. And protect you in the process.”

“I can take care of myself. I don’t need your kind of protection, Luke. I don’t need you.”

“I’m sorry. I was wrong to keep it from you but now that you know, surely you see you have to let me go.” He jerked against his restraints. “Bryce will be here. He will kill you. You have to set me free. You have to trust me.”

She laughed but it sounded hollow with the anguish twisting through her gut. “Trust you? Yeah. That’s a hoot. You know, I’ve found that I do a lot better when I don’t trust a man than when I do. Fuck you, Luke.”

“Jade, please. Maybe I handled it wrong but I did it to help you. To end this once and for all. You have to believe me.”

She shook her head and backed away. “I don’t know why you did it but I know you lied to me.” She scrubbed a hand over her cheeks, angry that the tears wouldn’t stop. “You know, the funny thing is, if you’d let me in on it. If you’d been honest with me, I’d willingly have been your bait. I’d have let you use me to stop Bryce. It looks like that may be what I’ll have to do anyway.”

“Wait. Please. I did all of this to protect you. Because I love you.”

She brought the gun up and pointed it at his head. “Don’t say that! Don’t you
dare
say that.”

“It’s true. I swear. I’ve known it for a while but couldn’t admit it, even to myself. But I can’t fight it any longer. You’re everything to me. I can’t take it if I lose you, if something happens to you because of me.”

“You’re a lying sonofabitch. If you say that one more time, I’ll shoot you again. I swear to God I will. Just shut the hell up!”

She snatched her blouse from the floor and shrugged it on. Taking a towel, she wiped the shaving cream from her face, trying not to think about how it had gotten there. About how his skin, warm from the shower, had burned against hers...his lips driving her mad with need...so much so that she’d overlooked the simple truth. He’d lied to her...betrayed her, just as the others had done. Stiffening her spine, she erased the images. She’d been a fool, but no more.

Grabbing Luke’s cell phone, she shoved it in her pants pocket. Jerking the motel phone cord out of the wall, she headed for the door.

“Jade! For God’s sake, he’ll kill you.”

She stopped at the door but didn’t turn around. “Maybe so,” she replied, barely able to force the words past the stone in her chest. “But at least with him, I know what to expect.”

Chapter Twenty

Like the blinding flash of a camera, the sun glinted off the snow-covered ground. Jade peered through the windshield of Luke’s car, alternately turning on the wipers and brushing tears from her cheeks.

Heat blasted from the vents but she shivered. The cold she felt came from inside. She wondered if she’d ever be warm again.

At an overpass, a group of children slid down the hill on cardboard boxes. She couldn’t hear their laughter but could see their smiling faces. How could everything still look so normal? How could the world go on around her when hers had just been torn apart?

She pulled into the parking lot of the complex but hesitated before getting out of the car. Was Bryce already in Solitaire?

He was coming. She knew that for a fact. Luke had told him where to find her. Nothing would keep him away.

She stared up at her window. Cold dread shivered through her veins. No. He hadn’t had time to get here yet. It was a thirteen-hour drive. No way he could have gotten a flight here by now even if he were brave enough to show his face at an airport. She had time.

She would be ready when he arrived.

A warning bell clanged in her mind as she walked down the hallway. Something wasn’t right. She could feel it. Was it just her imagination? Just the fear coursing through her bones or was Bryce here?

She held Luke’s gun in front of her and turned the key in the lock. She pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The curtains were closed and, in spite of the afternoon sun, the room was in shadows. In the dimly lit apartment, she could make out a figure sitting in a chair in the middle of the living room.

“Don’t move,” she shouted, aiming at the figure.

She flipped on the light and screamed. The figure was Dennis. But he couldn’t hurt her. Not anymore. His head hung at a grotesque angle. Eyes fixed and distant, he stared at nothing. She would have known he was dead even without seeing the note impaled to his chest with a large knife. Blood coated the white paper, almost covering the red-streaked letters, but she could read them.

‘You’re Welcome’.

She stumbled against the wall, still holding the gun in front of her. Her knees went weak. Her gun hand shook as she waved it around the room. Skirting the corpse in the chair, she crept toward the bedroom. She swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed the door open.

“Come out, you sonofabitch.” Nothing moved. She searched the closet, then the bathroom but she knew he was gone. She could feel the emptiness of the apartment. She was the only living creature here.

She fumbled for her cell phone and almost dropped it when a shrill rang pierced the silence. A number she didn’t recognize appeared on the screen. Along with a photo.

A scream left her throat. She went down on one knee, dropping the gun. “No. God, no.” The photo showed Ashley, bound and gagged. Her horror filled eyes stared into Jade’s.

The ringing wouldn’t stop, so she jabbed the button and brought the phone to her ear.

“Hello, darling. Miss me?” The sound of Bryce’s voice filled her ear. Bile surfaced and she gagged, trying not to puke.

“You hurt her, you sonofabitch, and I’ll...”

“Now, now. Don’t say anything you’ll regret. You’ve seen what happens when you fuck with me. Right, Jade?”

“You’re a sick bastard.”

“Ah. I guess you found my little gift. You should thank me. That cocksucker tried to rape you. I did you a favor, dear. Don’t you find it romantic?”

Tears streamed down her face. Her breath hitched, causing the words to stutter out of her. “What do you want?”

“What I’ve always wanted. You.”

“Please don’t hurt Ashley.”

“Well, that depends on you. Can you be a good girl and do exactly as I tell you?”

She closed her eyes, her voice a desperate plea. “Yes. Please. I’ll do whatever you say.”

“That’s better. Those are the words I’ve longed to hear.” He laughed and she cringed, clinging so tightly to the phone she thought her fingers would break. “I want you to head toward Clearwater Lake. Come alone. No cops, no Butler. Just you.”

“Yes. Ok.”

“If I get even a hint that you’ve brought someone with you, that you’ve told a soul, the girl dies. And it won’t be a pretty death like it was with the rapist. Trust me on that one. I’ll be in touch.”

He hung up and she stood there, shaking with sobs. She heard a noise at the front door and whirled, pointing the gun.

Deb stood in the entrance, staring at Dennis. Her hand was clamped over her mouth and a low wail came from her throat. The wail became a scream of hysteria. “Dennis. Oh my God, Dennis.” Her body shook and her head rolled from side to side. “No, no, no, no...”

Jade rushed over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Snap out if it. Now!”

She didn’t listen. Didn’t see Jade. Her screams became louder.

Jade slapped her face. The screaming stopped.

“Listen to me.” Jade shook her. “The maniac who did this has your daughter.”

“What? Ashley?” She looked back at Dennis and pulled away. “No. How? Why?”

“I don’t have time to explain. I have to go to her or he’ll kill her. I need you to listen to me. Do exactly as I say.”

“It’s all my fault.” Her voice was calm but tears coursed down her cheeks. “I let her go with him. I’m a rotten mother and now my baby’s dead. Oh God. No, please, no. I failed her. I failed them both.”

Jade shook her again. “This isn’t about you. We don’t have time for hysterics. I need you to stay by a phone.” Jade didn’t know what her plan was but she needed to know there was someone she could call just in case. Besides, she needed Deb to feel like she was doing something worthwhile. Otherwise, she might go to the police and Ashley could die. “Can you do that? Do you understand?”

She nodded. “I don’t have a phone.”

Shit. She didn’t. “Go to the store. If I find out anything, I’ll call you there. What’s the number?”

She gave Jade the number and she stored it in her phone.

“Momma?” Jade looked past Deb. Jon stood in the hallway, his chubby face scrunched in bewilderment. “Was you screaming?”

Jade pushed Deb out the door and closed it behind them. “Hey, Jon, how are you sweetie? Your mom just bumped her head. She’s okay now, though.”

He scowled. “Mom, bumped heads don’t hurt that bad.”

Deb gave a smile that was more of a grimace. “I know, son. I’m a big baby. We’re going to the store to hang out for a while, just you and me, okay?”

“Can I bring my Gameboy?”

“Yeah. You can bring it.”

Jade watched them walk down the hallway. Once they were out of sight, she closed her apartment door and hurried to the car.

****

Twenty minutes after Jade left, Bryce called again.

“There’s a path off Sailboat Road just after the railroad tracks. Take that and follow it until it ends. You still being a good girl? Doing what I told you to do?”

“Yes,” she snapped. She wanted to kill him, slowly and painfully. Wanted to make him scream. If she got the opportunity, that is exactly what she would do.

“So, where’s your lover, Butler?”

“Don’t you know? I bet you and El Lobo had a good laugh over me this whole time. Dirty FBI agent and a psycho killer. You two make quite a pair.”

“El Lobo?” The surprise in his voice confused her. Then his tone softened as if he’d just realized something he should have known all along. “I’ll be a sonofabitch. That cocksucker was El Lobo. I should have taken his ass out along with that bitch FBI agent.”

His words slammed into her with the force of a hurricane.
Bryce hadn’t known.

Luke really had been working undercover. Dear God, what had she done? It was too late to call Luke now. She hadn’t left him with a phone. Besides, calling him would risk Ashley’s life. She would have to face Bryce alone.

As she drove toward Bryce, a glimmer of foolish hope sprang inside her. If Luke had been telling the truth about that, maybe he’d meant it when he said he loved her.

Yeah? So what if he did? It wasn’t likely she’d ever see him again.

It wasn’t likely she’d live through the night.

****

Luke struggled against the handcuffs. Useless. Fucking useless. He stopped, panting heavily, sweat pouring from his face. Panic rose from his chest into his throat.

Jade. Bryce would find her. And it would be his fault. He’d brought him here. Led him right to her.

The look on her face when she realized he’d betrayed her...the hatred in her eyes when he told her he loved her...

She’d never forgive him. Even if she survived, she’d never speak to him again. She hated his guts.

Break your thumb.
The thought popped into his mind and brought his head up. His hands were behind him but if he could manage to break his thumb, he could slip out of one cuff. It just might work.

He grabbed his left thumb with his right. Gritting his teeth, he began to pull, pushing at his left thumb knuckle as he did. Pain shot through his wrist and up to his shoulder.

Suck it up. Don’t be a puss.

He squeezed with all his strength, then cursed in frustration. It wasn’t working. He lifted his hands and was about to slam them against the bed leg when the front door opened.

The hotel manager and Wayne burst through the door. Luke almost cried with joy.

“Wayne?” He shook his head. For a moment he thought he was hallucinating. But he was there. “I never thought I’d say this, but you, my friend, are a beautiful sight.”