Broken Ground: (Broken Series Book 1) (49 page)

She nodded, her soft smile radiant. "Looks like the best way to keep those dreams at bay is to have me sleeping by your side. Lucky for you, that's exactly where I intend to be."

I ENDED UP
helping Ali with her shower, much to her relief. She said she liked Gran and everything but felt weird about having to take her clothes off in front of her. I got a playful smack to the back of the head for laughing at that. And several more smacks when I was overeager to help her wash certain areas.

She didn't like the idea of doing that with Gran around either, apparently.

Shit. It was going to be a long week if I couldn't get her over that little aversion. She might not be able to exert herself, but she could damn sure lay back and let me take her over the edge.

When she was all cleaned and dressed, She perched on the edge of the bed while I helped her pack. I wasn't sure where things stood with Vanessa, but I couldn't back out of the trip because of it. I was done running from difficult situations. We'd face it, deal with it, and move on, one way or another.

I sent Gran and Vanessa on ahead while Ali and I headed to the police station to give our statements. On the way there, Ali asked if we could stop by Teach's place to talk to Lauren. She wanted to let her know that Keith hadn't started the fire, hoping to relieve some of the woman's worry, I supposed.

Lauren had come up with a scheme to get her uncle and aunt out of town for a few days, and I gladly footed the bill, for everyone's peace of mind. They were spending the week at a Spa in Charlottesville, none the wiser about our erroneous assumptions.

When we arrived at the house, Ali asked me to stay in the truck, wanting to speak privately with her former nemesis. I wasn't crazy about the idea but thought better of tempting Ali's stubborn streak. I'd be dealing with it enough over the next few weeks while she healed, no need to make things worse.

It took every ounce of willpower I had to watch her struggle out of the truck and hobble up the front steps of Teach's single-story brick home. I had to keep reminding myself that I couldn't follow behind her like she was a child, waiting to catch her should she fall. She would tire of that quickly and, truth be told, I knew she could do it on her own. I just had to fight my natural instinct to protect her. It wasn't going to be easy. Not after the fire.

Lauren opened the door a moment later, looking hesitant to invite Ali in. They spoke for a while, and she opened the door wide, a grudging look on her face. Shit, I really hoped they weren't going back to that again.

Deciding to do something useful while I waited I pulled my laptop from under the passenger seat and opened it, intent on deleting the photos of Vanessa from the memory card. Ali was going to tell the police she was the one who tried the main breaker; we were pretty sure an electrical short caused the fire. She said there was no need to drag Vanessa into it when there was no ill intent, making it easier on everyone.

She was more selfless and forgiving than anyone I'd ever known. And she was mine. Would be mine forever, though she didn't know it yet.

I pulled up the file and started highlighting the pictures, dragging the cursor to the bottom of the screen. Just as I reached up to hit 'delete', the final three frames caught my eye.

Son of a fucking bitch!

I fumbled for a second, removing the highlighting from the pictures, afraid I'd accidentally delete the damn things before I got another look.

I pulled up the pictures, enlarging to full-screen. One by one I clicked through them, a fresh rage welling inside me. We'd never looked any further than the first few pictures, never thought we had a reason to.

I remembered then how Vanessa said she hadn't seen who came in, and she made no mention of seeing Ali's Jeep when she rushed out though it would have been easy to spot. She didn't see Ali's Jeep because it hadn't been Ali who she heard entering the house.

It had been Keith.

I SLAMMED THE
laptop closed, my anger boiling to the surface. No one had seen that son of a bitch for days, my investigator still had nothing new to report, having been focused more on past transgressions than current activities, and I didn't like that one fucking bit. Ali needed to know, sooner rather than later. I couldn't sit still another minute, needed to get to her and get her the hell out of here. I'd give the memory card to the cops and let them have a shot at trying to locate him. God knew I wasn't having any luck.

Lauren needed to know, too. She'd pissed Keith off, and it looked like he was capable of just about anything at this point. I scrambled up the steps and knocked on the door, not waiting to be invited in. I closed the door behind me and called out in the empty foyer. "Ali? Lauren? Where are you?"

Ali's voice was halting, odd when she replied. "Um, we're in here. I'll be out in a minute. Go back to the truck."

Her answer had come from the back of the house. I considered what she'd said, not liking the tremor in her voice. "I need to talk to you, both of you, it's important." I didn't wait for her reply, heading in the direction her voice had come from.

I walked through the empty living room, past antique furniture and an entire wall of expensive bookshelves, neatly lined volumes filling them all. My boots made little sound on the plush carpet, sinking in slightly with each step. Normally, I would have removed them upon entering someone's home but I didn't have the time for such niceties today. There were far more pressing matters with which to contend.

When I turned a corner into the formal dining room, I spied Ali sitting stiffly in a wingback chair in a small seating area by the window. I started to speak as I stepped in her direction, noting Lauren in my peripheral vision. Before I could explain what I'd found on the card, a throat cleared behind me, the tenor distinctly male.

I spun around just as Keith stepped out of the shadows, having been partially obscured by a large china cabinet. His intense stare was hardly impressive but punctuated by the handgun he was holding by his thigh, it was enough to give me pause. "Glad you could join us. It would have been a shame for you to miss this."

There were still several feet of distance separating me from Ali. I risked a glance in her direction, looking for any indication of injury and subtly shifting my weight, hoping to inch my way closer.

"Not a chance, hero," Keith said, pulling Lauren along behind him with his free hand and standing behind Ali's chair. Lauren's whole body was stiff with fear, her eyes wide and pleading, silently begging me not to make him angry. There were faint streaks on both her cheeks, slightly gray from crying through her makeup. From the looks of it, she'd been crying for quite a while.

How long had he been here?

I held up my hands in a show of surrender — technically, the one in the sling just sort of looked like it was waving — unwilling to push him when he had such an advantage. Both of the women were at risk, and I fought to remain calm while my mind whirred with all the possible ways I could handle this. Nothing I came up with would end well. No matter how fast I was, he would have time to pull the trigger before I could get to him.

Not an option when he had more than one target to choose from. If it were just me, I'd risk it but I couldn't risk Lauren and I wouldn't risk Ali.

He held Lauren around the throat with his left hand, the gun held firmly in his right. He wasn't pointing it directly at any of us, but the threat was implied. I watched Ali glancing at the gun from the corner of her eye, heard her take in a shaky breath. "Just let them go, Keith. You've gone through all this trouble to get even with me, well here I sit. You win. You have nothing to gain from harming either one of them." She wouldn't look at me as she spoke, knew that I'd never leave her here.

Not while there's breath left in my body. No fucking way.

Keith snorted. "You're one conceited bitch, you know that? I wasn't even here today looking for you, you frigid cunt. I have a score to settle with Lauren. You showing up was just karma finally catching up with you. I could care less about you really, but I do intend to seize this opportunity since you're here." He lifted the hand holding the gun, stroking her cheek with the cold steel causing her to flinch. I started forward, intent on stopping him, willing to do anything to stop the look of terror on her face.

Keith jerked his head up and leveled the gun at my chest. "What did I tell you, hero? Stay where you are or I'll put just enough bullets in you to keep you subdued while I take your bitch for one last ride." His lip curled in a stomach churning grin. "Yeah, I'm sure you hate knowing I got to fuck her first. Maybe I should treat you to the live show, let you watch me bury my cock in her throat. She liked that, you know, sucking me off. She said it was her favorite way to make me come."

Ali snorted. "Yeah, because it took two seconds and I was in no danger of choking." She looked up at him with hate-filled eyes. "I could have whistled around the damn thing, stupid." His hand shot out, and he caught her across the face with the side of the pistol, her mouth gushing blood almost instantly.

"You son of a bitch!" I lunged forward, torn between reaching for her and ripping his goddamn head off. I made it two steps before the tip of the barrel touched my chest, stopping me cold. I glanced down at it, not giving Keith the satisfaction of eye contact. There were flecks of blood on the barrel, Ali's blood. I looked over at her, watching her cup her face while Lauren tried desperately to snag a cloth napkin from the table.

Keith snatched Lauren closer, cutting off her air. "Get the damn napkin. Slowly. And hand it to Alison. I don't want her bleeding all over me while I fuck her." I met his eye exactly as he'd wanted. He loosened his grip marginally, and Lauren's fingers took hold of the square of cloth, passing it across Keith's body to hand it to Ali. Once she was finished, Keith tightened his grip again, turning slightly to lick her cheek, his steely gaze on mine.

He wasn't putting his hands on them, either of them, even if I had to take a whole clip of bullets to stop him.

Ali had the napkin pressed to her face, coughing slightly. She was probably choking on her own damn blood. Goddamn it! I had to do something.

She dropped the towel to her lap, tilting her head back and testing the corner of her mouth with her fingers. Keith paid her little attention, his focus clearly on me. I held his unblinking stare, waiting him out, hoping he would give me just one brief moment to act. A flicker of light caught my attention, but I didn't look away, didn't want to make Keith aware of it. From the corner of my eye, I watched Ali's hand moving slightly beneath the discarded napkin. The sliver of light peeked out again.

Her phone!

She had her phone in her lap, hiding it from view while she called the police.

God, I wanted to kiss her right then, but I knew that making the call wasn't the same thing as having help. I had to get Keith talking, keep things calm for a while longer.

And I had to make damn sure he didn't spot that phone.

Eyeing Keith curiously, I asked, "How do you see this playing out? I mean, you must have a plan, right?"

That smug grin of his was back. "I've been thinking about that very thing. At first I thought you and your bitch showing up would complicate things. Now, though, I think it's going to work out so much better this way." He pulled Lauren in and kissed her cheek, her face scrunching up distastefully at the contact. "See, I know Lauren here had a thing for you a while back, and we all know how hard it is to turn down a piece of ass like her. So, I'm thinking maybe you didn't turn it down. Especially in favor of a cold fish like Ali. I mean, she doesn't even swallow. It's the least she could do, am I right?" He smirked at me, and it fucking killed me not to rub in the fact that she'd done that for me from the beginning. But I needed to keep him talking not piss him off. "Maybe you've been running around behind Ali's back, and maybe she showed up here today and caught you with your side piece."

Ali still had one hand beneath the napkin while the other edged its way toward her crutch, propped against the wall beside her chair. It was impossible for me to signal her — to tell her not to do anything stupid — not with Keith's eyes boring a hole in my head. So I did my best to keep him talking while readying myself for whatever might happen and praying for the damn police to get here before all hell broke loose.