Full Measure [Mastering Holly Oaks] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (21 page)

Kat was at her breaking point. She could feel her life unraveling. No one could continue to live the way they had for three fucking weeks. She felt like she was always looking behind her back, wondering if she was being followed. Worse, even in her own house she felt vulnerable. Her eyes were constantly scanning for “nanny cams” in every nook and cranny. She couldn’t even make love to her men without the lights off. She just couldn’t get over the feeling that they were being watched.

They saw Suzy’s car everywhere they went. Jay even found her parked in a turnaround a mile from their home. She felt trapped. How much longer could Suzy do this? And how much longer could they handle it? Kat could barely eat. She hated knowing that everything about who they were was being destroyed. She didn’t feel safe going out or playing at the club. She didn’t want to hang out with Kelly and risk involving her, too. Mac and Jay were doing everything they could to make her feel safe, but they didn’t deserve this. And she felt so guilty. They would still be able to live their life if she had never shown up. Right now, none of them were really living.

At least Jay was feeling better about his case. The prosecutor was finally listening. He admitted he didn’t feel comfortable going to trial without more evidence. He wanted to find a knife or something with the victim’s blood on it. Since nothing was ever found in the suspect’s home, he was nervous to go further. Jay knew they’d have the time now to investigate other avenues.

But Kat was going insane. And Kent following her every move was not helping matters. She knew he was just keeping her safe, but she felt like a toddler. He was by her side whenever she left the house or work. He even followed her into the ladies room at the diner, for God’s sake. He was such a sweetie, too. She felt bad for being so afraid of him at first, but he was getting on her last fucking nerve.

Work was the only place she felt normal. She was too busy to worry about her own life. She had control over how she did her job. It was the only control she had left. She and James had just finished with their last patient and were heading to the little locker room to clean up. “You want to grab a bite with me before I head back here?” he asked.

“No, thanks, I’m beat. My bathtub is calling. I’m going to soak till I prune.”

She walked to her locker and stared at its contents. Her face turned crimson as all her fear and vulnerability rapidly turned to anger. Everything in her locker was slashed to tiny pieces. That was it. She could not stand quietly by and just ignore this anymore. She didn’t care that everyone wanted to tread lightly because they couldn’t pin anything illegal on that bitch. And she really didn’t care if she was a dangerous mental case or not. She was taking Kat’s life from her, and anger replaced every other emotion and all common sense.

James came over to see what she was staring at. “That bitch. That’s it. I’m firing her. I don’t give a shit if she sues us.” He stalked out of the room shouting for Ryan.

She didn’t care what anyone else did anymore. She was going to talk to Suzy, now. Enough was enough. She could be a bitch, too. She
needed
to stand up for herself. She slammed her locker door and headed out. Ignoring everyone, she walked to her car and drove to Suzy’s house. Kent was riding her bumper. He could try to carry her back to her car when she got there, but he was going to get kicked in the balls if he dared.

They both got out at the same time. “Don’t, Kent. Do not try to stop me. I will have this little talk with Suzy, and you are not stopping me.” She was fuming.

“Kat, listen. Just calm down, and get back in the car. You know you aren’t supposed to approach her. This is a bad idea, honey.” He was trying to placate her. She was done with that.

“No, Kent. I’ve had enough. She isn’t going to stop, and I’m done just letting her call all the shots. You can stand right beside me. I’ll be perfectly safe with you here, but I am definitely ‘approaching’ her right now.” She turned back to the house, Kent muttering expletives behind her.

Suzy opened the door before she could even knock. “Why, Kat! What a surprise. What can I do for you? I was just on my way to work, so please make this quick.”

Her polite tone made Kat even angrier. “Listen, Suzy. I’ve had enough of your games. I may not be able to have you arrested for being a royal bitch, but I can dedicate my life to making you miserable, too. I will see it as my personal community service mission to make sure every single person in this town knows what a head case you are. You won’t be welcome anywhere. No one will give you the time of day. What do you think, Suzy? No more appointments at the spa to maintain your fucking fake hair. No more nights at the club. I sure hope you can cook because you won’t be eating in the diner. Am I really worth all that? You’re never going to get my job or my men, so you might want to think real hard about all the things you could lose.” Kat was out of venom. She needed to get out of here now. She had never threatened anyone before. Though she was still really pissed, she was shaking. Suzy never broke her calm façade. She just stared at her like she could swat her away like a fly. But Kat was serious. She would do everything in her power to ostracize this psycho if she didn’t lay off now.

Kent was calling Mac, probably to give him the play-by-play. “Get your ass in your car and get to the house now. I cannot believe you threatened her, Kat. I thought you were going to ask her to stop, not give her an ultimatum. Jesus. Mac is going to kill me.” She felt bad about putting him in this situation, but didn’t regret it. She had to do something to let that woman know she was not a mouse to be played with.

* * * *

As soon as she got home, Mac was running out the door. “Kitten, what in hell were you thinking?”

“Do not use your Dom voice on me, Mac. We are not in the bedroom. We haven’t really
been
in the bedroom for three fucking weeks. I can’t take it anymore. She slashed all my things, Mac. We are never going to have a real life like this. I can’t live this way!” Her voice was reaching its hysterical pitch.

“Okay, baby.” He held her close. “I’m sorry. I know this has been a nightmare for you, honey. But we are going to get through it. I don’t care what we have to do to make you feel safe again, kitten. We’ll do it. We’ll move if you want. The only thing I cannot handle is losing you.”

“Oh, Mac. I don’t want to move. This is my home now. This is home for you and Jay. I don’t want to leave our life or our friends. But she needs to stop, Mac.”

“Okay, kitten. Here’s what we’re going to do. Jay was called to Denver. They think they found a second victim.”

Kat pulled back in shock. “A second victim?”

“Yeah, since the suspect is in jail, this could exonerate him. Jay went to attend the autopsy. If there are enough similarities, he thinks he can get the prosecutor to release the original suspect today. We’re going to meet him at a hotel in the city tonight. I want you out of town for a few days. Suzy is being fired right now, and since you just threatened her, I don’t want you anywhere near her until we see how she reacts. James is going to suggest she leave town since she won’t likely find anyone to hire her here.

“I’ve got to go to the club and handle a few things. I’ll make sure everyone is alert for Suzy and get coverage with the other owners and managers so Jay and I can stay out of town until it’s safe.

“I’m sending Kent to Suzy’s place to watch her until we’re out of town. I don’t want her following us. You need to go pack for us for a few days. We’ll leave when I get back, okay? You do not leave the house. I’m setting the alarm as soon as you’re in, and you stay there, understand?”

She thought about it a minute. He was right. It would probably be best to take off for a few days. They could lay low and wait to see what Suzy’s reaction was from a distance. She could admit, being in a hotel room sounded nice. No chance Suzy could get there in advance and set up her goddamn cameras. She could actually
see
her men when she made love to them tonight.

“Okay, Mac. I’ll get our things together. I love you, Mac. I didn’t want to cause more problems…I just wanted them to end.” Her voice wobbled a little.

“I know, baby. I’m not mad at you, kitten. You just scared me. I love you, too, baby.” He kissed her forehead and followed her to the house to lock her in.

* * * *

An hour later, Kat had everything the three of them would need for at least a week. She’d set up a timed feeder for Sampson and would call Kelly tomorrow to come check on him daily. Poor Sampson. He saw the suitcases and took off. Yeah, they were not moving. Her cat would draw the line at three moves in less than six months.

Running around the house to make sure everything was turned off and locked up, she felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket. Ryan’s name was on the display. He was supposed to be at the club with James. “Hey, Ryan. What’s up?”

“Kat, I need some help. Kelly just called about Carson. He’s vomiting blood and won’t get up. I’m afraid he got into some kind of poison. Her gardener just used insecticide and rat poison. If he left any around, Carson could be in serious trouble. She can’t lift him, so I’m heading over there to pick him up. I need an extra pair of hands. Mac said as long as I pick you up myself, it’s safe enough. He’ll meet you at the clinic when he’s done at the club.” She could hear the sounds of traffic outside his car.

“Jesus. Yeah, just get here quickly. I’m ready.” She grabbed her purse and ran for the door. They were close to the club, it shouldn’t take him long.

* * * *

Kelly was frantic, and Carson was a mess. He looked like he was on death’s door. “Tell me he’ll be okay, Kat. He’s an asshole of a dog, but I love him anyway.” She was trying her best not to cry, but Kat could tell she was really worried.

“We need to get him to the clinic, Kel. I need you to search your property. Any information we can get on what he might have ingested will be helpful. Look for poisons or fertilizer, anything that isn’t normally around, okay? We’re going to do our best, you know that.” It seemed Kelly understood Kat would be lying if she promised any more than that. Ryan lifted the whining dog up to the cab of his truck, and Kat squeezed in. They were speeding down the street. Neither wanted to acknowledge that it didn’t look good for Carson.

Kat ran to unlock the clinic and get the trauma room ready while Ryan struggled in the truck. She needed an IV and to set up the lab equipment to analyze Carson’s blood. As soon as she saw Ryan carry Carson into the room, she took off to get all the supplies she’d need.

When she rushed back to the room, she skidded to a stop, screaming and dropping everything. Ryan was slumped on the floor, his head bleeding profusely, Carson lying next to him. She saw Suzy resting her hip against the table in a relaxed pose, shaking her head at the mess Kat had made.

“Kitty, kitty. You really should be more careful. Especially since I no longer work here to clean up your messes.” She sounded so calm it made the hair at the base of Kat’s neck stand up.

“What did you do to Ryan, Suzy? And where’s Kent?” Oh, God. What did she do to Kent? He was supposed to be watching Suzy.

Suzy looked at her like she had to explain this to a child. “Well, Kitty, I hit Ryan over the head when he came in. I should think the wound and blood would have made that pretty obvious. And Kent, well, he frightened me. I was sitting at home, minding my own business, when all of a sudden I saw someone in my backyard. A woman can’t be too careful these days. He could be a rapist coming to attack me. I had to shoot him, honey. I simply cannot let intruders onto my property. It just isn’t safe.” Holy fuck. She
shot
Kent! And she was talking about it like she was giving stupid little Kat a lesson in safety measures! This woman was not mentally unbalanced. She was batshit crazy. Kat swallowed down the hysterical scream threatening to erupt. She was going to die. She was really facing off with a lunatic, and she was going to die.

Kat was frozen, and Suzy was just talking to her like they were best girlfriends, like she could not believe she had to explain all this to Kat. “Oh, Kitty. I tried so very hard to do this the easy way. You just wouldn’t leave. Mac is mine, you know. I’ve seen how he looks at me. Has for years, actually. At first I didn’t want anything to do with him. I am not a whore. I wasn’t going to go around fucking his friend and playing his games.

“But after so many years I could see how much he was suffering. He needs me. I realized he just needed me to help him, show him what kind of normal, healthy life we could have together. He would have told Jay to leave, and we would have been happy. But you showed up and tried to take my man. Why would you do that? Can’t you see that your whoring and sick sex games are destroying Mac?

“I thought if you would just leave town, I wouldn’t have to take extreme measures to save him. But here you are. Wearing
my
engagement ring. I just can’t have that, honey.” Suzy was batshit crazy and delusional. Oh, God, this was bad. And her voice had turned into a really creepy, almost childlike pitch. Kat was beyond freaked out.

When Suzy moved away from the table toward Kat, she could see the knife in her hand. Kat didn’t have anything to defend herself with. She needed to keep her talking so she could figure something out. If she could get to the surgical instruments, she could get her hands on some seriously sharp scissors. That was her best bet. She’d love a fucking scalpel, but she didn’t think she’d have time to get the razor out of its pack. She’d have to move fast.

“You hurt Carson, didn’t you?”

“Well, yes. I had to get you here somehow. That stupid dog will eat anything if you put it in ground beef. Cut glass is so destructive, don’t you think? It really is a shame. None of this would have happened if you would have just left. I don’t have a choice now. You see, you’re going to kill Ryan here after he notices more drugs are gone. Nobody will find you or your body. They’ll all think you ran. Drug addicts are such vile creatures. Don’t worry about Mac, kitty. I’ll make sure he gets over your abandonment.”