You Really Got Me (32 page)

Kendall jerked to her feet, almost stumbled and fell her legs were so weak and shaky, and she grabbed Dedra’s hand to drag her with her.

“No,” Dedra said, and Kendall stopped short. “I’m not leaving without him.”

“Oh yes, you are,” Kendall snapped, and yanked on her hand. Was she
crazy?
She dragged Dedra toward the door, yanked it open and stumbled out into the hall.

“No.” Dedra dug her feet in and resisted. “He’s not…he’s…”

Kendall followed Dedra’s glance over at Wade and saw him lift the gun, this time not to point it at them, but at himself.

“No!”

At that moment all hell broke loose. Men swarmed inside, pushing past them into the apartment. Kendall’s impression was all men in black, with helmets and vests and guns. They had Wade on the floor with his hands cuffed behind his back before Kendall could even draw a breath.

She covered her hands with her mouth, still disbelieving this could be happening to her, stepped back from the mayhem and loud voices, then watched as Dedra was taken into custody too.

The younger woman sobbed uncontrollably as she was handcuffed, and Kendall’s heart squeezed for her. She couldn’t say Dedra was innocent—after all, if she’d told the police what she knew right away, this all could’ve been avoided. An accessory. Wasn’t that what they called someone who helped a killer?

But she knew Dedra, knew she wasn’t a bad person. She had so much going for her, bright and talented, but somehow she’d fallen in love with a man who had evil inside him and she probably hadn’t realized it herself. The reasons women stayed in abusive relationship were so complex—Kendall would never judge her for that. She’d been trying to protect the man she loved, misguided as it had been.

One of the SWAT team approached her. “Are you okay, Ms. Vioget?”

She turned to him, started to nod and saw Jason appear in the hall behind him. His eyes found her immediately and their gazes locked. Relief flooded his face, relaxed his tense features, and Kendall started to shake violently. Her hands moved to him involuntarily, and it felt as if her heart reached out to him too. He strode toward her, pale, the skin of his face stretched tightly across his cheekbones.

She moved toward him, instinctively, without thought, seeking out his presence with a deep, elemental need, and found herself enveloped in his arms, his warmth, his scent. She buried her face in the side of his neck, his hand going into her hair and pressing her there, his cheek against her hair, his other hand digging into her back. His body trembled against hers, his shirt damp, his skin fever-hot.

They stood like that for one long moment after another, unable to move apart. Kendall felt shaky on the inside, a fierce rush of emotion weakening her, and wound her arms tightly around his waist and held on as if she was drowning. Voices and motion rose and fell around them but far away, distant and blurred.

Finally Jason moved, his hands coming up to cup her face and hold it in front of him. He devoured her with his eyes, which were reddened and anguished. She covered his hands with hers and drank in the sight of him too, so big and strong, his face pale beneath the tan, the crinkles at the corners of his eyes pronounced.

“Are you okay?” she whispered.

His eyebrows pulled together above his nose. “Am
I
okay? Jesus Christ, Kendall.” And he yanked her back into his arms for another squeeze. Then he drew back again. “Christ, Kendall, what the fuck are you doing here?”

She blinked at him, unable to form words.

“That has to be the world’s worst timing,” he groaned. “We were just getting the warrant for his arrest—Jesus, only an hour later, he’d have been in fucking jail.”

“Ask the chief,” someone across the room said. “Chief Holloway!”

Jason dragged his gaze away from her face to look over his shoulder. “Just a minute.”

He focused back on Kendall, his thumbs rubbing her cheeks. “Shhh,” he said. “It’s okay, Kendall. It’s over. It’s all okay.”

Again her head jerked up and down and she tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. “I’m sorry,” she croaked. “I’m so, so sorry, Jason.”

He moved his head from side to side. “It’s okay.”

Did he even know what she was apologizing for? Probably not. But this wasn’t the time to explain it all.

“Did he hurt you?” he asked hoarsely.

“No.”

“I have to go.” His eyes still fastened on hers, he leaned in and brushed a kiss over her mouth. Awareness of all the people around them slithered over Kendall, and her gaze darted around the room. Despite all the activity, everyone seemed to be shooting curious glances at them. She, too, took a step back.

Breathe. She needed to breathe. Her lungs didn’t seem to want to take in air and a wave of nausea rolled over her.

“Sit,” Jason ordered, pushing her to a chair then laying a heavy hand on her shoulder. Like Kendall had done to Dedra, he pushed her head down and held it there. He dropped to a crouch next to her, fingers rubbing over the back of her neck beneath her hair. “Shit, Kendall. You’re not okay.”

“I’m alive,” she croaked, trying for a smile. “I’ll be okay, really. Go, do what you have to do.”

He shot a frustrated-as-hell look across the room. “No,” he said, his lips firming into a stubborn line. “I’m not leaving you.”

She stared at the police chief, normally so full of duty and responsibility, refusing to do his job. “I’m okay,” she said softly, laying a hand on his stubble-rough cheek. “Really. You need to go.”

“I’ll call Kevin,” he said. “You need someone to come.”

“Okay,” she whispered. She only wanted him. But he was the police chief and had a job to do. Other people needed him just then, more than she did, or more than she wanted to. More than she should.

He rose and talked on his cell phone as he walked away from her over to where he’d been called earlier. Kendall stayed where she was, perspiration dampening her clothes, the hair at the nape of her neck and along her hairline. She leaned back into the chair and closed her eyes, letting the sounds recede around her.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Kevin rocketed into the apartment, eyes flashing, mouth grim. “Jesus Christ, Kendall,” he groaned, folding her into a hug. “What the hell? What were you doing here?”

“I’d like to talk to her about that too,” Jason said with a scowl. Kendall licked her lips and hugged Kevin back. “We need to get a statement from you, Kendall.”

She nodded. “I know. That’s fine.” She looked at Kevin. “How did you get here so fast?”

“I heard about the hostage taking,” Kevin said. “It didn’t take the media long to find out it was you in here. I came right away, but the cops kept me outside the barricaded area. When Jason called my cell, they let me through.”

“It’s over,” she whispered, meeting his eyes. “It was Wade. Dedra’s fiancé. He killed Natalia.”

Kevin’s eyes tightened. She should still be angry at him, but she was so, so relieved for him she didn’t know whether to smack him or scold him. And then, like a slap, she remembered he was mourning Natalia.

It was all so overwhelming and confusing, her emotions ping ponging wildly.

Later, when she was finished giving her second statement of the day to the police, she turned to Kevin, who’d stayed at her side. “Take me home,” she whispered to him. “And
we
are going to have a long talk.” She gave him a significant look and he met it head on.

“Yeah,” he said. “Let’s go.”

“Kendall.” She turned at Jason’s deep voice and looked up at him. “Just so you know…Kevin came in to the station this morning. He told us everything.”

She blinked at him. “This morning?” Had it only been hours ago she’d been at the police station confessing her sins? “Before I came in?”

“Yeah.” Jason’s lips lifted at the corners.

“Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“It was up to him to tell you.” He shrugged. “For all I knew, you already did know.”

She fixed a glare on Kevin. “I didn’t know.”

“I’m sorry, Kendall,” Kevin said quietly. “I put you through hell. Though, in my defense, I was kind of out of my mind with worry about Natalia. And guilt. And now…” His face tightened.

Her heart softened but she gritted her teeth. She’d been too soft with him for too long. But oh Lord, he’d just lost the woman he loved. She had to figure out some kind of balance here, between love and compassion, and treating him like an adult and expecting him to act like one.

“We’ll talk at home,” she said in a throaty voice. “Let’s go.”

She dragged her gaze away from Jason, who touched his fingers to his forehead but kept his eyes trained on her as she slowly turned away, their linked gazes holding until the last second when she walked out the door.

Jason approached Nicki Barden who watched him with a weird expression on her face. “What?” he said, frowning.

She gave him that sweet smile which usually preceded some annoying comment. “Is your girlfriend okay?” she asked.

He rubbed his forehead. “She’s not my…” He blew out a breath. “Yeah. She’s okay. I think.” Hell, it had taken everything he had to let her walk out of there without going with her. He wasn’t sure when the reaction to the adrenaline rush was going to kick in for him, but he knew how to deal with it. She didn’t. With every fiber of his being, he longed to be with her, to look after her, protect her. Relief made him almost dizzy that things had turned out okay, but he dug deep for professional control. He had a job to do.

“You did good, Chief.” His head whipped back up to look at Nicki. This time her smile seemed almost genuine. “Look, I know about what happened with your sister. You had every right to freak out.” For a moment something flickered in Nicki’s eyes that looked soft. “That must have been hard.”

He studied the FBI agent, his emotions still jumbled and raw, adrenaline still zinging through his bloodstream. He swallowed. “Actually it was kinda fun.”

She laughed. “I gave you a hard time on this.”

“Yeah.” He folded his arms and eyed her.

“Look. We all knew Kevin was lying, but all the evidence told us it wasn’t him. But I did know your history, so I worried about your objectivity.”
 

“You weren’t the only one,” he said, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck. “Shit.”

“You knew what you were doing, Chief.” She slapped his shoulder.

He met her eyes. “Thanks.”

Kendall was silent in the car as they drove through the dark, not sure if she was in shock, not sure how she was supposed to feel. Inside the house, she dropped her purse, shoved her hands into her hair and held her aching head.

“I am so happy to be here,” she whispered. “For a few minutes, I thought I was never going see this place again. Or you.” She blinked through her tears at Kevin.

He swallowed hard. “I just about had a fucking heart attack when I heard what was happening. Why did you go there?”

“I watched the surveillance video of Natalia leaving the building. But it wasn’t Natalia. It was Dedra, wearing her clothes.” Kevin had heard the whole story as she told the police.

“But I meant, why did you go there, alone? Knowing that? Why didn’t you let the police deal with it for chrissakes?”

“I don’t know.” She blinked and shook her head. She wandered farther into the house, rubbed her eyes. “It seemed like they didn’t believe me. It was Dedra. Sweet little Dedra. I was worried for her. I thought I could help her. I wanted to get her out of there. I just didn’t imagine tha… that…Wade…oh dear God.”

And reaction set in. She started shivering.

“Here.” Kevin picked up the fluffy blanket draped over the arm of the couch and wrapped her in it. “Let me start a fire. Then we’ll talk.”

“We need to call Mr. and Mrs. Debarros.” Her teeth chattered so much she could hardly get the words out.

Kevin gave a jerky nod, knelt in front of the fireplace and soon had flames licking over the logs there.

“I’ll call them,” he said, standing. He dusted his hands off and stood there looking pained and lost.

And he did. He called them and told them that the police had apprehended Natalia’s killer. It was some measure of closure for them, for all of them, knowing that, and Mrs. Debarros cried with relief at hearing the news.

When he’d hung up, he sat on the far end of the couch from her. The fire had started to warm her up, but she kept the blanket clutched around her chilled body.

“Now you’re going to tell me everything,” she said, trying to make her shaky voice firm and commanding. Kevin let out a long sigh, closed his eyes and leaned his head back.

“Yeah,” he said. “Okay. That day—Saturday—Natalia and I had been arguing.”

“About the prenup?”

“Yes.” He glanced at her, his lips pursed. “I knew you were right about that. You’re always right. About everything.” Bitterness edged his words. “And I hate it when you tell me what to do. I’m not stupid. I didn’t want to risk the vineyards and the winery either.”

Her heart constricted at his words, a small knife of pain stabbing it. He didn’t like her telling him what to do.