One Last Hold (29 page)

“Boys!” Johnson fired the gun at the barn’s ceiling, ripping the roof apart. Wood shrapnel fell to the floor. “I don’t want to kill any one of you,” he said after they stopped fighting. He assessed Tim, his leer suspicious. “Drop the gun.”

Wesley thought he was in a nightmare. His dad’s gun remained trained on him. He wasn’t sure what to expect of his dad and was beginning to wonder if it
was
his dad. It looked like the man he knew all his life, only he had lost some weight in the past few weeks. His face was pale and fraught with tension and his eyes were wide and wild, but that seemed normal considering the circumstance.

His dad’s twin, Jack Forrester, popped into his head, but he had seen the man’s death certificate. Unless it was phony. Or unless…

“Wesley, you and Tim need to turn around and head to the basement.”

Caitlyn.
Johnson had a basement under the barn and Caitlyn was in there. He’d gladly go to her, and they could figure out how to get out later.

He stumbled backward, toward the door. “Care to tell me why we’re going through this mess?”

“Because you couldn’t leave well enough alone.”

“I tried to leave it all alone. You’re the one who partnered with Blake, who then sent Caitlyn to get a story.”

“I always knew Blake was an idiot,” Johnson said. “Messing with things he shouldn’t have messed with. I should never have let him hire that girl. Tim, drop the damn gun before I shoot your nephew.”

“You mean before you shoot your son?” Tim asked.

“He’s not my son. I always wished he was, but…” The man shrugged.

“You’re Jack Forrester?” Tim asked.

“The one and only. Wesley’s father’s twin, adopted by another family. When Johnson was killed, I had no choice but to take over his life. I didn’t have one, and his wife and son needed me more than my own did.”

Keegan stood and spat at Wesley’s feet. “Didn’t expect that, did you brother?”

An audible click sounded as Tim fired the weapon. Empty. He fired again. Empty.

Keegan laughed. “I never keep bullets in that thing.”

“Well, I keep mine loaded all the time,” Jack said.

“Good, you’re going to need it,” Tim said. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but you’re going down. Keegan, open the door to the basement and let those girls out. Then you lock yourself up with your dad. You can both kill each other later.”

*

Caitlyn heard gunshots and voices.

Wesley’s voice.

Her mouth dried, body aching as she and Rayma clutched each other.

Wesley was out there, searching for her, risking his life for her. She would die if something happened to him. She wanted to shout out and tell him that Johnson wasn’t really his dad, wasn’t really even Johnson. All these years, since Wesley was three years old, Jack had taken over his twin brother’s identity, his life.

How did he do it?

They’d found documents in the barn. Apparently, the man had created new identities for several people over the years.

“What are we doing to do?” Rayma asked.

Trembling, she pulled out of Rayma’s embrace and stacked boxes against the wall. She’d build a staircase up to that door if she had to. “We’re going to get out of here.”

“How do you figure?”

“I don’t know but eventually, that door is going to open, and we’re going to be ready.”

*

“You’re funny.” Jack stood with his feet wide and planted firmly on the floor, gawking at Tim. All Wesley wanted to do now was get into that barn. If he died in that barn, so be it. At least he would be with Caitlyn.

The love of his life.

Maybe phone service would pick up just enough to dial 9-1-1. He considered yanking his phone out of his pocket and dialing, but he’d have to hide or else he’d probably get shot.

By the man who had playacted his father all these years. He had no doubt the man would shoot him now. He had nothing to lose but his own life, and he wouldn’t risk being discovered.

“I’ll go,” Wesley said. He traipsed backward toward the door that apparently led to the basement, where Caitlyn had been left to die. If he could just hold her one last time, he’d die happy.

Jack, still pointing his gun at Wesley, tossed a key to Keegan. “Open the door. Make Tim go first.”

“Hey,” someone outside yelled. Adam roamed in, fostering a knife in front of him. Wesley’s gut lurched, fists clenched at his side. He couldn’t afford hope. If Adam was here, chances are he wasn’t here to save Wesley. How did he know about this place?

“Hey, man.” Keegan called. “You sure you want to do this?”

Dread paved a hole under Wesley’s skin, tightening every fiber of his being. He inhaled slowly, urging himself not to collapse and let them all win. Caitlyn was still in that barn, restoring his hope. He’d fight to the end.

Adam stared blankly and waved his knife at Keegan. “Please drop your gun, Jack.”

“You know if that information is discovered, your life is over,” Johnson—no, Jack—told Adam.

“It’s already pretty much over,” Adam said.

“What are you doing?” Keegan asked Adam.

“What the hell is going on?” Wesley asked.

“Look, I considered taking on a new identity. I could still be Adam, head of a new race team. Maybe even owner. After all, didn’t Tim leave the team to me in the event Wesley died before or with him?”

Wesley felt someone was walking on his grave, which could very well be happening soon. His best friend and crew chief was a traitor. His name probably wasn’t even Adam.

This had to be some nightmare, or one of those phony thrillers with bad actors.

“You didn’t expect that, did you Wesley boy?” Keegan landed a wad of spit at Wesley’s feet. “Adam, here, my best friend since God knows when, is, hell what’s your real name?” He glanced at Adam, proud of this revelation then shrugged as he returned his glare on Wesley. “Doesn’t matter. He’ll have a new name soon. And Johnson here, or should I say Jack? Anyway, Dad gave him a new identity. And since he was so good with cars, he devised a way into your race team with the help of us masterminds. He did a good job keeping us informed of your life. Even helped us with Caitlyn when Blake decided to use her to get to you.”

“And Chad?” Wesley asked, derision a solid heat in his voice.

“Oh, Chad. Poor Chad. Blake so wanted his life to be like Johnson’s. So he convinced his son he should go into racing. Too bad he wasn’t smart enough to live Johnson’s lifestyle and had to hide the fact Chad was his son.”

“Blake shouldn’t have given him that information to his son,” Adam said.

“You killed him?” Wesley accused.

Adam shrugged. “Had to protect our asses. Including yours, you know. We tried to keep that information from spilling out to your fans and ruining all our lives.”

Had everyone Wesley known in his life been a farce?

“What about Derrick?” He asked, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

“Derrick’s a smart man. I had to do something about him when he discovered the truth.”

“Will you get that knife out of my face now?” Keegan asked.

“Go on now.” Jack smacked Wesley over the head with the gun. “Into the basement.”

Adam swung around and grabbed Keegan, pointing the knife at his throat and holding him as a shield. “Not so fast.”

“What in the hell are you doing, boy?”

“I’m sorry about this, man,” Adam told Wesley, ignoring Jack’s comments. “I respected the hell out of you.”

“You know you can’t let Wesley go now, right?” Keegan asked Adam.

“I don’t plan to, but I can’t go with you and your dad, either. Hell, you’ll kill me just like you tried to kill Blake, like you had me kill Chad. I already have the life I want, only this time I’ll be owner of a new race team. I’ve already got my press release ready. Wesley goes crazy, kills his father, stepbrother, and uncle. Even his girlfriend. Before killing self.”

Sirens wailed in the distance. Adam stabbed his knife into Keegan’s chest. Blood gurgled and spewed out of his mouth, but Adam held up upright, using him as a shield. Wesley dove behind the hay bale.

“Guess I better hurry,” Adam said.

“No!” Jack screamed. “No!”

Jack fired his weapon, shattering the barn wood, continuing his tirade in the direction of Adam. Wesley prayed that Caitlyn was safe. He no longer heard screaming, but the heavy beat of his heart thrummed in his ears.

The gunfire stopped.

“Fine,” Adam said. “I’ll open the door to the barn myself. I’ll kill Caitlyn so you don’t have to. I’m sure you’ll want to kill yourself after that.”

Wesley watched as Adam hurried to the basement door. Wesley wondered if there was a drop-off, maybe some steps leading below.

Where had Jack gone?

“Johnson,” Adam said. “Oops, I mean Jack. God, it’s hard to go back to that name. Well, your son was still alive. Don’t know how long he’s going to live now that you’ve shot him up so many times. My story might have to change after that scenario.”

Wesley heard Jack whimpering but still didn’t see him. He had to trust that Jack wasn’t going to shoot him. Not now. He stood and faced Adam. Adam propped Keegan up by the wall near the door. Blood pooled under him. Adam wrestled the door, signifying he’d do whatever necessary to open it and confident he’d live through this.

Wesley would die before he let Adam get to Caitlyn. He stepped out of the safety cocoon of the hay bale, praying Jack’s target was now on Adam’s back.

Wesley cracked his knuckles. “Come on, Adam. You want to resolve this? Let’s do it.”

Adam ran forward, wielding his knife. Wesley sidestepped just in time before another gunshot rang out.

Adam’s body slumped to the floor. Jack stood in the doorway, body shaking and gun pointing to the ground. Tim rushed toward him and nabbed the gun before he had a chance to turn it on himself or anyone else. He eased Jack to the ground, found the door keys, and tossed them to Wesley.

“Caitlyn,” Wesley called as he unlocked the door. “It’s me. I’m coming to get you.”

And he had no intention of letting her go. Ever.

Caitlyn rushed into his arms, crying and blubbering. He held her tight and nuzzled her neck, not for the last time.

Bracketing her face between his hands, he stared deep into her eyes. “Are you okay?”

Her lips fluttered open. He thumbed her mouth.

“I am now,” she whispered.

“Do you know how much I love you?”

She blinked hard and shook her head. He kissed her, then pulled away to study her again “I love you more than anything. I’m sorry for not telling you before.”

A smiled beamed across her face. She locked her arms around his neck and rested her forehead on his chest. “I love you, too.”

Six Months later

“How’s Rayma?” Wesley asked Caitlyn as he strutted into the kitchen wearing nothing but a towel.

“Excuse me?” Caitlyn asked, gleaming. “Why are you thinking about Rayma right now?”

“I heard her leave. Sorry I missed saying good-bye.”

“She’s okay.” Caitlyn locked her fingers on Wesley’s jaw and pulled him in for a kiss. “Still dealing with processing the information,” she continued, backing away.

“That’s an understatement.”

They were all okay and getting better every day. Jack Forrester had pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with no parole. Adam and Keegan were dead.

It helped that after Tim managed to call the cops, he’d turned on his video. Everything from Adam’s confession to Johnson shooting Adam had been recorded. Their names were cleared, and the name of the person who had confessed to Chad’s killing was cleared. Jack had admitted to hiring him to confess, and Esther had taken a plea deal and admitted to everything she knew.

Rayma was trying to come to terms with what happened, and Caitlyn stayed in contact with her daily.

Wesley hadn’t won the championship. He was taking time off, trying to recuperate, and considered investing in a race team for next year. The biography that Caitlyn had written was set to release next month, and they had set up a book tour around the globe.

Wesley had finally owned up to his mistakes, his worst being blaming himself for his mother’s death. Though he would always feel responsible, he realized the memories tainting the perception of his mother weren’t worth holding on to. Samantha loved him, he loved her, and she would never have wanted her son to give up because he didn’t think he deserved happiness.

He was convinced his mother hadn’t known about Jack Forrester, and was somewhat eased by the fact his mother had been happy.

Caitlyn moved away and nodded at his torso. “Don’t tell me you have shorts on under that towel.” She tugged on the towel and it fell away. “Damn, you do. Do you need help taking them off?”

Caitlyn reached for Wesley and pulled down his boxers, hoping to see a very ready man. Instead, she found a ring tied to him. The most exquisite diamond ring she’d ever seen.

“Will you marry me?” he asked.

Caitlyn squealed as she leapt into his arms and rained kisses across his face. “Yes, yes, yes,” she vowed.

Wesley spun her around the room and joy bubbled out of her. Those ten years spent apart was now worth every moment. Their love still held the same candid sensations it had when they were in the puppy-dog phase of their relationship but it was stronger, wiser, and able to hold fast onto the cambers of life. After surviving the hell they endured ten years ago and the hell they’d experienced a few months ago, nothing would ever separate them again.

“I love you,” Wesley growled in her mouth before kissing her senseless.

“So should we start trying to have babies now, or wait until after we’re married?” Caitlyn joked.

Grunting, Wesley sat her on the barstool and ravished her neck.

“Hmm,” she continued, “Guess that means we better start now.”

Thank you so much for joining me on Wesley and Caitlyn’s journey! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I’d love to hear what you think! Reviews help authors and are very much appreciated.

Caitlyn and Wesley’s story was one of the first I ever wrote, years ago. I published it under the title
Holding Fast
using my pseudonym, Emma Sanders. The rights were reverted back to me, but it took me a few years of writing other stories before realizing I must rewrite and revise this story. Their story, like their love, wouldn’t die!