Oracle Seeing (The Phoenix Files Book 2) (51 page)

Nate was sick.

He was pacing back and forth, and he wanted to jump the nurses’ station to rush back and find his fiancée.

Maura was on the phone, coordinating everything. He was so grateful for his team, and their ability to carry on without him babysitting.

He was a mess.

As the door opened, swinging out, he saw a doctor heading his way.

“Nathaniel Carter?”

He stood. “Yes?”

“Are you Avalon’s husband?”

They’d fibbed about that one to make sure she’d have insurance tied to the Federal Government.

“Yes! Is she okay?”

“She has an ectopic pregnancy.”

Nate didn’t know what the hell that was. He looked at Maura, who immediately looked worried.

This had to be a bad thing.

Maura didn’t do fear. She ate it for breakfast and made it her bitch on a daily basis. For her to look panicked, it made him want to hyperventilate.

“We have her sedated, but the pregnancy didn’t drop to her uterus. The egg was fertilized in her tube, and it’s ruptured. If we don’t go in, she could die. We’re going to try and save the tube, so she can try to have more kids.”

That was all he had to hear.

“And the pregnancy?” Maura asked, when Nate simply sat down.

“It can’t be saved. Right now, it’s about saving her. At this point, we may need to give her a transfusion. Her belly is filling with blood, and that’s the most dangerous part.”

Nate didn’t know what to think.

He wanted to be sick.

How could he save her from the government, the crazies, killers, and their little baby be the one thing that stole her away.

“Do the surgery and save her,” Maura said, sitting beside Nate. “We’ll be here.”

“She’s young and heathy, so she should be fine.”

The doctor headed away.

Nate sat there.

“Honey, it’s going to be okay,” Maura said, going into sister mode. This was her brother-in-law of sorts, and she hated seeing him like this. Nate was tough. When it came to the woman he loved, he didn’t do well without her.

She recalled his funk when they faked her death.

“I can’t breathe,” he stated.

She totally got it. Maura was scared too.

“Avalon will be fine,” she reassured.

He pulled out his phone to start Googling it. Nate knew he shouldn’t, but he had to see the rate of survival. He needed to know if he was going to lose her.

“Don’t do that, Nate.”

He didn’t care.

Nate needed facts.

As he searched the internet, making himself insane, Maura did the only thing she could.

She called in backup.

       
                
* * *
  O R A C L E   * * *

He waited for her to leave.

As soon as she did, he saw Lucian wasn’t in the vehicle. That made his life so much easier.

He was going to get inside, and do what he needed to do. The man had failed, and justice needed to be served.

As the rest of the media headed away, he simply strolled up to the box and entered the code.

Wendy had been useful. She bribed the housekeeper, and now he was going to make sure that he put that code to good use.

As he headed inside, the grounds were absolutely silent. Well, that wouldn’t be the case for long. His screams of pain and begging would be filling the air before the night was done.

He’d make sure of it.

It was time for Lucian Monroe to pay for this mess with his life.

As he approached the front door, he was ready to bust the glass if need be, but much to his surprise, it wasn’t locked.

That amused him.

He was such a cocky bastard.

That was going to be his downfall.

All those years ago, he sat across from the man, and he’d promised to win that case, burying Lawrence Stall. That didn’t happen.

He’d failed.

Well, he was going to fail again.

Now.

As he entered the grand house, he was disgusted. The man likely never had to work for anything. That’s why he didn’t understand why letting Lawrence Stall go free was a horrible thing. People bled from his mistake.

Who?

His little girl had paid with her life.

She never had a chance.

Now thanks to Wendy, who told him right where to find Lucian’s bedroom, he was going to get his revenge.

This man was the last one.

In the hallway, outside the master suite, he pulled out his marker and left the note.

      ‘Seven of Seven. It’s done. In memory of L.S.’

He stared at it for a few seconds, wiped his eyes, and got ready. “I love you, princess. You were my little girl. I promised you that I’d make them pay, and I’m almost done. When he’s gone, I’ll join you. Daddy’s coming home.”

Quietly, he headed into the room. It was washed in darkness, silent, and very peaceful. Of course it was grand, much like the rest of the house.

Well, here was where he’d die.

Moving closer to the bed, he saw the last victim. Lucian was in bed—sound asleep.

There was a gun beside him on the nightstand, and that amused him. Was that supposed to stop him?

It wouldn’t.

He could shoot him in the heart, and it wouldn’t end that pain. Nothing would ever end it.

Well, nothing but his spilled blood.

Picking up the gun, he tapped the man on the shoulder. When Lucian rolled, groggy from sleep, he enjoyed the look on his face.

When that one eye opened, the shock and fear said it all. In that moment, he’d figured it out.

“Hello, Lucian. You’re dead.”

And then he pistol-whipped him, knocking him out.

It was time to begin.

It was time to take his life.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Luke needed some help.

He and Jagger were getting nowhere fast.

They’d found Lisa Sawyer, but they couldn’t tie her to anyone involved in the case. She looked like a sweet girl, and they needed someone in town to talk them through it.

Picking up the phone, he called the sheriff. She answered on the second ring.

“Sheriff.”

“Hey! We have something, but we don’t know what we have,” he began.

“Okay, what?”

“Do you remember the media reports when the Lawrence Stall case was going on?” he asked.

“I recall a little of it. I was a newbie just starting out. My dad would talk about it over dinner. He and Lucian were working hard on putting Lawrence Stall away.”

“There was a little girl tied to it.”

She listened.

“When Lawrence did his drive by, she was shot. She didn’t die. The bullet didn’t kill her instantly. Instead, she was brain dead and on life support.”

“Okay.”

“We can’t tie her to anyone. She was a foster kid, and we can’t get into the files.”

“You think she’s the reason this person went off the rails?” she asked. “A parent maybe?”

“Yes. Who else would want revenge more?”

He had a point.

“I don’t recall her name. Lucian might.”

“He’s not answering his cell. Can you take a look at her? Maybe something will pop.”

She tapped the navigational screen, syncing up her smartphone. “Send it by text.”

Bishop was nearly at the courthouse.

“Here it comes.”

As she stopped at the light, she checked out the little girl. There was that wave of awareness that overcame her.

“Oh, shit!”

“What?” Luke asked.

“Get to Lucian’s house! Now!”

“Bishop! What’s wrong?” he asked, as they grabbed their things. The woman sounded frantic. That couldn’t be good.

“When I went to the
‘Ravenswood Chronicle’
, in York Spencer’s office, there was that girl’s picture. I’m betting he was going to adopt her. You said foster, right?”

“Yeah, I did.”

That made sense.

“Can you get into those files?” she asked. “I need into the sealed records.”

“I’ll get into them. It’s going to take some time.”

“It makes sense,” Bishop said, doing a U-turn and flooring it through the dead streets. “Who worked for the paper? Wendy. York was able to keep tabs on her. We found the hairs on the victims, and we thought Wendy was passing them on, but she was near York every single day! It was trace transfer.”

They made it to their car.

“He was taking out everyone who let him down. He blamed the entire justice system for her death.”

“But Lucian was nearly killed. He didn’t fail her,” Jagger said. “Lawrence Stall took him out before he could win the case. The deck was stacked against him.”

“It’s not going to matter. He’s taking everyone out. Wendy knew that Earl was behind it, and she probably told him that she had a big, fat, juicy story. That’s how he got his list.”

This was so sick, but to a madman, it would make sense.

“As I was leaving Lucian’s, I saw York there. I figured he was covering today’s bomb, but he was waiting to get to Lucian!”

She wanted to be sick.

She’d left him.

Screw friendship!

Roxy would have to wait. Lucian was in danger, and she couldn’t let him die.

She had to save him.

She’d promised.

Bishop needed to save the man she loved.

       
                
* * *
  O R A C L E   * * *

When he finally came too, he was tied to a chair. His wrists were bound to the arms, his feet were tied to the legs, and he was gagged.

At first, he didn’t get it.

At first, he was confused.

“Oh, hello, counselor. I see we finally get to have this little discussion.” He walked over, and pulled the gag from Lucian’s mouth. “This has been a long time coming.”

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Remember me? Ten years ago, you took on a case. You recall Lawrence Stall, right?”

“Yes.”

He struggled to get free.

York pistol-whipped him.

Lucian saw stars.

“Stop moving and listen! You need to listen to me!” he raged.

Lucian did what he asked. The only thing he could think of was how grateful he was that Bishop was gone.

If he was going to die by this madman’s hands, at least she would live. The woman he loved wouldn’t be hurt. This was his last gift to her.

“I’m listening,” he said, trying to calm the man down.

“You sat across from me in that office. You told me that you were going to get Lisa Sawyer justice. You didn’t. She was my little girl. My wife and I found her. No one wanted her. She was some castaway kid, but we loved her. She was our heart, and you let her killer go free.”

Okay, the man was nuts.

Clearly, he was a few bricks short of a wall.

“York, I was nearly killed by Earl and Lawrence Stall. They took me out. When Earl lost the case, I was in a hospital bed. I lost my eye and nearly died.”

He paced back and forth.

“If they didn’t stop me, I would have gotten Lisa justice. I told you I would and I meant it. You know what I was like in that courtroom. I fought for it. I would have won.”

He tried anything to get the man to see the truth. He didn’t have long, but he wanted to see if he could save himself too. He didn’t want to die. Lucian wanted his happily ever after with Bishop.

“You could have done it after you survived! You could have reopened the case!”

“It’s open now, York. She’s not forgotten.”

“I had to pull the plug on my little girl. My wife died that day. She left our marriage, she drinks, and she gave up. We couldn’t have babies. We prayed for a gift, and she was it.”

He got it.

He’d prayed for a gift too, and now it was coming to an end. He wasn’t going to see Bishop ever again.

His heart broke.

“I tried, York. Look what they did to me.”

He stared at the man. “Wendy tried to hide it. She came to me and she told me of this great story. She didn’t know my wife and I were the ones who wanted Lisa. She had information, she had proof, and she was going to blow it wide open.”

“Did you kill them all, York?”

“
YES
! I’d do it all again too! She called Lawrence and had him try to kill you. She hated your sidepiece of ass. She was convinced you were cheating on her before you were hurt.”

Well, he wasn’t, but that didn’t matter.

“I’m going to make you pay, and then justice is served. The judge who threw the case out is gone. The crooked attorney who let it go for money is dead. The snake who got that animal off is dead. Wendy paid for wanting to sensationalize this for her own benefit. Even the cop, who I begged to help me afterwards, is dead.”

“You killed Miles too?”

“I went to him two years ago. He said he’d look into it. I went back to see what he’d found, and he’d said there was nothing he could do! Of course not! He had his kids. He didn’t lose them to a lunatic shooting up the streets.”

Lucian knew time was running out.

Help wasn’t coming.

He was dead.

“I’m sorry, York. I’m really sorry that you feel like I’ve let you down.”

“Oh, you will be sorry when I’m done with you. I’m going to make the pain so ungodly that you’ll beg to die. When she finds you, Lucian, she’ll never forget what I’ve done.”

And then he laughed.

It was finally time.

       
                
* * *
  O R A C L E   * * *

She got there as fast as she could, and she hauled ass to the front door. Inside, she could hear the screaming coming from upstairs, and she couldn’t let this happen.

Lucian couldn’t die.

She’d nearly lost him once and had to wait for ten years to get him back. Then she’d nearly lost him again to a second bomb, and she couldn’t see him die.

They were going together or they were both living.

Racing up the stairs, she saw the scrawled writing on the wall. Bishop really wished that she had her gun.

Only she didn’t.

There was only one thing to do.

She had to talk the man down.

Stepping into the doorway, she knew when Lucian saw her. He was staring down the barrel of the gun.

York was going to put a bullet in his heart.

She had to stop him.

Lucian shook his head. “Bishop,” he whispered, in panic. That one word caused York to spin around.

“I’m not armed, York. You have my gun. Let’s talk about this,” she said, moving into the room with her arms up.

York looked panicked.

“What are you doing here?”

Bishop was moving toward Lucian. If she could put her body between them, they might have a fighting chance. York might still be rational. Anything, at this point, was possible.

She might buy them time. Luke and Jagger were coming. She had to hope they’d get there in time. She was putting her faith in the FBI.

“I’m sorry about Lisa. I didn’t know.”

His eyes filled with tears.

Bishop continued, “She was a beautiful girl, and I’m sorry everyone let you down. You could have come to me, York. I would have helped you. You know me. I would have reopened this case, and we could have done this together. All of this wasn’t necessary.”

He wiped at his eyes.

Lucian glared at her.

What the hell was his fiancée doing? Did she have a death wish? She had to know that York was insane, and he was going to kill them both now.

“I miss her so much, Bishop.”

“I know, York. I know.”

“They didn’t care. It was their job to put Lawrence Stall in jail, and they didn’t get the job done.”

“York, Lucian cared. He’s always cared. He doesn’t deserve to die over this. He’s been working on the case the last couple of days. Had you come to us, we would have helped you.”

He wiped his eyes.

When he did, Bishop put herself between him and Lucian. This was her job.

Protect.

Serve.

Love that man until her last breath.

“I hate them all.”

“I know, York. I know how that feels.”

“I’m sorry I killed your daddy. I was really angry. He was a good cop. He shouldn’t be remembered for this final fuck up.”

She fought not to react.

If anything, it was about dealing with the now, and handling the rest that later. Her father had taught her that. She had to stay focused.

“I forgive you.”

When he looked up, his face said it all.

She was rationalizing with him. Bishop might just save their asses yet.

“Thank you for that. I don’t know if I can forgive any of them. I know I should, but I can’t. They all should suffer, but you’re right. Lucian doesn’t deserve to die. That was my mistake.”

She relaxed and lowered her arms.

“See, if you die, he’ll suffer like I did. If you die, he’s going to have to live everyday knowing that he’s lost his life by proxy.”

York pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit her right in the torso.

The pain was incredible. It tore through her, dropping Bishop to her knees. Then she fell backward. It was like everything moved in slow motion. She could feel herself tumbling until she hit the floor with a thud.

Lucian screamed.

It was like a howl of a wild animal, seeing it’s mate gunned down.

“And now I get to be with Lisa.”

York put the gun beneath his chin and pulled the trigger, ending his pain. The second blast was just as loud as he fell to the floor beside Bishop.

Lucian struggled to get free.

“Baby! Oh, Jesus! Baby!”

Her hands were over her stomach. “I love you, Lucian. I’ve always loved you. Don’t forget it.”