Out of Turn (46 page)

Kade always knew just where to aim his barbs and I sucked in a breath as they hit their mark with painful accuracy. I had to keep going, no matter what Kade said to me.

“So it seems your sights tonight are set on the guy who’s trying to get you drunk,” Kade continued, his lips twisting in a sneer. “You should know he’s a teacher. I hear they make shitty salaries.”

“No one wants to go home alone from a wedding,” I said, forcing a sweet smile.

A nerve pulsed in his cheek at that. “I can put in a good word for you, if you want.” He leaned forward to hiss in my ear. “Mention that you’re a damn good lay.”

The ice that had consumed me when Blane and I broke up now threatened to encase me again, only this time it was to protect myself from Kade.

I looked up at him. “Why, thank you,” I said with forced politeness. “And that wasn’t even my best work.”

Kade suddenly pulled me through the doorway into an empty hallway. He pushed me against the wall, imprisoning me there with his hold on my arms. “Tell me you didn’t mean what you said the other night,” he rasped. “Tell me we have something between us, that you feel something for me, something besides fucking gratitude.”

The fury and agony in his eyes was nearly my undoing. But I couldn’t let him have hope—there was no future for us. So I said the only thing I could think of that would guarantee his hatred.

“You’re nothing but a criminal,” I said. “A murderer and thief. Did you think I could forget that?”

Kade looked as though I’d hit him, his face etched with pain.

I pulled away, knowing I wouldn’t be able to hold on to my composure for much longer, nor could I bring myself to hurt Kade any more than I already had. He reached for me, but I evaded his grasp, hurrying down the hall and up the stairs.

The ladies’ room was on the third floor and I nearly collapsed with relief when I got there, tears already pouring
down my face. The lounge area was blessedly empty. I sat in a chair and stared at the floor, not bothering to wipe my face.

I couldn’t believe what I’d said to Kade, my conscience screaming at me to go find him, apologize, tell him I didn’t mean a word of it. But then where would we be? Right back where we’d started, with me driving a wedge between Blane and Kade.

After a few minutes, I calmed down. I heard the hubbub of people and realized Clarice and Jack had left for their honeymoon. I’d missed their departure, but I doubted she’d noticed, not with all the people there.

I got up with a sigh, went to the sink, and washed the streaked makeup off my face. No sense worrying about it. I could go home now.

The door opened as I was touching up my hair and Charlotte walked in. I stiffened, immediately on my guard.

“Nice wedding,” she said.

“Yes,” I agreed. I didn’t offer anything else. I had nothing to say to her.

“Too bad yours was canceled,” she said, coming up beside me and setting her purse on the counter. “It must have been hard to see Blane here.”

Now she was just being a bitch. I smiled at her in the mirror. “Sweet of you to care.”

“Oh, I don’t,” she said. “I was just making an observation.” She smiled back and disappeared into a stall.

I spun around, determined to vent some of my frustration on her. My arm brushed her bag and sent it toppling to the floor, the contents spilling out.

“Shit,” I muttered, crouching down to pick up her things. I righted her bag and dropped a lipstick in when something caught my eye. It was a stun gun, like the one I’d used on James a few months ago in that hotel room. I couldn’t blame Charlotte for keeping something for protection handy on her. I should do the same.

Grabbing a few more things, I stuffed them into the bag, and something clicked inside my head. I froze, reaching in the bag to turn the stun gun so I could look at the prongs.

Kandi had been immobilized with a stun gun. The prongs on Charlotte’s weapon appeared to be the same length and width apart as the red marks on Kandi’s neck. We’d assumed a man had killed Kandi because of the rape, but a stun gun that stopped Kandi’s struggles would have made it easy for another woman to smother her.

“What are you doing?”

I jumped up, startled, to see Charlotte staring at me, her eyes narrowing.

“N-nothing,” I stammered, setting her purse back on the counter. “I accidentally spilled your purse—that’s all. Sorry about that.” I forced another fake-friendly smile, my heart racing inside my chest.

Charlotte said nothing, just studied me, and I held my breath. Then she smiled, too.

“Not a problem. Thanks for picking everything up.”

“Sure.” I turned away, relieved, and headed toward the door. I had to get out of there, find Blane, and tell him what I suspected. I glanced in the mirror at Charlotte. Our eyes caught. And that’s when I realized… she knew.

I flung myself out the door just as Charlotte reached me. The restroom led into a wider seating area that led onto
a terrace open to the warm summer evening. No one was there and I could hear the music drifting up from below.

Charlotte tackled me and we went down with a thud. I flipped over and backhanded her across the face, sending her sprawling. I clambered to my feet as she grabbed for her purse.

“Don’t try it,” she warned, blocking my path. She held the stun gun.

I swallowed hard. I was sure that if she touched me with the weapon, I wouldn’t wake up.

“What are you doing, Charlotte?” I asked, backing away as she slowly advanced.

“You know what I did,” she said. “I can’t let you tell Blane.”

“Why would you kill Kandi?”

“I didn’t mean to kill her,” Charlotte protested. “It just… happened.”

“How do you just happen to kill somebody?” I retorted.

“I went over there that night because I knew she was sleeping with James,” she said. “I also knew she’d been talking with Blane. The last thing he needed was to hook up with a woman who was already cheating on him. How do you think that would look in the press?”

“So, what, you decided to try and get her to stop? But ran into James there instead.” I can imagine how that had gone over.

“James was never there,” she scoffed. “I thought he was, that it was his semen I smeared on her. Turns out it was Blane’s. I didn’t know he’d already been screwing her.

“You know, this is all your fault,” Charlotte continued, her eyes flashing with anger as she advanced. I continued
my retreat, slowly backing away from her while eyeing the stun gun.

“How is that?” I asked.

“All I had to do was get you to go to Xtreme,” Charlotte said. “Summers was supposed to take care of the rest.”

My gaze flew to hers in shock. “Oh my God,” I breathed. “You were the one who had me go there from the very beginning.” When Charlotte had started at the firm, the first assignment she’d given me had been to check into the case of Julie Vale, a young woman who’d been attacked while working at Xtreme.

“If it hadn’t been for Blane’s obsession with you, you’d no doubt be dead by now and with no one the wiser.”

“Who told you to do that?” I asked. “Who wanted me gone?”

“Unfortunately for Kandi,” Charlotte continued, ignoring my question, “she knew a lot of people in Washington, and she never forgot a face. She recognized me, realized I interned with her father, and figured out I’d been sent to… help Blane.”

“And did helping Blane include getting me out of the picture?”

Charlotte smiled. “Bingo.”

My back pressed up against the terrace railing. I could go no farther.

“She threatened to out you to Blane,” I guessed. “So you killed her, thinking James would take the fall—only Blane nearly did.”

“Luckily, James is an idiot who can’t see past besting Blane,” she said. “And you turned out to be useful after all. Though I would have thought Blane would kick you to the
curb himself after you slept with his brother. You are such a white-trash slut. I have no idea what he sees in you.” She motioned behind me. “Get up on the railing.”

“I don’t think so,” I said.

“You can either take a swan dive off here yourself, or I’ll stun you and throw you over. Either way, you’re so distraught over Blane dumping you—again—that you’re going to end it all right here, right now, at Clarice’s wedding.”

“No one’s dying tonight.”

Charlotte whirled around to see Blane and Kade standing just inside the doorway. Kade had his gun in his hand. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Put down the stun gun, Charlotte,” Blane continued, taking a couple of steps toward her.

“How long have you been there?” Charlotte asked.

“Long enough,” he said.

I’d spotted them but had kept Charlotte talking, needing her to confess everything so Blane could hear it.

Charlotte smiled. “You may have me, but you’re not having her.”

Before I could react, she spun around and shoved me backward over the railing. I heard Kade shout as my hands scrabbled for a hold on anything as I toppled over, catching hold of the bottom edge of the terrace.

A gunshot rang out and the stun gun Charlotte held fell to the ground with a clatter. A moment later, her body hit the floor.

I grunted from the effort of holding on, terror pounding through my veins. The muscles in my arms screamed in protest and I knew I couldn’t hold on much longer.

Blane and Kade appeared over the railing. My eyes locked with Kade’s.

“Help me. Please.” My voice felt strangled inside my throat.

“As if you have to ask,” he muttered, already climbing over the railing to stand on the ledge. Blane held tight to his belt as Kade reached down to me. His hands closed over my arms and he pulled me up, handing me to Blane before swinging his own leg back over the railing.

I was a heartbeat from hysteria, my close call one too many in the past few days. Blane enveloped my trembling body in his arms.

“It’s okay now,” he soothed me. “You’re okay.”

I sniffed. “Is she dead?” I asked, my voice muffled against his chest.

“No,” Blane replied. “We just used her stun gun on her.” He gave me another squeeze, then gently turned me around.

Kade stood a few feet away, his gaze hungrily taking me in. His lips were pressed tightly closed, his hands clenched in fists.

“I’ll go call the police,” Blane said. I didn’t turn but heard him leave, his footsteps echoing as he crossed the hardwood floor.

Kade and I stood there in uncomfortable silence. Tears stung my eyes, but I determinedly held them back. Finally, I spoke.

“Thank you,” I managed to get past my clogged throat. “For saving—”

“Shut up,” he interrupted, but the words had no heat. Kade took two steps and I was suddenly in his arms, his mouth on mine.

We kissed as though it might be our last, the world disappearing around us. I could taste the salt of my tears on his tongue, feel the warm brush of his thumbs on my cheeks as he cradled my face in his hands. The strong beat of his heart reverberated inside my chest as I pressed against him, my arms slipping underneath his jacket and around his back. The warmth of his body soaked through the crisp linen of his shirt to my palms.

When we finally parted, he rested his forehead against mine, our breaths intermingling.

“I’m so, so sorry,” I whispered through my tears. “Those things I said—I didn’t mean them, didn’t mean any of it.”

Kade’s thumbs caught my tears and wiped them away. “Shhh… I know. Don’t cry, princess.”

The sound of sirens in the distance made me step back and Kade shrugged out of his jacket, swinging it over my shoulders. His scent rose from the fabric and I clutched it to me.

Blane was with the cops when they entered the room, just as Charlotte started coming around. He glanced at us, his expression unfathomable, before turning to answer a question from a cop.

Kade curved an arm over my shoulders, holding me close as we gave our statements to the police. I watched as Charlotte was led away in handcuffs, her malevolent gaze piercing me as she passed.

We followed Blane outside. “We’ll meet you at the house,” Kade said to him, guiding me to his Mercedes.

“What about my car?” I asked.

“I don’t give a shit about your car,” Kade said, opening the passenger door. “You’re coming with me. Get in.”

I shut up and did as I was told, recognizing Kade’s instinctual need to keep me close after what had happened. I felt the same.

The inside of the car was warm and I folded Kade’s jacket, laying it on the backseat as he slid behind the wheel. He pulled off his tie and tossed it in the back along with his gun, undoing a few buttons on his shirt before starting the car.

The glow from the dash softly illuminated the carved features of his face as he drove. I kicked off my shoes before turning toward him and drawing my knees to my chest.

Kade’s hand reached for mine, bringing it to his lips to brush a kiss across my knuckles before settling our hands on his thigh.

We had a lot to talk about, but it could wait. It was enough to just be together.

We pulled into Blane’s driveway right behind his car. I got out with Kade, my eye catching something as Blane joined us.

“Who’s here?” I asked, pointing to a man standing in the shadows of Blane’s front door.

Blane frowned. “I have no idea.”

We followed Blane up the walk until he paused, about ten feet from the man. I could see him more clearly now and recognized him.

“Geoff,” Blane said. “What are you doing here at this hour?”

Kandi’s father took a step closer into the light cast from the lamppost.

“Did you think you could just get away with it?” he asked, and only now did I see the gun in his hand. “You killed my daughter, Kirk.”

Kade stiffened next to me and I remembered with a sinking sensation that his gun was still in the car.

“I didn’t kill Kandi,” Blane said, his voice calm and clear. “We found the person who killed her. She confessed just hours ago.”

“I don’t believe you,” Geoff said. “I know the evidence. I know what they found, the DNA match.” The bitter anger in his voice made me wince. “You strung Kandi along for years, treated her like she wasn’t good enough for you. Then you killed her, defiled her, and are blackmailing James so he won’t prosecute.”