Razing Kayne (37 page)

FOURTY-SEVEN

Kayne wanted to throw something. “How could there be no sign that Jess and Gracie
were ever here?”

“We know she was here—her prints are on the outside wall by the front door.”

They'd scanned dozens of prints through the automated finger print system. Since Jess
had worked for the police department, she'd had a file. Now, one of the Alphabet-Soup
agents was trying to crack a password to a computer that had been left up and running.
It had some type of RF receiver hooked to it. They had an officer enroute with an
RF locator, hoping they'd find the source, instead of relying on gaining computer
access

Rafe looked skyward. “All this goddamned rain has washed any tracks away.”

The six of them currently stood on the back porch with the Chief, under the watchful
eye of a couple federal rookies who’d been told to keep an eye on them
.
They all turned in unison at the sudden shouting, and then agents were running towards
the edge of the woods.

A man ran toward them, holding Gracie and shouting Kayne's name.

Kayne took off at a dead run. Where the fuck was Jess?

Agents had the man surrounded, guns pointing at him and subsequently at Kayne’s daughter.
What the fuck?

“I'm an agent,” he panted out. “Jess is drowning. I couldn't get her free.”

It was then Kayne noticed his badly swelling hand with the bruising around the wrist
where he'd been cuffed to something.

Gracie spotted Kayne and started screaming, fighting to get to him.
“Papa!”

“Kayne!”
The man made eye contact. “Jess is down there. I couldn't get her free. I tried.
If you don't believe I was with her, she said to tell you she loved
you,
and to say 'With My Last Breath.'”

Oh Jesus God.

“Where?
Where is she?” he demanded, interrupting anything else the guy would have said.

“She's in an underground bunker.” He handed Gracie off to Kayne, who handed her to
Nick. “We need bolt cutters and a flashlight.
SCUBA if possible.”

Ondrej explained the layout as they ran.

Kayne was vaguely aware of others following them, but his only thought was getting
to Jess in time.

“I didn't want to leave her, but she demanded I get Gracie out first. I swore I'd
come back for her.”

When they reached the entrance, Kayne kicked off his shoes and dropped his utility
belt. He ripped off his uniform shirt and Kevlar vest. He'd picked up his waterproof
flashlight and started
forward, when someone caught his arm. No fucking way was anyone going to stop him
from getting to her. Kayne turned, swinging, and barely managed to pull his punch.

An out of breath Rafe was holding a pair of bolt cutters. “They'll pull SCUBA off
the fire truck the second it gets here,” he panted.

“I can't wait. She doesn't have time.” A quick scan with his flashlight showed only
inches between the waterline and the roof.

“We'll be right behind you.” Rafe started shouting for men to divert the water away
from the bunker.

“Fuck that, surfer boy! You’re not going down there alone. I'm going with you.” Mark
began stripping his tactical gear off. Obviously, he knew better than to try and talk
Kayne out of going.

The water was ice cold as Kayne stepped into the torrent racing down the stairs.

“Water's probably not more than fifty degrees,” Mark said, as if reading his mind.
“It will buy us more time. It slows the body down, and it can go longer without oxygen.
We have to move quickly though, because it will slow us down too.”

He heard Ondrej say something to Mark about Nina, but his mind could focus on nothing
more than getting to Jess.

The current worked with them, and they swam under water through the hall, coming up
for air only once. There was maybe a foot of air space left. When he surfaced in the
main room, Kayne called Jess's name.

Nothing.

Where the fuck was she?

“You start over there.” Mark shined the flashlight to the right. “I'll start over
here. Find the chains in the wall and follow them down.”

Kayne kept calling her name, and on the third try, he heard a faint sound.
“Jess?
Jessica!”

“Kayne?
Kayne!”
Her voice was weak, but she was alive.

“I found her!” Kayne shouted before diving under and swimming toward her. As he surfaced,
he saw she was barely able to keep her nose and mouth above water. The manacles dragged
her down as she struggled to tread water. Mark surfaced by his side in an instant.

“Hold on baby, just keep breathing. I’m gonna get you out of here.”

Mark maneuvered behind her, wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her a little further
out of the water. “I got you, sweetheart.” He looked at Kayne. “I got her. You cut
her loose.”

Kayne nodded and dove under
.
With his mini-mag in his mouth to illuminate his work area, he was able to find the
chain, and after several attempts, finally,
finally
she was free.

Kayne took her from Mark, and for a second held her close, treading water for both
of them. She sagged in his arms, no fight left in her. “I need you to swim, Jess.”

“Time to go.
Take a breath and hold it.”  Mark watched Jess closely, and the second she did, he
dragged her under.

They swam, Mark, the better swimmer, pulling, Kayne pushing, with Jess in the middle.
Kayne’s lungs were burning when they finally surfaced at the tunnel entrance. He helped
Jess get her nose and lips above water. He took two breaths, and then they were moving
again.

It wasn't until Kayne felt the stairs at his feet that they came up for air again.

“Take her!” He heard Mark shout. “She's not breathing.”

No, no,
no
!

Kayne scrambled up the stairs, but Rafe grabbed him before he could get to Jess. “Let
them do their job.” 

He watched everything as if he were looking through a thick fog. Joe Sutton started
chest compressions, and Mark began barking orders for a helicopter and a medic-bag
in between CPR breaths.

“One minute,” someone called.

But it had been longer than that. Kayne wasn't sure she'd taken another breath when
they'd surfaced at the tunnel entrance. She was closer to the two minute mark, he
felt sure.

“Chopper's grounded. Pilot says the weather's too bad,” someone said.

Mark acknowledged he'd heard with a terse nod, a grim expression on his face. It was
as if he'd expected that answer.

Kayne felt so goddamned helpless standing there watching her die. He had to do
something
. He struggled to break free of Rafe, but Trace stepped in. “You can’t help here!”
he shouted.

The SAC pulled out his phone and turned away for a brief but terse conversation.

“One minute-thirty,” the timekeeper called.

“Where’s that goddamned engine company?” Mark barked. “I need a medic-bag!”

The SAC flipped his phone closed.
“Your chopper’s enroute.”

“Impossible!” Mark said between CPR breaths. “That old bastard is too afraid to fly
in any type of adverse weather.”

The SAC shook his head. “One of my men took a page out of Chatham’s playbook and
borrowed
it.”

Kayne pleaded with God, making every deal he could think of, if He’d just spare Jess
.

“Two minutes,” the timekeeper said.

“Still nothing?” Joe paused, and they watched Mark check her vitals.

“Nothing.”
  Mark gave two more breaths,
then
Joe started compressions again.

Mark turned haunted eyes to Kayne and slowly shook his head. Kayne felt the earth
stop. He'd lost her.

Pain raged through Kayne, rending his heart into a million pieces and sucking the
very soul from his body. Then he heard two of the most beautiful sounds imaginable.

“Got her!”
Joe shouted triumphantly, and rolled Jess to her side. Her whole body
spasmed,
and water burst from her lungs.

“Oh, thank you sweet Jesus!”

Kayne fought to get to her, clocking Rafe when he didn’t let go. Nothing could have
kept him from Jess in that moment.

Joe leaned back as Kayne fell to his knees and pulled Jess into his arms, holding
her as tight as he dared. She choked and coughed the remaining water from her lungs,
gasping in breaths between fits of coughing.

His body shook violently from the cold, the emotions consuming him. Tears flowed freely
down his face as he held Jess close and sheltered her from the frigid rain with his
body. “Oh, God, baby, I thought I’d lost you.”

Someone handed him a jacket, and he wrapped it around her as best he could. He brushed
back her hair, staring into those whiskey-colored eyes that had captured him from
the very beginning. “I love you,” he choked out. He repeated the words again and again
as he slowly rocked back and forth. “I love you so very much.”

Jess laid a hand on his cheek. “Thank you.”

He gave her a bemused smile.
“For what?”

“Saving me.”

He laid his forehead against hers and whispered, “Oh, baby, don’t you know? You saved
me.”

And she had, in so many, many ways.

Epilogue

One month later...

Kayne kicked back on the couch, an ice cold bottle of his favorite beer in hand, his
shoes off, and jeans haphazardly rolled up by the two little sprites busy polishing
his toenails a glittering
Pepto-Bismol
pink. He'd done this to himself.
Again.
He'd traded two hours’ worth of cooperation while he cleaned the house in exchange
for being Gracie and Isabelle's fashion guinea pig.

Kayne groaned when the doorbell rang.

“I got it, I got it! It's my turn!” Isabelle shouted jumping to her feet.

“Me, no me!”
Gracie tumbled after her.

“Stop, stop, stop!”
Kayne ordered, hobbling in their wake. Was he seriously going to have to answer the
door like this?

The girls skidded to a halt and stared up at him impatiently.

“No opening the door by
yourself
,” he ordered.

Isabelle plumped out her bottom lip, folded her arms over her chest, and ducked her
head in a pout. Gracie followed suit.

He was still amazed at Gracie’s resiliency. She’d been rushed to the hospital by Nick
Astenbeck and one of the Alphabet-agents where she’d been treated for moderate hypothermia.
Nick had stayed at her side comforting her until Kayne had arrived. Gracie had quickly
bounced back physically. Emotionally: she’d been clingy at first, but she’d reverted
to her old self in no time. It was as if she’d never been kidnapped.

Kayne took a quick look though the peep-
hole,
surprised to see the man he’d just been thinking about standing on the other side.

Kayne disengaged the alarm and opened the door, “Nick, come in.”

Nick looked pointedly at Kayne’s feet
.
He coughed, clearly fighting not to laugh…and failing. “Nice toes.”

Shit! Kayne would never live it down. There went his man-card.

Isabelle grabbed Nick’s hand and began tugging him toward the family room. “We can
do yours, next.” 

Nick stared at Kayne with a deer-in-the-crosshairs look, and Kayne laughed. Taking
pity on his friend he said, “'Sabella, why don't you and Gracie go pick out a snack?” 

“Yay!”
As expected, they scampered off; thoughts of nail polish forgotten.

Kayne motioned Nick to follow him. He could tell something was weighing heavily on
the other man’s mind, but had no idea what.

The girls had pulled out celery, peanut butter, and raisins by the time the men reached
the kitchen. They wanted to build their own ants-on-a-log.

Nick took a seat at the island. “How's Jess?”

“Good.
Exhausted.
In fact, she's taking a nap per Doctor Mark’s orders.”

Jess had spent nearly a week in the hospital after the kidnapping. Not so surprisingly,
she'd developed a case of double pneumonia. But that wasn’t why she was in bed today
.
No, that had to do with what they found out on her second day in the hospital.

They’d been curled up together in Jess’s hospital bed, awaiting final lab results
before the hospital would release her, when their world tilted again.

After a brief knock, Mark walked in, a Cheshire
Cat
grin firmly in place, a piece of paper in hand. He’d then proceeded to tell them
that Jess was pregnant. Kayne was pretty sure if he hadn’t already been vertical that
Mark’s news would have put him there
.
Nick nodded. “Glad she’s following Doc’s orders.”

“To a
T
.
She wants this baby so very much.”

“And you?”

“I want Jess safe and healthy. This is a high risk pregnancy for her, and that scares
the ever living shit out of me, but my God, she’s so happy it makes her glow. I can’t
help being anything but happy as well.”

Nick grinned. “I’m happy for both of you.”

Kayne sat the two tall glasses of milk on the counter and pulled up the cookie jar
full of freshly made cookies—cranberry-orange oatmeal cookies, courtesy of Maddy—and
took a seat.

“Thanks.”

“So, where's Ondrej
? ”

Kayne smiled. “He's still staying with us. He went to run some errands and pick up
the older kids from school while I do house work.”

“What do you think of him?”

Kayne shrugged. “We're still figuring each other out. Jess and the kids love him,
so I guess that’s all that really matters.”

After the dust had settled, and Jess explained who Ondrej was and his role in saving
Gracie, Kayne had supported her decision to invite Ondrej to stay with them while
he recovered from his broken hand. Kayne couldn't imagine the horrors Ondrej had seen,
but after sitting through the briefing on Volkov – he refused to acknowledge that
monster as his father – he had a pretty good idea. All he cared was that the murdering
bastard – Volkov – could never touch his family again. Kayne grabbed a cookie and
pushed the jar closer to Nick. “I think he feels guilty about Nina’s death.”

Nick studied him closely. “How do you feel about it?”

“I honestly don’t know. No matter what she did, I feel sorry that she died that way.
But I know we wouldn’t have been able to get both of them out in time, if she’d still
been alive when Mark found her.” Kayne shuddered at the thought of how very close
he’d been to losing Jess. If Ondrej hadn’t adjusted the chain on her manacle to allow
her to reach Gracie, both would have died
.

Nick nodded his understanding. “Are you taking a leave of absence until Jess has the
baby?” Nick broke off a piece of cookie and popped it into his mouth.

Wasn’t that a damn good question? “I'm not sure, I've taken a few weeks off, and Ondrej
has been a huge help. Balentine is riding my ass for a decision. With all the flatlanders
fleeing the
desert heat, summer is our busiest season. Jess has agreed to hire someone to help
out while I work, if I’ll go back to work.”

Nick laughed. “Tired of you hovering, huh?”

Kayne gave a self-deprecating smile. “She’s been indulgent, but I think my lady-in-waiting
routine is wearing thin.”

Nick cocked his head thoughtfully. “What about the other grandma, Lutcia, can she
help?”

Kayne was still trying to wrap his mind around that. He’d thought Krysin’s men had
taken her out. They hadn’t. Agents had stormed Krysin’s compound and the shots Kayne
had heard were exchanges between the agents and Krysin’s men. “I don’t know that we’ll
ever see Lutcia again. She’s been taken into protective custody. Once she testifies
against Krysin and Volkov, they’ll help her start a new life somewhere under WitSec.”

Nick took a deep breath and blurted out, “
Is it hard loving
another man's children?”

Okay, straight out of left field.
What?

Kayne decided to take the question at face value. “It's as easy as breathing, at least
for me.”

Nick looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded. “I'm leaving for Houston in a couple
of hours. There was a message on my phone this morning when I got home from work.
It was from my ex-partner’s wife. He was killed a couple days ago.”

Kayne’s gut clinched. It was every officer’s worst nightmare; leaving their family
behind. “I'm sorry to hear that. How's his wife doing?”

Nick glanced toward the little girls, and then lowered his voice to a fierce whisper.
“Seth screwed her over big time. It wasn't line-of-duty so there are no survivor’s
benefits. Sarah found out all their savings is gone. He’d cashed in his retirement,
and to add insult to injury, his paycheck has been being docked by court order for
the last eight months for child support.” Nick shoved a hand through his short hair.
“She has a meeting with an adoption agency tomorrow. She grew up on welfare until
her mother abandoned her to foster care. She’s terrified of history repeating itself
and thinks the only way to protect her kids is to give them up for adoption
.
I can't let that happen. I couldn't live with myself knowing I let her do that.”

Kayne heard the question Nick was struggling to ask. He admired him for considering
an honor marriage as a solution. “Any two people can make a marriage work if they’re
willing to try.”

Nick was silent for a moment. “Sarah has been my friend too, and I know giving up
those babies would destroy her, but I'm scared shitless over the idea of committing
to this, only to discover I'm no better than Seth or Jarred.”

Kayne looked Nick square in the eye. “I can’t speak for Seth, but, if you were anything
like Jarred, you wouldn’t even be contemplating it. As far as fidelity, The Jedi master
Yoda was the official voice on that.
'Do or do not, there is no try.'
You choose to be faithful or you choose not to, it’s a simple as that.”

Nick rubbed his chest like it ached. “Sarah is such a sweetheart. She's tiny like
Jess, but a strawberry blonde with huge gray eyes that break your heart if you look
too close.”

Kayne tried to hide his smile. Nick might not realize it, but he was already half
in-love with the woman.

Nick blew out a heavy breath. “God, I have to do this. I have to go figure out how
to bury someone who I thought was a friend and convince his grieving widow to marry
me and not necessarily in that order.”

Kayne grinned. “Sorry, I'm fresh out of armed suspects tripping on Meth while holding
up a bank full of hostages.” That got an expected laugh out of Nick. They both knew
facing the gunman would be less scary.

***

“Who was at the door?” a
groggy
Jess asked a short time later. Kayne took the woman he loved more than life itself
in his arms and held her close. He gave her a soft lingering kiss, then reluctantly
pulled away to explain Nick's visit.

When Kayne finished the story by confessing he'd insisted on covering the funeral
costs, Jess simply smiled. Looking at her, he realized he didn't have to explain an
officer's need to help the family left behind by one of the brave few who walked the
thin blue line. The warmth and compassion shining in her eyes told him she understood.

Jess patted his chest. “I think we've started something here.
First us, now Nick and Sarah.”

Kayne narrowed his eyes. “Now wait a minute, Sarah hasn't said yes.”

“Yet.
But she will,” Jess said confidently. She reached up and brushed her fingers through
his hair. “If Nick is even half the man I married, it will be the best decision she
ever makes.”

“You think so, huh?” His voice was husky with emotion. Every time he looked at her
he was staggered by how much he loved her.

Jess ran her hands across his face. Oh, how she loved this man. “I know so. Don’t
you know you’re my hero? You charged into my world and rescued me before I knew I
needed rescuing. You've made my every dream come true and then some.” She took his
hand and rested their entwined fingers over her still flat stomach.

The garage door opened, interrupting anything else they might have said. They turned
to watch Ondrej herd their older children and Tiffany Johnson through the door.

Jess’s heart broke for the sweet little girl. Not only had she lost a father, but
the shock over what Cody had done had nearly killed his mother.
Literally.
Evie Johnson had had a severe stroke, and they were still unsure if she’d ever recover.
As such, Tiffany had been spending a lot of time with them while Judge Johnson cared
for his wife.

The house exploded into chaos, all five children trying to talk over each other. The
older three talking about school, the younger two sharing the activities of home.
Backpacks were thrown haphazardly onto the kitchen table and shoes were kicked off
underneath it before they began raiding the refrigerator and cabinets for a snack.
Their life might not be a sexy, glamorous story, but it was theirs, and Jess was so
truly thankful for every moment of it
.

She hugged each of her children bidding them hello, then took a seat and watched as
Kayne got them settled down for a snack
.
Looking on, she had no doubt they’d found their happily ever after.

When Kayne looked up and caught hergaze, a huge grin on his face, his eyes alight
with wonder; she knew he was thinking the exact same thing.

I love you
, he signed against his chest.
Forever
, he mouthed, his hand still resting over his heart.

Jess covered her own heart and mouthed the words right back.
Then added,
With My Last Breath.

The End