“It’s not over, Rachel. We have to move. Hang on to me. ” Shane started the engine and threw the machine into gear, snow flying out behind them as he jolted them forward.
Rachel held tightly to Shane, though she couldn’t help but turn around and look at the mess behind them. The house she’d been held in for two days was nothing but a great ball of fire, and it lit up the night sky, making it easy to see the remaining men scrambling from the windows and flailing about on the ground.
She was safe.
“I’m getting you out of here,” Shane yelled over the scream of the whipping wind.
“Thank you, Shane,” she whispered, more to herself than to him. She leaned into him as they sped away.
It was almost over.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
ADRIANE APPROACHED THE compound with Rafe right behind him. Looking in all directions, they spied Shane rushing through the yard with Rachel clinging to his belt.
Adriane immediately jumped up, ready to run to her, catch her up in his arms and take her away from here — far away. Rafe snatched his coat and pulled him back.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Adriane snarled, prepared to throw a punch.
“Look!” Rafe growled, trying to keep his voice down.
That’s when Adriane saw two men come around the corner of the house and spot Shane and Rachel. His breath caught in his throat as the men lifted their weapons, aiming them directly at the woman he loved.
Before the men were able to get off any shots, Shane fired, nailing both men, while he continued moving rapidly toward the safety of the fence.
“We need to help them,” Rafe hollered, no longer trying to be quiet as shots rang out in the cold winter night.
Adriane and Rafe raised their weapons and charged forward as Shane and Rachel reached the fence. They were too far away to help in the actual escape, but they could take out the men trying to shoot the pair. Adriane breathed a sigh of relief as Rachel slid through the opening and began running. Then he lost her to the night as he faced the house again and shot a man in a second-story window who was aiming straight in the direction Rachel had just run. The man went down, screaming as he fell into the snow, his blood turning the ground red.
Just as Rafe and Adriane moved through the fence, there was an explosion, the blast so powerful that the waves hit them both, sending them flying backward in the snow as the sound echoed through the mountains.
“What in the hell was that?” Rafe shouted as he staggered to his feet.
“I don’t know,” Adriane replied, also struggling up.
They looked toward the house, which was now up in a ball of flames, and looked for the source of the blast. They hadn’t launched any explosives. Had Gianni destroyed his own place?
Creeping forward, they noticed the propane lines.
“A bullet must have hit the propane tank,” Rafe said as he cautiously looked around, searching for any more threats. It seemed the explosion had taken care of the rest of the men.
The next several minutes seemed endless as the house burned bright and the screaming of the enemy men who were still barely alive filled the air.
As Rafe and Adriane, who could count about fifteen men, dead and dying, scoped out what was left of the building, Adriane was torn. He wanted nothing more than to follow after Shane right now, to get ahold of Rachel and never let her go, but he had to make sure the threat was gone.
Page 106
He couldn’t stop until he saw Gianni’s cold, dead face.
“Move cautiously,” Adriane said; the two of them stood up and crept forward.
They moved through the yard, the house now fully engulfed in flames and casting an eerie glow on the night. Adriane searched the faces of each of the men, frustration mounting when he didn’t see his brother among them.
“Gianni! Where in the hell are you! Come out and face me like a man!” Adriane called, his voice echoing through the mountains.
“Careful, Adriane,” Rafe warned.
“Time for being careful is long over,” Adriane replied, his eyes almost wild.
“I understand, but it doesn’t look like he’s here. Maybe he never was. ”
“No. He’s here. I can feel it. He’d never have sent Rachel here alone. He trusts no one, not even those he hires. Rachel means less than nothing to him; she is merely a means of getting his way. But still, he wouldn’t leave her in the hands of these guys — not until he’d gained his objective. ”
It had been a long time since Adriane had been with his brother, but he knew the man hadn’t changed that much in their years apart. Gianni used those he could and condemned the world as a pack of fools. But this time he was the fool, for he never should have pushed Adriane to this point.
“Come out now, Gianni!”
Only silence greeted him.
“We need to get back to the meeting place,” Rafe said, a new urgency in his voice.
“He couldn’t have gotten away,” Adriane said, frantically searching the yard, not ready to give up. Gianni had to be there.
“What if he did? What if he ambushes them?”
Adriane halted at Rafe’s words and turned to face him. “Let’s go,” he said.
The two men ran from the yard and made their way to the snowmobiles they’d come in on. Time seemed to freeze as they forced their way through the snow to their transportation. It seemed that every step took minutes instead of fractions of seconds.
Adriane needed to get to Rachel right now.
CHAPTER FIFTY
JUST AS THE sun began rising in the sky, casting eerie shadows across the ground, Shane and Rachel rode over a hill on the snow-covered mountain and saw a vehicle waiting ahead on a paved highway road — no more bumpy remnants of mountain trails.
And did that vehicle beckon! Rachel, still freezing, had been fighting against the wind, and now, before her, sat a car that she knew would be blasting heat from its vents.
“Your rescue vehicle, madam,” Shane said as he slowed and clicked the doors open.
A shot rang out.
Shane suddenly jerked against her and then slumped forward, leaving Rachel baffled. What had just happened?
“Go!” Shane said, gurgling on his own blood, as he threw himself sideways off the snowmobile.
“Go!” he said again, but Rachel could do nothing but sit there as she watched his blood start to seep out against the fabric of his coat.
“You didn’t think you would get away so easily, did you?”
Rachel looked up as Gianni approached. She struggled to get her brain to function, to make her arms move, but fear paralyzed her.
She couldn’t leave Shane there, even if that’s what he wanted her to do. It was too late, anyway. Gianni was almost beside her, with a gun aimed directly at her head.
“Why?” she said, her voice trembling. She was trying to be brave, but Shane was lying there dying before her eyes and there was no way out.
“Because my brother needs to be taught a lesson. He may think he won something today, but all he did was kill off the men I would have had to destroy anyway. There can’t be any witnesses left when this is over. If I’m to take my rightful place on the throne, I have to look like the grieving brother, the savior coming home after the tragic deaths of my brother, his fiancée and his bastard children. ”
Keep him talking. Rachel knew that’s what they did in every crime show she’d ever watched. She didn’t know why, didn’t know how it worked, but that’s what they did, and so would she.
“Adriane said that the crown was supposed to be yours but you didn’t want it. ” Rachel spoke through chattering teeth.
“I didn’t know what I wanted when I left Corythia. I wasn’t much more than a child. My father is the one who sealed my fate. By the time I decided I wanted the throne that was due to me, he told me it was too late, that my ideas were wr
ong for Corythia. He’s the one who didn’t want to modernize. I will make a fine king, a king who will go down in history. This world may look at royal titles as nothing more than a show these days, but a little fear from my people is just what Corythia needs. I have a vision for my country — a vision both my father and brother were too weak to adopt. The people should respect their king — bow down to him — and pay, always pay, for the privilege of his rule,” he told her.
Page 107
“If we promise to leave you alone, will you let us go?”
“You naïve, stupid woman. We both know that’s not how this works. You could make all the promises you liked while I had a gun pointed at your head, but the minute you were safe, you would be running to anyone who would listen to your story. I’m not a senseless man. So don’t insult my intelligence with your lies. ”
“Then why not just kill me?” she shouted, growing fed up with this game. She’d rather he fired, took her life, gave Adriane some kind of warning, than force her to keep dancing around him, giving him this time to gloat.
“Good idea. ” He raised the gun and aimed it right between her eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, a goodbye to her family — to Adriane. Closing her eyes, she waited. She wished she were brave enough to look Gianni in the face.
The gun fired and an unnerving silence filled the air.
Rachel waited for the pain to start, waited for her knees to give out and for her body to slump to the ground next to Shane.
“Shane!”
Lia’s scream startled Rachel into opening her eyes. Where Gianni had been standing in front of her, there was now only empty space. Her body racked with trembling, she looked down and saw the man who’d been torturing her, now lying on the ground, blood trickling down his chin from his mouth as he tried to catch his breath.
Then she saw the blood spurting from his neck. He was clasping the spot with one hand, but the light was already leaving his eyes. His hatred undying, he attempted to lift the hand still clutching the gun, but his fingers failed him and the weapon fell beside him as he stilled.
Kicking the gun away and then turning, Rachel saw Lia rush up from behind, drop to her knees and grab hold of Shane.
“Shane, don’t you dare die! Do you hear me! I won’t let that happen,” Lia yelled as she pulled open his coat and looked at the blood coating his shirt. So much blood — too much. It had seeped through his shirt and coat. How could he survive?
“Rachel!”
Turning again, she watched as Rafe and Adriane pulled through the trees and skidded to a stop in front of her.
Suddenly there was movement all around her, everything happening so quickly. Lia was shouting as Rafe and Adriane picked up Shane and rushed him to the rescue vehicle that Shane had brought to that place.
Rachel couldn’t move — she was frozen to the spot.
Adriane rushed back over to her. “Were you hit?” he asked, opening her coat and running his hands all over her body to look for any wounds. Rachel shook her head, but she couldn’t get her voice to work.
Shock had taken over.
Adriane lifted her carefully into his arms and carried her to the car. He got in with her on the passenger side and cradled her in his lap, close to his chest, as he whispered soothing words into her ear and rubbed her back.
Shane was lying on the backseat with his head in Lia’s lap as she held a wad of material over the bullet wound.
“Where was he hit?” Rafe asked as he threw the SUV into drive and began moving.
“Between his chest and stomach. I couldn’t tell if it hit any vital organs. There’s just so much blood,” she cried.
“Keep pressure on the wound,” he called back.
“I am,” said Lia, her voice choked but strong. Then she yelled again. “Stop!”
Rafe lifted his foot from the gas, carefully tapped the brakes and came to a stop. “Why? What’s happened?” he shouted as he twisted in the seat, thinking it was too late for Shane.
“This is where our car went off the road. We have to get Ari,” she said.
“What?” Rafe asked as his head whipped around as he noticed the skid marks going off the road. Without waiting for Lia’s explanation, he jumped from the vehicle and rushed down the short drop, wrenching open the door.
“Are you all right?” he asked, nearly sobbing when he found Ari in the driver’s seat.
“I’m fine, Rafe, just a swollen knee. I couldn’t climb the hill. Lia heard a gunshot and then shouting, and she knew she needed to go help,” Ari replied.
“What in the hell were the two of you doing up here? You were supposed to wait at the hotel,” he said, but he was careful as he lifted her in his arms and then quickly began climbing back up the ditch wall.
“We couldn’t not help,” she said as they reached the vehicle and Rafe set her inside on the third-row seat.
“We will discuss this at the hospital,” he warned her.
Jumping back in the SUV, he went flying down the mountain, taking the slick roads far too fast, but somehow Rafe managed to keep them from sliding over the steep edge.
Page 108
Rachel had no idea how long it took them, but she realized everything was measured in sound. The sound of Shane’s harsh breathing, the sound of Lia’s words of encouragement to Shane, of Rafe calling out orders, of Ari telling Lia that Shane would be fine, and of Adriane telling her that everything would be all right.
They skidded into the emergency room bay at the closest hospital and doors flew open as Rafe rushed from the vehicle.
“He was shot. He needs medical attention right now!”
“Do you have the weapon?”
“No!”
“Sir, please calm down. ”
“Don’t tell me to calm down. Get him help now!” He looked like a madman.
“Officers!”
“Damn it, I’m not the one who shot him. The guy who shot him is dead!” Those words made the officers approaching look a little uneasy.
All of the words flew over Rachel’s head. More people were speaking. Officers were there with their hands on their guns. Nurses were getting Shane on a gurney and placing Ari in a wheelchair. The officers were talking to Rafe. Adriane continued holding her until someone pulled her from his arms. No! She didn’t want to be taken from him. Still, she couldn’t speak.
“Rachel, you have to snap out of this!” She turned her head to find Lia in front of her, kneeling on the ground with worry on her face. “We need you back. Please!”
Blood.
So much blood covered Lia.
The sight finally seemed to make something inside of her snap. Rachel bent forward as a sob was ripped from her throat and she grasped her sister tight.
“Why? Why?” she wailed, leaning against Lia.
“I don’t know, sweetie, but the doctors are going to fix Shane, and we’re going to make sure you’re OK, too. The police are questioning Rafe and Adriane right now, and the two of them looked beyond pissed off about being detained, but I’m here with you. Let’s go have the doctors make sure my nieces or nephews are all safe and sound, and then let’s find Ari as we sit and wait. ”
“What about Shane?” Shouldn’t Lia be with him?
“I can’t think about that right now, so I’m going to focus on you. I have to focus on something or I will fall apart. Please, just stay with me,” Lia begged.
“You are so strong, Lia. I wish I had even a fraction of your strength,” Rachel said.
“Are you kidding me, Rachel! You nearly gave me a heart attack when you told that man to shoot you. What in the hell were you thinking? If I hadn’t gotten into position right then, you would have been dead. I heard him shoot Shane, heard the shouts as he threatened your life. I was helpless to stop Gianni. But I wasn’t going to just stand by. I was too far away to shoot him and guarantee a hit f
rom where I was. I had to sneak closer. You did really well at distracting him. I’m so proud of you,” Lia said.
“We’re going to take you to the exam room now, Ms. Palazzo,” the nurse said, making both Lia and Rachel turn.
“Have you been hit?” another woman asked Lia, eyeing the blood all over her.
“No. This isn’t my blood,” she told the woman. “I’m staying with my sister here. ”
No one argued with Lia. She looked like GI Jane right then with her blood-covered clothes and black hat, and more importantly, the glint of raw courage shining from her eyes. Rachel couldn’t be more proud of her.
It seemed like hours before the doctor finished examining Rachel and ran some tests, but by then, Ari’s knee had been wrapped and she was in the room, too. They had given Lia fresh clothes to change into, and now it was a waiting game.
When the doctor came back, he told Rachel that, although she had slightly elevated blood pressure, she was suffering from dehydration, and she was underweight, the babies were progressing nicely.
He wanted to keep her at the hospital overnight and hook up an IV to get her body proper nourishment, but he was sure he could allow her release the next day.
When they were finally left all alone, a frightened silence fell as they waited to hear news about Shane. After several minutes, Rachel couldn’t stand it anymore.
“He will make it, Lia. You two have just gotten married,” Rachel said.
“I was so afraid of this. It was the reason I didn’t want to have a relationship with him. I was so terrified that I’d be sitting at home one day while he was out on a mission, and then two uniformed men would show up at my door. But with all that, I never, ever imagined that I would be just around the corner when he got shot — and that I would be the one to kill his shooter. ”
Page 109
“I’m so sorry you had to do that, Lia. I don’t know how you did it, but I am so very thankful you did. How in the world did the two of you end up there? How did you even have a gun?” she asked as she looked between Lia and Ari, who looked at each other as if they had a secret they’d vowed never to tell anyone.
“Well, what to answer first?” Lia said with a slight smile toward Ari.
“Rafe and I both have family tracking on our cell phones, so once they left, Lia and I got in the car and followed them. We were coming up the road when I lost control of the vehicle and slid into the ditch. My knee slammed into the middle console and there was no way for me to walk, so Lia took off on foot in their direction. I told her I was fine. ”