Trust (59 page)

Our lovemaking wasn’t hurried. And when we both finally reached our climaxes, it was with our mouths hovering over the other’s, and our gazes locked on one another’s. It was a truly spiritual experience—and exactly what we’d both needed.

All too soon, it was time to get ready to go back to the courthouse. I wasn’t looking forward to another day spent in the hallway waiting while Brianna gave her testimony. Although I knew a lot of what she’d gone through, there were details she and I hadn’t talked about. Details she’d felt the need to share with me last night. I’d known she was beaten, collared, and then thrown in a dungeon. I’d also known that the next day Ian had raped her. Finding out she’d been beaten further and then gang raped by Ian and his friends was new information. It was difficult to sit and listen to, especially knowing that she’d had to sit up in front of a roomful of strangers—and Ian himself—and pour her heart out. He really was a bastard.

The drive to the courthouse seemed to take no time at all, and before I knew it, I was looking for a place to park.

Seconds after I turned off the engine, there was a loud bang, followed by several other similar sounds—four in total. I had no idea where the sounds had come from, but instinctively, I grabbed Brianna and ducked.

Several minutes passed, and eventually there was screaming and people running in every direction. People were panicked. I lifted my head up, taking in the scene. Something had happened, and it didn’t look good. When we’d arrived, there had been only a handful of uniformed police scattered throughout the area. Looking now, I counted at least twenty.

I was weighing my options—stay in the car and wait to see what happened, or get out of the car with Brianna and try to get some answers—when my cell phone rang. It was Logan.

“Where are you?”

“We’re still in the car, on the north side of the courthouse. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know exactly. From the looks of it, though, at least one person has been shot. Stay where you are, if you can. The police are locking down everything. No one who could have seen or heard anything is going anywhere anytime soon.”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Call me when you have more information.”

Slipping the phone back into my jacket pocket, I reached for Brianna and hugged her against my chest.

“What’s going on?”

“Someone’s been shot.”

She looked up. “Who?”

I shook my head and began threading my fingers through her hair. Whatever was going on, I had a feeling we were going to be here a while. The police didn’t take public shootings lightly. “Logan didn’t know. He’s going to call us once he finds out more.”

Five minutes later, Ross called. He and Jade had arrived a minute or so before and were also stuck in their vehicles. When they’d tried to exit, they’d been order by an officer to stay put. No one seemed to have any answers at that point.

All that changed when my phone rang again. Almost twenty minutes had passed since we’d heard the first bang.

I checked the caller ID before I answered. It was Agent Marco.

His voice was clipped. “Where are you?”

“In my car, on the north side of the courthouse.”

“Is Ms. Reeves with you?”

“Yes.”

“Stay where you are. I’m on my way to you.”

He didn’t give me time to respond before disconnecting, and that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach increased. What had happened?

Before I knew it, Agent Marco came trotting toward our car. He looked over his shoulder and then motioned for us to get out of the vehicle. I got out first and then went to help Brianna. Her fingers dug into my arm even through the fabric of my thick coat.

“Follow me.”

I kept Brianna close as we followed Agent Marco across the snow-covered lawn and up the steps of the courthouse. He had to flash his badge more than once before we finally entered the building. Once inside, he took us upstairs into a room very similar to the one we’d waited in the day before.

“You might want to have a seat.”

“That’s okay. We’ll stand.” I’d had enough of all the cloak and dagger. “Are you going to tell us what’s going on?”

He glanced down at Brianna, but she wasn’t looking at him. “Roughly twenty-five minutes ago, Ian Pierce was shot.”

Brianna tensed.

“How?”

“We don’t know much yet.”

I was getting frustrated, and Brianna was clinging to me as if I were going to disappear at any moment. “What
do
you know?”

“Pierce was on his way into the courthouse when a man shouted his name and fired. The guards returned fire on the shooter, and he was hit. So was Pierce. Both men have been taken to the hospital.”

Wrapping my other arm around Brianna, I kissed the top of her head. “Did either of them survive?”

“I don’t have that information. Not yet.”

As much as I didn’t like not knowing, yelling at Agent Marco for not being able to tell us more wasn’t going to help matters. “Will you let us know when you hear something?”

“Of course.” He paused. “Will you two be all right in here for a while?”

I nodded. “We’ll be fine.”

He opened the door and stepped back out into the hallway, leaving Brianna and I alone in the room. I guided us over to the corner and removed both our coats since I had no idea how long we’d be waiting. It took some effort on my part since neither of us wanted to release our hold on the other.

Once we were both free of our coats, I dug out my cell and called Logan. “Hello?”

“It’s me. We found out what’s going on.”

“What? I asked one of the cops, but no one will tell me anything.”

Pulling over a chair, I sat down, positioning Brianna on my lap. Her head gravitated to my shoulder, and I traced patterns lovingly down her arm with the tips of my fingers while I spoke. “Someone shot Ian. He and the shooter have both been taken to hospital.”

“How—”

“Agent Marco found us. We’re in a room on the second floor of the courthouse, waiting.”

“What do you need us to do?”

“Nothing at the moment. Right now we’re just waiting.”

Logan let out a frustrated breath. I knew exactly how he felt. “Call us if you need something. We’ll stay here for as long as they’ll let us.”

“Thanks.”

My next call was to Ross. The conversation was almost identical to the one I’d had with Logan. It was amazing, the fierce protectiveness Brianna brought out in those around her.

“I hope he’s dead.” Brianna’s voice was muffled since she had her face pressed up against my neck. I could feel every breath she took, and I could feel her heart beating against my chest.

Resting my head on top of hers, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I couldn’t help but agree with her. “So do I, sweetheart. So do I.”

Chapter 48

Stephan

We were all walking around on eggshells for the next three days. The
shooter turned out to be the father of the first young woman Ian had taken nearly five years ago. There was no note, no explanation as to why he’d suddenly snapped. He’d been shot three times in the chest and was pronounced dead when he arrived at the hospital.

Ian didn’t make it so easy. The bullet hit him in the chest and pierced the bottom of his lung before getting lodged in between two of his vertebrae. He was on life support in critical condition, and we were all holding our breath to see whether or not he got better or worse.

The media was camped outside the front of my building again. It was worse than before, if that was possible. Security had already removed two guys who’d thought they could sneak inside the building through the parking garage.

Ross, Jade, and Lily were near-constant visitors in our home. They all helped keep Brianna busy and not thinking about Ian and whether or not he was going to survive. Brianna had been shy at first with them, unsure how they were going to treat her now that they knew more details about her captivity. Jade and Lily had quickly put her mind at ease, though, by hugging her and dragging her in front of the television to watch a chick flick. The three of them sat huddled together eating junk food for hours.

Brianna’s nightmares persisted. The only thing I found helped was when she lay with her head directly over my heart. Hearing my heartbeat steadily in her ear was the one thing that lulled her to sleep. The problem was that when I drifted off to sleep myself, one of us inevitably moved. Her nightmare would return and so would the screaming. Needless to say, neither of us got much sleep.

The two of us were lying on the bed watching a movie Saturday afternoon, Brianna’s head resting on my chest, when the main phone rang. I kissed her forehead and jumped up to answer it. “Hello?”

It was the front desk. “Mr. Coleman, there’s an Agent Marco here to see you. Should I send him up?”

I glanced back in the direction of my bedroom where Brianna was waiting. “Yes. That will be fine, but give us ten minutes, please.”

“Will do, Mr. Coleman.”

“Thanks.” Hanging up the phone, I ambled back into my bedroom. Neither one of us had bothered getting dressed yet. “We need to put some clothes on. Agent Marco is on his way up.”

“Ian?” She fisted the blanket in her hands, and I could see the pulse pounding in her neck.

I strolled over to stand in front of her, and one by one, I pried her fingers from the blanket. “I don’t know yet. All I know is he’s here to see us, all right? Let’s get some clothes on and find out what he wants.”

“Okay.”

Bending down, I brushed my lips lightly over hers. “Good girl.”

I threw on some clothes, leaving my feet bare, and then went with Brianna to her room so she could do the same. She was already on edge, and knowing Agent Marco was on his way up to deliver some type of news wasn’t helping with her anxiety level. Twice she dropped the bra she was attempting to put on, because she was shaking so badly. I ended up having to help her with it, or else she wouldn’t have finished in time. As it was, the doorbell rang right as we were walking out of her room.

Brianna stood close to my side as I opened to door to Agent Marco. “Come in.”

“Thank you.”

He stepped inside, and I closed the door behind him. “Can we get you anything to drink?”

“No. Thank you. This shouldn’t take long.”

I nodded and motioned for him to have a seat on the couch.

With a grace that contradicted his size, he lowered himself down on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. I guided Brianna over to my chair and situated her on my lap, readying myself for whatever news he came to deliver.

Luckily he didn’t make us wait. “I received a call from the hospital about an hour ago. Pierce developed a blot clot, and had an aneurism early this morning in his brain. They rushed him to surgery, but they were unable to stop the bleeding in time. He was pronounced dead at just after eight this morning.”

Brianna sucked in a lungful of air and fisted my shirt in her hands. “He’s . . . he’s dead?”

Agent Marco nodded. “Yes.”

“What happens now?” I had to know, and so did Brianna.

“For you? Not much. There’s some paperwork that has to be done on our end, but we can’t very well try a case when the defendant is no longer living.” Then to my surprise, Agent Marco directed his attention to Brianna. “You did good the other day, by the way. My one piece of advice? Don’t let that bastard win. Get your life back any way you can. Live and grow and be strong. Don’t let him keep you a victim. Be a survivor.”

I smiled and kissed Brianna’s temple. “We’re working on it.”

He smacked his hands down on his knees and stood. “Good. Now, I need to go prepare for a press conference.” Halfway to the door, he stopped and pivoted back in our direction. “I might suggest you hold a press conference of your own, Mr. Coleman. After your testimony, people are going to have questions.”

Without giving me time to respond, he headed back toward the door, and within seconds he was gone. I remained where I was, cradling Brianna in my arms.

“People are going to hold it against you that you helped me, aren’t they?”

I answered her honestly. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Will you hold a press conference?”

“I need to talk to Oscar first, and the board, but it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea. The foundation relies on donations, and what’s happened could put a bad taste in the mouths of some of our donors.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m not.”

We sat there comforting each other until our stomachs began demanding we feed them. I knew there would be fallout, had expected it. The potential cost was worth it in my opinion. Agent Marco was right, however, a press conference might help with damage control.

After we ate lunch, I called Oscar and told him about Agent Marco’s suggestion. He agreed it was a good idea, so I called a board meeting for Monday morning, and Oscar was going to arrange for a press conference immediately following. This meant that I would have to leave Brianna, which neither she nor I was thrilled with.