Las Vegas Sidewinders: Karl (Book 3) (26 page)

“Which fucking gate?!”
she yelled.

“What are you going to
do at the arena?” he asked, his voice loud to his own ears.

“You’ll just have to
wait and see,” she laughed. “Now which gate?”

“You have to go around
to gate 1,” he said.

“You’d better not be
fucking with me,” she hissed, holding up the gun. “I don’t have to kill your
little sister—I can just shoot out one knee at a time and let her bleed to
death right next to you.”

Karl didn’t say
anything, just set his jaw as he met her eyes. Gate 1 was where all the
executives went in to park. There wasn’t quite as much security there as the
players’ entrance, but there was no one at all at the players’ entrance over
the summer because there weren’t any players. Hopefully, she wouldn’t know the
difference. This way, someone in security would see them coming in, recognize
Karl and hopefully alert someone he was there when he wasn’t supposed to be.

They drove through gate
1 and he saw Larry Shaw, a security
guard  who
was also one of Lonnie Finch’s personal friends. This was fortuitous; Larry
would know something was off no matter what Karl said to him. Larry knew the
players didn’t show up at gate 1 during the summer unless they’d been called in
to meet with Lonnie or someone else in upper management so he would let someone
know. Karl hoped so, anyway. He didn’t see Lonnie’s Rolls Royce or his secretary’s
BMW, which was a good thing. Larry would definitely sense something was off if
the boss wasn’t around.

“Take the tape off her
mouth!” Therese said to him. “Now!”

Karl pulled it off
quickly, hoping to spare Emilie the pain of going slow, but she winced anyway.
“Sorry,” he whispered, balling it up and tossing it on the floor.

“Now untie her hands.”

“You used duct tape!”
Karl snapped. “How am I supposed to get it off?”

Therese let out a huff
of annoyance but motioned for Emilie to lift her hands. She pulled a
pocketknife from somewhere and cut the tape.

“No funny stuff,”
Therese said as Larry walked towards the car. “The old man is expendable.”

Larry knocked on the
window and Therese’s friend rolled it down.

“Hey, Larry!” Karl
forced a smile. “Is it okay if I show some friends the arena? I know it’s
closed but they’re here from Sweden. This is my sister, Emilie.
Em
, this is Larry, security guard extraordinaire.”

“Hello, Emilie.” Larry
smiled, carefully assessing the strange scene in the car. “Sure, Karl—come on
in. Let me get badges for everyone.”

“Go after that guy and
get rid of him!” Therese hissed to her friend. “He looked suspicious.”

“Of course he was
suspicious! Players don’t just show up in the summer!” Karl said evenly. “I
told you that.”

“Too bad. This is where
I want you to marry me. And the whole world is going to see it.”

“I’m already married.”

“Don’t lie to me!” she
yelled. “I know you’re lying!”

Karl chose not to
antagonize her any further, and he wrapped an arm around Emilie, who had
started to tremble.

“Stop being such a
baby!” Therese said to her with a sneer. “Why do you think you’re here? You
helped me in the beginning, so now I’m going to help you!”

“
Wh
-what
do you mean?” Emilie whispered, her eyes wide with confusion.

“I’m going to marry Karl,
and you’re going to marry your little sex stud over there! I know you want him,
so I’m going to make sure you get him—just like I’m getting Karl. Unless I have
to shoot you because Karl doesn’t cooperate.”

“But I don’t want to
marry him anymore,” Emilie said. “I found someone else.”

“Dante?” Therese
laughed. “Don’t be silly—you’ve loved
Viggo
your
whole life. I know you still want him. You and
Viggo
are the perfect couple, just like me and Karl. Now let’s go.” Therese got out
of the car.

The driver, who was
probably 300 pounds and 6’8”, gave Karl a menacing stare. “One wrong move and I
kill the old man. Got me?” He pulled a big bag out of the back of the truck and
handed it to
Viggo
. “Carry this.”

Viggo
grunted, but took it,
exchanging a worried glance with Karl.

Karl tried to stay
calm, but this was getting worse by the minute. How did she expect them to get
married? Luckily, he’d been very clear with his lawyer about anything to do
with Therese; he had a feeling this was all about money and prestige. There was
simply no way she still had feelings for him.

They walked in and
Larry was holding up badges for them. “You don’t need one, Karl, but your
friends do. I’m going to call up to Becca and let her know—”

Therese’s friend
reached out and punched Larry in the face, knocking him to the ground,
unconscious.

“We can’t have you
calling Becca the Witch,” Therese murmured. “Tie him up, Craig.”

The big man did as he
was told, pulling Larry into the security office and tying his hands with duct
tape.

“Therese, if you want
me to be with you,” Karl said evenly. “You have to stop hurting people I care
about.”

“Hurting people you
care about is the only way I can get you to see reason,” she said lightly.
“Besides, he’ll be fine.”

“You’ve been
threatening to shoot my sister all day,” he said.

“Like I said, I need
you to cooperate.”

“These types of tactics
don’t work with me.”

“You let me worry about
that.”

“Walk.” Craig motioned
for Karl, Emilie and
Viggo
to walk in front of him.

“If anyone sees us,
it’s going to be weird that I’m here.”

“No one is here,”
Therese shrugged. “I’m not stupid, you know. I knew there would be minimal
security and no management in the office today.”

“Therese, why are we
here?” Karl looked at her. “What do you think you’re going to accomplish?”

“I’m going to get what
I want, and we’re going to film it.”

“You’ve got a film crew
here?”

“Craig is my film
crew—he brought a hand-held camera and he’ll get what I need.”

Karl resisted the urge
to roll his eyes.

They walked towards the
elevator and Therese turned. “How do we get out onto the ice from here?”

Karl pointed in the
opposite direction.

“Lead. Any funny
business and I shoot your sister.”

“Seriously, leave her
out of this. If you hurt
Em
, all bets are off.” He
made his way towards the tunnel that the players took to go out onto the ice.
He loved this arena, but it wasn’t his favorite place right now.

“Shut up.”

They walked out to the
players’ bench and Therese looked at Craig. “Get out the camera—we’re just
about ready.” She began to dig around in her purse and pulled out her phone.
“Let’s take a selfie!” She grabbed Karl’s arm and held out the phone so she
could snap a picture. “Smile,” she hissed through her teeth.

Karl smiled, knowing
her next line would be about shooting Emilie.

“Excellent.” She began
typing on her phone, sending the picture to all her social media accounts.

“How, exactly, are we
going to get married?” Karl asked, trying to keep a straight face.

“I have a justice of
the peace coming,” she smiled.

“Therese, you know this
is crazy, don’t you?” Emilie finally spoke up, squaring her shoulders as she
looked at the woman she’d thought was her best friend up until a few weeks ago.

“What do you care? You
get
Viggo
and that’s all you’ve talked about for
years!”

“I’m not going to be
happy because he doesn’t love
me
!” she said in frustration. “Just like
Karl doesn’t love you!”

“Shut up!” Therese
slapped her, and Emilie’s hand moved to her face.

“I thought we were best
friends!” Emilie hissed at her.

“Best friends don’t lie
to each other!”

“When did I lie to
you?”

“You told me you could
get Karl to come back to me!”

“I didn’t know he’d
married the fat little prude!” Emilie folded her arms across her chest, hoping
to buy them time by siding with Therese about Kate. “He kept it a secret!”

Therese’s face changed
suddenly, her features contorting angrily as she turned to Karl. “You really
married that ugly, fat cow?!” She reached for his left hand. “That’s a real
wedding ring! You bastard! Take it off.”

Karl didn’t move,
remaining rooted to the spot.

“Take. It. Off.” Her
hands were clenched at her sides. “Or—”

“Or you’ll shoot
Emilie.” He sighed and pulled off his wedding ring.

Therese snatched it out
of his hand and threw it wildly into the seats. “You’ll wear my ring!” she
hissed. “Mine!” She pulled something out of her purse. “Put this on!”

Karl took the
diamond-crusted gold band and tried to slide it on his finger, but it was too
small. He held out his hand to her without any expression on his face. “It’s
too small.”

“Fuck!” She grabbed his
hand, desperately trying to push the ring on but it wouldn’t budge. Finally,
she yanked it off his finger and threw it as hard as she could. “You don’t need
a ring!”

Her behavior was so
erratic and bizarre, Karl wondered what the hell was wrong with her. She was
obviously more than just infatuated with him; she was mentally ill. There was
no other explanation. He stared at her warily, trying to figure out what she
was going to do next.

“Kiss me!” she demanded
suddenly, throwing her arms around his neck.

“No.” Karl stood still,
his eyes meeting hers steadily.

“Kiss me or—”

“Don’t threaten
Em
,” he said. “I’ve already warned you that if you hurt
her, you will never have anything to do with me.”

“Therese, what the
hell, man?” Craig looked frustrated. “If he’s already married, how is this
going to work? You said you had all the licenses and shit—my cousin can’t marry
you if he’s already married!”

“I’m not paying you for
your opinion!” she snapped. “Just get the camera ready.”

He rolled his eyes but
started unpacking his equipment.

“Therese, come on.”
Karl approached her slowly. “Can’t we talk?”

“Sure, lover.” She
looked at him intently. “What do you want to talk about?”

“We were good together
when we were younger, right?”

“And we will be again.”

“Therese, you’re young
and beautiful. You’ve got a TV show and men will be crawling out of the
woodwork to have you—why do you need me?”

“There’s no TV show!”
she spat at him. “It was cancelled last week. No show, no nothing.

“So you need money.”

“I need you.” She threw
her arms around his neck. “Come on, why won’t you kiss me?”

“Because I’m married to
someone else.”

“She’ll never know.”

“I’ll know.”

“Jerk.” She whirled
around and glared at Emilie. “Make him kiss me!”

Emilie’s eyes widened.
“He’s twice my size—how on earth shall I make him do anything?”

Therese stamped her
foot. “Because I want him to!”

No one said anything
for a moment; even Craig seemed taken aback.

“What?!” she screeched.
“You’ve never seen anyone get mad before? I’m mad!”

“Therese, what’s the
plan?” Craig looked bored. “My cousin will be here soon and he’ll expect to get
paid even if you don’t have marriage licenses.”

“Marriage licenses?”
Therese blinked. “Was I supposed to get those? I thought your cousin handled
all that?”

Craig just stared at
her. “You have to get those yourself, both people. Jesus Christ, you’re a hot
mess!”

“Shut up! I’m not
paying you to offer advice either.” She started to tap her foot. “I guess it’s
time for Plan B.”

Kate had just about
given up finding Karl’s truck when her phone rang. She saw Becca Hernandez’s
name flash on the screen and she answered hurriedly. “Hey, Becca.”

“Hey, Kate. Um, did you
know Karl is here at the arena with that crazy ex of his?” Becca had been
warned to talk to Kate or Karl if she saw Therese anywhere at all.

“He’s at the arena?!”
Kate looked in her rearview mirror, slammed on the breaks and got into the left
turn lane so she could make a U-turn.

“I came in to catch up
on some emails and as I was walking back from the restroom, I looked out at the
ice and I could see people on the bench. I went down for a closer look and
it’s
Karl and Therese and a few other people I don’t
recognize. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, but his
phone is off and I think she kidnapped him and his sister.”

“She kidnapped him?! I
need to call security!”

“Becca, be very
careful! She’s crazy.”

“I will.”

As soon as they hung
up, Kate called Drake. “They’re at the arena!” she yelled. “I’m maybe three minutes
away if I run a few lights.”

“What the hell are they
doing at the arena?” Drake demanded.

“Becca spotted them, so
I don’t know, but I’m on my way.”

“We’re probably ten
minutes away.”

“Step on it!” She hung up
and closed her hands around the wheel tightly.

When she got to the
arena, Becca was waiting for her by the players’ entrance. Together, they ran
inside towards the ice.

“Larry was the only
security guard on duty today!” Becca breathed. “And he’s out cold in the
office! I’ve called the police and paramedics but it’s going to be a few
minutes before they get here.”

“Drake,
Toli
and Zakk are about five minutes behind me,” Kate
breathed as they bent low so no one would see them.

“What the hell are they
doing?” Becca whispered.

“No idea.” Kate
squinted, trying to figure out what was going on. She couldn’t hear anything,
but there was a man with what appeared to be a gun, pointing it at Karl.
Viggo
and Emilie were close together and Therese was pacing
back and forth.

“Is she out of her
fucking mind or what?” Becca reached for her phone. “I told the sales guys
there was trouble and they’re supposed to be handling the cops—let’s hope they
get here soon. I don’t like this at all.”

“Let’s move closer,”
Kate said, crouching as low as she could.

“If I can’t have you,”
Therese said calmly, “then your little fatty definitely won’t either.”

Karl shrugged. “No
matter what you do to me, Therese, it won’t ever make me love you again.”

“You’re so stupid!” she
hissed. “So fucking stupid! We could have the most amazing life.”

“I already do.”

“So be it.” She pulled
a syringe from her bag and held it up. “This? This will take you away from your
precious Kate. What do you think about that?”

Karl got a sinking
feeling in his stomach. “Then you definitely won’t have me.”

“But watching her
suffer will make up for that.”

“I don’t understand why
you’re doing this, Therese. Can’t you at least tell me why you’re so angry?”

Her eyes narrowed. “You
left me. Do you remember when you left me?”

He frowned. “Yes. I’d
been signed in the NHL Entry Draft. They wanted me to come to the U.S. and play
in the AHL and you wanted to come with me. We’d been fighting, and I knew it
would get worse if you came to the U.S. so I broke things off.”

“Yes.” She looked at
him and her face twisted angrily. “You left me behind. Two months pregnant.”

Karl did a double
take,
not sure he’d heard her right. “You expect me to
believe you were pregnant after all this time? You know where my parents
live—you could have gotten word to me at any time if that was true!”

“My parents wouldn’t
let me!” she hissed. “I told Mama and she was furious, called me names and told
me how stupid I was. They sent me away to a convent in Norway—they were going
to make me give it up for adoption! But I lost it. Do you have any idea what
it’s like to lie there in agony, bleeding and watching your baby die while a
bunch of nuns tell you it’s penance for your sins?! Do you, Karl?”

“No.” He swallowed
hard. “Why didn’t you tell anyone? You could have gotten word to me.”

“You left me and I
hated you!” She squeezed her fists into tight little balls at her sides as she
glared at him.

“I’m sorry, Therese. I
had no way of knowing any of that.” Karl wasn’t sure she was telling the truth,
but he wasn’t going to let on that he didn’t believe her. Somehow, he felt like
he would have heard the news if Therese had disappeared for several months
right after he left Sweden.

“Of course not! You
traipsed off to your wonderful new career in the U.S. and left me behind. Our
baby wouldn’t have died if you hadn’t left me.”

“I can’t say more than
I’m sorry.” Karl watched her uneasily, wondering if he had time to get away.
Could he get across the ice before Craig shot one of them?

“Don’t even think about
it,” she laughed. “If I don’t get you, I’ll get
Em
.”

“Seriously?” He finally
lost his patience. “What the fuck, Therese? No matter what happens now, you’ll
go to jail. What was your plan? To marry me or kill me?”

She laughed. “Exactly.”

“For what purpose? It’s
not going to bring back the baby you lost.” He felt a strange calm settle over
him as he looked at the mania in her eyes. They were completely vacant now, and
he wondered if she truly hated him enough to kill him. His instinct was to
fight, but he couldn’t risk anything happening to Emilie. If he had to die to
keep his younger sister safe, he would. He just wished more than anything he
could talk to Kate one more time, tell her how sorry he was and that he loved
her more than life itself.

“You or her, Karl.”

“No!” Emilie let out a
shriek. “We can work something out—I’ll do more videos for you!”

“It’s okay,
Em
.” Karl held out his arms, palms turned out, as he stared
at Therese, suddenly tired of the whole thing. “If this is what you feel you
need to do you’ll have to live with the consequences. I’m not going to let you
hurt
Em
.”

“No!” Emilie started
towards him, but
Viggo
grabbed her, wrapping his
massive arms around her as she struggled.

“Tell my wife that I
love her,” Karl said softly, meeting
Viggo’s
gaze; he
nodded.

“
Ahhh
!
I hate you and that little bitch!” Therese let out a shriek of rage as she
jabbed the needle into Karl’s arm.

He closed his eyes,
thinking of Kate’s beautiful smile, and wondering if this would be painful or
if he would just go to sleep. He kept his mind focused on Kate, clearing out
thoughts of anything else. This was what he did when he played hockey, and by
focusing on just one thing he would be able to slow his heartbeat and the
anxiety of what was to come. He didn’t feel anything at first and opened his
eyes briefly. Emilie was still in
Viggo’s
arms, tears
pouring down her face. He met her gaze and winked, trying to reassure her just
as he felt the first wave of sleepiness wash over him.

Damn, this wasn’t how
he wanted to go out in life. He had so much he wanted to do, and so much to
tell Kate. Waves of drowsiness were closing in now, one after the other, and he
fought against them. Giving in would mean the end, and he wasn’t ready to die.
He forced himself to open his eyes, looking for something else to focus on,
something real. Movement on the other side of the ice caught his eye and he
could have sworn he saw Kate. He didn’t know what Therese had given him, but
obviously it was making him hallucinate. That was okay; an imaginary Kate as he
slid to his knees was better than a real Therese, who was laughing.

“What will your
precious Kate do now?” she cackled.

Karl felt the frigid
ice against his cheek as he fell. Please, he thought wearily, don’t let me
sleep.

“Karl, we need you!”
Emilie’s voice washed over him and he blinked, trying to stop everything from
getting blurry. “Fight it! Don’t give in!”

Everything felt so
heavy, but Karl kept his eyes open. He wouldn’t give in until the end, no matter
what. “Kate…” He wasn’t sure if he spoke her name aloud.

From where they were
crouching, Kate and Becca could see Karl falling to the ice and Kate looked at
her desperately. “I have to do something—go find out where everyone is!” Then
she ran, jumping over seats and railings. She could see
Viggo
holding a crying Emilie and Therese laughing like a mad woman. Kate bent low,
hoping she had the element of surprise on her side. She came up behind them and
could see another man sitting on the bench, pointing a gun in
Viggo’s
direction. Karl had stopped moving but his face was
turned away so she couldn’t see if his eyes were closed. Murmuring a silent
prayer, she pounced on Therese.
Viggo
moved at the
same time, shoving Emilie out of the way as he slammed his large body against
Craig’s arm. The gun went flying and Emilie scrambled after it.

“What did you do?!”
Kate was yelling as she hurled herself at Therese, taking her down. Her hands
closed around her neck and she began to squeeze. “Tell me what you gave him,
damn you! Tell me or I swear to God I will fuck you up!”

“Go ahead!” Therese
rasped. “Then I’ll spend eternity with the man I love.”

“Not on my watch!”
Something inside Kate snapped and she grabbed the blond woman by the shirt. She
lifted her slightly before pulling back her fist and smashing it into Therese’s
nose. Blood spurted everywhere and Therese began to howl, but Kate didn’t let
up, hitting her over and over. “Tell me what you gave him!” They rolled around,
Kate’s fist making contact each time she got on top.

“
Atavan
!”
Therese finally cried out, holding up her hands.

“Kate!” She could hear
Drake’s voice but she couldn’t stop swinging.

“Kate, he’s still
alive—he needs you!” Emilie’s voice penetrated her angry haze and Kate’s head
snapped around.

“We got her,” Drake
said softly, lifting Kate off Therese and setting her on her feet. “Go to Karl.
Paramedics are right behind us.”

Kate ran, slipping and
sliding on the ice to where Karl lay prone. She turned him over and nearly
cried with relief when he made a noise. “Karl?! Baby, I’m here.” She pressed
her lips to his and was surprised to feel him respond. “Karl, can you open your
eyes? Please, baby, fight through whatever she gave you.”

He groaned, struggling
to open his eyes, and she pulled his head on her lap, oblivious to the cold ice
on her bare legs.

“Kate…” His voice was
barely a whisper.

“I’m here. I’ll never
leave you again. I promise. Please don’t leave me.” Tears began spilling down
her cheeks as she cradled his head against her chest.

She was vaguely aware
of
Viggo
kneeling beside her. He had one of Karl’s
wrists in his hand. “His pulse is slow, but steady. He’s big and strong—it will
take a lot to take down such a big guy.”

“Oh, God.” She tried to
swipe at the tears but couldn’t move her hands from Karl’s head. “Where are the
paramedics?!”

“I’m trained as a
paramedic in Sweden,”
Viggo
said quietly. “But—”

“Can’t you do
anything?” Her eyes met his desperately.

“I don’t have any
equipment.”

“Stop…holding…my…hand…”
Karl’s whisper startled both of them. “Knew…you…had…a thing…for…me.”

Viggo
snorted. “Long-haired
pansy like you isn’t my type—I need a real man!” He tried to keep his voice
light, but it broke at the end, belying his concern for his friend, and he
swiped at his eyes.

“Can we help?”
Toli
asked, kneeling beside them.

“There’s nothing we can
do until the paramedics get here,” Kate said sadly.

“We’re coming!” Becca’s
voice echoed through the arena as she led the paramedics to them.

“Thank God,”
Viggo
breathed.

The paramedics took over
and
Toli
gently pulled Kate to her feet. “Let them
help him,” he said softly.

She’d started to shiver
and he pulled her close, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “Don’t let him
die,” she whispered. “Please don’t let him die.”

“He’s not going to die,”
Toli
whispered back. “I promise.”

She closed her eyes and
started to cry softly.

The hospital waiting
room was full. While the girls fussed over Kate and tried to keep her calm, the
men paced. Drake,
Toli
, Zakk, Dom, Cody and
Viggo
took turns roaming the hallways, while Emilie watched
from the far wall. She alternated between sitting with the other women and
pacing with the men, obviously distraught and unsure where she belonged.