Fear Me (47 page)

“What did you do to him?” I screamed.

“My nephew wasn’t exactly cooperative with the men I hired. Took three of them to bring him down. They roughed him up pretty good.” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter either way to him.

“Why Keenan?”

“I’ve decided to go after all of it. We are essentially the last of a dying breed and I could give two shits about continuing the line. If I kill them all then all the monies are mine.”

“No.” I shielded Keenan with my body. I had to do whatever it took to keep him safe.

“Oh don’t worry. I won’t kill him just yet. He is extra incentive to get Keiran here.”

“What about his father, your brother?”

“I’m saving him for last. I want his death to be slow and painful.” As he spoke about his brother I couldn’t miss the deep hatred lacing his tone.

“You would take your brother’s life too?”

“My brother has taken much more from me.” He looked in Keenan’s direction brief before shooting his eyes back to me. “Now make the call.” He dropped the phone in my lap but I let it lay there untouched until he suddenly pulled out a gun and aimed it at Keenan.

“Ok!” I held out my hands in surrender before picking up the phone.

“Good girl. Keiran trained you well.”

I dialed Keiran’s number and prayed he didn’t answer. But when he finally did I realized how much I loved and missed the sound of his voice even though now it sounded gruff and full of impatience.

“Who the fuck is this?” he barked.

“Keiran…”

“Lake? Where the fuck are you?” he asked. I could hear the rage but I could also hear the desperation in his voice.

“I don’t know.” I instantly broke down crying. Mitch snatched the phone out of my hands.

“Hello, son. You haven’t forgotten about your father all these years have you?” I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. Mitch had walked out, locking me in the room with an unconscious Keenan.

I was afraid for him with not knowing the extent of his injuries. Not to mention being unable to form a clue as to how to get us out of all this safely. I wasn’t dumb enough to believe that Mitch would let me walk away from this. Not after everything he had revealed.

“Keenan,” I whispered. “If you can hear me, you need to wake up…please wake up.” I nudged him and amazingly he began to stir and groan in pain. When his eyes finally opened he instantly shut them squeezed them closed again.

“Shit,” he grumbled.

“It’s worse than shit,” I half joked.

“Lake?” he groaned out.

“Yes, it’s me. Can you sit up?” He exhaled and slowly moved until he was sitting on the floor next to me. “How bad did they hurt you?”

“They?” he asked with a confused look.

“You don’t remember?” He was quiet but the moment he remembered what happened his expression changed to anger.

“You mind telling me who the fuck that guy was?” he growled.

I blanched and stared at him. This time I was the one confused. “You mean you don’t know?” He shot me an impatient look and my frown deepened.

“No, I don’t.”

“He’s – he’s your uncle.” Silence stretched between us but a look of incredulity was plastered all over his face.

“My uncle? I don’t have an uncle. The only uncle I would have is Keiran’s father and he’s dead.”

“Well the dead have risen from the grave because that is him.”

Are you shitting me?”

“Fraid not.” He blew out a breath and shook his head. “Not to rock the boat or anything but the guy is whacked.”

“Yeah, thanks, I hadn’t noticed, “he said sarcastically.

“Did he say anything to you at all?”

He frowned. “Only that it was time that I paid what was owed to him. Who says shit like that?”

“How much do you know about your inheritance?”

“Inheritance? I have a college fund my dad said was set up for me but that’s about it.”

“Well apparently you’re worth millions and he wants it.”

“No way.”

“It’s true.”

“Son of a bitch,” he groaned. “We need to find a way to call Keiran.”

“Already did.”

“How?” he asked with his eyebrows raised.

“He made me. He wants to kill you both.”

“Well fuck…”

* * *

Keenan and I were thinking up an escape plan when Mitch burst into the room along with two other men. He looked between Keenan and me before motioning the men towards us. However, his little henchman both grabbed Keenan up. Keenan managed to elbow the bald one in the face and was knocked down with a hard kick to the back of his knee for his trouble.

Once they managed to wrestle him out of the room I was left with Mitch. He stared at me with a smug look. “Are you going to come more peacefully or do I need to arrange for you to be brought along?”

“I think I can manage.”

“Good to hear. That nephew of mine could be taught a few manners. It’s show time, my dear.”

“Do I get any last requests?”

“What makes you so sure that I will kill you?”

“You told me too much…and your eyes give away everything. You’re evil and empty. Incapable of goodwill or remorse.”

“You have a wonderful mind. It is such a shame that it must be eradicated. Shall we?”

He gestured for the door and I walked through it but stopped once I was in the hallway. The house from what I could see looked ordinary but large. He led us outside where two cars with heavily tinted windows were waiting. I slid into the car he directed me to and waited for him to finish talking with his men. Once he climbed inside the car, he pulled out a black scrap of material

“This is for your eyes. Can’t be too careful.” He wrapped and tied the blindfold around my face and once complete the car drove off.

“Where is Keenan?”

“Don’t worry about it. Your part is all that should matter to you. The pieces will fall where I tell them to.”

* * *

I knew the moment we were no longer on the main road. It must have been a dirt path or a gravel road we turned on when the ride turned bumpy. We finally stopped with a screech of tires as the driver slammed on the brakes and cursed.

“Leave it to my boy to take me by surprise.” I heard his amused chuckle come from my right.

“Boss, what do we do?”

“We get out.”

Mitch had tied my hands minutes ago so when I heard the sound of the car doors opening. I was then dragged out of the car and thrown to the ground. “Careful with her,” Mitch said, his voice sounding annoyed. “She’s precious cargo and by the look on my son’s face, he looks ready to kill us all right now.”

“It sounds as if you are afraid of your own son,” I mocked.

“Lake,” I heard the familiar call of my name from a short distance in front of me.
Keiran.
He must be closer than I thought. I unconsciously took a step toward the sound of his voice but was snatched back by a rough hand on my hair. My cry of pain pierced the cold night air and I was brought back against a man’s chest. “You’re going to lose that when I kill you,” I heard Keiran say. The stench of the man’s breath spread across my cheek when he laughed and pulled on my hair more.

“Son –” Mitch began.

“I’m not your son.” I could hear the anger in Keiran’s voice and wished I could see his face.

“Keiran, they have Keenan!”

“Ah, yes. Bring the bastard the out,” Mitch coldly stated. I heard footsteps and then the sound of doors opening and slamming. Keenan began yelling obscenities as soon as he was out of the car. My blindfold was suddenly ripped away and when my eyes adjusted to the darkness I could see Keiran standing about thirty feet away. He was dressed in all black with a duffel bag on the hood of his car.

“Why the fuck are you here?” Keiran asked. He didn’t at all seem surprised to find that his father was very much alive or else he hid it well.

“I would think you would be happy to see me since you have been looking for me.”

“I made no secret of it.”

“No…you didn’t, did you? Well, here I am.”

“And all this?”

“The only reason you didn’t kill me as soon as I arrived.” Keiran stared at him and then grabbed the duffle bag, tossing it to Mitch’s feet. Mitch’s gaze flicked to the black bag and then back to Keiran. “What’s this?”

“Twenty grand in cash. Leave.”

Mitch smiled at Keiran. “She must be a special girl,” he remarked. “That’s romantic of you son but I’m afraid that isn’t enough. You see…you and Keenan,” he sneered his name, “are worth so much more than that.”

“Take the money, bitch.” Keenan spit at the ground near Mitch.

His gaze was cold as he took in Keenan. “You are every bit of your father.”

“You mean your brother, pussy?”

“Keenan!” Keiran yelled, catching Keenan’s attention. The cousins appeared to be having a silent battle and then Keenan sucked his teeth and glared at Mitch.

“Why wait ten years?” When everyone’s heads shifted to me I realized I had spoken the question out loud.

“Believe it or not, Miss Monroe, I did not come to the decision to kill my only child so easily and there was still hope of marrying someone as naive as his mother had been. After all I was pretty young myself. And there was this other little hiccup that says I’m supposed to be dead.”

“So how do you plan to get away with this?”

“It isn’t a crime to return from the dead. A quick DNA test will prove that Keiran was indeed my son and I collect his inheritance. After I take care of my brother there will be no one left to refute any of it.”

“You won’t touch my father,” Keenan growled.

“Son, you won’t be around to stop me.”

“Mitch, take the money and go. I’ll even give you a head start. That’s my only offer,” Keiran ordered.

“You think you can just stand there and puff your chest up at me? I am your father, you shit. You don’t dictate to me. I made you,” he roared.

“And a fine fucking job you did. You made me and then you sold me.”

“You were always a means to an end and that end was money. I was supposed to marry and produce an heir. Your mother screwed that up when she ran off to be a whore for my brother!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Keenan asked. He was looking between Keiran and Mitch while I stood by in shock.

“Isn’t that the reason you hate John so much, son? Because my
brother
,” he sneered, “forbid Sophia from reporting you missing to the police so that they could protect another child.” He looked toward Keenan, “the bastard child she had with him.”

Keiran’s glare darkened while Keenan froze as the aftermath of the catastrophic bomb, Mitch dropped knocked us all on our asses.

They’re brothers.

Oh fuck.

He had to be lying. He’s told many lies before in order to get what he wanted. “Shut the fuck up, Mitch,” Keiran warned.

“When Sophia left me, I had every hospital watched for any sign of her, so when Keenan was born, it led me right to her. Imagine my surprise to find her with my brother of all people. I wasn’t even aware that they’d met but apparently he’d come sniffing around and decided to play the hero.”

“You were holding her hostage,” I guessed out loud, thinking about the housekeeper that was dismissed. It all made sense. “She didn’t want to be with you anymore, did she? Leaving you meant ruining your plans.”

“You’re smarter than I gave you credit for,” Mitch snidely replied. He turned his eyes that lacked any fatherly warmth, on Keiran again.

“Tell him, Keiran. Tell him how Sophia died because she wanted to protect you and this little bastard. Tell him how you killed his mother. The mother you both share.”

Keenan took a threatening step toward Mitch but the two men grabbed his arm. “My mother ran off when I was seven,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Nephew, it is amazing how money can spin a tale many ways and no one bats an eyelash. Just as I was able to play dead for the past ten years.”

“You’re lying,” he gritted and turned to Keiran. “Keiran, what the fuck man? Tell him he’s lying!” It broke my heart to see a tear run down Keenan’s face before he wiped it away with an angry hand. Keiran stood there, silent and unmoving. “You killed her? You killed my mom?” Keiran remained silent but his unflinching gaze was fixed with Keenan’s.
“Answer me!” he roared. This was the first and only time I’ve ever seen Keenan, who was usually the joker, so angry. Mitch’s dark chuckle broke the brief silence.

“He can’t. He shot her right in the head and didn’t even blink an eyelash,” he laughed again. A split second later before any of us could react, Mitch was on the ground and Keenan was pounding his fist into Mitch’s face, creating a bloody canvas. I was thrown to the ground as dust and bullets flew. The sound of gunfire was deafening as all my senses went on alert just before shutting down. I couldn’t make out anything or anyone. The lights from the vehicles must have been shot out as darkness and dust mixed.

Where was Keiran?

I didn’t realize I was screaming until someone appeared out of nowhere and clamped a hand over my mouth. Once I quieted, the hand was removed and I heard footsteps running. As the dust settled I could see two large bodies lying still on the ground and under them both was a pool of blood.

Keiran was gone. I haven’t seen or spoken to him in four days. I visited the hospital frequently, hoping he might be there and to look in on Keenan. After the near fatal shooting, Keenan had pulled through surgery but slipped into a coma due to the trauma of his injuries. After receiving six shots to his body, one near his heart and another causing one of his lungs to collapse, I wasn’t surprised.

Mitch had gotten away while the two men unloaded into Keenan. Keiran managed to shoot both—killing one and wounding the other.

Unfortunately with Keenan being left in a coma and a dead body in the middle of nowhere we couldn’t stop the town from talking. Word spread quickly about what happened Monday night and by Friday, I was more than happy to lock myself away for the next two days.

The only piece of Monday night they were able to keep quiet was my part in the kidnapping/shoot-out. Keiran had called Quentin who was waiting nearby to take me home before the police arrived.