Chapter Twenty-One

Kat stood, immobilized with fear, as a wild-eyed stranger in black trousers and a dark shirt strode casually into her kitchen. Her arms tightened round Molly and instinctively she drew her round to her other side, out of harm’s way.

“What do you want?” Though her voice shook, she willed herself to keep calm. This man might not be the person who’d been threatening them. Might not be the one who’d ruthlessly murdered Jake’s wife and daughter. Then she looked into his eyes. Dark, menacing, cold.

“Look what we’ve got here,” the man drawled, his mouth curved in a smile that had nothing to do with humor. “Fancy Holroyd getting himself another woman. Another little girl. Who’d have thought it?”

“Jake’s not here.” Her stomach churned violently. God, she was going to throw up.

“Now who said I was looking for him?” He leant nonchalantly against the wall, cool and cocky.

“It can’t be us you’re after. You don’t know us. We’ve not done anything to hurt you.” Above the sound of her racing heart, Kat could hear Molly’s short, sharp breaths. Or were they hers?

“Well now, that’s true. Then again, Jake’s wife and daughter hadn’t done anything, either. Didn’t do them much good.”

“You killed them.” Her voice came out as a whisper. It wasn’t a question. Kat knew the answer already. The murderous look in his eyes told her exactly what this man was capable of.

He smirked.

“Why?” She was risking his anger, but she had to keep him talking. The longer she did, the more chance the police outside would notice something was wrong and come and help.

His body stiffened at her question and anger flashed across his harsh features. “Why?” he repeated darkly. “Because Jake took my family away from me.”

“He killed them?” Disbelief had her gasping out the words.

“Might as well have done.”

She felt a rush of relief that Jake didn’t have that on his conscience, too, but it was short lived. Especially when she saw the stranger reach behind his back and bring out a gun. “So you thought you’d get him back.” It was getting harder and harder to keep talking, especially as she could feel Molly’s hands clutching at her legs in a death grip. Thank God she was behind the breakfast bar, so unable to see what was happening.

The man’s smile returned. Cold and deadly. “Seems fair.”

All at once there was a scrunch of footsteps on gravel outside. The gunman turned his head sharply toward the front door. Before she knew what was happening, he’d dashed round the breakfast bar and grabbed her, jerking her body hard against his.

With the sound of her heart pounding in her ears, Kat fought to get away. She turned her head, sinking her teeth in his shoulder as hard as she could. He flinched, but not enough to relax his hold. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his hand coming toward her face. The force of the smack made her see stars and sent her crashing to her knees.

Molly started to cry. Fighting against the black fog threatening to overwhelm her, Kat reached for her daughter, desperately wanting to keep her out of harm’s way. As she struggled to get back up, to push Molly behind her, the man hauled her to her feet and pointed a gun at her head.

As the cold metal barrel came into contact with her temple, a scream lodged in her throat.

****

Jake had felt the first prickle of fear when he’d spied the burning car. The second as he noticed that Kat’s drive was deserted, the police officers having gone to attend to the fire. By the time he barged open her door and strode into her kitchen, his heart was pounding so heavily he thought he was going to pass out.

That was all before he caught sight of Wade Mitchell, with his gun trained on Kat.

“Let them go, Mitchell.” He could thank his years of police training that his voice was controlled and calm. Inside he felt like a raging volcano, ready to erupt at any moment.

“Now why would I want to do that?” Eyes glittering with hatred, Wade stared back at Jake. “You know, I’d planned to cut their throats before you arrived, but now I’m thinking this way is better. You can watch as I kill them. Seems to me last time you missed out on all the action.”

Jake swayed for a moment, fighting against the fear that clawed at him. His eyes rested on Molly, motionless behind Kat’s legs, her skin as white as a sheet. Terror filled her eyes and tears flooded down her cheeks. He gritted his teeth. No. He wasn’t going to fail this time. He wasn’t.

Raising his eyes upward, he searched out Kat, her back against Wade, the muzzle of the gun pushed against the side of her head. Though she was clearly terrified, she wasn’t losing it. Wasn’t letting the horror of the situation grab her by the throat and take away all reason. Many in her situation would. Her eyes zeroed in on his, pleading silently. He could read the message loud and clear. Save Molly. Then she nodded her head. It was a tiny gesture, but together with the burning faith in her eyes, it meant everything. She was telling him she trusted him to do that. Trusted him to save her daughter.

Her confidence steadied him. Slowly the blood- chilling terror was forced aside, replaced by a steely determination. He drew in a breath. Clenched his fists. The bastard wasn’t going to win this time. He’d stop him, or he’d die trying.

Briefly his eyes skimmed over Kat and Molly again, hoping they would see his self-belief. Have faith that he had everything under control. Then he turned to Wade. “I’ll tell you why you need to let them both go,” he finally replied, keeping his voice soft and low. “Because when you’re pulling the trigger on them, for that fraction of a second that you’re distracted, I’ll grab the gun I have shoved down the back of my jeans. The gun you know I’ve got there because, hey, once a cop, always a cop. I’ll grab it and I’ll shoot you. Is that what you really want?”

Wade didn’t move a muscle. His hand still gripped the gun, keeping it firmly pressed against Kat’s head.

“Come on.” Jake kept his voice quiet. Encouraging. “Surely you can see there’s no fun in that for you? I’ll still be alive, yet I’m the one you have the issue with. I’m the one that screwed up your life. So why not let them go, and make damn sure you kill me instead?”

Wade’s dark, hooded eyes stared back at him, clearly assessing whether he was bluffing or not. For the life of him Jake didn’t know, either. Oh he had the gun all right, tucked under his shirt. What he wasn’t sure about was how quickly he could get it out. It had been a long time since he’d had to fire one and he hoped to God Molly and Kat’s life wouldn’t depend on him doing so now.

In a flash Wade let go of Kat and whipped his gun round, pointing it at Jake’s head. Relief washed through him as he watched Kat grab at Molly and, crouching low, keeping away from the line of fire, run with her to safety.

It left Jake alone with the man who’d murdered his wife. Who’d murdered his daughter. As he stared at the barrel of the gun, a calm chill descended on him. Previously he hadn’t had a focus for his hatred. Now he did, and he was staring straight at him. The desire to simply scream and lunge at Wade was there, just as raw as it would have been if he’d been in this situation three years ago. However, then he wouldn’t have hesitated, as he did now. Then he wouldn’t have cared about his own safety, he’d just have been hell-bent on killing the man who’d taken Isabelle and Annie away.

Now his rage was tempered by the knowledge that he didn’t want to die, not any more. Now, with the image of Kat and Molly at the forefront of his mind, he very much wanted to live.

“Put your hands on the worktop where I can see them,” Wade spat, motioning with his gun. Jake lifted them up and did as he was told. He wasn’t going to be able to reach his gun quickly enough from this position. He had to find a distraction.

“What are you planning to do with me?” he asked his captor, keeping his eyes fixed steadily on him. If he could just keep him talking, if he could just reach the cup that was only a hand or so away. If he could push it...

“Now there’s a good question,” Wade drawled. “What am I going to do with you?”

“You know the police are outside, so whatever you do, it’s over. They’ll catch you and lock you up for good.”

Wade shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me. It did once, but there’s no life out here for me now. You saw to that.”

“I didn’t take your wife and child away from you. They chose to leave you.” His fingers inched along the worktop.

Anger flashed in the gunman’s eyes. Jake knew he had to move now. With the tip of his fingers he shoved at the cup.

****

Kat’s body was pumped high on adrenaline as she fled the cottage and raced toward the officers surrounding the still-burning car, Molly tight in her arms.

“He’s inside,” she shouted at them. “He’s got a gun and he’s waving it at Jake.”

Immediately they turned their back on the car and started to run back with her to the house.

“Where are they, miss?” one of the officers asked, panting as they scrunched up the drive.

“Downstairs, in the kitchen.” She pointed frantically at the kitchen window, which looked out over the road. Was that two shadows she could see? Please God let Jake still be alive.

The officers lined up by the front door, preparing to burst in. Her heart was in her mouth as she watched them, wondering what the hell was taking them so long. Why didn’t they just shove the door open and barge in? Why were they whispering to each other, discussing God knows what, when they should be saving Jake’s life?

Just as they shouldered the door open, she heard a crash of crockery and then two gunshots, fired almost simultaneously. Bang, bang.

Kat froze in terror. No. She clutched at Molly as a pain ripped through her heart, so savage one of the shots might have been aimed at her. Stupidly she even looked down, but of course there was no blood. It wasn’t her that had been shot. It was Jake.

With legs like rubber she automatically moved to follow the police into the house, but halted as Molly’s arms tightened around her. Looking down at her tousled head, Kat realized she couldn’t go in. Whatever the scene was inside the house, she couldn’t let Molly see it. Gripping hold of her precious daughter, she sat down on the drive. With her heart hammering against her ribs, she prayed.

****

Jake dropped the gun and watched as it landed in a pool of blood on the floor. Some of the blood was his. He knew that from the tearing pain in his side. However, most of it was Wade’s. Knocking the cup onto the floor had given him the split second distraction he’d needed to grab his gun. It hadn’t been long enough to prevent getting shot, but it had been long enough to get in the first shot, ensuring Wade had been off balance when he’d fired. Justice had been served. The man who’d killed his family was now slumped on the floor, dead.

He had no regrets over killing him—it had been kill or be killed—but there was no satisfaction, either. Right now all he felt was an overwhelming sense of relief. As the realization that it was all over started to dawn on him, his mind clouded over and everything became fuzzy. He was vaguely aware of police officers storming into the room. Of voices shouting out the need for the paramedics. Of being helped gently down onto the floor before he fell, and someone wrapping something tight around his chest to stop the blood loss. In the back of his mind he knew he didn’t want to black out. He wanted to see Kat. Check on her and Molly. Panic rose swiftly inside him, and he tried to get back on his feet.

“Stay down,” the female officer told him firmly.

“Where’s Kat?” He winced as he banged against the kitchen cabinet. “And Molly. Are they okay?”

The officer knelt down next to him. “They’re waiting outside. In shock, but otherwise fine.” She looked pointedly at the pools of blood on the floor. At the dark red stains blooming across his shirt. This time her voice became softer. Kinder. “It’s best that you wait till you’re cleaned up before you see them.”

Shit. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Nodding his agreement, he closed his eyes and thanked God that this time around, he hadn’t been too late. Then he allowed himself to drift off.

****

Outside, Kat was going crazy. She wanted to see Jake, but the policeman who’d come out to see her was holding firmly onto her.

“He’s fine,” he repeated for the third time. “Taken a shot to his side, so he needs to go to the hospital, but it’s not serious. It’s missed everything important.”

“I want to see him.”

“I know, ma’am, and you will. But you don’t want to go in there at the moment. Wait till he’s in the ambulance.”

Kat stopped struggling against his hold. “You’re sure he’ll be okay?”

“He’s as strong as an ox. A gun shot’s not going to trouble him.”

Slightly reassured, Kat smiled weakly. All of a sudden she felt light-headed. The ground was moving. Her legs shaking. Letting go of Molly’s hand she dropped to the floor and shoved her head between her legs.

“Mum?”

Taking several deep breaths, Kat raised her head. “I’m okay, darling. Just feeling a bit faint.” She patted the ground next to her. “Come and sit down with me. We’ll wait for the ambulance. Jake needs to go to hospital.”

“Is he hurting?”

Her daughter’s eyes were like dark brown saucers. Huge and round. She prayed Molly wouldn’t be traumatized by this. Prayed she hadn’t been looking when she was hiding behind her legs. “A little, but the hospital will fix him.”

It seemed an age before the ambulance arrived. Kat sat on the cold gravel with Molly, a blanket wrapped around them to keep off the chill that had begun to invade her bones. The officers said it was shock. That she needed to go to hospital too, to get checked out.

Then she saw him.

He was walking out of the house, clutching at his side, his eyes scanning round. She waved, tried to leap to her feet but found her legs were like lead weights and wouldn’t budge. Instead he moved toward them, dropping to his haunches so he could wrap his arms round them both.

“Oh thank God, Jake.” She bit her lip to stop herself from breaking down. “Are you in pain?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s just a scratch.”

The agony etched on his face, and the blood seeping through the makeshift bandage belied his words. There was so much she wanted to say, but the emotion of the moment was too much for her. Instead of thanking him for saving their lives, and telling him how much she loved him, she clutched at him and burst into tears.

Shortly afterward, the medical crew came over and Jake was taken away and helped into an ambulance.

****

Though Kat and Molly were allowed home, they kept Jake in. He’d lost a lot of blood, and they wanted to keep him in for observation.

He complained, threatened to leave anyway, but eventually sheer exhaustion took over, and he gave in. When Kat dropped in to say good night, he was fast asleep.