Burned Hearts (37 page)

“Christ, Ari,” came his tormented voice, loud and clear. “Are you all right?”

“Amano's worse off. Forrester is on his way. Damn, Dane, I can't watch you traversing all this traffic.”

I set aside the mini and heaved onto the stone floor.

“
Chica!
” Rosa scolded.

I screamed again.

“All right,” she grumbled. “If you must. I have to clean up all this blood, anyway.”

She was a strange bird, but I loved her.

“Ari?” Dane demanded, since I hadn't turned off the speaker or switched to Kyle's system or whatever the hell I was supposed to do so that Dane didn't have to hear me wail.

“I'm still alive.” Just drowning in pain and misery.

Luckily, Forrester and his staff came through the door minutes later. Apparently, he had the gate code. As had Ethan.

Damn it!

“Ari,” Dr. Forrester said as he crossed to where I was propped up against the credenza.

I pointed to the other end of it. “Amano needs you.”

Dr. Forrester saw to him, with one of the assistants, while the other tended to me.

“Don't you get tired of this?” I asked him, remembering him from the estate, after Tom Talbot had shot Dane and Kyle.

The assistant asked, “Don't you?”

“You have no idea,” I said on a wisp of air. My breathing had turned shallow.

“I'm Stan, by the way. And this is going to hurt. Sorry.”

My eyes squeezed shut for a moment. “More than it already does?”

“Yeah. For a little while.”

He started in on me, I cried out again, and then …

Nothing.

*   *   *

I woke with a start. And another bloodcurdling scream.

“I gave you something for the pain,” Stan instantly said. “You shouldn't be in so much of it now.”

That wasn't the problem. “I blacked out.”

“It's been like twenty, thirty minutes. The bullet wasn't difficult to get to. You're stitched up.”

He'd also settled me on the sofa in the great room.

“Where's Amano?” I demanded.

“His room. He needs a bit more work.”

“Will he be okay?”

“Are you kidding? Do you think Dane would accept anything less than a full recovery from either of you?”

I wanted to laugh, because I knew Stan was trying to lighten the mood. But I didn't have it in me.

“There's an iPad mini in the hallway, where I was sitting. Can you bring it to me?”

“Sure.” He was gone for only a few seconds and handed it over.

As I hastily pulled up the video from Dane's helmet and streamed it on the flat screen over the fireplace, I could see they were still in hot pursuit of Ethan. Where the hell was he taking Amsel?

“Dane?”

“Jesus,” he said. “You had me terrified, baby.”

“Sorry. Blacked out. I'm better now.”

“And Amano?”

I shot a glance at Stan, who said, “He's not going to bounce back quite so quick, but I'm sure he'll be fine.”

Dane swore under his breath.

“It'll take more than a few bullets to stop him,” I added, hoping to relieve some of the tension. “Where are you?”

“Heading toward the Lux.” A second later he said, “Scratch that. Headed toward the estate.”

“That asshole!” I ground out. I swore that place was cursed since the day Vale had kidnapped me and taken me there.

From the camera mounted on the front of the helmet I could see Kyle ahead of the motorcycle. The McLaren bounced along the red-dirt road, the headlights dipping and rising, dipping and rising, so that I thought I'd puke again. Then the high beams went dark and the car jerked to a stop in front of the massive gates, which were wide open.

“Ari,” Dane said. “What do you see?”

“Straight shot through the front windows to the living room. Ethan and Amsel.”

My breath stuck in my throat again.

“Perfect.” There was a rustling noise and jostling of the camera and then it sat on the hood of the car, giving me the same view as before.

Kyle rounded the front of the car and handed over his phone and wireless earpiece. Dane immediately called his phone, which rang in the hall. Stan retrieved it.

“Dane?” I asked, putting him on speaker.

“Yeah.” I watched him, on-screen, stuff the phone into his pocket, with me still on the line. “Tell me if anyone comes into the courtyard, gets near the front door, or comes into the living room. Can you see that much?”

“Yes. But if Ethan moves farther back into the house, I might lose him.”

“Noted.”

Dane and Kyle drew their guns and crept into the courtyard. Thank God we had the cells, because they were too far out of the GoPros' audio reach.

I had no idea if Ethan knew they'd kept up with him or even followed him. Nor did I know if he had other soldiers at his disposal. I maintained a vigilant watch on the house, as did Stan.

“Kyle has the GoPro in the car angled to capture the entrance into the estate. Can you pull that up as well? Alert us if any vehicles join us?” Dane asked.

I did as Amano had shown me last night, using a split screen to get dual access. “Got it.”

“Let me know if a convoy converges.”

“Please don't even joke about that,” I said.

“No joke, baby.”

I'd suspected as much. “Be careful, Dane.”

“Don't worry about me. You take care of yourself.”

“I'm worried about all of us. And you need to give Kyle huge props for rigging up the GoPros.”

“I'll be sure to pat him on the back,” he said dryly. They reached the patio. “We're going in.”

I sent up a silent prayer they'd be coming out—with Amsel.

Rosa joined us in the great room. I was moderately surprised she didn't have a bowl of popcorn in her hands as she settled in. Though from the worry lines etched on her face I was on to her. For all her bravado, she appeared as terrified as I was.

“How's Amano doing?” I asked her.

“Medically induced coma.” She looked a bit pale herself. “He has a lot of healing ahead of him.”

“Shit.”

“He's tough as nails,” Stan said in a reassuring tone. “He'll pull through.”

I tried to buy into that theory. But my insides were all twisted and I was a bit loopy from whatever Stan had given me. It was difficult to concentrate on the TV, yet I did my best.

Kyle and Dane split up, each taking a different entryway into the living room.

Rosa said, “If he harms one hair on that baby's head, so help me—” She went off on another tangent in Spanish.

I was right there with her, even if I had trouble comprehending half of what she said. Her angst resonated deep within me.

Returning my attention to the screen, I told Dane, “It's still all good. I don't see any moving shadows.”

A quick in and out would be a blessing. No more bloodshed.

Kyle moved in first. From where Dane crouched to the left I couldn't hear anything but muffled voices coming from the living room. I could only guess what Kyle had to say to Ethan. Something along the lines of,
You can hand over the baby peacefully, or I can kick the shit out of you.

My tension ratcheted. I stared at the scene unfolding in front of me and was utterly hopeless to do anything about it—except watch their backs. That wasn't enough, of course. It was likely a good thing I was drugged, or I probably would have jumped in the SUV and sped over to the estate right behind Kyle and Dane. Not that I would have been able to since I'd been shot in the leg, but still.

I couldn't hear a damn thing and that made me crazy.

“Dane.”

“Shh.”

I wanted to scream again. But a movement in the bottom right corner of the screen diverted my attention.

“I think there's someone outside,” I said. “By the fountain.”

Deeper in the house, Kyle had his gun pointed at Ethan, but no progress was being made to get Amsel back. Ethan had to be waiting for his backup before he made his own move.

My stomach roiled. Chances were very good Kyle just might shoot him. Even though Ethan held the baby close to him.

“This is too much.” I groaned. I wanted to pace but couldn't. I wanted to do something—
anything
. But couldn't.

I'd never had anxiety crawl through me like a million tiny spiders unless my mother was in the same room with me.

Though this was way worse.

My gaze remained locked on the TV. I was riveted, yet every fiber of my being burned for me to jump to my feet and somehow be involved. I wanted to swoop in and snatch Amsel from Ethan's arms. But I couldn't save my own son.

I had to just
watch
.

Whatever happened … I would see it all.

My heart pounded in my chest. My pulse echoed in my ears. It was a wonder I didn't black out again. Or go into cardiac arrest.

As the standoff between Ethan and Kyle ensued, tears streamed down my cheeks. Fury tore through me. How could this even be happening?

“Two o'clock,” Stan suddenly instructed Dane. “Coming right at you.”

I caught the shadow of a figure as Dane hunkered in the hedges.

I watched with bated breath as Dane took the fountain guy by surprise. I heard the gunshot and the guy hit the ground. It drew the attention of the other shadow, and he shot at Dane. I gasped. The bullet missed him.

Two shots later and the second gunman sprawled on the patio.

Dane didn't waste time waiting for anyone else to move in on him. He stormed the living room, gun pointed at Ethan's head. I frantically worked the controls to zoom in.

Rosa leapt to her feet and started to pace and swear some more, her arms flapping wildly.

I couldn't figure out what the plan was and suddenly yelled in frustration, “The baby!”

“Keep up your watch,” Stan told me. “Amsel will be fine.”

Stan said it to help me calm down, but of course it didn't work. Suspense clawed at me. My heart didn't feel right. It beat too fast. Was pulled too tight.

Unexpectedly, Kyle lowered his gun and took a step back.

“What?” I demanded.
“No!”

But then Ethan stood and handed Amsel over to him.

Dane put away his gun.

“You just silently agreed to give up the Lux,” I said. “Oh, my God.” My head spun. Yes, our child meant more than a hotel. But … “How can you trust Ethan to stick to the deal? How can you trust him to not come after us again?”

He didn't answer me. I suspected he didn't want to blow our own surprise element—that I watched the estate.

But then the true source of the surrender came into sight.

Mikaela.

“Oh, God, no,” I said on a harsh breath. “He's kidnapped her, too.”

Ethan held his hands in the air, unthreatening, and crossed to the desk in the corner. Mikaela joined him.

“What the hell?” I muttered.

She stood by Ethan's side behind the desk. This perplexed me.

Ethan retrieved a folder and held out a pen to Dane.

My heart broke all over again for him.

He'd lost 10,000 Lux once. I'd given it back to him just recently. Now it slipped through his fingers for good.

But Kyle had Amsel, and really, that was all that mattered. Somehow Dane would get Mikaela out of the sticky situation as well. He'd save them all.

Relief didn't edge in on me, though. I watched with rising fury as Dane signed the papers. Kyle backed out of the room and my attention shifted to him, my focus on the baby, though I slid a glance Dane's way when he straightened and tossed the pen onto the desk.

“Stay the fuck away from my family,” he said. “And Kyle and Rosa.”

“Fine,” Ethan said. “It's over. I got what I wanted all along. You all leave Sedona, stay far away from 10,000 Lux, and this will just be a bad memory. No more.”

Dane backed up as well. Kyle had almost made it to the front door. Ethan collected the paperwork and opened the drawer again.

The baby must have screamed, though we couldn't hear anything from that far off. It nabbed Dane's attention, though.

A split second later, Ethan pulled a gun from the drawer.

“Dane!” I cried into the phone.

Everything inside me seized up.

This was it.

Game over.

 

chapter 20

I stared at the flat screen above the fireplace, rocked to the core of my being. Horrified.

Dane must have caught the reflection of Ethan in one of the front room windows, because he whirled around while whipping out his own weapon.

My hands spasmed and I dropped the mini. It hit the floor and the TV went blank as though we'd lost the feed.

Except I heard the gunshots, and each one made me jump. Four times.

Rosa shrieked.

“Dane!” I called out again.

Who had just shot
who
?

Stan lunged for the mini and pressed buttons until the camera function worked again. Suddenly our big screen was filled with blood splattered everywhere, all over the walls behind the desk where Ethan had stood and covering the papers Dane had just signed. Dripping ominously.

My stomach lurched.

Then I saw Dane. He had his gun pointed at Mikaela, the nozzle pressed to her forehead. Her back was against the wall. She didn't move an inch.

“Dane? What the hell?” I demanded. Monumentally relieved he was alive but confused by this new course of action.

“Holy shit,” Stan said, sounding traumatized. “What the fuck is going on here?”

Dane reached in his pocket and turned on the speaker function of Kyle's phone. Then he asked Mikaela, “How long have you been in on this?”

“Dane!” I froze, my eyes bulging. He couldn't possibly think she was directly involved with—

“I didn't have a choice,” Mikaela said. No false Italian accent. Her eyes were also wide—with terror. Brimming with tears. Her voice cracked as she told Dane, “I was in too deep to walk away at the time I found out you were alive.”