In Too Deep (25 page)

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Patricia opened her eyes and tried to get her bearings. She had fallen asleep and now lay curled against Erin, her face nestled comfortably in her neck. She let the warmth of the moment wash over her and almost fell asleep again.

It was warm in the room, and the heat from Erin’s body seeped through her clothes. Patricia turned on her back to let her body cool. The candle on the dresser still burned, but the flame had sunk as the wax melted and it flickered in the barrel of the candle. As her eyes drooped and she began drifting, Jack growled from the foot of the bed where he was peeking out from beneath the covers.

She sat up and reached for her gun, running her hand along under the covers, searching for where she had placed it. Jack continued to growl and Patricia stifled a gasp as a figure advanced toward the doorway. Frantically, Patricia groped for her gun. Jack jumped off the bed, hopping backward as he barked.

“Shut that little shit up, or I’ll kill him.” The woman raised her arms, the reflection of a gun in her hands.

Patricia was almost certain she recognized the voice. She stood and held her hands up, walking slowly toward Jack. “Easy, I’m just going to get him.”

Erin awoke and sat up slowly on the bed. “What’s going on?”

“Shut up, bitch!” The voice was deeper now, angrier. The intruder swung her arms around, aiming the gun at Erin.

Patricia scooped Jack up and placed him on the bed. “Don’t move, Mac,” she directed while her eyes remained focused on the figure.

“Watch it, bitch, or you’ll eat lead.” The intruder moved in, swinging the gun around toward Patricia. Candlelight flickered across her face, confirming her identity.

Patricia sucked in a rapid breath of air. “Tracy, you don’t want to do this.”

The young woman kept the barrel of the gun aimed at Patricia. Her hair was wet and plastered to her head from the rain. Black eye make-up ran down her face, giving her a demon-like appearance.

“My name’s not Tracy!” she yelled, the gun shaking in her hands. “It’s Blade, bitch.” Her voice lowered and she stepped closer to Patricia. “Now back off. It’s not you I’m after.”

She swung the gun around to Erin, who sat poised on the edge of the bed. She closed her eyes and cocked the gun. Patricia lunged at her just as the gun went off and wrestled her for control of the weapon.

Erin quickly rose, having thrown herself flat on the bed a split second before the gun discharged. The bullet had pierced the wall over the headboard. She was rushing to help Patricia when another figure entered from the dark hallway. This woman was wet, her short dark hair shiny in the candlelight. She moved swiftly and hit Patricia on the back of the head with the butt of a small handgun. Patricia collapsed instantly, seemingly knocked unconscious from the blow.

“No!” Erin shouted and she moved toward Patricia.

“Uh uh uh.” The woman trained her pistol on Erin. “You stay right there.”

Erin stared at her, amazed at the familiar piercing blue eyes.

“I know it’s small.” The new intruder waved her gun as she spoke. “But you and I know both know it’ll do the trick. And if it doesn’t…” She grinned. “Then I’ll use what I prefer to use anyway.” With her free hand she pulled a six-inch serrated blade from her back pocket.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Erin asked.

“Shut up.” The woman dragged Blade to her feet and moved behind her, speaking with her mouth right next to her ear. “Now, let’s do what we came for.” She said the words seductively and Blade glared at Erin.

Erin held her hands up and walked carefully back to the bed, one unsure foot behind another. She sat down slowly and watched as Jack pawed at Patricia’s motionless body on the floor.

“I don’t think I can.” Blade had raised her gun, but her hands were trembling.

The woman behind her stroked her arms and kissed her ear. “Yes, you can, baby. Do it for me.” The voice was soothing and seductive.

“Drop your weapons, both of you,” Erin warned, carefully easing her hand under the covers, reaching for the gun she had felt against her leg earlier. “Do you want to go away for killing a cop?”

“Shoot her,” the woman with the knife hissed.

This time something in Blade seemed to go dead. Erin had seen that expression before. Before she could yell a final warning, she glimpsed the telltale movement of Blade’s index finger and instinctively dived, raising Patricia’s gun and firing through the covers, aiming at center mass as she rolled across the bed.

The bullets tore into Blade’s body, dropping her to the floor. Erin scrambled up and hurried around the bed, the gun firmly in front of her, ready for anything. Feathers from the down comforter fell like snow, surrounding the two prone figures on the floor like a peaceful fairytale.

The woman with the knife knelt over Blade, who was breathing with great difficulty. Her eyes were wide and liquid and she spat blood with every agonizing breath.

“Put your hands up,” Erin ordered.

Laughter rang out in the stuffy, dimly lit room. Wild, penetrating eyes focused on Erin and the woman stood, waving her hands in the air, the gun still held tightly in one of them. “You mean like this?”

“Drop your weapon!”

“Well now, which is it? Hold my hands up or drop my gun?” An evil grin tipped the side of her face.

“That’s enough, Jay,” a deep voice said from the doorway, and Liz walked in.

The woman with the gun looked shocked to see her. “Don’t tell me what to do, Lizzie!” She refocused on Erin, shaking the gun at her. “You’ve grown soft on me, and look at what’s happened!”

“You’ve gone too far this time,” Liz said calmly, her eyes fixed on Erin. She stood an inch taller than Jay, but Erin had no trouble seeing the resemblance between the two.

“Ha!” The grin returned to Jay’s face and the fire burned brightly in her eyes. “I’ll decide when I’ve gone too far. This little bitch got the better of you, Lizzie, and you know how I feel about people who don’t play nice with you.”

“I don’t need you to do anything for me, Jay.” Water dripped from Liz’s hair, down the bare skin of her arms.

“I didn’t hear you complain.”

“I didn’t want to believe it was you. I refused to believe it was you. And when I suspected you might be involved, I knew if I made a move to find you, I would’ve led the police right to you. Can’t you see I’ve been protecting you, just like you claim to protect me?”

“I’ve always protected you, Lizzie!” Jay shouted angrily, spitting as the words flew out of her mouth. “Who looked out for you when we were kids? Huh? Who?”

“You, Jay. Always you.” Liz moved closer until she was right next to her.

Erin took a cautious step back, trying to distance herself from the woman with the wild eyes. But Jay didn’t miss a thing.

“Don’t you move again, sweet cheeks, or I’ll blow your cute little body full of holes. Just like you did my friend here.” She used her gun to indicate Blade, now dead, eyes wide open and glazed with fear.

“Put the gun down, Jay,” Liz said gently. “This has to stop now.”

“First I’m going to kill this bitch who betrayed you.” Her voice was low once again, deadly serious.

“I can’t let you do that.”

“So it was okay for all those other sons of bitches to die, but it’s not okay for your little girlfriend here?” She waved the gun again and laughed, amused at herself.

“It was never okay.” Liz stared at the barrel of Erin’s gun.

“Why the fuck not? We can blame everything on the little vampire girl, Lizzie. Don’t take away all my fun.”

The power kicked on suddenly and the lights in the bedroom illuminated, startling all three women.

Jay’s eyes grew big at the shock of the light and she held the gun out firm, her mouth open. Erin knew she was about to fire.

“No!” Liz lunged at her sister’s arm, wrestling her to the ground and muffling the shot.

Erin had dropped and rolled, and she looked up now, her gun aimed at the two dark women on the floor. She breathed deep as adrenaline flooded her veins and she waited to see if she felt any pain, to see if she had been hit. No pain, no bleeding, she was fine. Instantly her thoughts shifted to Liz and she watched with horror as Jay crawled out from beneath her.

Her T-shirt was covered in blood. “Oh no, no!” She screamed and hunkered down over Liz. “Lizzie, Lizzie, I’m so sorry. Where…where does it hurt?”

A hand to her bleeding shoulder, Liz urged, “Go, Jay. Run.”

Jay shook her head defiantly, tears streaming down her face. “No, I won’t leave you.”

“You have to. If you love me, you’ll go. Hurry, before they come for you.” Her eyes swung briefly to Erin, and she shoved the blood-covered woman, yelling, “Go Jay, now!”

Jay fled from the bedroom and Erin stumbled to her feet and followed her. There were no lights on in the hallway, and the remainder of the house was still dark as well. She ran as best she could, trying to stay on Jay’s heels. She reached the kitchen and tumbled over a chair. Regaining her bearings, she saw Jay sprint from the house through the back door. Erin ran into the yard after her but watched helplessly as Jay disappeared over a five-foot cement fence.

Breathing hard, her eyes still on the fence, she lowered her gun, knowing it was useless to pursue. Besides, there were two other women who needed her attention.

Back in the house, she ran to the bedroom, glanced at Patricia, and rolled Liz over on to her side. Stopping loss of blood had to be her first priority. “Don’t move, I’m calling an ambulance.” She grabbed the phone off the dresser.

“Wait, please.” Liz struggled to stand.

Erin prevented her, phone in hand. “Lie still, you’re losing too much blood.” She pressed Liz back down and held her hand firmly over her wound.

“Don’t call yet.” Her eyes were strained, pleading.

“Why?” Erin didn’t like the way the color was draining from her face.

“Jay’s my sister. You can’t tell them about her.” Liz gripped her arm in silent request.

“She killed people, I have to tell.” Erin was adamant, yet at the same time she didn’t want to upset the bleeding woman. She just wanted for her to lie still and relax until an ambulance arrived.

“No, please don’t. It’s not her fault, she’s not well. So much happened to her when we were kids. Please. She’s all I have. Let me handle her.” Liz was begging, pleading and completely desperate, proving to Erin once again that people were wrong about her. She was far from callous and inhuman.

Nevertheless, she had to do what was right. “I can’t do that, Liz.”

Liz clenched her jaw and pulled herself back up. Erin tried to push her back down but Liz removed her hand, holding it firmly in her own, demanding that Erin look in her eyes. “Check on Patricia,” she insisted huskily, her eyes pained and distant.

Erin looked into her eyes and once again was nearly lost in the abyss of blue.

Liz reached up and stroked Erin’s cheek. “You have to know that I would never hurt you.”

Erin felt her skin charge with life under Liz’s fingers. She shook her head away from the touch. She didn’t know anything about anyone anymore. She lifted the phone and punched in 911. As she waited for a response, she went over to kneel by Patricia, who was still unconscious. Erin checked for a pulse and found it steady and strong.

Relief washed through her as she was connected with an emergency operator.

“Yes, hello. I need a couple of ambulances. I have someone shot and bleeding and someone unconscious and—”

She turned to check on the other woman, but the room was bright and empty.

Elizabeth Adams had gone.

One week later

Not far from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

She walked slowly on the desolate beach, her feet swallowed up by the cool water with every crunching wave. It was dusk, the time she favored most on the beach. The sun had bade the sea and the darkening sky farewell with one last kiss of brilliant color.

She looked up and spotted the peeking winks of the night’s first stars. Up on the softer, drier sand, she eased herself down. Dull pain shot through her from her injured shoulder, but she repositioned quickly, stifling the sensation. She drew her knees up and rested her good arm on them, while her other arm remained snug in a sling.

The bullet from her sister’s pistol had torn quite a little hole in her, a painful reminder of Jay’s failed attempt to kill Erin McKenzie. Pain of a different sort shot through her as the blond detective’s face entered her mind. She had seen the hurt in her eyes, the distrust, the cold distance. She shivered as those images blew in with the sea breeze.

She heard her sister’s voice from behind her, calling her name. But when she turned, she found she was alone, the wind playing cruel tricks on her. She stared out at the sea, her mind drifting to Jay, wondering where she was. And wondering still if Erin had told.

As she sat and watched the mysterious sea giving and taking with every wave, she silently hoped her sister was safe and Erin McKenzie had decided to keep her identity a secret, choosing, like the sea, to take it back out with her.

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