Re/Paired (Doms of the FBI Book 2) (36 page)

Now that she was free, she felt around, exploring her new, dark environment. The scant light showing through the grating wasn’t very helpful. She crashed into a metal shelf unit, which brought footsteps pounding down the hall.

Frantic, she grabbed a section of brackets that had come loose. When the door to her prison opened, she swung. No thinking—she acted purely on instinct. The blow took the man in front by surprise. He fell to the ground, a heavy lump whose head cracked against the cement floor.

The second man stood back. He aimed his gun at her chest. “Put it down, bitch.”

Katrina took exception to being called a bitch, especially when her behavior was completely warranted. Again, she went with her instincts. She swung again, aiming for the man’s wrist.

With a loud
bang
, the gun went off. Katrina hefted her makeshift club back and whacked the second man in the face. Blood poured from a gash, and he screamed. She’d never heard a man scream before. The sound shook some of the cobwebs loose inside her brain.

She backed away, slowly making her way down the hall in the direction she’d seen the gun fly. It wasn’t as easy to look for a gun as television shows made it out to be. There was no close-up shot of the gun lying under a pile of debris. The hallway was fairly clear. Orangey-yellow paint covered most of the walls. Piles of industrial plastic sheeting were pushed against the walls in several places.

Taking her gaze from the groaning gunman wasn’t an option. It was a good thing she stepped on the gun. Unfortunately, she twisted her ankle in the process and fell on her ass.

The second man, blood dripping down his face and onto his shirt, lunged for her. She scrambled for the gun and pulled the trigger without aiming. In a perfect world, she would have shot him in the chest. As it was, she was thankful not to have hit herself.

A small spot of blood appeared on his arm. He screamed again, a high-pitched, girlie sound that matched his skinny-boy exterior. “Bitch! You’re not going to get out of here alive!”

Thick arms banded around her, pinning her arms to her sides. She bowed out her body, flinging her head back and kicking with her heels at the same time. A sickening crunch and another scream told her she’d hit her target.

The sharp pain in the back of her skull sent waves of nausea through her system. She threw up a little in her mouth, but she just spat it out. The arms around her loosened. With a screech, she used her head and jabbed backward with her elbows.

The man dropped her. She fell to the floor, twisting as she did so. She made no attempt to catch herself. She brought the gun up, aimed, and shot.

Behind her, the sounds of people moving reached her ears. The woolly feeling in her head grew thicker. She turned around to find nobody there. Black dots danced in her field of vision.

“I came here to save you.” That voice had laughed with her and lent her emotional support for nearly two years. Now it was laced with disbelief. “I thought we were friends.”

Friends didn’t kidnap one another. Aaron had only kept her close to screw her over. She moved slowly and regarded Aaron with pure hatred. “You stalked me, set me up to lose my job, and had me kidnapped. You are
not
my friend.”

Blood seeped from a hole in his side and spread in a circle, staining his clothes. She watched the growing flower bloom, her finger on the trigger of the gun and her back against the wall. She motioned toward his pocket.

“Give me your cell. I’ll call an ambulance.”

__________

Keith let Malcolm drive. Mal’s little silver sports car went fast and cornered well.

The video on his mother’s phone hadn’t lasted that long, and it had been fuzzy, but he’d been able to make out Kat greeting Aaron. Then two men came out from behind a large metal trash bin, knocked her over the head, and carted her off.

His mother had hidden behind a line of bushes and trash separating the store from the houses next to it. She’d only been able to get a partial plate for the car that had taken Kat, but she’d been able to get everything they needed to put Buttermore away for a long time.

Dustin had cursed under his breath. None of them had thought Buttermore capable of this. They’d pegged him as a low-level patsy. Jordan had led a team to wait outside Buttermore’s house. Another team watched Buttermore’s mother’s house.

Dustin had crowded his large body into Malcolm’s backseat. He wore a headset and consulted a tablet. “Take the next left. Buttermore is making a call right now.”

Keith kept his eyes on the road. He knew the area. This was where they’d tracked Friedman the weekend before. They’d been hunting for reasons to get a search warrant for these warehouses. He exchanged a glance with Malcolm. Both of them were thinking the same thing. If the Friedman brothers were involved, then Kat’s life was truly at stake. They wouldn’t leave her as a loose end.

“Fuck me. Trina’s calling an ambulance.” Dustin sputtered, his voice growing louder with excitement. “Turn right. Take another quick right. Here. We’re here.”

Malcolm slammed on the brakes. The three of them sprang from the car, pulling their guns as they hustled to the building. Keith led the charge, using the hand signals they all knew so well.

In the back of the warehouse, he found Kat, sitting with her back against a wall and a gun trained on a wounded Aaron Buttermore. She looked up at him, a wan smile on her face. “Check me out. I saved myself. Don’t touch that metal bracket. I whacked both the guys who kidnapped me with it. I’m thinking hair and blood samples.”

Then her eyelids closed, and she passed out.

Keith couldn’t believe how much Kat perked up once she’d had some plasma and her family was gathered around her. Aaron had confessed to kidnapping and a host of other crimes. He’d negotiated a plea that involved a lesser charge in exchange for his cooperation. It turned out he knew a lot about the Snyder-Friedman syndicate.

Keith stood by the window in her hospital room as her parents flanked her, delivering regular hugs and a smattering of tears. Every once in a while, Mama L would brush her fingers over Kat’s cheek, shaking as she avoided touching the area of Kat’s head wrapped in white bandages. Kat had sustained one hell of a concussion. For the first time in his life, Keith almost cried with relief. Almost.

When visiting hours ended and everybody had gone, he glowered at the nurse who told him it was time to leave. He flashed his badge. She gave him a skeptical look and shrugged. “We let spouses stay the night. That chair over there converts into a sleeper.”

Kat smiled at him as he sat on the edge of her bed. He’d spent the last two hours pacing her room, afraid to come closer because he might shake her if he did.

She didn’t seem to be afraid, though. She placed her hand on his cheek. “Those self-defense lessons you and Malcolm gave me sure came in handy.”

“I have the urge to take you home and lock you in the dungeon just because I know you’ll be safe down there.”

A little bit of the forced cheer faded from her eyes. “I had no idea Aaron was mentally unhinged. He was such a good friend to me.”

Keith shook his head. “You should have called me, Kat.”

“You wouldn’t have let me go.”

No, he wouldn’t have. “I would have put together a sting operation. We could have nabbed the Friedman brothers too.”

She had identified the brothers from photographs, but the DNA evidence would take a little more time to come back.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, fat ones that showed no signs it would be a short shower. He folded his arms around her, and she buried her face in his shoulder. She’d kept it together for her parents and brothers, but now that it was just the two of them, she could let it all out.

__________

When the nurse came in the next morning, she didn’t bother being quiet about it. Katrina opened her eyes to find Keith in the narrow hospital bed with her, cradling her in his arms. No wonder she’d slept so well. He gave her a sleepy smile and kissed her forehead. It amazed her that he could spend the night crammed sideways in a hospital bed and still wake up looking like sex incarnate.

She smiled at the black-haired nurse, who frowned back at her and pointed at Keith. “Sir, you can’t be in that bed.”

He sat up slowly, stretching muscles that had to be sore. “Good morning, ladies.”

The nurse rolled her eyes and checked the machines hooked up to Katrina. “I’m Brenda, and you’re going home. The doctor will stop by in an hour or so to talk to you. I’ll process your paperwork so you can leave once he gives the okay.”

That was good news to Katrina. She hadn’t wanted to stay overnight, much less for the day. They’d gathered evidence from her body and run her through a battery of tests. The concussion could take months to heal, and she was more than ready to go home now.

“Do I have time for a shower?”

Brenda pumped the blood pressure cuff full of air. “Yep. Doctor starts rounds at eight. You have a couple hours.”

Keith frowned. “Are you sure she should get out of bed? She was too weak to walk yesterday.”

“She’s fine. Probably still weak, so don’t overdo it.” Brenda gave Keith a tolerant smile. “Can you step out for a minute?”

He muttered something about getting coffee and left the room. After the nurse finished her exam, Katrina took a shower. She emerged fully dressed to find Keith lounging on the chair he was supposed to have folded out and slept in. His large frame dwarfed the piece of furniture. There was no way he would have been able to sleep on that thing.

He motioned to a cardboard cup. “It might be cold by now. I can get you more. Your mother brought a change of clothes. She’s at your condo with Darcy and Layla. They’re packing your things and moving them to my house. Malcolm and your dad are replacing your front door and reinforcing the frame. New locks again.”

She wrapped her hospital gown tighter around her body and sipped the coffee. It was cool, but it hit the spot. “Thank you. I didn’t want to wear those dirty clothes home.”

“They’re in evidence. You won’t get them back.”

“Mom didn’t want to stay?” She was a little hurt to have missed her mother.

Keith lifted her and put her on his lap. With his arms around her, she felt safe. “She said you were in good hands. She’s making chocolate ice cream with brownie chunks to go with lunch.”

That was one of Katrina’s favorite flavors, a figurative hug from her mother. She snuggled into Keith’s embrace. “What happened to Aaron?”

He stroked her hair and pressed his cheek to her head. “He’s in a secure wing recovering from a GSW to the stomach and a broken nose. He was surprised to see us and fell backward. Broke some bones and smashed his face.”

Katrina knew better than to ask more. The shot she’d delivered to Aaron had been nonfatal, leaving clear entrance and exit wounds. No doubt some of the other injuries had been inflicted by her brother and Keith. “I’m glad he survived. He’s not right in the head. He needs help.”

From the way Keith snorted, she gathered he didn’t agree with her assessment. “Kat, there’s something I’ve neglected to say to you.”

At the gravity in his tone, she peeled herself away from him so she could see his face. “Go on.”

A brief smile flashed across his lips. “I love you.”

It was a momentous occasion. She knew he’d never said those words out loud before, not to anybody. He probably wouldn’t say them to her very often, but she could live with that. She cupped his cheek. “I know. I love you too.”

“I want you to move in with me. We’ll get married, and I’ll take care of you for the rest of my life.”

She laughed. “That wasn’t quite the romantic proposal I expected.”

His brows drew together, and he frowned. “What were you expecting? I don’t know how to be romantic, and that whole kneeling thing just isn’t me.”

“Hmm.” She pretended to consider. “I think we’ll have to work on the romance part. I like romantic. It makes me feel loved and appreciated.”

He sighed. “I can’t promise anything but that I’ll try.”

That was all she wanted. The fact he was willing to make the effort meant the world. Perhaps he wasn’t well versed in romance, but he was intelligent and a fast learner. He’d get the hang of it eventually. She rewarded him with a kiss.

“I have something else to tell you.” He leaned back in his seat and rested his head against the cushion. Tension stiffened his body, and some of the color had left his face.

She rubbed her hand up and down his chest. “I’m listening.”

He sighed. “For my nineteenth birthday, I bought myself a vasectomy. I’ve never told that to anyone before. I can’t get you pregnant. If you want kids in a few years, we can talk about adoption.”

“Why would you do that?” She’d always thought that kind of surgery was something a woman had to talk a man into, not something he did voluntarily. And part of her wondered about his reluctance to meet his niece and nephew.

“I never thought I’d be in a position to think about having kids around. But with you, things seem somehow possible. I’d never deny you anything, Kitty Kat, but if you want kids, then that’s the only way it’s going to happen.”

She smacked his shoulder as hard as she could. He didn’t flinch. “I mean, why would a healthy young man voluntarily get a vasectomy? You said I’m the only woman you haven’t used a condom with.”

Some of the stiffness left him, and that ever-present self-confidence wavered. “I’m not sure if you were paying attention when Malcolm was arguing against you dating me, but I’m an alcoholic. I’ve been sober for nine years, four months, and twenty-seven days. It’s not something I tell people or talk about. My sisters and parents are alcoholics. Even my grandparents were heavy drinkers. I think I have an uncle somewhere who is also a drunk. Somebody like me has no business having kids.”

She had no business feeling betrayed or upset. At the core of this was a sacrifice by a man she loved, one that probably took a lot of courage and self-loathing to make. Her heart broke for the person he’d been, even though that heartache created the man she loved.

She took his hand in hers. “I’ll still marry you. It doesn’t change the fact that I love you.”

He looked at her, fathoms of sadness swimming behind his eyes. “I never planned to fall in love, especially with you. I always thought you deserved better. I still do. But now I’m not willing to let you go, so you’re stuck with me, for better or for worse.”

She planted a subdued kiss on his lips. “Sounds good to me.”