Hell Is Burning (56 page)

As she approached the door, Trudy was standing there jiggling the knob. “It’s locked. We’ll have to use the upstairs one. It looks like someone accidentally locked it when they came out.”

Emma sighed.

The last thing she wanted to do was hike up the marble stairs in that dress, but she wanted a breather.

“I’ll walk you up, Emma. You look a little distraught. Is something bothering you?”

“No, I’m fine, other than I can’t move well in this dress. It’s like a straightjacket. Now, you know why I like vintage better. At least the women back then could breathe. Who’s the idiot now?”

She laughed. “Oh, the things we women do for the price of fashion and to make our men happy.”

Yeah, wasn’t that the truth.

As Emma moved up the stairs, Trudy at her side, she felt off. The woman was being far too nice to her. She didn't know why. Could the woman be having a change of heart?

Finally?

“You know, when I first met Greyson, I thought for sure my daughter would be marrying him. They would have been perfect together. She liked to be out in public and seen as a trophy wife, and he was destined for power.”

Emma was well aware.

That’s why the woman hated her guts.

Apparently, Trudy still hadn’t let it go. When would she realize that Greyson didn't marry her for anything more than love?

“My husband told me not to worry because we would convince Greyson to dump you. After an accident, you’d be out of the way. Only, he never anticipated that you would have nine lives. It’s a shame.”

Emma glanced over only to see a gun pointed at her. Her stomach dropped. Not only was she unarmed, wearing ridiculous heels, and an impractical dress, but no one knew she’d left Chris’s side. This woman liked to shoot people between the eyes, and she’d never survive that.

Emma was screwed.

“I didn't really love my husband. We weren’t compatible. He was an idiot, and I liked women. Lana Dumas was more than my partner, she was my side action. I stayed with Thomas out of necessity. His name kept the Vegas mob off me, giving me time to get power. Unfortunately, when he couldn’t talk Greyson out of dumping you, I had to kill him.”

Emma began weighing her options. If she ran or moved for that gun, she was dead. Her best bet was to stall.

“Why did you do it, Trudy? You had kids together. That had to matter.”

She laughed. “Not really. He was a fool, and tonight, I’m going to ensure that when your husband heals from this, he’s going to marry my daughter. I’ll have all the money in Vegas, and you’ll be gone. Randall Mason thought he was screwing me over, but he wasn’t. He’d inadvertently dumped your husband in my lap. When you die, he’s loaded. I’ll make sure he’ll love again. Don’t worry, dear. He won’t be a widower for long.”

She stared at her. “You killed all those people to get Randall’s money? That’s sick, Trudy.”

She laughed. “Yes, and I’m about to add one more body to the count.” With that, she swung out, striking Emma in the face. It only dazed her, but when she fell back, cracking her head on the marble stairs, she went out.

“This game is over, dear. Your husband is going down, and when he’s at his lowest, I’ll swoop him up. You’ve been a pain in my ass,” she said, grabbing Emma to drag her to the elevator that went to the roof.

Trudy looked around to make sure she was alone.

“Tonight you die, and when you go, a part of him goes too. It’ll be the part that keeps him moral, good, and on the right side of the law. I’ll make him a monster, and then cage that power for my personal use.”

When the elevator closed, there was sick laugher.

“I’ve finally won.”

Only, Trudy didn't see the figure in the shadows. When Katerina pulled out her phone, she made a quick call.

“What?”

“Emma’s been taken.”

“Where?”

“Get her husband. The person stalking the Crofts has shown herself.”

“It’s a she?” Dimitri asked, moving through the crowd to get to Greyson Croft.

“Yeah, and she’s about to make the boss a widower. They headed to the roof. We don’t have much time.”

Well, they had to stop that.

And fast…

Chapter Seventeen 

Greyson was actually having a good time as he was drinking bourbon and schmoozing with the commissioner. When he glanced over, he could see Dimitri moving through the crowd, and the look on his face meant business.

He was a little shocked that he’d shown himself. Yes, he’d mentioned he’d be there, but Greyson thought he’d be a shadow.

This couldn’t be good, and Croft knew it. Immediately, the knot began forming in his gut.

Glancing across the dance floor, he found his brother and Steele. Then, when he saw Chris Ford, he was alone.

Shit!

“Excuse me, Commissioner,” he said, moving toward his head of security. When he reached him, his heart was pounding in his chest. His gut was painfully twisting, and he knew it was going to be bad.

“We have to go!” Dimitri ordered.

“Where’s my wife?”

“She’s been taken.”

They were the worst words he’d ever heard in his life, and unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time they’d been said to him.

“What?”

“Katerina saw her being taken. If we don’t hurry, she’s dead.”

Greyson rushed after the man and right toward the stairs Emma had gone up. Chris noticed the man storming his way, and knew something was going down.

“What’s wrong?”

“Where’s my wife?”

“She went to the ladies’ room.”

Greyson didn't give him a chance to say anymore. “She’s been taken. The killer has her on the roof.”

As if timed perfectly, his phone rang. He was going to ignore it, but he could move and talk at the same time.

“Croft.”

“We know who the killer is!” Mace said. “It’s Trudy Booker. She killed her husband, all those people, and Brynn!”

Greyson wished they would have figured this out a few minutes earlier. As they waited for the elevator, he barked into the phone. “Get backup here, and fast. Emma’s been taken!”

With that, he hung up his phone.

“We have to save her,” he said, rushing into the elevator.

“We will. You have to stay calm. We’ll get her but don’t do anything stupid. Do you hear me?”

Greyson didn't hear a damn word Dimitri said. The blood was pounding in his ears, and the life was draining from his body. All he wanted was to save his wife. By stupid, if the man meant trading her life for his, that was exactly his plan.

Trudy wanted him dead.

Croft would make the exchange.

The powers that be could have him instead. If she died, he couldn’t go on.

There would be no point.

“It’s a woman,” Dimitri stated. “Katerina saw her being taken.”

“Oh, I know who it is.”

“If we catch her?”

“If she hurt my wife, I want her dead. Do you hear me, Dimitri? If Emma dies, put her down.”

The man was given his orders. It was good that he realized that this was his thing. Greyson Croft wouldn’t be getting his hands dirty over this.

He would.

When the door chimed, they had to move quietly. “I’ll go one way, you go the other. Be careful.”

He would.

This bitch liked head shots, and Croft was willing to take one if it meant saving his wife.

As he silently tried to reach his wife, only one thing was going through his mind.

‘Please be on time.’

       
         
* * *
  Croft & Croft  * * *

When Emma came too, her hands were bound in front of her, as were her feet. The duct tape was so thick that she’d never get it off. Worse than that, there was a rope around her throat.

Trudy was going to shove her off the building and to her death. Emma was going to die like Brynn, and she was helpless to stop it.

“Trudy, if you kill me, they will catch you. You’re already going to the chair. If I die, that’s three cops. There’s not a jury in the world that won’t execute you.”

She laughed at the younger woman’s naivety. “No one’s going to suspect me. I’m in the clear. I’ve stayed ahead of this for a while. You couldn’t even see me as the killer. I had all the cops fooled, and even my husband.”

“How did you know how to copy our killer to make Brynn look like she was taken too?”

“I asked.”

Emma was trying to stall.

“You see, the new commissioner joined me for dinner. I had him over to pump him for information. Then after I had sex with him, he spilled the details in the afterglow.”

Emma hated this woman.

“You’re a bitch.”

Trudy laughed. “Thank you. You’re dead.”

When she went to push Emma over the side of the ledge, she struggled. Trudy bashed her in the head again, but Emma fought, biting her hand.

Trudy howled in agony.

Enough was enough. She grabbed the duct tape and placed it over Emma’s mouth and nose to stop her from breathing. “I hope you suffer.”

Emma struggled, but at least she got some of Trudy’s DNA in her mouth. Steele would find it.

They’d catch her.

It was her only consolation.

As she was rolled to the edge, she couldn’t breathe. Tears filled her eyes. So, this was how it was all going to end. Scenes flashed through her mind of the last year. In each one, Greyson was smiling.

At least that would be her last memory.

Just as Trudy was about to shove her over the ledge, the roof door was kicked open.

Emma saw him.

Their eyes met.

And the Trudy pushed.

The last thing she remembered was struggling for air as she dropped. Her fingers went to her throat, finding a way under the rope and above the necklace Greyson had given her. If she was going to live, she had to keep the rope from snapping her neck.

Her vision wavered as her body jerked to a stop.

Blackness came.

Emma was out of air.

And time.

Greyson saw her go over. Before he could even pull his gun, Trudy shot at him. He’d managed to dodge the head shot, but the bullet hit him in the arm.

He howled, but not from pain. His wife had just gone over the edge, and she’d never survive.

There was another shot as he moved to the edge. From his peripheral, he saw Trudy Booker fall.

He didn't care.

He only wanted Emma back.

As he scampered to the edge, looking over the side, he saw the most horrible thing in his life.

Emma’s lifeless body hung, her face beginning to turn blue. As the blood ran down his arm, he began pulling her up. When she was at the ledge, he heard more people come through the door behind him.

He still didn't care.

He was pulling at the duct tape, trying to free her nose and mouth. When his brother cut away the rope with a knife, she laid limp in his arms.

Steele dropped his jacket and pulled her to the floor. “She’s still got a pulse! Give me her! I have time.”

Greyson watched him get to work.

When he tipped her chin up, sealing his mouth over hers, he wanted to weep.

“Please let her live,” he whispered. “God, please let her live. Take me. She deserves to stay.”

Dante watched helplessly as his fiancé tried to save his brother’s wife. After four breaths, they watched her chest move. Emma took her first breath.

When her eyes fluttered open, Greyson nearly wept. He pulled her into his arms, refusing to let her go. “Emma, honey,” he whispered. “I have you.”

She began crying. As her body shook, Dante cut her wrists and ankles free.

“How?” he asked Steele. In the back of his mind, he knew that the force of gravity should have snapped her neck.

“That necklace gave her enough room to slide her fingers over the rope. Before it went taut, she was giving her larynx space. When she fell, her weight didn't crush her throat, because she was using her fingers to give her room.”

He left kisses across her face.

“Trudy killed them all,” Emma said hoarsely.

Greyson picked her up in his arms. When he turned, Christopher Ford was standing there. He was pale and looked like he was ready to pass out.

“My team found evidence. Trudy Booker was the one who killed her husband, Lana Dumas, two hitmen, Brynn, and now tried to kill my wife.”

He nodded. “Emma.”

Greyson cut him off. “Can you handle this? She needs to go to the hospital, and so do I.”

Just then they noticed there was blood running down his arm.

“Okay.”

“I’ll carry her,” Dante offered. “You're shot.”

Greyson didn't care. “I’m never letting her go again. Can you and Steele meet us there?”

“We’ll be there.”

That was good enough for him. As they rushed down the stairs, they were met with a crowd of on lookers. Greyson didn't care. He shoved roughly through them, his wife in his arms.

It was over.

They found their corruptor.

But at what cost?

Greyson couldn’t think past that moment. In his mind, he was replaying the entire scene. He could see her eyes as she went over the ledge.

He saw the terror.

It likely mimicked what he had felt.

At the ambulance, Greyson hopped in. He had to let it go--for now.

None of it mattered.

“Oh, Emma, honey. I nearly lost you,” he said holding her hand as the EMT’s checked them both out. Greyson knew that this time, she nearly died, and that didn't sit well with him.

At all.

There was mayhem at the hospital when they arrived. It was obvious, by the FBI escort that they had someone important coming in, and that was the truth.

Greyson wasn’t above barking orders and giving demands. This was his wife, and she needed someone to check her out.

He wouldn’t even let them look at his arm until he was reassured that she was okay. As they took his wife to get an MRI of her head, he finally stripped down to just his pants. The bullet hole in his arm was nasty, and it oozed blood.

It was like his heart. That wept too.

As he sat there, the curtain moved and he saw his brother and Steele.

“Is she okay?” Dante asked, nerves present in his voice.

He only nodded. Greyson had tried to be strong, but he couldn’t do it anymore. The tears came, and in that little examining room, he wept for what he nearly lost.

As the doctor examined his left arm, Dante hugged him. “It’s okay, Grey. Emma’s okay. You saved her, and the person chasing you is dead. It’s finally over. You can move on with your life.”

That was the only thing that gave him peace.

They’d nearly lost the war.

Greyson hopped off the table, much to the ER doctor’s displeasure. When he moved toward Steele, he hugged him. “Thank you. God! Thank you.”

Steele hugged him. “I love her too, Greyson. I’m just glad I could help her. Emma bought us the time to save her. She’s a fighter.”

He thought about how she’d nearly died the day her brother was murdered, and the words he’d told her before he was gone.

Yeah, she was a fighter.

Thank God for that.

Still, he hugged the man marrying his brother. “If you weren’t marrying into this family, I’d still love you, but I’m so proud that you’re going to be my brother. I owe you my life. Somehow, I’ll repay this debt to you. I promise.”

Steele led him toward the table so the doctor could stitch his arm up. “Well, I got to lock lips with Emma. Now I know one thing.”

Greyson looked into his eyes. “What?”

“I’m definitely gay. I think I enjoy the Croft men more. There’s only one more to make my list complete.”

Greyson pulled him towards him and planted a kiss right on his lips.

“HEY! Hands off the fiancé!” Dante protested, as he laughed. Honestly, he didn't mind. His brother was having one hell of a night.

Croft couldn’t help it. The man before him was going to be a great addition to their family. Under pressure, he came through. “Now you can say you’ve locked lips with all of us. Thank you, Steele.”

The man fanned himself, much to Dante’s smirk.

“A guy can’t have anything.”

Greyson patted him on the shoulder as he wiped the tears from his eyes. He never wanted to relive this night again.

That’s all you could ask for when things like this happened.