Kestrel (Hart Briothers #3) (32 page)

I hear sirens in the distance.

“Did you see them?” I ask.

“I shot them,” he says.

“Mr. Hart, hang in there.” It’s Turk talking now.

“Did you see them, Turk?”

“I got here right as Heath was shooting.”

“Dane?”

“Everything’s gonna be cool,” Turk says.

I close my eyes, but Turk says, “Hey, Mr. Hart, stay
with me, man.”

“I’m here.”

I hear the sirens getting closer.

“I can’t feel anything.”

“Don’t try to move. Let the experts get you out, man.”

“How many were there?”

“Two.”

I stare at the crunched up ceiling of the Tahoe. How the
hell did this happen? And what did they want from Carter? Why her? She’s the
sweetest thing in the world. Who would want to harm that beautiful human being?
Tears fall freely down my face because I can’t for the life of me see the
reason in this.
Me, yes.
I’m an SOB. I’ve done a shit
ton of things when I worked for my father that I should pay for.
But Carter?
Never.

The firemen arrive and go to work. I insist they get her
out before me. I grab the first one’s collar and say, “Listen to me. You have
to save her. You
have
to save
her
. Do you hear me? Forget about
me. Get her.”

He nods.

“No. I mean it. Me, I’m nothing. She—she’s going
to cure cancer one day. She’s an angel and I don’t care if you have to
sacrifice my life in order to save hers. Do you understand what I’m telling
you?”

My hand grips his so hard he finally looks at me and
says, “I understand.”

“One other thing, she’s pregnant.”

“Okay.”

He backs out and starts yelling out orders. They hook up
equipment to the SUV and move it out so they can access the other side. Then
they go to work on both of us. He talks to me the whole time and by some huge
miracle, I never lose consciousness. Hydraulic tools and giant airbags are
deployed to pull apart the vehicle and extract me. Immobilizers are placed on
my neck, spine, and legs. They don’t give me any information on Carter, which
has me so anxious that they inject me with something to calm me down. I’m
transported by ambulance, but a helicopter arrives and I’m not sure if it’s for
Dane or Carter. They won’t tell me. All I know is I’m taken to the University
Medical Center of Charleston Trauma unit.

When I wake up hours later, I’m told I don’t have any
spinal injuries, only a fractured femur and ankle. I couldn’t care less. I want
to know about Carter.

Kolson is there with me. “She’s going to be fine,
Kestrel. It was a little dicey at first. She has a head injury, but everything
is pointing to a full recovery.”

“Wait. What? What do you mean pointing?”

“She took the brunt of the crash. She was pinned from
both sides, really. Initially, they thought she had a really bad head injury,
but as it turns out, it’s only a slight skull fracture of the temporal bone and
she will have a full recovery with no long term effects. The other body trauma
will be worse. She had some internal injuries.”

“The baby?”

Kolson closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I’m sorry,
bro.”

“Aw, fuck.” I rub my face and want to cry. “Does she
know?”

“No. She’s still out of it from the surgery. They
stabilized her,
then
had to take her in right away.
She was bleeding pretty badly from a ruptured spleen.”

“You have to have surgery too. Your leg needs a rod and
pins apparently.”

“Yeah. I don’t care about that. I wanna see Carter.”

“Let me see what I can do. I’m not sure I can get you
out of this bed.”

“I don’t care if you have to part the fucking Red Sea.
Do it.”

“Hey, I’m not fucking Moses, dude.”

“Kolson. What about Dane?”

He grimaces and slowly shakes his head.

“Oh, God.” That was my final straw and I break down.
Kolson is right there and holds on to me.

“Hey, I’ve got you. You’re not going to shoulder this
alone. Listen, Kestrel. We got two of them. Heath shot them, killed one. Left
the other one alive to talk. We know who did this. This whole thing is going
down and Drex is already here.”

“Jesus. Carter almost dies. Gabby almost dies. Mom dies.
Dane dies. For what
Kol
?”

“Her research. They wanted her research.”

“What?”

“It was Simon’s father. He orchestrated the whole thing
to get her research. He wanted to sell it to the highest bidder. He’s the dirty
one. Had his son, Simon, feeding him information and the dumbass didn’t even
know he was doing it. Oh, you’ll love all this when you hear it.”

“Have they arrested him yet?”

“Oh, have they. And he went down with all kinds of pomp
and circumstance. It was a fucking circus.”

The whole thing sickens me. Carter works her ass off to
do the right thing her whole life and then some son of a bitch tries to kill
her.

All of a sudden I feel sick. “Kolson, give me that
thing. I’m gonna be sick.”

He hands me a basin and I throw up. I think about Carter
and what would’ve happened to her had she been alone. That fucker waited until
she was inches away from a cure, then pounced.

“You okay?”

“I guess.
That miserable fuck.
He waited until Carter had what he wanted.
Kol
, what
if she’d been alone? What if we hadn’t been there? That puny fucker would’ve
taken her out and no one would’ve been around to ask any questions. The police
would’ve covered it up and end of story.”

Kolson takes my hand and squeezes it. “Lucky for Carter
she has you, man.”

“Get me to her. Now. I have to see her. I have to hold
her, even if it’s only her hand. And I have to be the one to tell her she lost
our baby.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

After arguing and fighting with the nurses, I get my
way. Kolson loads me onto a fancy wheelchair and takes me to Carter’s room in
the ICU. I sit next to her, holding her hand. The nurses give me dirty looks,
but I don’t care. They know I’ll be there until she awakens. Her doctors come
in and see me.

“I’m here and staying. I don’t care what you say.” I
guess they figure there’s no arguing with me.

Carter finally wakes up. She’s a bit disoriented but
when she sees me, she squeezes my hand.

“Welcome back, angel.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Carter

Kestrel is ensconced in a huge wheel chair with his leg
extended. In some ways, he looks like a king in his throne. It almost makes me
want to laugh. Almost. Then he tells me his leg is broken and he needs to have
a rod put in it. His leg is strapped an immobilizer. It’s a funky looking black
thing with a bunch of Velcro and hinges. Next he tells me I had surgery. My
spleen was ruptured. I also fractured my skull—the temporal bone to be
exact. But I’ll be fine. Then he kisses my hand and leans in as close as his
chair will allow.

“Oh, angel, what I would do not to have to say these
terrible words to you, but there’s nothing I can do but tell you the honest
truth.”

When I see his face is wet, I know what’s coming next.
“I lost the baby, didn’t I?”

His voice cracks when he answers. “Yeah. I’m so damn
sorry. I told the paramedics when they came so they would know, but you took
the brunt of the crash from both sides. I should’ve been sitting where you
were.” Then he breaks down and cries and so do I.

“I knew it was too good to be true.”

“Nothing is too good to be true. I’m so thankful you are
alive. After everything came to a stop and you didn’t answer me, I thought the
worst. And they wouldn’t tell me anything. I kept asking and no one would say
anything.”

“Oh, God, that must’ve been awful.”

“But you’re going to be perfect again. My perfect angel.”

“No, never perfect.”

“It was Simon’s father.”

“What?” What is he saying?

“He wanted your research. He had someone hack into your computer
system in the lab and steal your methodology. Everything. All your processes,
procedures, he got it all. But the police got to him before he had a chance to
do anything with it. They caught him red-handed.”

“Kestrel, that’s crazy.”

“I know. He wanted it enough to kill you to get it or to
get you out of the way. I’m so sorry I pushed you away, thinking it was me they
were after. I put you in more danger.” He kisses my hands again and again.

“Stop. It’s over.”

“Heath shot and killed one of them and then got the
other so they figured it all out.”

“What about Dane?”

I lower my head.

“Oh, no.”

“That Forrester man needs to pay dearly for the lives he
stole.”

“Did Simon know?”

“Kolson says he didn’t.”

“Thank God.”

I raise my brows.

“I hate the thought of being friends with him all those
years if he was involved in this.”

“I think he was just a stupid pawn in his father’s evil
game. You know, I guess he and I have something in common after all.”

“Hmm.” My eyes are growing heavy.

“You need to sleep.”

“So do you. It can’t be comfortable in that chair.”

“If I’m not here when you wake up, I’ll be in my room.
And angel, I love you more than coffee.”

She offers me a weak smile. “Ahh, that means a lot.”

“Angel, we’ll have another.”

“Another what?”

“Baby.”

My lids open. “Somehow, I thought this baby was
prophetic because of the due date. I don’t know, I thought Ells was speaking to
us, you know.”

“She is. She kept us safe. We’re alive, aren’t we? Maybe
she wanted some company and decided she wanted a sibling up there with her.”

I suck in my breath. Oh shit. I hadn’t thought of that.
My hands cover my mouth.

“Don’t cry again, angel, because there’s only one thing
I want right now and that’s to hold you, but this damn leg won’t let me.”

Shaking my head, I say, “I’ll try, but it’s hard.” I
grip his hand as hard as I can and thank God and Ells that we’re both alive.
We’ll get through this loss. And we really weren’t ready for a baby. Not yet.
Someday, yes, but not yet.

***

When we go home, we decide that the carriage house will
be the best place to live until Kestrel’s cast comes off, due to the fact that
there are no steps to navigate. My things have been moved back from the other
house already and that place will be put up for rent. Kestrel works from home
and we’ve hired someone to come in and help with cooking and chores in the big
house. I’m still tired so I can’t do much on that end. The lab is being rebuilt
and until it’s completed, my work is at a stand still.

The investigation into the accident and the Christmas
shooting is finally over. The police, along with Drex, uncovered the whole
mess. Senator Forrester will face two murder charges, along with the bombing of
the research facilities, cyber theft, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit
murder, as well as a host of other crimes. Detective Brunson is also facing
charges for his involvement in the cover up.

After we’ve been home for a few weeks, Simon stops by to
see us. I invite him in and he looks around the house.

“We’re staying in the carriage house. Kestrel’s leg, you
see. He can’t navigate any stairs due to his cast. He had surgery.”

He nods,
then
drops his head.
He suddenly blurts out, “I’m sorry. I owe you both a huge apology. Can I see
him before I lose my nerve?”

He’s rattled me. I don’t answer right away.

“Please, Carter. This is important to me.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

I lead the way to the carriage house. When I walk in,
Kestrel smiles but when he sees Simon, it morphs to a frown.

“He wanted to see you,” I say.

Simon looks awkward, but he doesn’t back down when he
says, “Yes. I did. I owe you an apology.”

“I would say so.
But not to me.
To Carter.”

“No.
To you both.
For my
father.”

I watch the two of them. Kestrel is wary of him, as am
I.

“My father was always a demanding, control freak and I
fell into that. I always knew he did … things … but I never imagined he would
go to those extremes.”

“I don’t imagine you did,” Kestrel says sourly.

“Mr. Hart, had I known, I would’ve done anything I could
have to stop him. You can’t think I approved of that. You can think of me
however you choose, but I am not a killer.”

“Then why are you here apologizing?”

“Because I feel that the sins of the father are somehow
reaped upon the son. I am responsible in some fashion, even though I didn’t do
it. I only wish I could’ve stopped him. Thank God, neither of you were hurt
worse than you were.”

“Well, too bad for my dead mother.”

Simon’s face turns scarlet. “As I said, I am profusely
sorry. I can’t bring her back but I’m glad he’s been apprehended. And thank
God, he was unsuccessful in his attempts on Carter.”

“But unfortunately for our unborn child, he succeeded
there. Carter lost our baby because of him.”

I cringe. Why did he have to say that? Simon whips
around to look at me.

“Oh, Carter, I didn’t know. I am sorry for that.”

I can only grimace. Funny thing is, I believe he’s
sincere.

“Well then, I guess I’ll be going. I wish you a speedy
recovery, Mr. Hart.”

I follow him out and when we get outside, he takes my
hand and says, “Carter, I’m sorry for all the shitty things I’ve said to you
over the years. You never deserved them. It was never your fault Ells died. And
I’m so sorry you lost your baby.” He releases me and walks away.

When I walk back inside, Kestrel says, “Isn’t he the
repentant one?”

“I suppose he is. His father never was a nice man. He’s
coming to terms with everything.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure?”

“Did Simon or his family ever have anything to do with
Ells?”

“God no! Senator Forrester acted like she didn’t exist.
And Simon only acted like he cared after she died. That family didn’t want her
to tarnish their good name. I think Simon regretted it though when she was
gone.”

“Can you come here, please?”

I walk over to where he sits in a large chair with his
leg resting on an ottoman.

“I really don’t deserve you.” He takes my hand and runs
his thumb across my knuckles. “Are you always this forgiving?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Hmm. My perfect angel.”

“Hardly.”

“Oh, but you are. All those awful things Simon did and
said to you. And one time he shows up and apologizes and you forgive him. You
always see the good in people. I wish I was more like you.”

“Maybe I’m just a fool and a slow learner. It seems to
me I’m the one that gets burned by friends.”

“You’re neither. You’re trusting and open. And I love
you. I don’t want you any other way.”

I’m very careful as I climb on him and straddle his lap.
Then I take his face between my palms and kiss his lips. “I don’t want you any
other way either. You have this idea that I’m a perfect being. I happen to
think you are, too. Imagine this for a moment. Kestrel never came to
Charleston. Carter is sitting in the front den, alone on Christmas Day,
watching TV, and a spray of gunfire catches her unaware. End of story. You’ve
saved me in more than one way. I can’t begin to name them all. And I happen to
agree with you on something.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Ells protected us that day in the car. She was the
angel, Kestrel. Not me.”

His hand reaches around my neck and pulls me close so he
can kiss me.

“Well, one thing makes total sense to me. An angel gave
birth to an angel.”

He makes me smile.

“Hey, how about you slipping those panties off and
making this devil happy?”

I punch his arm.

“What?” he asks. “Don’t tell me you’re not interested.”
His hand slips into my panties and he says, “Oh, angel, you can’t hide ready
from me. You are almost dripping.” Then he gives me one of his devilish grins.

“Mmm.” I lift up and tug down the elastic waist of his
shorts. His erection springs out and my hand clamps around him. “Oh, bubs, you
can’t hide hard, either.”

“Wasn’t trying to. Now go get a condom, unless you want
to try for a baby-angel.”

Our eyes meet and we’re both serious-faced. “Do you?”

“Of course I do. I have to admit, being a father scares
the shit out of me. I never thought I’d get to this point, and I had the worst
possible role model one can have. So the idea of walking down that road makes
me question whether I’m even capable of doing an adequate job of it.”

I take his face between my palms. “Listen to me. You
have the biggest heart of anyone I know. You are going to be the best father in
the world.”

“The world?” He laughs.

“Don’t laugh. Look what you’ve done for me. I can’t even
fathom what you’d do for our child. What’s in here,” I rest my hand over his
beating heart, “has so much love that when we have kids, you will be amazed at
how it pours out of you. And I think you will be especially good because you
know what it’s like not to have love. Just wait. The first time you hold your
child, you’ll melt. You don’t know love until that moment hits you.”

He covers my hands with his and says, “I hope you’re
right.”

“I am. Trust me. If you’ve ever trusted me with anything
in your life, trust me with this.” I move to slip him inside of me but he stops
me.

“There’s only one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Marry me.”

“Isn’t this a little fast?”

He laughs. “Oh, and having a baby-angel isn’t?”

My face contorts. “Yeah, you’re right. Let me get the
condom.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

I look at him and his face is pathetic. He looks like I
just killed his puppy.

“What?”

“You don’t want to marry me?”

I beam. “Of course I want to marry you. I’m just
agreeing with you that maybe we need to do this in the proper order.”

“There is no proper order when you’re in love.”

He does have a point.

“True, but I want you to myself for a while. Babies are
awesome, but they’re time consuming. I want it to be just us.”

“So … what you’re saying is you’ll marry me anyway.”

“Yep.”

“Like now?”

“Uh huh.”

“Whenever I want?” he asks.

“You name the day and I’m ready.”

He points to his cast and says, “I want to get this damn
thing off first so I can properly fuck you on our honeymoon.”

Now I laugh. “Fair enough. Besides, I have all sorts of
ideas I want you to try on me.”