I'm Watching You (36 page)

Swallowing the pain, he held his gun straight. In a split second he took
in the scene. Richard had grabbed Lindsay's hair, yanked her head back,
and was pressing the ax blade to her neck.

In that moment, Pete pictured Debra's last moments. She'd
been alone.
Afraid.
He raised his gun. This was his
moment of redemption. "Let her go."

Richard's gaze snapped up. "Back the fuck off or I'll
kill her." He pushed the blade against Lindsay's neck, slicing her
skin. Blood trickled.

"Kill her and I'll kill you and your wife," Pete said.
He moved into the room so that the wall, not the door, was to his back. He
didn't want to kill Nicole but he would.

"No!" Lindsay struggled to get free.

Pete didn't take his eyes off Lindsay. "You come first,
Lindsay. If she has to die, then so be it. I came to save
you
."

Richard heard the sincerity in Pete's voice. He hesitated,
understanding that Pete would kill his wife and child. "Who the hell are
you?"

"I'm Lindsay's Guardian." Pride welled inside
him. He'd waited so long to say those words.

Outside, police tires screeched to a halt. Footsteps raced toward the
barn.

Richard sneered and lowered his gaze to the blade. He was going to kill
Lindsay.

The Guardian fired.

Guns drawn, Zack and Warwick burst into the barn as Pete's bullet
whirled past Lindsay's head and struck Richard in the face. Blood and
brains splattered Lindsay's face and body. She screamed.

Warwick's face twisted with anguish. "Pete!"

Pete backed up, his gun still drawn.

"Drop your weapon!" Zack ordered.

Lindsay turned away from Richard's body. She didn't chance a
glance down at his body. Instead, she looked at Pete. "You're my
Guardian?"

Pete's gun didn't waver. "Yes."

Understanding dawned in Lindsay's eyes.
"My
mother's brother."

Pete nodded. "I wasn't there for you when you needed me
then. But I'm here now."

Zack inched closer. "Pete, drop the gun. Give Lindsay a chance to
get to know her uncle. It doesn't have to end for you."

Warwick's face looked carved from stone. "Please, Pete.
Don't do this."

For an instant, Pete's stance relaxed a fraction and it looked
like he might give up. Then he shook his head. "This is the end of the
line." He raised the gun at Nicole, ready to fire.

Warwick hesitated.

Zack didn't. He fired. His bullet hit Pete in the chest. Pete
dropped to his knees, the gun still in his hand. He turned his face toward Warwick.
"You're a good kid."

Warwick froze, his weapon pointed forward.

Pete raised his gun a second time.

Zack fired again. This time the bullet struck Pete in the head, killing
him instantly.

Adrenaline pumped through Zack's veins. For several seconds he didn't
move. He wanted to run to Lindsay to take her in his arms, but he resisted the
urge. He swept the room with his gaze. There didn't appear to be anyone
else there.

"Lindsay, is anyone else here?" Zack asked.

She shoved her hands through her bloody hair. "I don't think
so."

Zack looked at Nicole. Her skin was as pale as porcelain.
"Anyone else?"

Nicole shook her head. "Richard said he'd come alone. He
didn't want anyone to know where I was."

Outside the distant sound of sirens began to grow louder. Backup would
soon arrive. Still, Zack let his gaze roam over the rafters and in the shadowed
corners.

Warwick cleared his throat. "I'll cover you."

"You can handle this?"

Warwick looked like he'd aged a decade. "Yes."

Zack searched the room, and only when he was satisfied that the danger
had passed did he holster his weapon and go to Lindsay.

She was covered in so much blood that he was afraid he might hurt her if
he touched her. "Lindsay, are you all right?"

Green eyes locked on his. Tears filled her eyes and streamed down her
face. "Yes." She wrapped her arms around him. "I thought
I'd never see you again."

Zack held Lindsay tight. "It's okay, baby. I'm
here."

Warwick, careful not to look at Pete, moved to Richard's body and
searched his pockets for the key to the handcuffs that held Nicole. Finding it,
he moved to her and unlocked them. He had a white-knuckle hold on his control
and he wouldn't be able to hold it forever. He guided Nicole out of the
barn.

Lindsay stared at Pete's body. "How did he know we were
here?"

"He's the one who had been watching you on the cameras.
There are cameras at Ruby's house too."

"My God."

Zack wrapped his arm around Lindsay and held her tight. Her heart beat
rapidly against his chest. "Let's get out of here."

"Yes." In the harsh sunlight, Lindsay squinted and tucked
her head against his chest.

As the backup cops arrived and fanned into a tight perimeter, he kissed
her. "Lindsay, I love you."

She clung to him. "I love you too, Zack."

Saturday, September 20, 1:05
P.M
.

"That's the last of it," Zack
said as he kicked the front door of the saltbox house closed with his foot.

"Still glad I'm moving in?" Lindsay said as she eyed
the stack of boxes and furniture in the living room.

Zack set the box down and pulled her into his arms. Light from the
transom above him shone into the hallway, giving the house a bright, cheery
feel. He kissed her long and hard.
"Absolutely.
You're exactly where you belong."

Lindsay snuggled close to him. In his arms everything felt so
right
. After her nightmare experience in July with Richard
Braxton and her uncle, Pete Myers, she'd realized just how much she loved
Zack. No matter what their problems had been, she'd known she'd
work with him to solve them.

Together, they'd gone into marriage counseling and had started to
work on the issues that had kept them apart. The sessions weren't always
easy. There were tears and some anger, but through it all they kept
communicating and trying to find their way back to each other. And they had.
Their relationship wasn't perfect, but then no relationship was. They
both still had busy, demanding work schedules but they both understood that no
matter what, they belonged together. Their love would carry them through
anything.

Lindsay laid her head against Zack's chest. She savored the steady
thud of his strong heartbeat against her ear.

So much had happened in the last couple of months. Kendall had survived
her injuries. For reasons no one understood, the Guardian, Pete, had not cut
off her hand. He'd left her to die, expecting her to bleed out. But
because Zack and Warwick had found her in time, she'd survived the gunshot
wound to her shoulder. She had lost a great deal of blood and was near death
when they'd found her. It had had been touch-and-go for Kendall for a
couple of days. Lindsay had visited her daily, feeling an odd connection to the
woman who'd nearly been killed by Lindsay's own flesh and blood.
When Kendall had awakened for the first time, she had been surprised to see
Lindsay. She had been even more shocked by Lindsay's concern. However, as
the days had turned into weeks and Lindsay had continued to return to the
hospital, Kendall and Lindsay had forged the beginnings of a friendship.

The news media had swarmed all over the story. Their coverage had been
relentless. Kendall was used to covering events herself and had hated being the
center of attention. Ironically, Lindsay was one of the few people who
understood how wrenching such coverage could be.

"I don't like this," Kendall said as she
laid
in her hospital bed, her right arm in a gray sling. She
was pale and drawn, fragile even, but still held her chin up as if she were
queen of the world. Lindsay had to give the woman credit. She was a survivor.

"Another story will come along," Lindsay said.
"You'll be forgotten soon enough."

Kendall's face tightened as she absently plucked at a loose thread
on her blanket. Tears welled in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Lindsay frowned.
"For what?"

"I wasn't fair to you when I was covering the Guardian
story." She smoothed long fingers over her thigh. "But I've
had a taste of what I put you through. I've been
the
story for the last month and it's not been pleasant. I was willing to
sacrifice you for my career. I'm sorry."

"You were doing your job. I understand that it wasn't
personal." Lindsay was trying her best to let go of her anger.

Kendall shook her head. "I was doing my job a little too well. And
no, it wasn't personal, but that kind of media coverage can be hurtful. I
see that now." An awkward silence settled between them.

That one apology had banished a good bit of her resentment. She managed
a soft smile. "How's the shoulder?"

"Stiff and it really throbs at night. I'll be in rehab for
months." Kendall wiggled all ten fingers. "But I'm very
grateful to have both my hands."

"When does rehab start?"

"Two weeks. The doctors are pretty sure I'll regain full range
of motion." She smiled. "I've heard my physical therapist is
the best, but other patients say she can be a bit of a sadist."

Lindsay nodded grimly. "It's going to be her job to make
your arm move in directions it doesn't want to go. I'm sorry
it's going to be so painful."

She shrugged. "The pain doesn't bother me. It will just feel
good to have my life back."

"Are you going to take that job at the New York televison
station?"

Kendall shook her head. "I don't know. I don't have to
make a decision for a few weeks. By the way, how's Nicole? I hear
she's back in Richmond."

Lindsay gave her the recap. Nicole was also moving on with her life. Her
bullet wound had been superficial and had not impacted the baby. She'd
chosen to carry the child to term but hadn't ruled out adoption. Her
biggest fear was that she could never love Richard's child.

Nicole had flown back to San Francisco to reclaim her life. With Richard
gone she was free to reclaim her old studio and the bank accounts she'd
not been able to access. But she'd quickly discovered that the city no
longer felt like home. There were simply too many bad memories. So, she had
returned to Virginia within weeks and had announced she was reopening her
business on the East Coast.

Kendall nodded. "She's welcome to stay with me. I've
got a huge house to myself."

"Thanks, I'll tell her."

Later, Nicole had agreed to room with Kendall, knowing she'd not
be able to make any firm living arrangements until she decided about the baby.

When Lindsay thought back on all that had happened she still felt
overwhelmed. But what always brought her down to earth was Zack. "I love
you, Zack Kier."

"I love you, Lindsay O'Neil." He kissed her on the
forehead. "I have something for you in the kitchen."

"Please tell me
it's
lunch,"
she said, teasing. The appetite that had eluded her this past year was
returning. "I'm starving."

He grinned. "I'll grill us some hamburgers in a minute but
first I want to give you this." He guided her into the kitchen. He
reached in the drawer beside the sink and pulled out a small black box.

Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she accepted the box and
cracked it open. Inside was a ring. It was a thick gold band with three small
sapphires and two diamonds embedded in it. "Wow."

Zack took the ring from the box and slipped it on her ring finger. It
fit perfectly. "When we got married, we never bought rings. I thought it
was time I gave you a proper wedding band."

Tears glistened in her eyes. For so many years, she'd felt an
emptiness that had cut to her bone. Now, her life and heart felt so full.
"It's stunning."

"You really like it?"

"Yes."

"I knew you wouldn't want anything fussy, but I wanted the
ring to have some sparkle."

Emotion tightened her throat. "It's gorgeous."

He pulled a second ring out of his jeans pocket. "I picked up one
for me as well."

Grinning through tears, she took the ring from him and slipped it on his
ring finger. His hands were warm, calloused, and already she was imagining them
on her naked body. "I guess this makes us official."

He laughed. "I want the world to know we're married."

She had come so far. There'd been a time when she had feared
marriage, even love. And now she embraced them both.

Lindsay's counseling sessions with her therapist had focused not only
on her relationship with Zack but with her uncle, Pete Myers. Police
investigations had revealed that Pete had retired from the military twenty
years ago and had settled in Richmond. He'd opened his gym and had become
a foster father to Jacob Warwick. By all accounts, he had been a model citizen
and father to Jacob. What no one realized was that Pete had harbored bitter
disappointment and guilt over his estrangement from his sister, Deb,
Lindsay's mother. When Deb had been brutally murdered twelve years ago,
Pete's mental health had suffered a severe blow. Jacob was in the army
and there'd been no one to ground Pete.

Pete had traveled to Hanover searching for Lindsay. When he'd
discovered she'd run away he'd gone to the Hines house and burned
it to the ground. From then on, Pete's mental health never fully
recovered. All outward appearances suggested he was fine, but video journals
found by the police revealed that he had a very troubled mind.

In the video diaries, Pete had ranted about his dead brother-in-law,
about his own rage and his need for revenge. In fact, arson investigators were
able to link several unsolved fires to Pete.

Seeing Lindsay's picture in the May article in
Inside
Richmond
had snapped Pete's hold on reality. He had believed the
article had been a sign from God for him to become Lindsay's Guardian. He
had planted the cameras in Lindsay's town house and had obsessively
followed her. His surveillance had alerted him to Sam Begley. Pete had
surreptitiously known of Sam's obsession with gambling and it had been
easy to lure him into a couple of bets on boxing fights. Pete had seen to it
that Sam had lost. And then he'd used the doctor's debts to force
him to supply confidential information about patients. Police later found Sam's
body in the back of Pete's van.

In the end, Pete's obsession with Lindsay had destroyed Sanctuary
Women's Shelter, the haven Lindsay had created as a tribute to her
mother. But ironically, she'd not have been alive today to rebuild
another shelter if not for Pete's fixation on her. If he had not been
following her that hot day in July and figured out where Richard had taken her
and called Jacob, Zack would never have found her alive. Richard would have
brutally killed her, as he'd killed Claire, and Nicole and her baby would
be back in California suffering under Richard's iron hand.

Even the loss of Sanctuary was only temporary. A month ago, Dana and
Sanctuary's board of directors had given Lindsay the go-ahead to find a
new location for another women's shelter.

Lindsay stared down at her ring, and despite her best efforts to remain
positive, thoughts of the teenage boy who had died because of Pete haunted her.

Zack detected her shift in mood. "What's bothering you? Is
it the ring?"

"No, it's perfect." She blew out a breath. "I
still think of those boys my uncle shot." One had survived his wounds but
the other had been buried. The wrenching funeral had attracted more than 500
mourners including Lindsay, Zack, and Jacob. "I just wish I could have
stopped Pete from going over the edge."

He tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. "You
hadn't seen the guy in over twenty years. How could you be
responsible?"

"Intellectually, I get that. Emotionally, I feel awful about what
happened." When she was close to Zack, she felt as if she could get
through anything. "I saw Jacob yesterday. He opened up a little about his
feelings, but I can see the guy is a wreck."

"I'm glad he at least talked to you. He's gone to the
department shrink but I don't think he's saying anything more than
he has to. He needs someone to trust."

"Trust is a tall order for him to fill right now. His mother left
him scarred and Pete shattered what little trust he'd regained."
She shook her head. "It's odd. If my uncle had found me right after
Mom's death, Jacob would have been a kind of foster brother to me."

Zack laid his hands on her shoulders. You're good at getting
people to open up. Keep talking to him. He's going to need you."

"We've pieced together some of his life but not all of it.
Peter Henry Myers was a complicated man."

"He cared about you both."

"Yeah."
Lindsay felt the need to talk about
something cheerier.
"Enough sadness.
Today is a
happy day. Let's get those burgers on the grill. I'm
starving."

He smiled warmly. "And after that, I vote we bag the boxes for
today and try out that new bed."

She glanced out the kitchen window onto the deck to the only splash of
color in the backyard. He mother's clay planters that Zack had rescued
were filled with pansies and ivy.
"Sounds good."

Zack collected the burgers from the refrigerator. "Mom called this
morning."

Lindsay grabbed the hamburger buns from the bread basket. She and Audrey
had shared a pleasant lunch last week. It felt good to be back in the Kier
fold. Even Malcolm was warming to her.
"And?"

"She'd like to throw us a wedding." He shrugged.
"She doesn't want to put any pressure on us, but she'd like
to see us married in a real church. She even wants to throw a reception at
Zola's."

"That's very generous. I'd love to renew our vows,
Zack, but finding the time to plan a big event is going to be kind of hard now.
We have the house and we're both busy with work."

"Mom wants to do the whole thing for us. It's her gift to
us. She'd wanted to do it after we first eloped but..."