Revenge (26 page)

After giving him a curt nod, Jason directed Paul to the break room's back exit. Once he was outside, Jason slammed the door shut and engaged the lock.

Seeing no threat in the vicinity, Paul raced for the outside staircase that led up to the manager's office, taking the steps two at a time. It would prove tricky carrying that woman down these in a hurry, but he wasn't going to leave her behind when she could point a finger at him as her father and expose him as her mother's killer. He topped the final stair and rammed through the door. He skidded to a stop at the gun pointed at his head.

Cody spotted movement in an open doorway. The flash of a man's suit was all she caught, but she was certain someone hid out in that room.

Heath ejected his spent magazine and slammed home a fresh one.

“I think I know where Remy is. I'm going to make a run for it.”

“I'll cover you. Run fast.”

She nodded and hopped up into a crouched position, waiting for the signal. When Heath tapped her back, she bolted. Behind her, he let loose with a barrage of fire that should make those hired guns cower.

Cody never sprinted so fast in her life. Her pulse raced, sending tremendous surges of adrenaline through her veins. As she approached the open doorway, the flash of movement to her right alerted her to trouble. A man rose from behind a crate. Her gun arm came up with him and she pulled the trigger before he could bring his weapon around.

The guy flinched and flopped over the top of the crate. She sailed past the doorway and crow-hopped to a halt, leveling her Kimber on the man standing over Remy with a gun pressed to the back of his head.

“Welcome, Ms. Lewis.”

• • •

“Well, well, if it isn't District Attorney Dumond. Or should I call you
Alphonse
?”

Paul scowled at Victoria Slater. In her hand she held the blood type test. Leaning against the wall behind her was the woman who could be Victoria's twin sister.

The woman lifted her head and glared at him through the curtain of her tangled hair. Fury flashed in her eyes. “Kill the bastard,” she hissed.

Victoria snickered. “Did you piss her off, Daddy?” She tossed the test back on the desk. “What was the plan? Gonna have a little fun with her and then take her out on the bayous and leave her for the gators? Like you did my parents?”

“You bitch. I'll see you burn for this.” Paul moved toward her.

Her hand twitched to the side and she fired. He felt the puff of air as the bullet passed his face, and he stilled when it smashed into the wall.

“Next one goes into your face.” Vic backed to her half-sister and hooked an arm under the woman's armpit to help her stand. “We're leaving.”

Everything was crashing around him. Fury raged in his chest. “You can't hide from me, detective. I'll bury you, and she'll go down with you.”

“See, I don't think you'll carry out that threat,
Alphonse
. Once the media latches onto the events here, you'll be over.” She helped her half-sister walk toward him, keeping her gun leveled. “You might as well move out of the way.”

“Vic, wait,” her sister croaked.

Paul clenched his fists as the woman grabbed the discarded badge and gun. When Victoria waved her gun for him to move, he took a few steps to the side. Inch by inch he moved away from the outside exit as they moved closer. He had to stop them from leaving. With her hands full trying to carry her sister, Victoria's reaction time would be slow. He could rush them and possibly avoid another bullet.

He knew panic was fueling this stupidity. His life, the life he crafted, was over once those two women exited this building. Bellowing, he rushed them. Victoria's startled expression gave him a flicker of satisfaction.

The sharp report jerked him to a stop. Paul twisted and collapsed to the floor, excruciating pain thundering up his left leg. “Bitch!” He grasped his thigh. When slick heat met his hands, he pulled them away and gaped at the red liquid covering his palms. He looked at the women, staring in disbelief as his daughter lowered her pistol.

“My name is Kimberly Anne Gregory, you son of a bitch. Let that be the last name on your lips.”

Victoria grinned, saluting Paul with her weapon before turning and escorting her sister out of the office. The door creaked shut in the wake of their absence.

It was over. He was through. Paul's body quaked, either from this realization, or the shock beginning to set in. How? How could a dead woman destroy him? In the end, Valérie Slater had found a way to beat him. The child of his sinful desires had killed him.

No. He wouldn't lose everything in death. Paul rolled to his side. He'd get vengeance against the man who brought this destruction down on him. Pushing onto his good leg, he teetered as he straightened.

LeBeau's death would be worth the loss of his empire.

• • •

Dim as the lighting was in the room, Cody could make out the brutality they'd inflicted on Remy. The gunman kept Remy's head bent forward so she couldn't see the damage on his face. Anger fueled her adrenaline charge; she tightened her grip on the Kimber.

“Enjoy beating a defenseless man?”

The gunman flashed a grin. “Defenseless, not quite.” He held up a bandaged hand. “He got in a few licks. So he paid for it.”

Oh how she wanted to pull that trigger. Uncertain if her reaction time was better than the man's, however, she held back. Out on the main floor, the gunfire continued. As long as she heard that, she knew Heath was okay.

Her focus shifted back to her dilemma. She licked her lips.

“What's it going to be, Cody? His life for yours?”

“Cody, don't,” Remy croaked and tried to raise his head.

The gunman shoved it back down. “I don't have all day, woman. Drop the gun and I'll let him walk. Then you're mine.”

A little smile ticked in the corner of her mouth. “Do you honestly believe I'd fall for that?” She eased her legs hip-width apart. “You'll kill him as soon as I set the gun on the floor. My daddy didn't raise no doormat.”

Remy grunted a thin chuckle.

The gunman scowled and rammed the gun barrel into Remy's neck. “Either way, I get what I want. He dies, and I get you.”

Silence blanketed the factory. Cody stiffened at the quiet. Had Heath taken out the rest of the gunmen, or was he out there dying?

“Huh, looks like it's just you and me,” the gunman said.

A set of clicks in her ear sent a surge of relief.

“I'm behind you. On five, drop to the floor,” Heath whispered into the comlink.

“Just the same,” Cody said. “I'm not giving up that easily.”

One.

“Now I see why Savard was drawn to you. Women who fight back make the best conquests.”

Two.

“Is that all you bastards think about? Raping and torturing women?”

Three.

“No, I think about killing men, too.”

Four.

Cody's muscles relaxed. “Give the devil my regards.”

Five.

The confused expression on the gunman's face as she dropped to the floor was priceless. Heath's shot echoed in the factory. The man's body crumpled to the filthy floor.

Cody slowly rose to her full height, glaring at the body. The revulsion she expected at watching him take a bullet to the brain didn't rise. He deserved what he got. Had this trip made her callous?

“Clear?” Heath asked.

She glanced at him, tucking her gun in her jeans waistline behind her back. “Clear,” she said, then bolted to Remy. Dropping to her knees in front of him, she winced at the overwhelming odor of blood. “Remy?”

Taking shallow breaths, he peeled his swollen eyes open and lifted his head a fraction. “You bullheaded, stupid woman. You didn't listen to me.”

She resisted the retort tickling her tongue.

“God, I love you,” he rasped.

Blinking back the tears forming in her eyes, she caressed his bearded cheek. “Good, 'cause if I ever have to come to your rescue to save you from getting yourself killed again, I'll kick you.”

He started to laugh and ended it with a moan, letting his head fall back.

“I think they broke his ribs.” Heath slung the rifle strap over his shoulder and pushed the gun behind him as he knelt next to Remy. “Hey partner, glad we found you alive.”

“Yeah, me, too.”

Unsheathing a knife, Heath sliced through the straps restraining Remy to the chair.

Cody noticed the bullet hole in his shoulder. “When were you shot?” She feathered her fingers over the seeping wound.

“When that asshole back there nabbed me at Vic's.” The moment his uninjured arm was freed, he reached out and cupped the back of Cody's head, dragging her to him. He smashed his lips against hers.

She ignored the taste of blood in his mouth and kissed him back as fiercely. It felt so good to kiss him again. Touch him, know he was alive and this time she had saved him. The last strap slackened, and he groaned against her lips as he body sagged. Cody dragged her mouth away and braced for his weight.

“We've got to get him to a hospital.” She scooted around to place her body under his injured shoulder.

Heath moved around to Remy's good side. “We're not quite out of the woods yet. Once we're out of here, Vic might know somewhere we can discreetly take him.”

Together they lifted Remy's battered body from the chair. Being shorter than the two men put Cody at a disadvantage, but it would help Remy's injured shoulder.

“Where's Paul?” Remy asked.

“Was he here?” she said.

“Yes.” Remy grimaced as Heath shifted under his arm. “He got out through the back.”

Panic struck her. “Vic and Kim.”

The click of a pistol slide froze her on the spot. Her gaze darted to the doorway where a pistol barrel pointed at Remy. Behind the gun, the man—she assumed it was Paul Dumond—leaned against the doorframe. His left leg was drenched in blood and propped next to his good one, yet his gun hand never wavered. Cold hatred glimmered in the man's eyes.

Shock at the familiarity of those eyes rooted Cody. So it was true. This was Kim's biological father.

“You don't get to live.”

“It's over, Paul,” Remy said. “Your men are dead.” He panted in shallow breaths. “By the looks of your leg, you'll be next.”

“I go, I take you with me.”

Cody scanned the room, trying to locate a way to stop this man from shooting them. Both she and Heath had placed their weapons out of reach, and with Remy draped between them there was no way to get to them fast enough.

“How fast do you think you are?” Remy's injured arm slipped from Cody's shoulder and his hand slid along her back, stopping when he met the pistol butt sticking out of her waistline. “Once you pull that trigger, my partner will be on you in seconds.” He gasped for air; the effort to talk must be killing his ribs.

Paul's gun shifted to Cody. She stiffened.

“I'll take out your woman first.” He scoffed. “It'll kill you to lose another lover.” He straightened his shoulders, and a wicked smile appeared on his mouth. “Goodbye.”

Remy's arm twitched against her back and the pistol slipped free of her jeans. Cody spun left as Remy managed to throw up his arm. Two cracks filled the room. She popped upright as Paul slumped to the floor, a thin trickle of blood sliding down the bridge of his nose.

“Revenge is a bitch, ain't it, Alphonse?” Remy's arm swung down and the gun dropped from his grip as he staggered forward, nearly taking Heath down with him.

Cody scooped up her gun and caught him. Careful to avoid his ribs, she draped his arm over her shoulders again. “Let's get out of here.”

• • •

Seated in the back of the Escalade—trying not to lie down to alleviate the pressure on his battered ribs for fear he wouldn't be able to get up again—Remy kept an eye on Cody. She stood with Anderson, Luc Santorini, and Vic about a yard away discussing their next move. The butt of Cody's weapon—a gun he had no idea she even owned—stuck out of the back of her jeans. His cowgirl looked more like a female commando than the woman who twisted him into knots for months.

Despite the searing pain controlling his body, pride and desire threaded through him. There stood a new, confident woman before him. One who could handle his job and his past life.

Remy's heart swelled as his chest tightened, making his aching ribs protest. The way he loved Marie was nothing compared to what Cody did to him now. When she had told Jason her daddy didn't raise a doormat, how right she'd been. She'd stood in that room, faced down a man hell-bent on killing him and taking her, and not once did Remy hear a waver in her voice.

That was not a woman who'd dumped him for another man.

Seeming to sense his scrutiny, Cody peeked over her shoulder, brushing a few stray coils out of her eyes. The setting sun turned her red hair to fire. She flashed him a smile and came toward him.

“How are the ribs?” she asked, gingerly sitting on the tailgate next to him.

“On fire. But I've lived through worse.” He wanted to touch her dirt-streaked face.

“I was stupid. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did in Fort Worth and I damn sure shouldn't have broken up with you.” Her words ran together.

Remy pressed a finger to her chapped lips. “Cody, I wanted you to do it. I thought it would protect you if you and I weren't together.”

“I know. I figured that out a few days after you left.”

“And you still came after me.”

“Hell, yeah.” She leaned forward, her lips brushing against his. “I love you, Cajun. Ain't nothin' going to stop me, not even my stupid pride.” She gave him a tender kiss.

Tell her the truth, you idiot.
“
Chère
,” he said against her mouth. “I have a confession.”