Alana Candler, Marked for Murder (34 page)

He had to get free!

He strained and twisted on the ropes around his wrists, but there was no room in the knots to work with. If he could wake up Alana, she might be able to work the knots free.

The ropes around his legs kept him from standing, so he dug his heels into the aged wood and dragged himself a couple of inches at a time across the floor toward her sleeping form.

SEVENTY-TWO

DREAMS OF HER SPIRIT CIRCLING
around in the air and coming to rest in her body scared Alana to wakefulness. What happened to make her feel she had been run over by a truck?

Her drugged brain remembered only snatches of images. She saw the boat with Jaydn standing on the side, and she jerked when she remembered the explosion.

Jaydn! What happened to Jaydn?

Then, suddenly, disturbing images flashed in front of her, and she could feel once again the emptiness of death. What was it she felt? Pain? Resolve? Jaydn was dead. She was blind. And, there was nothing she could do about either.

Her head felt mashed and sore, and her arms weighed a ton. She reached up and felt the rough surface where her head rested, but a sharp pain in her shoulder stilled her movement.

Was she in a hospital? It was nothing like the starched sheets she remembered from her previous visit.

Her clothes were dry from the lake water, so she must have been here more than a few hours.

She opened her eyes and saw light shadows swimming around her. Was it night? Or day? The images were blurry, but she could make out various images. Her vision was returning.

Snatches of conversation rolled around in her memory, and what she remembered filled her thoughts with fear.

They were going to kill her.

For what, she still didn’t know. For something she saw. But what? A recollection of her trip here surfaced. Was it Kent who brought her here? Was Kent the one trying to kill her?

She rubbed her head and tried to make herself think. Kent found her in the lake. He took her to a car and left her to find Jaydn.

Had Kent kidnapped her?

She remembered voices when she arrived. None of them sounded like Kent. Tears formed as panic wrapped around her heart.

She had to get out of here!

She tried to sit up on the chunky bedding and fought the nausea that filled her stomach.

I can’t make it by myself. Lord, please help me. These people are going to kill me if I don’t get out of here.

And yet, even as she prayed the words, she knew she couldn’t leave this place without help. The area around her was too dark to see well enough to escape. She might walk right into the arms of her kidnappers.

Her head throbbed with sharp stabbing pains as she raised it to listen for sounds around her. A smell like sulfur penetrated her nostrils. Somewhere in the distance, a bird squawked. A strange, thumping sound shook the floor close to her head. Frowning, she turned her head toward the back of the building. Were they coming to get her?

Panic tightened her throat even as she heard a soft muffled word.

“Ana.”

Lifting her head tenderly, she listened carefully. She heard the thumping sound again, coming from behind her. She turned her head toward the sound.

“Ana.”

Dared she hope? The strangled word she heard sounded so much like Jaydn that tears once again burned the back of her lids.

Could it be true? Was he alive?

She pushed back on the pile of cloth to sit up and strained to hear sounds of someone approaching.

When she told herself she must have imagined the whole thing, she felt something touch her arm. She jumped and turned toward the object.

“Ana.”

The smell of lake water was strong, but it could not drown out the faint smell of Jaydn’s aftershave. She could barely make out the shape of a dark-headed figure.

“Jaydn,” she whispered and threw her arms around his neck.

Jaydn leaned toward her and touched her face with his briefly. Then leaning back, he mumbled something unintelligible, and it dawned on her that he was gagged.

Alana pulled at the fabric tied around his face with her hands. The stretchy material finally gave way and pushed over the bottom of the gag.

Jaydn spit the gag out on the floor and the fabric around his mouth went slack and fell to his neck. He turned and spit several times on the wooden floor.

Softly, he kissed her on the cheek. “Alana.” The word came out whisper soft and wrapped around immense emotion.

Alana wrapped her arms around his neck and held tightly, fighting tears. It felt so good to hold him close when she thought she had lost him forever.

Jaydn pulled back and spoke barely above a whisper. “Listen, Alana. I heard them leave a while ago. We have to escape before they come back. See if you can get these ropes loose.”

Alana heard the urgency in his voice, but she whispered, “I’ll try, Jaydn, but I can’t see very well. It’s so dark in here, and the explosion did something to my eyes. I’m not sure how much help I’ll be.”

“Try, sweetheart.”

She bent over the back of his hands and tried to feel the knots in the coarse rope. She twisted and pulled until the rope began to loosen. After several minutes of straining, she finally felt the end give and pull through the loop.

When the ropes went slack, Jaydn pulled his hands free and loosened the bindings around his legs. She saw him stand up and flex his legs. A quiet moan escaped his lips as the returning circulation triggered a stinging sensation. He turned to Alana and softly touched the blood on her face.

“Alana, are you okay? Did you say you can’t see?”

She couldn’t speak, so she nodded. He didn’t say a word but leaned over and lifted her into his arms. “Let’s get out of here.”

Alana lay quietly in Jaydn’s arms, breathing in his male scent. The danger around her was forgotten, overshadowed by the fact that Jaydn was still alive. She felt him working his way across the warehouse.

“Where are we going?” she whispered.

He pointed with his head to a corner of the building. “There’s an outside door over there. If it’s not locked, we can get out before someone finds out we’re gone.”

She could barely hear his hushed voice, and his shuffling steps were almost silent. Maybe he was worried the kidnappers left a guard to keep an eye on them.

After what seemed like an eternity, Jaydn stopped. She could barely make out the outline of a metal door.

When they heard a scraping noise outside, Jaydn moved quickly behind a wooden crate and stood Alana next to the wall and tenderly touched her lips with his finger. His whispered “shhh” was like a gentle breeze fanning her face. Alana felt the tension in his muscles and wished she could see him in the darkness.

Jaydn glanced around desperately. Quietly picking up a club-shaped object, he waited as the doorknob turned gently and the door slowly opened. A sliver of light grew as the door opened wider, and the area was bathed in light.

Jaydn lifted the object high over his head and waited for the figure to emerge.

Alana saw the gun first.

SEVENTY-THREE

WHEN A TALL, THIN MAN
rounded the edge of the door, Jaydn swung the small bronze statue he held down—aiming for the gun in the man’s hand. The man jerked to the side, and the blow only grazed his arm. Turning on Jaydn, the man raised his gun for a blow to the head when light from outside the building illuminated Jaydn’s face.

“Jaydn!”

Taking advantage of surprise, Jaydn grabbed the gun from Kent and turned it back toward Kent’s chest.

“Freeze, Kent. Don’t move, or I promise I’ll shoot.”

“What are you doing, Jaydn? I’m here to rescue you.” Kent’s voice was low and controlled.

“Yeah, right! Just put both hands on the side of the building and spread your legs.”

“Jaydn. Listen to me. You’re making a big mistake.”

“Do it!”

The panic and anger in Jaydn’s voice made Kent surrender and do as he asked.

Alana cowered against the crate and tried to follow the path of Jaydn’s actions.

“Jaydn?”

“Alana, remember the yellow diamond ring in the photos Brad brought to the cabin of the stolen items? Kent was wearing it at the police station. Brad said he suspected someone in his department but had no way to prove it. It must be Kent.” Jaydn stared at Kent with disgust. “He’s the serial killer.”

Kent laid his forehead against the building. “Jaydn, please,” he whispered hoarsely. “Chet left that ring in a box with my name on it before he died. He must have stolen it from this warehouse and was leaving it as a clue when they killed him. The ring belonged to—”

“Me.”

The single word came from twenty feet behind them. The hair on the back of Alana’s neck tingled when she saw Jaydn freeze. He kept the gun pointed at Kent but slowly turned his head to find Bo standing behind him.

Bo’s magnum was aimed directly at Alana’s head.

“Drop it, Jaydn, or she dies, here and now.” Bo’s voice was electrically charged.

Jaydn slowly lowered the gun to the floor and let it fall with a thud.

Alana blinked—not believing her ears.

“Bo?”

The truth wouldn’t compute in her head. Bo was the murderer?

“Poor little Alana—sweet little sister. You just couldn’t figure it out, could you?” Bo once again turned to Jaydn. “Now move over beside Kent, Jaydn, and put these on his hands.” He pulled a pair of handcuffs from a bag by his side and threw it on the floor at Jaydn’s feet.

Jaydn leaned over to pick up the cuffs, never moving his eyes from the gun pointed at Alana’s head. The shock on his face was as real as the gun in Bo’s tight grip.

Alana peered in Bo’s direction.

“Why, Bo?”

Bo grunted. “Cuz I’m sick of working 24/7 for
nothing
. No promotions. No raises. Doing your brother’s dirty work without the pay that goes with it. I’m
sick
of it all. But not any more. After this last haul, I’m set for life. The money from International Enterprises should be delivered,” he said, glancing at his watch, “just about now. And you three . . . will have signed your own death certificates.”

Kent shook his head. “You’re crazy, man, if you think you’re gonna get away with this.”

“Shut up, Kent. I’ve already gotten away with it.”

Bo’s laugh was high-pitched and raspy. He held the gun out closer to Alana’s head.

“The whole department’s stupid—just like you, Kent. None of you would have even gotten close if Alana here hadn’t taken that stupid picture of me picking up Gene’s stupid cigarette butt. I told him not to bring that thing in the building. But, no . . . he just had to have his nicotine fix.”

Alana shrank back at the disdain in his voice. This was a side of Bo she had never seen before. He turned toward her.

“You just had to be early that day, didn’t you? If you had minded your own business, everything would’ve been fine. Now it’s gonna cost you your life.” He took two steps toward her, his gun still pointing directly to her head.

“Everything wasn’t fine for all those widows you murdered.”

Alana could hear the disgust in Jaydn’s voice.

“They’re better off. They had no family. No friends. I checked. Just a lot of money and no one to share it with. So, I let ’em share it with me.”

Bo’s voice became electric. “Do what I tell you, Jaydn. I’m the best marksman in the whole department. If I shoot, I won’t miss.” He straightened his arms, holding the gun toward Alana’s head.

Alana was terrified.

She watched his fury grow until she heard Jaydn clear his throat and twist to the side beside Kent. Bo turned his attention back to Jaydn.

“No funny stuff. Get going with those cuffs. I wanna be outta here when the boys get back. They think I’ve got plane tickets for all of us, but they’re gonna be happier with the surprise I left them.”

Jaydn was stalling. Alana could see him fumbling—pretending to cuff Kent—when she saw a movement several feet from where they were. Jaydn must have seen it too because he froze and, without turning his head, glanced toward the corner where Brad crouched behind a large container. Brad put his finger to his mouth and made a chatting movement with his other hand—letting Jaydn know he needed to keep Bo talking.

Jaydn looked up at Bo. “Was it you that stole Alana from the hotel?”

Bo laughed and lowered the gun just a bit. “That part was pure luck. Sam recognized her when she pulled into the hotel. Him and Gene took care of that little job. If you hadn’t pulled her out of that car, none of this would be happening. You just had to play the hero, didn’t you?” He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Your good works will be rewarded. Isn’t that what the Bible says, Alana?”

Alana couldn’t understand what she was hearing.

“It w-was your idea to k-kill me?” Her voice was just above a whisper.