Redemption (Bennett Sisters Book 5) (25 page)

She pushed farther into the thick brush, tripping over rocks and fallen tree trunks. She couldn’t stop, not if she was going to live. She heard water in the distance. A sure sign of sustainable life. Fear of bears and other wildlife sent a shiver through her body
. I should have studied the area better.
She was a city girl, and now was the only time she wished she’d grown up differently. She stumbled again.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are.”

Lydia
ducked behind some shrubs. She peeked through the surrounding leaves. The man poked at the wound on his head and stared at the blood on his fingers. “You’re going to pay for that,” he spat out as he glanced around their surroundings.

Lydia
cowered into the brush, trying to be a silent and as small as the squirrels she’d seen. Her loud heartbeat filled her ears, and she lifted a hand to her chest, trying as she might to slow it down. It was no use.

The man looked behind him and into the bushes and jumped around tree trunks in an attempt to find her. He waved his gun around every trunk and up into the branches as he moved farther and farther away from where she was hiding.
Lydia
let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

He turned, and his gaze connected with hers. An evil grin lit his face. He walked over to her slowly. “I bet you wish you had some coffee, don’t you,
Lydia
?”

Lydia
didn’t answer and stayed in the bushes.

“That’s right. Marlaina told me all about how you wear yourself out,” he taunted. The man pushed the bushes aside, grabbed her by the hair, and yanked her from her hiding place.  “Easy pickings if you ask me. I don’t know why Floyd was having such a hard time getting his hands on you.”

Lydia
raised her hand and grabbed the man’s arm where he had a hold of her hair. Tears fell from her eyes and down her face as he tightened his grip. She was not going to die at the hands of this asshole, and she knew just what to say to get him to screw up. “Marlaina couldn’t kill me. What makes you think you can?”

Lydia
struggled and used all of her weight, pushing back into the man to make him fall to the ground. He dropped the gun as he tried to break his fall while still holding on to her. She squirmed and wiggled to break his hold. She used her legs and knees to kick him in all the places she knew would do damage. She tried to focus on the gun as she fought for her life, but she couldn’t.

The man lifted the gun to her face, and she stilled. He cocked the hammer and pushed up to his feet. “Get up,” he yelled.

Lydia
let her head fall. How she’d gotten to this point was beyond her, but she was about to die. She’d missed her opportunity to tell Rick she loved him back and now her family.

“Get up or I’m going to shoot you where you lay.”

Lydia
struggled to push herself up. He grabbed her by the arm.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Brody’s voice came from the trees.

The man swung
Lydia
around as a shield for his body. His grip was biting into her wrist. He positioned the gun at her temple. “Stay back or she dies.”

Briggs came out from the forest with his gun pointed at her assailant.

Rick was next to him. He held his palms out in the air.

The man laughed. “I thought you’d be dead by now. It seems Floyd got something right after all.”

Rick’s gaze remained concentrated on
Lydia
, his eyes pleading for something she couldn’t name. Her heart was racing with the knowledge he was actually still in town. That he’d come to rescue her, just as she’d done for him. A tear fell down her cheek as she croaked out his name. “Rick.”

Rick’s lips twitched. “I’m right here, honey, and I’m not leaving without you.”

The assailant pointed the gun at Rick and then back at her temple. “Don’t even think about it. She’s not going anywhere.”

Brody doubled over and laughed. “You can’t be serious.” He paced in front of Rick. “You do know what he’s capable of, right?”

Rick narrowed his eyes. “Drop your gun and let her go and I’ll let you live.”

Brody nodded. “I’d do it if I were you. I think he means business.” Brody turned. “Look around. There is no other scenario where you are leaving this forest alive.”

Sweat dripped from her assailants’ cheek onto her shoulder.

“Rick here has skills. He’ll elbow you in the stomach and then throw your sorry ass to the ground. I’ve seen him do it.” Brody winked at
Lydia
.

“If I die, she’s going with me,” Jimmy spat out.

Lydia
narrowed her eyes, mustered her remaining energy, and rammed her elbow into the jerks stomach. “Not today, asshole. Not by you.” He fell forward, and she slipped to the ground. She felt the last of her reserve energy slip from her body. She was going to die, but it was going to be her own doing, not at the end of a gun.

One shot rent the afternoon sky, chasing the birds and other wildlife away from where they were. Her vision blurred, and she closed her eyes for what felt the last time.   

****

Lydia
was in some sort of black void. It wasn’t the calming weightless place she’d been with Momma Mae. No, it was different. If she had to spend eternity here, she was going to go crazy.

Lydia
slowed her thoughts and concentrated on what she was feeling. A warmth ran through her body, starting in her head and hovering above her heart. The same heart that had been made full for the second time in her life when she’d found her family and when Rick had returned for her. The warmth grew and spread like a wildfire, traveling up and down all her limbs and soaking into her organs. Her chest rose as she pulled in a breath. Strong arms scooped her up and pressed her against a manly chest. “I’ve got you now, Red, and I’m never letting you go.”

****

Lydia
woke up in the same room as the last time she’d almost died. She could taste the salt on the air and feel the breeze caressing her skin. She didn’t even have to open her eyes to know where she’d ended up.
Lydia
let her eyes drift open and smiled. Her sisters had come for her again.

Lydia
glanced to the chair where last time she’d found Abby sitting. In her place sat the man of her dreams. Literally of her dreams. Rick sat with his head leaning against the cushioned side of the chair. His eyes were closed and his arms folded. A light snore filled the room.
Lydia
’s heart expanded. She hadn’t told Rick that she loved him, but she wasn’t going to let another day go by without him knowing how she felt. He’d done the right thing telling her the truth. She realized that now. He hadn’t killed her, and he hadn’t tried to recruit her. He’d tried to set her free. He’d even come for her when she needed him the most. He hadn’t left.

Lydia
slid from the bed and glanced down at the pajama bottoms and long shirt that covered her body. She tiptoed through the room on silent feet and gently pulled the door closed behind her. She tried to swallow. Her throat was sore. She needed caffeine in the worst way. Not as a source of energy, but to soothe her dry throat.  She rounded the corner out of the hall and walked toward the kitchen. Her sisters and Jaime sat around the breakfast bar, all talking in somewhat hushed tones. Emma was the first to notice her.

“There you are.” Emma grinned. “Did you know that your new last name is now officially Bennett?”

Lydia
held up her hand. “I need coffee. You aren’t making any sense.”

She walked toward her and took her by the elbow as Abby pulled down a mug and poured coffee into it.

Emma glanced up at her sisters. “Oh, I thought they told you.”

Lydia
shook her head. “No, they apparently didn’t.” She glanced around the room, looking for any man who wanted to shed light on what her sister was talking about.

“Rick had to kill your Lydia Stevens identity. He was under orders from the FBI to either bring you in as a new recruit or to kill you because you were a threat.”

Claire patted the stool next to her. “You might want to sit down for this.”

Lydia
slid onto a stool as Abby handed her a cup of coffee. “He chose to kill you…his way.” Emma waved her hand in the air. “To give you a fresh start at a new life just like you wanted. That’s why he and the general had your name changed along with a whole new background among other things.”

Abby patted her on the back. “Yeah, from what I hear, his IT guy, Jonah, needs a good swift kick in the butt because he tried to make it Thompson, but Mike and Elizabeth helped them to see it more clearly.”

“How do you feel?” Jamie asked from the stool where she perched. “Do you need me to do one last run over your body like I did in the woods?”

“I didn’t see you in the forest. You were there?”

Claire smiled. “From the story the guys told, she showed up just in the nick of time.”

Jamie had the grace to blush. “You would have survived even had I not shown up in time. You would have healed just fine. I just helped speed up the process.” 

Lydia
shook the cobwebs from her head and drank more of her coffee, closing her eyes as she let the liquid slide down her throat repairing any damage that the asshole had done to her. She lifted her lids. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude, especially after everything you did for me, but what are you doing here? Isn’t the general missing you?”

Jamie hopped down off the stool and poured herself another cup of coffee. “See, that’s the best part. Since he can’t trust the men to watch out for you, I’m your new bodyguard.”

Lydia
bit the inside of her lip. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”

Rick sauntered out of the hall and over to her and rubbed her back. He placed a kiss on her forehead. “That’s where you’re wrong, Red. If you’re going to keep wearing yourself out to the brink of dying, who better to be your bodyguard than a healer? At least until we catch Floyd.” He poured himself a cup of coffee and held up the pot. “It’s not like we can attach this to your hip.”

Abby shrugged. “He does make a valid point.” She leaned over and whispered into
Lydia
’s ear, “Smart
and
good looking. You could have done worse.”

Lydia
slid off the stool, grabbed Rick’s hand, and pulled him out onto the balcony. “We need to talk.”

Rick chuckled. “Your wish is my command.”

Lydia
raised her brow. “You might want to take that back.”

Lydia
let his hand drop and walked over to the railing. Off in the distance, she could see her brother and the rest of the guys. They had her niece and nephew with them. They were throwing a football back and forth and laughing as they play-tackled Lily into the white beach sand. That was what she wanted. Her family had proved one thing to her—she didn’t need normal to be happy. The evidence was all around her. She just needed Rick. She turned to face him. “You lied to me.”

Rick took a step toward her, and she held up her hand. He stopped. “Yes, but…”

Lydia
shook her head. “No buts. You lied to me, and that is never okay.”

Rick let his head drop. “I know.” He raised his gaze. “I had no choice. I knew I could never take you away from the General and the others and there was no way I could let you die. That’s why I told them you were dead and the general changed your name.”

He took a step toward her. “I won’t ever keep anything from you again. You have to believe me.”

Lydia
walked over to him and put her arms around him. “Good, see that you don’t. At least you didn’t kill me… literally.”

Rick lifted his arms and pulled her in tight. “Never and I’ll kill anyone who tries.”

Lydia
leaned her head back and looked up into Rick’s eyes. “I love you.”

A grin formed on his face. “You mean it? You’re not just toying with me because we have great sex?”

Lydia
balanced on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. “I mean it with all of my heart.”

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. “Good.”

Chapter 26

Lydia
glanced around the reception hall and smiled. Her heart was full. She’d come full circle. General Lister sat across from her, looking ever so debonair in a tuxedo, as all father of the brides were made to wear. Her sisters sat around her in their emerald-green gowns. The men by her sisters’ sides looked sexy enough to be on calendars. Mike and Elizabeth were dancing to their special song on the dance floor. Her empire waist white wedding gown flowed behind her.
Lydia
’s brother looked dashing. The hard lines of his face were softer as he glanced down at his new wife and soon-to-be mother of his child.

Lydia
leaned against Rick’s shoulder. He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead. “Are you all right?”