Razing Kayne (12 page)

Thankfully Kayne—albeit reluctantly—handed Gracie over to Jess and planted his hand
beneath her elbow, guiding her out of the sanctuary.
While not painful, his grip was nothing like the friendly contact she'd grown accustomed
to. In fact, she felt like a prisoner he was escorting to prison.

TWELVE

Del turned on Kayne when they reached the vestibule. “
Now what in blazes is going on?
”

“That is the necklace I gave Oksana the day Tasha was born. Each gem is a birthstone
that represents Oksana, Nikolai, Natalia, and Tasha's birth months.” He turned to
fully face Jessica
.
“All this time you've known who she was, and you never did a damned thing about it?
How could you?” His voice broke.

Jess stood her ground. “You're wrong. She was with her mother that night.”

He shook his head, recalling the conversation with Joe the day of the tanker accident.
“No, she was with someone who was dead and couldn't tell you anything. You assumed
they were her parents.” 

Trace blew out a frustrated sigh. “Kayne, there has to be thousands of those necklaces,
at the very least.”

Kayne shook his head. “No, it was custom made, and those are their birthstones. On
the back it has an inscription and
my
initials.
Look. It's written in Russian; it translates to, 'With My Last Breath'. I know it's
there.”

“Oh my God.”
Jessica’s eyes darted up and to the left, a sign she was trying to pull a memory
instead of creating a lie, but eventually she said, “Maybe the necklace was lost?”
A hopeful look brightened her face.

“Jessica, you've never seen Natalia's photo, but they look like twins. My God, I should
have demanded answers then,” he said half to himself. “How long have you known who
she really is?
From the beginning?
Did you keep her on purpose?”
Fuck
he was losing it, and he couldn't help it.

Jessica gasped and stepped away. “What? No!”

“That's pretty circumstantial.” Del edged closer to Jessica.

Kayne took a step back. He needed to keep his distance. He was so goddamned mad at
her he wasn't sure what he was capable of
.
And he didn't want to risk hurting her.

Kayne thought frantically for some other way of proving Jessica was holding Tasha,
and then he remembered the dream. “She has a crescent moon birthmark over her right
ear. It looks like a Cheshire cat smile.” Kayne looked to Jessica for confirmation.

“Oh God.”
Jessica sank onto the bench behind her.

“Just for argument’s sake, let’s say she is your missing daughter?” Trace asked. “How
did she end up with that couple in the car that night?”

“I don't know!” Kayne tore his attention away from the lone tear trailing down Jessica's
color-leeched face long enough to look Trace in the eye. “I don't know what the fuck
happened that day!”

“So you’re suggesting someone just magically happened to be there to kidnap a baby
while your wife was drowning the other two?”

Kayne flinched at Del’s words. No matter how many times he heard it, or thought it,
he'd never become immune to those words.

“Come on, Kayne, think of how that sounds.”

“I don't give a shit how that sounds. I don't
know
how it happened. I just know Jessica is holding my daughter. I
know it.”
Kayne pounded a fist against his heart, his voice breaking.

“Maybe you know it because you were there.”

Kayne saw Jessica flinch at the harsh sound of Cody’s voice, but she remained silent.
When the hell had he joined them?

Cody taunted, “I think those detectives were right. I think you killed your wife and
kids. I bet you gave that baby to someone to hide for you until things cooled off
with the cops and you lost track of her.”  

How the hell did Cody know so much about the case?

Of course Cody wasn’t done. “So, somehow you’ve finally tracked the kid to Payson
and you think you can just snuggle up with Jessica and get your daughter back without
being tried for murder.”

Asshole!

Kayne wanted nothing more than to slug Cody.
Hard.
He owed him one as it was, and the crap he'd just spewed made driving his fist into
his face all the more desirable. But one look at Jessica, and he could see the doubt
in her eyes. Heartbreak replaced all his anger. Yeah, he'd hoped she wouldn't believe
that bullshit, but that's all it had been, he now realized.

Kayne dropped to his knees in front of her. “It's not true. I never knew. I swear
to God I had no idea.”

“There's nothing to know, Kayne. She's not Tasha,” Jessica responded hotly.

Del cleared his throat. “There's a congregation full of people just itching for the
closing prayer so they can stick their noses in this. Let’s take this someplace we
can sit down and try and sort it out.”

Cody
laughed,
the tone humorless. “No, I'm not letting him anywhere near Jess or the kids.”

Kayne surged to his feet. “Back off!” He’d had enough of Cody’s interference. “You're
not a part of this.”

“Like hell I'm not. Anything to do with Jessica has to do with me. I stood by her
when she fought for that kid.” He threw his arm out, pointing at Gracie. “Children's
Services wanted to take her away, but
no
, Jess couldn't let her go.” There was a heavy note of disgust in Cody’s voice. “I
wish to hell they would have taken her
away,
or better yet, that she'd just died in the crash!”

Jessica gasped. “How can you say such a thing?”

Kayne took a threatening step toward Cody. The only thing stopping him from beating
the shit out of Cody was the fact they were standing in church.
Motherfucker!

The foolish idiot pressed on, oblivious to Kayne’s barely restrained fury. “But she
survived, and Children’s Services gave in. She's Jessica's now, and you can't take
her away!”

“Take her?” Kayne and Jessica said in unison.

Kayne hadn't thought of anything past the fact that Tasha was alive. How could Cody
even think that he'd take her from Jessica? Kayne was finally beginning to think clearly
enough to realize that if Jessica had known about the necklace, she wouldn't have
risked the chance of him seeing it today.

Cody took a threatening step toward Jessica. “You are being so fucking stupid! Use
your damn brain. He's trying to take her away from you.”

That son of a bitch! To hell with being in church—Kayne punched Cody. “You ever speak
to her like that again,” he said, standing over Cody's prone body. “And I'll do more
than deck you.”

“Are you threatening me?” Cody stared up at Kayne as he wiped blood from his mouth
with the back of his hand.

“Enough! This is a house of God. Get up, dust off, and walk out.” The blood vessels
in Del's forehead stood in relief, a sure sign of his anger.

“I want to press charges for assault. I want him arrested,” Cody demanded as Trace
unceremoniously hauled him up off the floor.

Del glared at Cody. “You mean like the charges he filed against you the other day,
when you decked him at that accident scene?”

“Do you really want to go down that road, Cody?” Trace asked. “He can still press
charges, and he was an officer in uniform.”

Cody reluctantly shook his head. “No.”

Trace cocked his head. “There's the closing hymn. We've got about two minutes to get
out of here.”

Hitting Cody had felt good
.
Kayne wished he could have done it a dozen more times.

“Jessica, take...
Gracie.
” God it was hard to call her that. “To the Tahoe, I'll get the other kids.” It broke
Kayne’s heart to see his baby curled up in a frightened little ball against Jessica.
Of course, she didn't understand anything other than all the adults around her were
mad and upset, and it had something to do with her.

When Jess nodded and turned to walk away, Cody demanded, “You going to let that psychopath
around your kids?”

“I will go get them.”

Kayne’s head snapped left at the unexpected sound of Maddy’s voice. Oh, sweet Jesus,
one look at her tear-stained face told him she'd heard and seen too much.

Kayne held out his arms. “Come here, sweet pea.” 

Maddy didn't hesitate. She threw herself into his arms and began sobbing uncontrollably.

“I'll get the other kids,” Del said. “We'll meet you by the Tahoe.”

Kayne scooped up Maddy. He nodded toward the exit door. “Jessica, lead the way.”

Kayne could feel someone right behind him as they walked. Joe Sutton's words from
the other day about watching his back around Cody ran through his mind. Was the belligerent
hose-monkey crazy enough to try something while he held Maddy in his arms?

“Right behind you.”
Trace.
Kayne relaxed slightly.

Maddy lifted her head and made eye contact. “Is it true? Is she really your daughter?”

Hell yes!
Kayne opted for diplomacy. “I think so, sweat pea.”  He sat Maddy in the front passenger
seat of the Tahoe, retrieved some Kleenex from the console, and handed it to her
.
“We're going to find out.”

Kayne looked down at Gracie, who was curled tightly against Jessica. “Tash...
Gracie?
” Her eyes were open, but unfocused and glazed.

“Mama, pretty off. No want.
Pease.
Pease!
”
Gracie’s eyes filled with tears, and her lip began to quiver “No want.
Off!
”

God, she was breaking his heart. “What is she saying?”

“She wants the necklace off.” Jessica’s own eyes were brimming with unshed tears.

Kayne reached out and fumbled with the tiny clasp, his hands shaking badly. He managed
to unhook the chain. Slowly he turned it
over,
praying that the words he expected to see would be there.

С моим последним дыханием.
With my last breath.

“What does it mean?” Jessica cocked her head questioningly.

“It's a promise.
A prayer.”
  How did he explain words that held meaning only in his heart
?
Though he’d given them to Oksana, they’d only ever been words.

Kayne released a heavy sigh. “Should I die before I hold you in my arms again, know
that my very last thoughts were of you and our beloved children. Know that with my
last breath I plead for God to help you find peace and joy in this life without me;
that he
keep
you safe until we are together once more. Know
that I whispered, I love you
.
Forever.
With my last breath.”

They were words a husband would say to a beloved wife, the mother of his children.
Even with all the turmoil in their relationship, he’d tried his damnedest to love
her, and had foolishly believed she'd loved him. But it had been nothing but a lie.

But Jessica
?
She’d loved and been loved by a hero. One who’d given his life to save Kayne's daughter.
And here Kayne stood with Jarred's wife, his family, unworthy of any of it, knowing
a good man had sacrificed all of this for a child. Where the fuck was the justice
in that?

Kayne walked Jessica and Gracie to the driver's side of the Tahoe.
“Gracie, time to buckle up.”
Kayne held his hands out, and she readily transferred from Jessica to him, clinging
like a frightened little monkey. He wrapped his arms tightly around her for a long
moment, closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths, slowly letting them out. He’d
never truly believed he'd be able to hold one of his children again. “It's okay, baby,
you're safe.”
Thank God
,
you're safe
.

THIRTEEN

Jess had no idea how she'd managed to get home, but she felt thankful as she pulled
into the garage and put the Tahoe into park. She was still reeling from the fact that
Kayne had suspected Gracie of being his daughter all along. Thinking back to that
first time he’d met Gracie—the expression on his face when he’d looked at her standing
in the foyer—it was as if he’d seen a ghost. From the very beginning, he'd only been
interested in getting close to his daughter. She’d been a fool to think for even a
moment that he’d been interested in her.

Jess shoved her foolish heartache aside and tried to wrap her mind around the possibility
that Gracie was indeed his daughter
.
No matter how she looked at it, it made no sense. He’d told her his wife had killed
their kids, that the baby's body had never been found. If Gracie were that baby, how
was it possible she'd not only lived, but ended up more than five hundred miles away
at an accident scene?

Lost in thought, Jess gasped in surprise when Kayne opened her door.

“It's just me, Jessica,” he said. “I'm not gonna hurt you.”

But he already had. And now he was threatening to destroy her family.

Mentally and physically numb, she could do little more than follow Kayne and the kids
into the house.

***

Kayne wearily rubbed his forehead. “I think I have a migraine.” 

With Trace’s help, Kayne had fixed the kids lunch while Jessica took them upstairs
to get changed. Once they ate, Del had taken the kids downstairs to play. Kayne and
Jessica remained, with Trace St. Mortiz to referee, trying to sort everything out.
This was only made harder by the unwelcome Cody, who’d followed them home and proceeded
to insinuate himself in the conversation. So far they’d gotten nowhere.

Jessica started to stand. “I'll get you some ibuprofen.”

He stayed her with a hand on her forearm. “I'll get it.” He headed toward Jessica's
bathroom, needing a moment or two to himself.

“Remind me to be offended later,” she called after him.

Shit! Of course, he shouldn't know where she kept medication. However, a bathroom,
the medicine cabinet especially, was the best place to learn about someone, and Kayne
had taken advantage of the opportunity afforded him the other night.

He'd learned Jessica didn't take any prescriptions. The only sign of birth control
had been an unopened box of novelty condoms that had expired. She used cinnamon flavored
dental floss and baking-soda toothpaste. By the sheer number of choices of  sea salt
scrubs, bubble baths, and  oil beads—the ones that  were deadly if, God forbid, the
slippery little suckers ever spilled out onto the floor—it appeared that she thoroughly
enjoyed the oversized Jacuzzi tub on a regular basis.
The array of natural sea sponges in a basket on the tub’s edge helped
cement
that theory. He had also discovered she used very little makeup or hair products,
and that she loved the smell of almonds and vanilla. Both were in everything from
her shampoo to her body lotion.

Kayne grabbed a couple Advil and swallowed them dry. As he walked back into the kitchen,
he overheard Cody: “I don't give a shit who he thinks she is
,
I won't have you spending any more time with him.”

“Cody, please, you're not helping.”

He hated hearing the pleading in Jessica’s voice. It pissed him off that the dip-shit
had a say in anything involving his daughter.

Kayne dropped back onto one of the stools and glared at Cody. “Why, exactly, are you
here?”  He understood why Del and Trace were present, but Cody was just pissing him
off.

Cody stepped a little closer to Jessica.
“To protect Jess.”

“Bullshit. Stay the hell out of my way,” Kayne growled with no small degree of malice.
And away from my family!
He barely managed to bite back the words. Christ Almighty, where had that thought
come from?

God, he felt old. His adrenaline was metabolizing, and fear had buried its claws deep,
refusing to let go. What if he was wrong? What if the necklace being found with Gracie
really was some horrible coincidence? But his mind vehemently denied the possibility
even as he thought it. He didn't believe in coincidences.

“Jessica, I'm so sorry, but I need to know more about what happened that night. How
did
this
happen?” He pointed to the necklace he'd stretched out on the counter in front of
him.

Jessica walked over and stood beside him. “What are you going to do when you realize
she's not your daughter?” She reached out and laid her hand on his forearm. “Please
don't do this.”

Kayne twisted away from her touch, shoved a hand in his back
pocket,
and with jerky movements, pulled out his wallet, and produced the photograph. “Look
at it!” he said angrily. “The necklace is right there. There are no others like it,
because I designed the fucking thing myself. In fact, the center diamond has a goddamned
serial number engraved on it.” Oksana was forever taking her wedding bands off and
forgetting them, so he'd incorporated her engagement ring into the pendant. “If anyone
had bothered to run it, they would have discovered its connection with the open homicide
investigation.” He'd given all the details to the investigating detective.

Kayne had obsessed about that damned necklace, and the detective had shown little
interest in a missing piece of jewelry. Holy shit, even then, gut instinct was telling
him he needed to find what happened to that pendant. He hadn't been able to see past
his grief to do more than leave it to the investigators, who were busy trying to pin
the murders on him and find his baby girl’s body. But that was the problem, wasn't
it? They'd been looking for a body. They'd scoured dumpsters and landfills, dragged
waterways. They'd done everything to recover a body, when they should have been looking
for a living child.

Trace cleared his throat. “I was the investigator on that case. We ran the serial
number, hoping to identify the bodies and locate a next of kin for Gracie. We never
got a hit. I don't know who told you they put it into NCIC, but they lied.”

Kayne knew that if Santa Barbara had entered the serial number, the national database
would have notified both towns that the other agency had interest in the serial number.
Just one more reason to hate the detective that had tried to nail him for murder.

“Tasha looks just like her sister, Natalia.
Gracie
has the same birthmark as Tasha. Who the hell else could she be?”

Trace leaned in to look at the picture. “What the hell?” He glanced at Kayne then
back to the photo.

“That's my wife and children. That is Natalia, Tasha's older sister.” Kayne pointed
to the toddler on Oksana’s lap. The photo had been taken only days before his world
tilted. “Natalia was a few months younger than...
Gracie
when this was taken, and
that
is Gracie.”
He pointed to the baby in Oksana’s arms.

Del walked into the kitchen. “Hey guys, I’ve got a callout. I’m gonna have to take
off.” He paused to look at the photograph. “Wow. She looks just like Gracie.”

“No she doesn't!” Jessica shouted. “That's Gracie downstairs with her siblings, not
Tasha. That's
my
daughter.” Jessica burst into tears. “That's.
My
.
Daughter.”

“Hey, come here.” Kayne tried wrapping an arm around Jessica, but she sidestepped
him.

“Don’t!”  She held up a staying hand when Cody moved toward her.

Kayne gave Cody a back-the-fuck-off glare.

Everything in Kayne ached to pull Jessica into his arms and keep her close, but she’d
made it clear she didn’t want to be touched.“Hey, don't cry,” he soothed. “We're going
to figure this out.”

“There's an easy way to confirm Gracie’s identity,” Trace said. “A DNA test is simple
and quick. Three days, and we’ll have an answer. There's no sense in getting worked
up until we know either way.”

“No way!”
Cody grabbed Jessica’s arm. “You are not agreeing to any such thing. If she is this
Ta-whatever, then this is proof he killed his wife and kids, and something went wrong.
Jessica you need to stay the hell away from him before you end up dead too.”

Kayne had never taken a life, not even in the line of duty, but holy Christ he'd like
to beat Cody to within an inch of his.

“Kayne, look at me.” Trace stepped between Kayne and Cody. “Look me in the eye and
swear to me you had nothing to do with the deaths or that baby’s survival.”

“I swear to God, I did not.” Kayne didn’t hesitate.

Trace studied him a long moment then nodded. “We searched for a relative for months.”
He went on to explain how they'd  eventually identified the woman, since she’d been
thrown from the car, but the male driver and any identification he might have had
burned beyond recognition when the vehicle exploded. Though they’d been able to pull
a VIN off the vehicle, it had come back listed as an Owner Notice of Sale. They’d
contacted the previous owner, who’d only been able to tell them that he’d sold it
to a young man who’d paid cash
.

“You know, the craziest thing about the whole accident,” Trace said, “Was that there
was no sign of a car seat. From the radio transmissions, we know the driver was still
in the car and the woman went through the window and was dead on impact. So how in
the hell did that baby get out of the car and next to the woman without a scratch
on her?”

Cody laughed. “Obviously Jarred pulled her out. The seat had melted in the fire.”

“No, there was no car seat.” Trace’s voice was adamant. “In fact, there were no signs
she'd been in the accident at all.
Never made sense.”

Hearing that sent a chill down Kayne's spine.
What the hell had really happened that night?

***

Kayne caught Jessica in the hallway a few minutes later. She'd gone downstairs to
check on the children. He wanted to see Tasha so badly his chest ached but knew Jessica
needed a few moments to herself, so he'd stayed put.
Mostly.
He'd finally had enough of Cody's death glares and stepped into the hallway, only
to realize Jessica was leaning against the wall.

“Hey, how are you holding up?” Though his voice was quiet, it startled her.

“How do you think I'm holding up?” She looked away and furiously tried to wipe tears
from her face.

Christ, he hated to see her cry. “Jessica, I'm so sorry.” Kayne tried to take her
in his arms, but she backed quickly away.

“Don't. Just. Don't!” She warded him off with her hands. “I was just fine before you
ever showed up.”

Yeah, that was probably true, but he hadn't been. “I'm scared too.”
God, that
statement didn't even begin to touch the surface of the fear he felt right now.

“Mama?”
Maddy's voice interrupted.

“Hey, sweet pea, where are your sisters and brother?” Kayne wanted to give Jessica
a moment to compose herself. He couldn't tell how much Maddy had heard, but damnit,
he wanted to keep them out of this as much as possible.

“Ash has them on the stairs.
It's
nap time, and I was wondering if I should put them in bed or let them skip.”

“No, put them down for nap. We don't need five-o'clock meltdown on top of everything
else,” Kayne answered automatically. “When you're done, you can pick a movie and watch
it downstairs.
Nothing over PG.”

Cody stepped into the hallway. “Wow, still trying to make family decisions, I see.” 

“Maddy, go on.” Kayne ignored Cody. He watched to make sure she actually headed upstairs
before he dealt with Cody.

“Not gonna run up and do it yourself, Jarred?” Cody sneered. “Oops, there for a moment
we both forgot who you were.”

“
Cody!
Stop it!” Jessica cried.
“Just Stop!”

“When are you going to wake up? He's trying to destroy everything we built,” Cody
spouted, pushing Kayne to the edge of his limit. “You think it's a coincidence he
landed in Payson? Use your brain for once. See him for what he is.”

“And what, exactly, am I?” Kayne ground the words out through a tightly clenched jaw.

Cody’s smile was far too smug. “You mean other than a child killer? Not only did you
murder your own family, you're the reason Jarred is dead. If Gracie is who you claim,
that is.”

He turned back to Jessica. “You think about that, Jessica. He's the real reason your
husband's gone, and your kids are fatherless.”

“I have never killed anyone in my life, but today isn’t over yet.” Kayne ushered Jessica
back into the kitchen. There was no way he was leaving her alone with that asshole,
and he wasn’t sticking around to listen to anything else Cody had to say.

“Did you just threaten me?” Cody shouted.