Reed heard Jessie before he saw her, her sassy bravado filling the air in a reassuring confirmation she was still okay. He kept a firm hand on Dave’s arm, subtly giving him the signal he still couldn’t move and the man nodded, his face grim even as he accepted the need to wait. Tucker pulled up the rear of their small party and pointed to his eyes, then held up two fingers.
They only had two opponents?
It wasn’t possible.
While he knew it was unlikely his stepfather would have his police department flunkies here with him, he had to have some help. Eyes on two people indicated Tripp thought he could handle the situation with the help of only one other person and likely a third outside?
There was no way.
His stepfather’s voice overpowered Jessie’s, filling the hot warehouse with sharp, menacing teeth. “You may as well come out, Reed. I already know you’re here, and hiding is only going to prolong the inevitable.”
Reed eyed Tucker and nodded. He patted Dave and pushed them both forward, leaving Buchanan in the shadows as backup. Tripp knew they’d arrived, but he didn’t necessarily know numbers. Reed and Tucker gambled on that fact as Reed moved into the light of the warehouse.
“Where’s your mother?”
As an opening gambit, Reed was surprised by the approach, but he quickly shifted gears to see how he could use Tripp’s comment to his benefit. “She’s safe.”
“She should be here with me!”
Tripp’s shout echoed in the still air of the warehouse, but it was Dave’s hard cry before he ran toward Jessie that provided an unexpected distraction.
“How could you?” Dave crouched from his position next to Jessie, his hands on her arms and shoulders as he frantically reached for the restraints at her back. “We trusted you. We know you!”
“Alex.” Tripp gestured with a brief nod.
A large man stepped out of the shadows and Reed had his gun up and in hand when the man knocked Dave in the back of the head, his large body falling next to his wife at the impact.
She laid down another rant of pure vitriol and Alex moved to stand above her, the message clear that she stay put.
“Where is your mother?”
Reed saw Jessie’s subtle shake of her head and decided to play things out. “Safe.”
“She won’t take my calls.”
“She’s devastated to find out her husband is a murderer, a thief and a psychopath.”
The gun in Tripp’s right hand trembled. “Where is she?”
“Don’t play the concerned spouse now. We know what you’ve done. What you’re responsible for. I told her all of it.”
“You know nothing. I’m a well-respected businessman. I’m revered in this town.”
“Tell me. How long have you been leading this double life? Living a lie?” Reed stepped closer, the anger that had ridden him hard over the past few days winning the battle for his self-control. “How long have you been a murderer?”
“You know nothing.” Tripp shook his head, his eyes gleaming with menace. “And you’re not going to have a chance to find anything out, either.”
Reed stepped closer and he sensed Alex poise for action. “Correction. I haven’t known anything. But I will find out everything about you. Every last bit of what you’ve done for however long you’ve been doing it.”
“That’s rather difficult since you won’t live to see the morning.” Tripp smiled, a cold, oily thing that had Reed retracing his steps. Who was this man?
And then it didn’t matter as a loud scream filled the air and a man perp-walked Lilah into the center of the warehouse, a gun to her head.
* * *
Lilah fought to remain calm and levelheaded, even as one horrific image after another flowed through her mind. A man—a large man—had a very large gun to her head. And now she was here.
With Reed and Jessie and Dave.
Where were Tucker and Max?
Bile rose in her throat as she imagined the gunshot she’d heard earlier. Was Max hit? Was he lying somewhere dead?
The man who had her had taken her gun and she hadn’t even bothered reaching for the one at her ankle. She wouldn’t have been quick enough and it was no use tipping him off. There still might be a chance.
She met Reed’s gaze, a world of longing and hurt reflecting back at her before he turned to his stepfather.
“Why?”
“Surely you can figure that out. I know you’ve never been much for money and power, but you like nice things. Good clothes. A nice car. From me, you’ve come to appreciate the finer things.”
“So you’re killing people for a few rubies? You’re successful. You have a good business. A highly profitable one, too. What you’re doing here is wrong. It’s greed and avarice and it’s evil.”
“Possessing things is in my blood.”
“You possess plenty.”
“It’s never enough. But it will be soon.” Tripp pulled the stone out of his pocket, the rich red of the ruby refracting the fluorescent lights of the warehouse. “When I have all of these, I’ll have everything. These stones have power.”
“They’re jewels. Nothing more.”
“Once I have them they’ll be something more.”
Lilah watched as understanding filled Reed’s gaze. She’d sensed it earlier, but now she knew.
Whatever he believed he knew about Tripp Lange was gone, replaced by a man he’d never really known.
A man he had no desire to ever know.
The goon who had her tightened his grip on her arm, the tip of the gun still pointing into her neck. She knew she couldn’t move—and knew the time was fast approaching when Tripp would exhibit the same ruthless finality he’d shown everyone else.
A loud thud reverberated through the room, shaking the floor and tossing her and the man behind her to their knees. Suddenly free of the gun at her nape, Lilah scrambled as fast as she could, Reed shouting for her to come closer.
The whole moment shattered, the walls shaking even harder as the refrigerated truck they’d driven over slammed a hole in the wall of windows.
Max.
Before she could move, Reed had her down on the ground, his gun extended as he leveled two shots at the man who’d taken her from the truck.
Although he’d aimed at a moving target, Reed managed to slow the man’s movements with a shot that grazed the leg. The goon turned his gun, his aim directed at them, but Reed used the man’s stilted movements to deliver the kill shot.
As the perpetrator fell to his knees, his gun clattering to the ground, another set of shock waves reverberated through the building, knocking out a wall on the far side of the building.
Another round of screams echoed as Jessie struggled against her bonds, and Lilah raced to her, tugging at the duct tape that bound her wrists. Jessie leaped on her husband, her frantic shouts of his name bringing him around.
“Come on. We have to go.”
Lilah took Dave from one side and Jessie had him on the other as they moved to the truck. Max was already out of the cab, clearing a path of debris to get them all into the back of the refrigeration unit.
“Buck! Reed! Come on!”
The man Tucker had wounded bled, his hand crushed against his stomach, while Tripp stood, his face a mask of fury.
“I’m not leaving him.”
“I set the charges,” Max hollered. “Come on! They’ve already started.”
Lilah raced to Reed, dragging him on. “Leave him. Come on. Please, come on.”
Reed gave his stepfather one last glance before he followed her out into the warm Texas night, leaving the men to be buried alive.
* * *
Reed pulled Lilah close, unable to believe she was safe. Unable to believe they were all safe. They finally called for backup, the explosion the cover for what had gone down.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“When I saw you come in.” He clenched the shaking fingers of his free hand, wondering if the tremors would ever stop. “I thought—”
“I know what you thought. It’s what I thought, too.” She tilted her head toward him, her lips brushing against his. “But it’s over. We’re safe.”
Cops rushed here and there, along with what looked like half the Dallas Fire Department. Reed had already instructed them to look for bodies and knew he needed to help—needed to lead—but he wanted one last minute with her.
Just one damn moment that he’d never take for granted again.
“I love you.”
The words—ones he never thought to say—spilled from his lips with a fervent desperation. He’d come so close to losing her. Too close.
Yet they’d been spared. And he was never going to miss the opportunity to tell her how he felt. To share everything that was in his heart. “I love you, Lilah. I want to marry you. Have babies with you. Grow old with you.”
“I want that, too. More than you can ever know.”
Although he hated the chaos that spilled over into their private moment, he refused to wait.
Refused to delay their future.
“Then let’s do it.” He shifted their position so they faced each other, his hands taking hers before linking their fingers, pressing his forehead to hers. “Let’s make it official. As soon as possible.”
“I’m yours, Reed. Always.”
As he took her lips once more with his own, Reed couldn’t think of a better promise to start the rest of his life.
“Yes. Always, Lilah.”