Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) (61 page)

~~***~~

Honor followed
closely behind Cheyenne as the other woman ushered them down the hallway. 
Walking into Bree’s office a moment later, Honor smiled as the doctor rose from
behind her desk. 

“Well, hello there,”
Bree greeted them.  “It’s good to see you both looking so happy.  I can tell by
the way both your faces are beaming that being engaged agrees with you both,”
she commended them.  “Please, sit down,” she invited, gesturing toward the
comfortable loveseat as she collected her notepad from her desk and moved
toward the armchair where she normally sat during sessions.  “How are the
wedding plans coming along?  You’re what…a month away from taking that stroll
down the aisle?”

“A little more than
that,” Honor replied, rubbing her hands against the khaki skirt she wore.  “But
the plans are coming together.  My sisters are making sure of that.”

“Well, that sounds
wonderful.  Zeke, how are you feeling about all this wedding hoopla?” Bree
asked, shifting her gaze to where Zeke had his arm curled around Honor.  “You
ready?”

“Hell, yes,” he
answered quickly.  “I’ve been ready for six years, Doc,” he replied. 

“That’s a long time
to wait,” Bree noted casually. 

Zeke looked down at
Honor.  “Worth every single second of it to have the woman I want.”

“No lingering
bitterness on either of your sides, huh?” she questioned lightly, tapping her
pen against the pad in her lap. 

“I always knew that when
Honor was ready, she’d let me into her heart,” Zeke answered softly.  “It
understandably took her some time….”

“
Some
time?”
Bree echoed with an arched brow.

“Fine, it took her a
lot
of time, but I, for one, think we were worth the wait, don’t you, Kitten?” he
asked as he moved his gaze from Bree to Honor.

Honor looked up at
Zeke with adoring eyes.  “Absolutely,” she whispered before focusing her
attention on Bree.  “I thank God every day for Zeke’s patience and tenacity. 
Without it, I would never be as happy as I am right now.  I wasted a lot of
time dwelling on my doubts and fears instead of seeing what I had standing
right in front of me, Bree, but my eyes are open now.  I see the unconditional
love I’ve been offered by Zeke, and I want it.  All of it.  And in return, I’m
finally able to give him mine.  I’m just grateful he never got tired of waiting
for me to pull my head out of the sand.”

“Well then, on that
note, I say we should get this premarital counseling session started,” Bree
announced with a wide smile of her own.

~~***~~

An hour later, Honor
felt as confident as ever in her decision to become Zeke’s wife.  As Bree led
them down the hallway back to the reception area, Honor could already see
Maggie waiting for her through the open reception window. Lifting a hand to
wave at her, she paused as she saw Maggie frown back at her and shake her head
slightly as Bree opened the door into the waiting room and gasped.

“David!  What in the
world are…” Bree began to ask.

“Shut up!  Just
sh-shut up,” Honor heard a man growl as she stepped out into the waiting room
with Zeke on her heels.  Gasping as she stepped over the threshold into the
seating area, Honor’s heart jumped into her throat as she saw a familiar man
pressing the barrel of his gun against Maggie’s temple.  “All of you, get out
here and sit for a minute,” the agitated man demanded.

“Zeke?” Honor
whispered, pressing her back against Zeke’s chest. 

“Just do what he
says,” Zeke urged his woman calmly, settling one reassuring hand on her hip and
steadying her.

Swinging the gun
toward Zeke, the man ordered, “I know who you are, too, and you need to know
that it’s not a good idea to even think about rushing me.  You might take me
out, but not before I pull the trigger and shoot this nice lady here in the
head.”

“No need for that,”
Zeke soothed, shaking his head.  “We all wanna come out of this alive.  What do
you want?  Money?  Drugs?  What are you lookin’ to find here?” Zeke asked, his
deep voice level and friendly. 

“I found what I
want,” he said, nodding to where Honor stood.  “Toss out your gun, S-sheriff. 
Do in now before you force me into doing something I don’t wanna do,” he
warned, grinding the barrel of his gun into Maggie’s skin.

“Ouch, Asshat!  That
hurts,” Maggie bit out between clenched teeth, her hands clenching around the
strap of her handbag.

“Mags, be quiet,
darlin’,” Zeke’s deep voice urged.  “Son, we don’t want any trouble.  We can all
just stay calm.”

“David,” Bree tried
to talk to her patient again.  “What’s going on here?  Let’s talk about this,”
she urged, keeping her tone kind and level.  “Put the gun down; you don’t need
to hurt anyone.”

Ignoring Bree’s plea,
David shook his head as his eyes darted toward her.  “I can’t.  I’m s-so sorry,
but I can’t, Dr. Daniels.”

A chill slithered
down Honor’s spine as she heard those words said in that tone.  “Oh, God,” she
whispered as the man Bree kept calling David shoved a hand through his unruly
hair.  God help her, she recognized that voice.

“Just do what I
s-say,” David ordered.  “Drop the gun on the floor and kick it toward me!  Do
it now!  And no funny business or I blow this lady’s brains out,” David
threatened Zeke as he pushed the nose of his own gun more forcefully against
Maggie’s temple.

“David, no!” Bree
denied.  “You don’t want to hurt anybody.”

“No, I don’t!  But I
will if I have to,” he warned, staring at Zeke.  “It’s up to you, Sheriff.  Am
I gonna have to take this lady’s life to prove how serious I am or are you
gonna drop your gun?”

“No.  I’m gonna take
off my gun real careful-like,” Zeke said, slowly moving his hand to the holster
strapped to his waist.  “Just be easy, son,” he continued slowly as he flipped
open the strap holding his gun in place and pulled his weapon slowly, bending
to drop it on the ground.

“Now kick it over
here,” David demanded impatiently.  “Hurry up!”

Honor held her breath
as Zeke did as he said, freezing when David’s gaze moved to her.  “It just
clicked for you didn’t it?  You’ve figured out who I am, haven’t you?”

Licking her lips,
Honor shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut.  “I want somebody to explain
to me how it’s even possible that I’ve managed to be taken hostage twice inside
of a year by a deranged whackadoodle?” Honor asked under her breath as she
opened her eyes and stared hostilely at the man holding them at gunpoint. 
Eyeing him anxiously, she noted his shaking hands and sweaty face.   Older than
her, but younger than Zeke by several years, he appeared agitated and nervous,
his dilated eyes darting from one person to the other. 

“You haven’t answered
me, Honor.  Do you know who I am?”

“At the moment? 
You’re the man ruining my wedding dress fitting!” she babbled.

“David, talk to me,”
Bree urged, trying to distract his attention from Honor.  “What’s happening
right now?  Did you have a fight with your brother again?” she asked gently.

“You could say that,”
David laughed humorlessly, his unhappy eyes sad as they stared at Honor.  “I
really am sorry for this,” he apologized again.  “There’s just no other way.”

“No other way for
what?” Honor asked, talking to the man for the first time.

“To save you,” David
replied simply.  “And I
have
to save you.”

“David…” Bree called
as David shifted the gun he had aimed at Maggie to point it at Zeke.

“I promise, Sheriff,
this time I’ll help her the way I should have helped her then,” David vowed. 
“But to do that, I can’t have you getting in my way,” he said sorrowfully.

“Oh, my God,” Honor
whispered as she began to tremble, her heart pounding against her chest.  “It
is
you.  You’re one of them!” Honor whimpered, pressing against Zeke’s side.
“You’re the one that didn’t want to join in, but they bullied you into
participating.”

“I’m sorry.  So, so
sorry,” David almost whimpered. “They made me do it.  They made me hurt you,
but I won’t let that happen again.  I’m gonna make things right, but you have
to come with me.  I can’t keep you safe unless you do.”

Honor swallowed as
Zeke moved his body in front of hers.  “She’s not going anywhere with you,” he
growled, his big body stiffening.  “If you want to help Honor now, you need to
put that gun down and make a full confession of the crime you committed against
her.  Tell me who else was involved in her assault and I swear to you, I’ll put
in a good word with the county attorney.”

“All that won’t save
her from HIM!” David roared as he jabbed the gun toward Zeke.  “She’ll never be
safe from him as long as he knows where to find her.”

“Who?” Zeke barked,
moving a step forward.

“Stay where you are,”
David yelled back, pointing the gun at Zeke’s chest.

“Tell me who else
hurt my woman,” Zeke demanded as he took another step toward the man holding
the gun.

Everything happened
so fast after that.  One second Zeke was standing in front of her, acting as a
human shield and the next he was on the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound. 
Screaming as she watched his knees buckle, his big body falling to the floor,
Honor started to step forward only for Bree to grab her and hold her back.

“Zeke!  Zeke!” Honor
screamed as tears flowed down her cheek and she collapsed to her knees, her
gaze glued to the still man on the floor.  Reaching her arm out to touch his
leg, she sobbed as his eyelids fluttered.  “Open your eyes,” she begged,
scooting toward him on her knees as she noted that not only did he have a
bullet wound in his arm, but he also had a cut on his temple where he’d struck
the waiting room’s coffee table on his descent to the floor.  “Please, honey,
open your eyes!  Don’t you dare leave me!”

“Fuck!” the gunman
cursed.  “I didn’t want to do that!  This wasn’t part of the plan.  He wasn’t
even supposed to be here!  He was coming toward me.  I told him to stay where
he was.  I had to do it,” David rambled as he stared down at the unconscious
Sheriff.

“David,” Bree said
calmly, getting on her knees beside Honor and pressing her hands over the
bleeding wound, “We need an ambulance.”

“No, not yet,” David
returned, his voice growing panicked as he reached for Maggie’s arm and jerked
her out of the chair.   “Your receptionist can call for help when she comes
back from lunch.  He’ll be fine for that long.”

“Gone?” Maggie echoed
incredulously.  “Where the hell do you think you’re gonna take us that the law
won’t find you.  You’re tryin’ to kidnap the sheriff’s woman, the richest woman
in Paradise County, and a much respected doctor.   Every woman in this room has
someone who’ll miss her when and if she doesn’t come home.  You should take off
while you can and you should do it alone,” Maggie advised angrily as she tried
to dislodge her arm from David’s grip. 

“Fine, it’s only you
I need to keep safe anyway,” David said, dropping Maggie’s arm and reaching for
Honor. 

“No!  No, I’m not
leaving him,” Honor screamed, frantically clutching at Zeke’s arm.

“Would you rather see
me put a bullet in his skull?” David asked, aiming the gun at Zeke’s head.

“No!” Honor shrieked
hysterically, lunging to cover Zeke with her body.  “Leave him alone!  Leave us
both alone!  Didn’t you hurt me enough eight years ago to last you a lifetime?”

David’s face twisted
with remorse as he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.  “I don’t want to hurt
you; that’s why I’m doing all this.  You have to come with me before he finds
you.  Trust me, he’s mad, and you don’t want to deal with him when he’s mad. 
He thinks you’ve been taunting him with the sheriff.  He’s out of his mind! 
He’s so much closer to you than you think.  We’ve gotta go!  Now!  And if I
have to shoot your sheriff again to get you out the door, I’ll do it,” the
desperate man warned her gravely as he cocked the gun again.  “Or should I
shoot one of the women?” he asked Honor.  “Should I do that instead?” he asked,
pointing the weapon at a pissed-off-looking Maggie.

“Do it, you asshole,”
Maggie challenged him.  “I’ve faced bigger bullies than you before.  Do your
worst,” she invited, holding her arms out.

“No, stop,” Honor
yelled as Bree tried to staunch the bleeding from Zeke’s arm.  “Just give me a
second to say goodbye,” she begged the man holding the gun. 

“What?” Maggie balked,
horrified.  “No!  You aren’t going anywhere with this asshole, Honor.”

Looking up from
Zeke’s wound, Bree shook her head.  “Maggie is right.  You absolutely cannot
leave here with him.  David, I’m begging you.  Stop this.  I’m your doctor. 
I’ve been seeing you for months.  At heart, I
know
you are a good person
that doesn’t want to do any more wrong in your life, and taking Honor or anyone
else from my office would be
wrong
.”

“You don’t know
anything about me,” David denied, shaking his head.

“I know I’ve been
seeing you twice a week for eight months, and for that entire time, I’ve
watched as something in your past tortured you.  Something truly awful.  I
suspected some form of abuse, but I was wrong.  That wasn’t it, was it?  It’s
the fact that you participated in the kidnapping and violation of a young girl.
I can see in your eyes that you desperately want to make things right, but I
also know that this isn’t the way to make amends.”