Mine To Hold (26 page)

The cops had sent a team to search the
streets near York Towers. They’d searched for several hours. Turned
up nothing. Claire had been the only one to see Ethan. Even Trace
hadn’t noticed the guy.

Noah was downstairs in the lobby. The cops
had finally let him go, and Claire needed him to hurry up there so
they could talk.
He’ll believe me this time.

“You came up here because you wanted to
question me,” Claire said wearily as she shoved back her hair. “We
both know that’s your plan.”

Gwen searched her eyes. “I’m worried about
you.”

“Because I’m seeing dead men?”

“Because you have a very dangerous taste in
men.”

Claire flinched. “No, I don’t.” She turned
and started pacing toward the window. She eased out of her coat,
tossed it onto the couch. She started to remove her gloves. “I
don’t have…”

Claire’s words trailed away. Her picture was
on the floor. The picture of Claire, Sara, and her parents—the only
thing that had been salvaged from her time at the Hamlet Hotel. The
frame was gone, and the photo…there were large X’s on all the
faces. An X on Sara’s face. An X on Claire’s mother. An X on her
father.

An X on me.

“Claire?” Gwen continued. “I’m worried
because you could be in trouble, and you don’t even realize—”

She grabbed the photo from the floor. “He was
here.” She whirled toward Gwen. “He was
here
—”

Claire saw the gun. The one aimed right at
the back of Gwen’s head. Gwen was looking at Claire. The detective
didn’t see the threat behind her.

Claire screamed and lunged forward. Her body
collided with Gwen’s and they slammed into the floor. There was no
explosion of sound, no blast as the gun fired but…

“Gwen?” Claire whispered. She’d tried to move
so fast. Her trembling hand touched Gwen’s head, and she felt the
sticky wetness of blood.

There was no blast because a silencer was on
the gun.

“You weren’t fast enough, Claire.” The dark,
rumbling voice mocked her.

She looked up and saw that, this time, the
gun was pointed straight at her.

***

Noah paused in front of the elevator. “You
coming up, detective?”

Lane gave him a grim smile. “I think I’ll
wait down here. There are a few of your staff members that I wanted
to chat with.”

The guy was so obvious. “I know you came to
grill them, just like I know your partner is up there questioning
Claire right now.” The cop was probably trying to make Claire feel
more comfortable by questioning her in a place that would put
Claire at ease.

No interrogation room for her, huh? Trying a
different approach?

Lane seemed to brace his body as he studied
Noah. “Your lawyer got you out of there, but that doesn’t mean
you’re free.”

“You need to get your ass back on a plane to
D.C.,” Noah told him bluntly. He stepped onto the elevator. “I
think you’ve worn out your welcome in New York.”

The doors began to close.

Lane’s hand flew out and stopped that closure
as he curled his fingers around the door on the left. “Do you think
Claire saw Ethan Harrison today?”

Noah stared back at him.

“I mean, if my lover told me that the man who
tried to kill her, the man who murdered her parents…if she told me
that asshole had been in town, standing less than thirty feet from
her, I’d freak the hell out,” Lane said.

“Move your hand.”
Or I’ll move it for
you.

“But your buddy Weston didn’t see the guy,
did he? Just Claire, and I don’t exactly see you freaking the hell
out.”

“Because I’m not the type to do that.”
I
need to get upstairs to Claire.

“Or else you don’t believe her. Do you think
she’s having another breakdown? Is all the stress too much for
her?”

“Claire isn’t going to break.” Anger hummed
in his words.

“She did before. And they barely got her to
the hospital in time.”

“Move. Your. Hand.”

Lane shook his head. “You didn’t answer
me.”

The sonofabitch was pushing too far—

“Mr. York!” Janelle’s frantic voice caught
Noah’s attention. He looked over Lane’s shoulder and saw Janelle,
running toward him. All of the color was gone from her face.

Noah shoved Lane out of his way. “What’s
happening?”

“G-Greg…one of our bellmen…I just found him…”
Janelle’s fingers were shaking as she pointed toward the staff door
on the far right. “Someone shot him. In the head. H-he’s dead.”

Lane immediately lunged toward the staff
door.

But Noah spun around and leapt back into the
elevator.

He only had one thought.

Claire.

***

The light glinted off the gunman’s blond
hair. His green eyes gleamed at her. “You’re on your knees again,
Claire, and there’s a gun pointed at your head. Brings back
memories, doesn’t it?”

Her left hand was still pressed to Gwen’s
head, but her right was beside the cop’s body. Just inches from
Gwen’s holster. “Why are you doing this?” Claire whispered as she
looked up at the killer—

Not Ethan Harrison.

Austin.
Austin Harrison.

The
good
brother smiled down at her.
“You ruined my life, Claire.”

She shook her head.

Rage flashed across his face.
“Yes!
You did! You destroyed everything.”

“I-I never wanted Ethan to—”

“Say his name again, and I’ll put a bullet in
your brain.”

She stared at the gun. A long silencer
covered the tip of the weapon. “Aren’t you planning to do that,
anyway?”

“Actually…no.” He motioned with the weapon.
“Get up. I’m not my brother. I don’t need you to beg me.”

She rose. Claire kept her right hand behind
the leg of her pants.

“You just killed a cop.” He shook his head.
“You should never have gotten out of that mental health facility
all those years ago. You just aren’t well.”

“I-I didn’t kill anyone.”

“You fucking killed me!” His rage exploded
again. “You ruined my life! My family lost everything because of
you!”

“I lost my family,” Claire said, keeping her
voice low. He didn’t realize that Gwen was still alive. Claire did.
The blood matted Gwen’s hair, but the wound wasn’t deep. Claire had
knocked the cop aside in time. The bullet had grazed over her, but
it hadn’t driven into Gwen’s skull. She just needed to keep Austin
from realizing that Gwen was still alive. Because if he discovered
the truth, Claire knew he’d shoot the cop again in an instant.

“Your family was trash. They didn’t
matter.”

Her eyes narrowed.
Don’t talk about my
family that way.
“They weren’t murderers so I’d say they
mattered a whole hell of a lot more than the Harrison clan.”

“
You should have just let him screw you!
Until he was done!”
Spittle flew from Austin’s mouth. “Then he
would’ve walked away. Ethan liked to be the one to leave. It gave
him—”

“Power,” Claire finished.

Because power was so important to the
Harrisons.

“You broke him. And when Ethan fell, he took
my father down with him.” His smile flashed again, chilling her.
“Of course, the old man always was a twisted bastard. Didn’t
realize quite how much, not until Ethan told me…”

The gun was inches from her chest.

“Walk toward the balcony.” He jerked the
weapon toward the balcony door. “It’s a phenomenal view out there.
A real helpful bellman let me see it earlier. I flashed some cash
and got a free pass up here.” He licked his lips. “Did I mention
that folks here are bribed too easily? No matter. I made sure to
tie up those loose ends this time.”

Claire walked, backward, toward the balcony.
Her hands were still down.

“I was supposed to be president.” A muscle
flexed along his jaw. “I was groomed for that position. I spent so
many years being
perfect
for that.”

She didn’t speak.

“Then the dream was gone. Scandal was all my
family knew. Scandal because of
you.
”

“I thought—I thought you wanted to help me.
In the hospital…”

“I wanted you to vanish. I figured that if
you disappeared, there would still be some hope for me.”

Claire opened the door and slipped out onto
the balcony. It was cold out there, and the wind sent her hair
whipping around her face.

“It’s a killer view, isn’t it?” Austin asked
as he followed her out.

Claire glanced over and saw the lights of the
city below.
Killer.

“My father drained our fortune tracking you.
Trying to free Ethan. He used all of his money, and even though I
was working my ass off, he took mine, too, and I had
nothing.
”

“Austin, you—you don’t need to—”

“I know exactly what I need to do. I need to
get rid of the problems in my life. I need to be free. It’s time
for my new start.” His shoulders straightened. His hold on the gun
was rock-steady. “That’s what I’ve been doing, you see. Cleaning
house. My father was a dead weight, so I had to get rid of
him.”

Her breath choked out.

“He never would’ve stopped. He would have
bled me bone dry as he tried to free Ethan, but that just couldn’t
happen. If Ethan ever got out, hell, he’d go after you again, and
the scandal would be even worse.”

“You’re here with a gun. You just shot a
cop.”
He’s crazy.
“You think the scandal isn’t going to be
bad from this? You need to think again.”

He laughed. “Ah, Claire, I didn’t shoot a
cop. You did.” He lifted the gun, and she saw that he wore black
gloves. “No fingerprints from me, and you…you’re wearing gloves
right now because it was cold outside and you didn’t get the chance
to take them off when you came back to the suite.”

He was right.

“You shot the cop because she realized you
had killed Senator Harrison and his PI, Sloan. And after you shot
her, you panicked. You knew there was no escape, so you did the
only thing you could do…you then took your own life.”

A dull ringing filled Claire’s ears.
“No.”

“You tried suicide before. You just didn’t
try hard enough.” He nodded toward her. “Don’t worry. You’ll do
better this time. A jump from this height will make sure you end up
in the morgue.”

“Y-you said you had help in the hotel.”
A
bellman.
“The cops will find him. The cops will get him to talk
and—”

“The dead don’t talk.”

His words had her heartbeat stuttering.

“And, by the way,” he added darkly, “you
killed the bellman, too. Even used this same gun for the
crime.”

Claire wouldn’t look over the edge of the
balcony again. “
Why
would I have killed him? I don’t—”

“You’re crazy, Claire. You’ve been seeing my
dead brother this week. Getting phone calls from him.” He laughed.
“Talk about perfect timing! When I heard that shit, I couldn’t
believe how wonderfully things were falling into place.”

Her heartbeat shook her chest. “Don’t do
this. Please.”

“I’m not doing it. You are. You killed all
those folks. And now, you’re going to jump over the edge of that
balcony, and you’re going to kill yourself.”

“I-I won’t do it.”

“You’ve hurt enough people.” He advanced
toward her with slow, gliding steps. “It’s time for the nightmare
to be over. You caused all of this—”

“No!”

“Now you’ll be the one to end it.”

She braced herself. Where was Noah? He’d been
downstairs, talking with Lane. Noah should be coming up to the
suite at any moment.

Would Austin shoot Noah, too?

Claire couldn’t let that happen. “I’m not
going to jump.”

“Yes, you will.” His grin flashed. “Because
if you don’t, I’ll go downstairs. I’ll find your lover. And I’ll
put a bullet in his brain.”

A tear slipped down Claire’s cheek. “You were
the one who planted the bomb at his other hotel.”

“What?” His brows rose. “Damn, maybe you are
crazy.”

No, he was. “You’ve been planning to kill
Noah all along.”

“
You destroyed everything, Claire! I had a
great future. I could’ve had—”

Claire lifted the gun that she’d taken from
Gwen’s holster. She’d hidden that gun so carefully.

Not anymore.

Austin’s mouth hung open as he stared at the
weapon.

“I’m not going over that balcony,” Claire
told him. The weapon was shaking in her grip. “And you’re not going
to hurt Noah.”

His gaze dipped to the weapon, then back to
her face. He laughed at her. “You don’t have what it takes to pull
that trigger.”

“I do.” Actually, it was taking all of her
strength
not
to pull it right then. “I’ve lost everyone
close to me. My parents. My sister. I won’t lose Noah. I’d do
anything to protect him.” Claire pulled in a deep breath. “So drop
your weapon, or I will shoot you.”

He took another step toward her. “You
bitch!
You don’t get to tell me what—”

“
Claire!”
Noah’s roar reached them,
spilling through the open balcony door.

Claire didn’t take her eyes off Austin.
“You’re going to be arrested,” Claire told him. “Gwen’s not dead.
She’ll recover. She’ll tell everyone it wasn’t me who shot her.
She’ll—”

“I’m not going to jail!”

“Yes, you are. You’re going to jail just like
Ethan did. Your whole family—you’re the crazy ones!”

Then Noah was there. He ran onto the balcony.
“Claire!”

Austin whirled toward Noah. He brought his
gun up, aiming right at Noah.

“No!” Claire screamed.

Austin’s hand jerked.

Claire fired her weapon even as Austin shot
at Noah. Her bullet hit Austin in the shoulder, and he stumbled,
falling forward.

Claire raced past him, hurrying toward Noah.
He’d fallen too.
Please, God, not Noah, not Noah.