Taken (43 page)

“She hates you, just as I do.”

“No,” Evan argued. “You want her to hate me, and it burns you that she doesn’t.”

As their conversation went back and forth, Kayla realized that they’d completely forgotten about her. She took a step forward, then another and another. Evan wasn’t even looking at her. He was looking at Nick. He was taunting him, the gun now dangling from his hand.

This was her chance. She rushed forward, throwing her body toward Evan’s arm, hoping to knock the gun out of his hand. Her sudden weight threw him off balance. He went over backward. She landed on top of him and began to pummel him with her fists, hitting and kicking whatever she could reach, the memory of what he’d done to her, what he’d done to all of them, driving her on.

A pair of arms grabbed her from behind. She struggled, not sure who was attacking her now.

“Kayla, it’s okay; we’ve got him,” a voice said.

It took a moment to register that it was J.T. talking to her. Then she saw two police officers flanking Evan.

“It’s over,” J.T. said again, setting her on her feet.

She stopped struggling and let out a breath. “Thank God.”

“That was a damn stupid thing to do, Kayla,” Nick said, his voice filled with fury. “You could have been killed.”

“He’s right,” J.T. told her.

“I don’t care.” She looked at the bruises she’d left on
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Evan’s face. “It was worth it. I don’t want him to hurt anyone else ever again.” She glared at Evan, who was now on his feet being handcuffed. Evan simply smiled at her.

She’d loved that smile once. Now it seemed pure evil.

“Ambulance is on the way,” J.T. said, squatting down next to Nick. “One of the ladies upstairs heard the gun go off and called nine-one-one. You hanging in there?”

“I’ll live. You took your sweet time getting here.”

“Traffic was a bitch. I told you to wait.” He glanced at one man on the floor. “Who’s our other friend?”

“Dominic Ricci’s son, Lorenzo,” Kayla replied. “Apparently he saw his father killed. He seemed quite crazy before I knocked him out. He’s not dead, is he? We both hit him pretty hard.”

“He’s alive,” one of the cops told them.

“His father, Dominic, is in the coffin.” Kayla tipped her head toward the coffin. “Apparently he didn’t fall over the side of some boat. The other three thought he was stealing from them and killed him. They buried him with the money he was trying to take from them.”

“Nice.” J.T. got up as the paramedics entered the room. “I’ll see you at the hospital, Nick. I want to make sure our old friend here goes straight to jail. Looks like you’re done, Evan,” J.T. said. “Game over.”

Evan’s arms were handcuffed behind his back, and a cop had a hold of each arm, but even so he shrugged and said, “The game will be over when I say it’s over.”

“Yeah, yeah, tell that to the judge. We’re going to lock you up and throw away the key.”

Evan laughed. Kayla could not believe his bravado.

J.T. motioned to one cop to stay with Lorenzo while he and the other cop took Evan out of the room.

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Kayla turned to Nick. The paramedics were putting him on a stretcher. His face was white, and beads of sweat dotted his forehead. “It’s over,” he said. “You did good.”

“I’m coming with you to the hospital.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but we can only take family mem -

bers in the ambulance,” the paramedic said.

“That’s fine, because I’m . . . I’m his wife.”

Nick smiled weakly. “Hell of a time to play that card.”

“It’s true.”

“Kayla . . .” He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to scare you, but you’d better call Jenny, too — just in case.”

Her heart stopped beating at the look in his eyes. She had not come this far to lose him now. “No. There is no

‘just in case,’ ” she said defiantly. “You’re going to be okay. You’re going to be fine.” She prayed to God not to make her a liar.

23

Waiting for Nick to come out of surgery was agony.

Kayla was terrified that he’d lost too much blood, that the bullet had nicked some vital organ, that he would die before she had a chance to tell him that she loved him.

She loved him!

The phrase rang around and around in her head. She’d never said it out loud. She’d never even admitted it to herself. It was too scary. It was too fast. And Nick didn’t want her love. Did he?

She knew he liked her. She knew he enjoyed making love to her. He hadn’t been shy about expressing those feelings, but something more, something deeper . . . She didn’t know what he wanted from her, what he needed.

Her entire life, she’d had a plan to fall in love, marry, have children, but now that plan didn’t matter. The only thing that was important to her was that he lived — even if he lived without her. She just had to know that he was alive, that he was somewhere in the world, that he was happy.

“Oh, God, Kayla, what’s happened?”

She turned at the sound of a terrified female voice. It was Jenny. “Nick — he was shot. He’s in surgery.”

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Jenny’s face drained of color, and she started to sway.

Kayla threw her arms around her and hugged her tight.

When she let go, Jenny was crying. Kayla realized she was crying, too. She wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to smile.

“It’s okay. He’s going to be okay,” she said, trying to believe in that truth.

Jenny sniffed. “Are you sure?”

“He has to be,” Kayla said simply.

“Did Evan shoot him?” Jenny asked, fear in her voice, pain in her eyes.

Kayla shook her head. “No, it was another man. Nick fought him, but in the struggle the gun went off, and Nick was hit.”

Relief flashed in Jenny’s eyes. “Thank, God,” she murmured. “I could never forgive myself if Evan hurt Nick in that way.”

“He did hurt Nick,” Kayla said. “He stole his life from him. Maybe he didn’t pull the trigger, but Nick is fighting for his life because of the game Evan started.”

Jenny’s face crumpled. “I’m so sorry I ever listened to Evan. And I’m so sorry I didn’t tell Nick about the baby.

I know I hurt him. The other day he looked like he would never forgive me for keeping that secret.”

“You did hurt him, but you’ll tell him you’re sorry —

when he wakes up,” Kayla said firmly.

It was after six o’clock that night before either of them had a chance to tell Nick anything. Fortunately, he had made it through the surgery without any complications.

The bullet had torn through the muscle in his shoulder and fractured his collarbone, but the long-term prognosis was good. He was going to be fine — eventually.

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Kayla let Jenny go in to see Nick first. She knew Jenny desperately wanted to apologize, but she wasn’t just being generous. Inside she was a little scared to see Nick.

What would she say? What would he say? Where would they go from here? Would it be “Good-bye, nice to know you, glad everything is solved”? Would Nick return to his old life? Would she return to hers?

She looked up as J.T. entered the waiting room, a tense expression on his face. She hoped something hadn’t gone wrong with Evan. “Is everything all right?” she asked, jumping to her feet.

“I was going to ask you the same question. I wasn’t able to get away before now. How’s Nick?”

“He’ll be fine.”

“Good, that’s good,” J.T. said, blowing out a breath of relief. “How are you holding up?”

She shrugged. “I’m still standing. Jenny is with Nick.

She had things to say to him. The waiting has been difficult. I kept reliving everything that happened down there, wondering if I could have done something differently.”

“It sounds to me like Nick rushed in the way he always does,” J.T said. “He has more courage than sense sometimes.”

“He was trying to protect me. Lorenzo was clearly out of his mind. I think he would have killed both of us without a second thought.”

“Yes, he’s very unbalanced. He claims he saw Frankie shoot his father in the heart right there in the crypt. Apparently, they were arguing over the money and the fact that Dominic wasn’t being hunted for the crime. He’d driven the escape car. No one knew about him. The other three thought they deserved more of the cut, since their faces were in the news, their lives on the line. Dominic
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disagreed. He said he’d given them some map to get out of the mint, and that was the only reason they’d been able to escape. They argued and Frankie got mad and hit Dominic in the head with the butt of his gun. Then he shot him through the heart. Lorenzo was hiding in the crypt. He’d followed his father when he wasn’t supposed to. No one believed him when he said his father had been murdered, or if they did, they were too scared to say so. Dominic’s mother told the police that he’d gone fishing, just the way he’d told her, and since Dominic often went fishing, it made sense. The men must have paid the owner of the fishing boat to lie and say Dominic went overboard.”

“So all these years Lorenzo knew his father was dead, killed by his friends. How horrible for him.”

“He was only six years old when he saw it happen. It made him crazy, I think. Apparently, he’s been in and out of trouble and psychiatric hospitals his entire life. He didn’t pop up on my radar screen earlier because Delores told me he lived on the other side of the country. That was a lie. He was in the back room the day you and Nick stopped by.”

“I know. And that day when I spoke to Delores, I implied that I still had the watch. So he came after me.”

“He’s the one who broke into your house.”

“And followed us to Reno and knocked Nick over the head, right?” Kayla asked.

“Yes, he was still trying to get his hands on the watch.”

“Was he also the one who tampered with the brakes on my car?”

J.T. shook his head. “He’s not that smart, Kayla. That had to be Evan.”

Evan. She still couldn’t quite believe he was in jail.

“Has he talked at all?”

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“Not about anything important,” J.T. replied. “He likes to ask questions, not answer them. He’s a tough nut to crack, acts like everything is a joke. I’d like to wipe that superior smile off his face with my fist.”

“It felt good to hit him,” she admitted. “I can’t believe I ever fell for his charm. I must have been insane.”

“You’re one of many, if that makes you feel better.”

She made a little face at him. “Not really.”

“At any rate, I don’t need Evan to confess. I have plenty of evidence to put him away for a long time.”

“So it’s over.” She could hardly believe it. Evan always seemed to get away. It was hard to believe he was behind bars, that he couldn’t hurt them again.

“Thanks to you and Nick,” J.T. said, “the money will be returned to the mint. They’re very happy to recover the fortune, by the way. And the media is already onto the story. I’m afraid you’re going to be famous.”

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. “Does that mean that everything is going to come out? About my grandfather and my grandmother?”

“I can’t lie to you: It’s definitely possible.”

She nodded. “I’d better call my mother then and fill her in.”

“You have a little time.”

“Thanks, J.T., for everything you did.”

“I wish I could have done more. I hope Nick’s all right. He’s a great guy — a little too impulsive for his own good, but overall he’s rock solid.”

“Yes, he’s a great guy,” she agreed, fighting the urge to burst into tears. It had been a long and emotional day.

“Are you going to tell him you’re in love with him?”

J.T. asked, a speculative look in his eyes. “Because in my experience, Nick is terrible at figuring out what women
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think. Of course, I can’t blame him — so am I. We’re guys. If you want something specific, you’d better ask for it. Otherwise, who knows what you’ll get?” He grinned.

“Trust me on this. I know.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Do,” J.T. said with a nod. “The two of you are good together. I’ll come back and talk to Nick later. Just let him know that Evan is where he needs to be. Nick can concentrate on getting well.”

“I will.”

As J.T. left, Jenny came out of Nick’s room. Her eyes were puffy and red, but she was smiling. “He wants to see you, Kayla.”

“Did everything go all right?”

Jenny nodded. “He said he forgives me. I don’t know if he means it, but I hope it’s a start. Maybe now that Evan is really out of our lives, we can be more honest with each other. I think I’ve been holding back for years.

I could never quite forgive Nick for ruining everything by forcing me to let go of Evan before I was ready.”

“I hope you’re ready now, because Evan is going to prison.”

“I am. He’s not the same man I knew when I was in college. He’s harder now. There’s a madness in his eyes that wasn’t there before, as if he’s started to believe his own fantasies.” Jenny let out a sigh. “You’d better go see Nick before he tries to get out of that bed and come looking for you. He seems to be very attached to you, Kayla.”

“We’ve been thrown together a lot lately.”

“You were the first person he asked for when he woke up. I think he was disappointed when I came into the room. You’d better not keep him waiting any longer. He’s not a patient man.”

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“Don’t I know it,” Kayla said with smile. “I’ll see you later.” She drew in a deep breath and pushed open the door to Nick’s room.

Nick was sitting up in bed, his arm in a sling, bandages showing under his hospital gown. His cheeks were rough and dark with shadow. His eyes were a little glassy, either from the painkillers or from Jenny’s visit — she couldn’t be sure. But most important, he was alive. He was going to be well. A weight slipped off her chest. She felt as if she could finally breathe again.

“How are you?” she asked, moving next to the bed.

He took her hand in his. “Better now that you’re here.