Homeland Security (Defenders of Love Book 2) (15 page)

"Katie McCoy?" Kaiden asked.

"Who's that? I'm talking about Mandy."

"Mandy's dead."

"Dirty dudes! I'm telling you they are the same bad guys he's mixed up with."

"So, why are they after him now?"

"Because he double crossed them. Sold the information to a rival company for a mess of dough and then planned to leave the country. This was only a stopover before he flew out of the country today."

"We need to find him before he finds a way to the airport," Kaiden said to his brother.

"What about these guys?" Keegan asked.

"Cuff them to that flag pole over there." Kaiden nodded toward a tall white pole in the center of the yard. "We can call the local LEOs and have them come out here and pick them up."

"Get up!" Keegan yanked one of the guards to his feet. Kaiden did the same with the second one. They walked over to the pole and cuffed them one at a time.

"Hey, which one of you tried to run Katie down the other night?" Kaiden asked as he secured the cuffs.

"That would be me," the guard he snapped the cuffs on replied. "I wasn't going to run her over. Senior Mr. Marks said I should scare her a little."

"Well, it worked. You also left a nasty dent on the back end of my new truck."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Again, I was just supposed to scare y'all."

"Well, you only managed to piss me off on that one. You know you don't mess with a man's truck."

"I know, man, but that was Senior again. He told me to do it. You don't seem to understand the power of the Marks family. When you work for them and they say jump, you say how high or they smash your knee caps."

"So, you are a big wuss, afraid of a snot-nosed brat who lives off his mommy and daddy's money?

"Naw, man, I am afraid of the mommy and daddy with all the money."

"You ransacked her place, didn't you?"

"Nope. That wasn't us. Mr. Marks sent someone else to do that. We were already on our way here."

"So who broke into the lab?"

"The Marks family owns people everywhere. Who knows which one of them did that?"

"You and your boss have pretty much ruined a woman's life. I'm fairly certain you all are responsible for the death of another and you've been stalking Katie for at least the last couple of days."

"No way, man! We didn't commit no murder! We're stalkers, not killers!" the other guard said.

"I wouldn't be so proud of either profession."

Kaiden finished securing the men and nodded to Keegan. "There. Now we can go look for Marks."

"Umm, I don't think you have to look too far," the other guard said.

"What do you mean?" Kaiden asked.

The guard nodded toward the trees. "Because he is right there and he has some sweet young thing with him."

Kaiden turned to where the guard had indicated and his heart tumbled straight into the pit of his stomach.

"Katie."

Chapter Fifteen

As soon as she laid eyes on Kaiden, and saw that he was safe and unharmed, Katie relaxed. For a second, she forgot about the six inch blade pressed against her kidney as she yelled and waved both hands at the men. "Kaiden!"

She saw Kaiden look up at her and thought she saw his tanned skin go pale.

"Shut up!" Nathan snapped. "You
know
these yahoos?"

Katie looked at him, refusing to give up any information that might help Nathan or put Kaiden in danger.

"Great! Flipping fabulous! I take my first hostage and she knows the cops I'm trying to blackmail." He shoved Katie forward. "Move it. Maybe your boyfriend cares about you enough to let me go without any more trouble."

"He's not my boyfriend." Hopefully that would help the situation somehow.

"Of course not. What was I thinking? No way a guy like that would want a girl like you anyway."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Katie stopped and turned on Nathan. "What is
wrong
with a girl like me?
You
used to love me!"

Nathan's cold laugh gave her chills. "Seriously, Katherine? You actually believed I loved you? You're even more naïve than I thought you were!"

"Then why…?"

Nathan jabbed her with the knife. "Keep walking. I'm not missing my flight."

The brothers were moving in closer, each one posted up behind one of the two SUVs in the driveway.

"You okay, Katie?" Kaiden called out.

"I'm fine!"

"She'll be a lot better if the two of you would back off and let me get to my truck!" Nathan called back.

"Not happening!" Keegan shouted from his spot behind the far SUV.

"You haven't answered my question." Katie stopped walking again.

"What question?" Nathan poked her hard. This time she felt the tip of the knife graze her skin. He had cut the fabric of her shirt.

"Why you wasted all that time with me."

"It was all part of the plan, baby."

"Awfully intricate plan to steal some bacteria. You could have just screwed Mandy and skipped right over me."

"There was so much more to it than that but you wouldn't play along. So, I had to find someone that would."

They were at the edge of the driveway. Kaiden and Keegan had their guns pointed at Nathan. He grabbed her and pulled her in front of him, pressing the hunting knife to her neck. Katie felt the sting of the blade as it cut into her.

"Nathan! Stop! You're hurting me!" she cried.

"Shut up already, Katherine!"

"Drop the knife Marks!" Kaiden stepped out from behind the van, his face hard but his eyes filled with concern. "Let the girl go and we can talk!"

"No way, man! She is going with me one way or another, so if you prefer she leave here alive and with her head attached you will get the hell out of my way and let me leave!"

He pressed the knife tighter to her neck. Katie felt a trickle of warmth run into her shirt. "Kaiden! Let him go, please!"

Kaiden suddenly stepped back, lowering his weapon. "Kee! Let them go!"

Keegan cursed but did what Kaiden asked.

Nathan dragged her to the SUV and shoved her in through the driver's side before climbing in behind her. He turned the key that hung in the ignition and threw the truck in gear. They peeled out of the drive in a cloud of dust and dirt and rocks.

Katie caught a glance of Kaiden in the mirror.
Please come after me. I don't want to die!

Nathan had snapped. He would never let her out of this alive. Katie had to find a way to get out of that truck, even if it meant throwing herself out of it.

"Don't get any crazy ideas. You'll kill yourself. I'm going way too fast."

Did he read her mind?

"Come on, Katherine, don't look so surprised. We were engaged, I know how your brain works."

"What difference does it make? You're going to kill me anyway." She reached up and felt the blood on her neck.

"After all our history together, you fathom me a cold blooded killer?"

"Mandy's dead."

"She was stupid. She didn't know when to shut up."

"So you killed her."

"She had an accident."

"An accident. Right."

She glanced over at the speedometer and gasped. The truck sped along at nearly one hundred miles per hour. "Nathan, slow down! These roads can't handle this kind of speed!"

"Shut up, Katherine!"

"You keep saying that and I am sick of it! Pull this truck over now and let me out! Go catch your plane but leave me alone! You and your little scheme have already ruined my life! What else do you want from me?"

"Ruined, huh? It seemed like you and little cop man back there are pretty tight. Things can't be all that bad."

The road curved suddenly and Nathan slammed on the brakes. Katie threw herself across the seat and grabbed the steering wheel with one hand while slapping and punching at Nathan's face with the other.

"Stop it, Katherine! You're gonna kill us both!"

"Good!" She jerked the wheel to the right, the tires of the truck slipped on the gravel of the shoulder and the SUV rolled over. Once, twice, three times the truck flipped before she lost consciousness.

***

"Where the hell did they go?"

"I don't know, Kaiden. There are no turns from this road."

"Maybe they went a different way?"

"We both saw them go this way."

"Can't you go any faster, Kee?"

"Not if you don't want us to crash!"

As they careened around a tight curve in the road, something caught Kaiden's eye. "Hey, did you see that?"

"See what?"

"Something… something, I don't know. Do you smell that?"

"Smells like something's burning."

"Keegan! Stop the car!"

"What?"

"Stop! Stop this thing and let me out!"

"But, Katie?"

"I think they wrecked!"

Keegan slammed on the brakes so hard the truck spun in a complete circle as dust and dirt filled the air around them. His brother hit the gas and drove right to the edge of the road where black smoke curled up from the valley below. Kaiden jumped from the truck and started running down the embankment. He could hear Keegan calling to him but he kept going. He had to get to Katie before the gas tank caught fire.

A huge explosion rocked the mountain as flames shot into the air and the valley filled with thick black smoke.

"Katie!" he screamed her name over and over as the flames burned loud and hot. He slid the rest of the way down the embankment without thinking about anything but Katie.

Her name rang in his head over and over and over again. The voice louder than the fire, louder than Keegan calling after him, louder than the sound of his racing pulse as fear and adrenaline gripped him in its iron fist.

"Get back, brother! There might be a secondary explosion!"

He heard Keegan calling out to him, knew he spoke the truth. He ignored his twin. All he could do was pray over and over that Katie had survived. Maybe she had been ejected? Maybe she had gotten out before the truck caught fire. Maybe—and most likely—she had died in the crash and now burned in the SUV.

NO!

She wasn't dead. He could feel it in his very soul. Then why couldn't he find her? Keegan had finally caught up with him. His brother put an arm around him as they watched the fire consume the remains of the vehicle. "I'm so sorry, man."

Kaiden wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Son of a bitch. Son. Of. A. Bitch!"

"Shhh…! Do you hear that?" Keegan held a finger to his lips and placed a hand on his brother's arm. Kaiden tried to shrug him off but Keegan insisted he listen.

Above the sound of the fire and burning vehicle, there was something. Something so quiet he wasn't even sure he heard it. Then it happened again.

"Help!" It was her.

"Katie!" he called out.

"Help us, Kaiden!"

"There!" Keegan pointed to a large rock. "It's coming from over there!"

They took off at a run, arriving at the rock at exactly the same time. Behind the rock they found Katie and Nathan Marks. She had a cut on her face and her neck, blood in her hair and a black eye but she was alive.

"Katie!" He started to go to her but Keegan held him back.

"Hold on, brother. Be careful, you don't know what sort of injuries she has."

"I'm okay, Keegan. Just a little sore. I think I hit my head too." She reached up and touched her hair, fingers coming away with fresh blood.

Kaiden squatted next to her and took her in his arms. "It's okay now. You're going to be okay."

She buried her face in his shoulder. "I have no idea how many times we rolled over. I was sure we were going to die."

"What exactly happened here?" Keegan, always the voice of reason, asked.

"The truck went out of control and we went over the side. The fire started and I knew if I didn't get us out of there, we would die. Nathan wouldn't wake up so I dragged him over here."

Keegan had his phone out calling for help.

"I thought he was going to kill me," Katie whispered next to Kaiden's ear. "I tried to get him to stop the truck. That's how we ended up here—I grabbed the wheel from him." She started to cry then, large wracking sobs. Kaiden held her as she cried until they heard the sound of sirens in the distance.

"I caught Nathan. Is the case over now?" Katie looked up at him through damp lashes.

He couldn't help but smile. "You did a great job, honey."

"I get my life back now…" Her body fell limp in his arms.

"Katie!" She didn't answer. "Kee—she's unconscious!"

"It's all right, brother. Help is on the way."

"I'm taking her up top!" Without waiting for his brother to reply he scooped Katie up in his arms and started the long, arduous trek up the incline. "It's okay, Katie. I'm going to get you help. Please just hang on."

By the time he made it up to the edge of the road, emergency vehicles had begun to arrive. An ambulance had parked next their truck. Kaiden ran to it and started banging on the doors. "Help! We need help! You have to help her!"

He had never felt so helpless in his entire life. Katie's limp body hung in his arms. "Why won't you wake up, sweetheart?"

One of the paramedics pulled open the back of the ambulance and dragged the stretcher out of it. "Here. Put her here!"

Kaiden placed Katie on the stretcher but almost refused to let her go.

"You have to step back, sir, and let us work," the second paramedic said. "What happened to her?"

"She was kidnapped at knife point and the kidnapper rolled his truck. I have no idea what happened in between those two things."

"And who are you?" the first paramedic demanded.

Kaiden pulled his id from his back pocket. "Agent Kaiden James, Homeland Security. I am working the case."

The second paramedic worked at putting in an IV line while the first paramedic was busy examining Katie. "She took quite a beating today."

"Will she be all right?" Kaiden asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"We have to get her to the hospital right now. That head injury—well, it's tough to tell how bad it really is."

He caught sight of Keegan coming up over the rise, Nathan Marks tossed over his shoulder. The paramedics were lifting Katie into the back of the ambulance. It was his case, he knew he had to deal with Marks but he couldn't stand the thought of leaving Katie. After Keegan deposited Marks on a stretcher he waved his brother over. "I should go with Marks."

"I can stay with him," Keegan said.

Kaiden sighed heavily. "Not if I hope to keep my job."

"How about I ride with Katie? I'll make sure she knows you wanted to be there. Heck, if she hit her head hard enough I might even be able to convince her I'm you." The look Kaiden shot his brother shut Keegan right up.

He didn't like the idea but knew that under the circumstances there was no better solution.

"Okay, fine. But don't you dare leave her side until I get there, and no funny business."

"Please, brother! I wouldn't do that to you."

Kaiden paced in front of Keegan. "I know you wouldn't. I don't know why I said it. Just make sure they take care of her, okay?"

Keegan clapped his brother on the shoulder. "You know I will." He turned to the paramedics loading Katie into their bus. "I'm going with you!"

"And you are?"

Keegan whipped out his ID. "Agent Keegan James." Fortunately, no one asked him what agency he was with.

"All right, sir. Load up, we're heading out!"

Kaiden watched as the ambulance carrying his brother and Katie drove away. Anger turned his vision red as he clenched his fists and reminded himself he had a job to do. And do it he would. He stomped over to where Nathan had been strapped to a stretcher receiving IV fluids. He was awake as a paramedic asked him questions.