Save Me If You Can (20 page)

Marcus shook his head. “I don’t know…” The woman’s back was to the camera, and there wasn’t another angle. But he could tell by Naomi’s body language that it was someone she wasn’t happy to see. He watched Naomi dismiss the classroom, and then he watched her talk to the woman, and then… they switched positions, but he was… how was he still looking at Naomi’s face? Or was it…

“
Merde
!” Quentin exclaimed, and Marcus turned to him, confused. “That’s Noelle, Naomi’s mother!”

“What?! What the hell is she doing here?! And how the hell does she just walk in here, like it’s nothing?”

“Because the goddamned guards are gone.
Shit
.” Quentin stared at the screen for another few moments, and then moved back to computer, fast-forwarding. Both men stared at the screen, watching carefully to see what would happen next. Marcus stared, watching as Naomi and Noelle seemed to argue, and then… Naomi followed her out. No gun pointed at her, no use of force, Naomi just… followed.

He watched them leave the classroom, and tracked them on the cameras all the way to the parking lot. Naomi climbed into the backseat of a car with Noelle and it took off, and Marcus cursed as they left the view of the cameras.

“We have to find that car,” he said, struggling to keep his voice steady, even though he was suddenly scared as hell. What did Noelle want with Naomi? “Hack some traffic cameras, store surveillance, whatever you have to do, but we have to find her.”

“I’m already on it, bruh.” Quentin looked up, giving Marcus a nod. “But I don’t need to do any of that.”

“So how will you find her.”

Quentin smiled. “Naomi has disappeared way too many times for me to have not learned my lesson. Her cell phone tracker
stays
on, even if the phone is turned off. When it comes to Mimi… no more chances.”

&

Kendall wanted, badly, to call Inez.

He looked up from his seat across the hall at Savannah, who’d chewed her nails to pieces there in the waiting room, waiting to hear back about Harrison.

It didn’t look good.

Kendall had honestly been shocked that by the time they made it down from the hangar and out to where Harrison laid in a puddle of blood – his and Barnes – the man was still alive. The stomach was one of the worst places to get shot – it was painful
and
dangerous, and required medical attention pretty immediately.

They’d gotten there as fast as they could though. And Savi… it was almost like she was in a trance. No wasted movements, no emotion clouding her ability to perform. She’d snatched her medical bag from the truck and rushed up to him, providing care with the precision of a surgeon in an operating room.

But the open air, and a concrete runway
weren’t
an emergency room, and they really weren’t sure who they could trust. With a high-ranking FBI agent with a bullet between his eyes, who exactly could they call?

They’d loaded Harrison into the backseat of the SUV and sped off, with Savi on the floor beside him, praying and soothing, and talking to him in a low tones, speaking words of desperation and love that Kendall purposely didn’t hear. He tuned her out, because it was private, really, and he would want the same respect given to him. After wracking his brain, he finally called Marcus, who had been suspicious of Barnes anyway. He relayed the events from the airfield, and Marcus gave him a suggestion he hadn’t yet considered: calling Dr. Morris.

They’d dealt with her before, and she’d been discreet, but that was also because she was caring for a pregnant Naomi. Harrison wasn’t exactly her target customer, as an OB-GYN, but… these were desperate times.

So he called. And it was her day off, but she directed them to her clinic, where she met them. He remembered thinking that she looked a little nervous once she actually
saw
Harrison, like maybe… maybe… it wasn’t going to be a happy ending.

But she tried.

She had Kendall and Savi help her at first, and then put them both out of the room so she could work in peace. That was almost an hour ago, and so much had come out in talking to Savi since then. She told him that Harrison had a Vendetta against King, because he was responsible for his mother’s death. She didn’t know any more details than that, but just that tidbit was enough to make Kendall understand Harrison. He couldn’t be upset that Harrison hadn’t revealed his motives, or that he wanted King dead. Kendall was dealing with the same thing, harboring a long-held secret vendetta.

The only difference was that Kendall had hesitated.

It gave him pause to end King’s life, knowing how the man was needed by his son. And then there was the matter of the promise he’d made Anita, to not be ruled by the desire for revenge.

Kendall let out a heavy sigh.

He hadn’t done a very good job of that.

But what man would,
really
? The prenatal vitamin she’d been taking for so long, through every failed attempt to conceive, through every lost pregnancy… up to her death. Slowly poisoning her, and probably killing their babies, and yet other than a fine, it was a deadly mistake that had gone unchecked. But… that was the thing. Calling it a “mistake” implied that it couldn’t have been prevented. But when Kendall had done the digging, and looked into it… King Pharmaceuticals didn’t
care
that they were killing people. They just put aside a few million for settlements, and considered it the cost of doing business.

But that wasn’t fucking
good
enough. A check in the mail didn’t make up for Anita’s life, or the lives of their children that had never come to fruition. Money didn’t make up for it. An apology didn’t make up for it. And as he watched Savi quietly sob over Harrison, and thought about Naomi too… maybe revenge didn’t make up for it either.

Maybe
nothing
did.

Some shit just… wasn’t okay. Nothing made it better.

If he killed King, then… what? It wouldn’t bring Anita back. It wouldn’t change the past. But the pursuit of King had certainly affected his ability to have a better future. So… maybe the real power was in letting it go. That had to be better than living in the past, and allowing himself to be paralyzed by it.

Which brought him back around to wanting to talk to Inez.

Ever since that night in her room, where he’d brought up the potential of her moving to a less dangerous job, they’d been dancing around each other. Pleasant, but not talking like they used to. And
definitely
not making love. He hadn’t intended for that happen, hadn’t meant to throw a wrench in what they
did
have, in pursuit of what they didn’t, but he had to speak his truth.

He
wanted
Inez, as more than just a sex partner and friend, and unless he was gravely mistaken, she wanted that too. Just… not on the same level of what he had in mind. But he wasn’t even sure that what he had on his mind was a deal breaker. If only they could just
talk
about it.

He knew it wasn’t the right time, but he stood up, leaving Savi in the hall waiting while he dialed Inez’s number. Before he could finish, the screen lit up with an incoming call.

“We’ve got a problem,” Marcus replied, to Kendall’s answering hello. Kendall listened intently as Marcus explained Naomi’s sudden absence, and Quentin’s attempts to track her down. “I can’t get in touch with Inez either,” Marcus said, and Kendall’s heart dropped. “Quentin says she was here right before Naomi left the office to do her class, and he ran a check on her cell records. She got a call from Barnes. We’re thinking he lured her away somehow, so that Noelle could get to Naomi. If Savi is good staying with Harrison, we need you to find Inez, and then get back to the house. Renata is there by herself with the girls, and if Barnes possibly sent people to the house before he died…”

Kendall nodded. “Yeah. I got it. I’ll be in touch.”

The two men hung up, and Kendall scrubbed a hand over his face. If something had happened to Inez…
shit.

He pulled up his phone again and dialed her number, silently begging her to respond. It wasn’t until the sixth ring that she picked up, sounding out of breath. “Ken… I… hello?”

“Inez?! Inez!” he repeated, stepping around the corner so he wouldn’t alarm Savi. “Why do you sound like… are you okay?”

He heard her struggle for a breath on the other end of the line for a moment before she spoke. “Trap,” she whispered. “Car accident… setup. I got his ass though,” she laughed, and then her laughter gave way to a rasping cough. “Track my phone. I think… I think… collapsed lung.”

“Okay,” Kendall said, his heart racing. “Yeah… okay… save your strength. I’m coming, okay?”

“
Dios mio, this shit hurts
.”

“Inez!”

“… yeah?”

“I’m
coming
, okay? I’m about to call Ren now.”

“Okay,” she mumbled, then said something unintelligible before she spoke his name. “Ken… Ken?”

Kendall swallowed hard. “Yeah?”

“I need to tell you—”

“Don’t you dare.”

“But Ken, I—”

“
No,
” he growled into the phone. “Anything else you have to tell me, you say it in person.” He hung up before she could say anything else, then took a deep breath before he held the phone up again to call Renata, so he could get to Inez. And after that… well… leaving the past in the past was one thing.

This was the present.

Somebody
was going to pay for this shit.

Sixteen

“
Okay. Okay. Okay, I understand.
”

Savi’s voice was the first thing Harrison heard when he woke up, with pain radiating through his body. For a second, he thought maybe he was still sleeping, and this was a dream. A flashback to when he’d first arrived at Inez’s house.

He’d woken up to Savi then too, but as he opened his eyes a little wider, his surroundings seemed completely unfamiliar. Posters on the wall talked about birth control options, diagrammed the uterus, offered numbers to call for victims of domestic violence… where the hell was he?

He wasn’t worried though. Wherever he was, Savi was there.

He finished surveying the right side of the room, then turned to his left, where he saw Savi standing near the door. She was still in the sexy, slim-fitting jeans from before, now sporting dark red stains that he realized with a pang were probably his blood.

She was nodding, agreeing with whatever the woman in front of her was saying. She glanced in his direction, and startled a little when she realized his eyes were open, and he was staring right back.

It took her a moment to move. It was almost like she was stuck to the spot, but then her chest heaved as she sucked in a breath, and then she rushed over to him.

Her hands were shaking, eyes glossed with tears as she raised her fingers to his face, stroking the lines of his jaw. “You’re awake,” she said, nodding as she turned to look at the other woman. Her voice was filled with gratitude, and relief, and she nodded again as she returned her gaze to him. “Good. Cause… we have to move. I have to get you out of here, and you’re too heavy for us to carry. Can you… if you can help us get you into a wheelchair… can you?”

“Yes,” he said, his voice cracking as he spoke. “Savi… what happened?”

She lifted an eyebrow in confusion. “What? You don’t know? You don’t remember?”

“Last thing is… getting out of the car… going to the airplane, and then… nothing.”

“You never went to the airplane,” she said, blinking back tears. “You and Terry King, you… you argued, and then you tried stab him. You
did
stab him, and then he shot you.”

Harrison blinked, hard. “What?”

“Yeah. And then um… Agent Barnes showed up, and he took Terry King, and then…” Savi took a deep breath. “He was about to kill you. But I… I stopped him.”

“You… stopped him?”

“Killed him.”  Savi dropped her gaze, running her tongue over her teeth. “I killed him.”

There was quiet for a long moment, and then the other woman cleared her throat, and Savi flinched.

“Right. We have to go,” she said, raising up to full height.

“So, Terry King is still alive.”

“Harrison, don’t—”

“
Is he still alive
?”

Savi stepped back, letting out a deep sigh before she answered. “Yes.”

“And Damien Wolfe?”

“Yes.”

Godammit.

“Do we even know where they are?”

“No.”

SHIT!

Savi was saved from further questions by the chiming of her cell phone, which she quickly whipped out of her pocket to answer. Whoever she was talking to must have asked about him, because she looked right in his direction, and nodded. “Yes. Yes.  Okay… yes. I’ll call you back.”

“What’s going on?” Harrison asked through his teeth, gingerly sitting up as pain ripped through his side.

“That was Marcus. Naomi is missing, and Quentin had a tracker on her phone, but they just found the phone on the side of the road. So Noelle, Terry King, and Wolfe, are all God knows where, and they have Naomi with them. It’s time to stop holding on to secrets, and let everything out. We
need
to find them. Do you have any idea where Wolfe might take them? What private properties he has, anything like that?”

“Savi—”

“Just answer the damned question, Harrison! Okay? We’re done with handling this alone, done with keeping it all contained. You’ve been
shot
, fool. You can’t go after anybody. You
can’t
do this on your own. Terry King is your father… isn’t he?”

Harrison swallowed hard, then nodded. “And… Damien. Damien is my uncle.”

Savi’s eyes went wide. “Oh… okay. Well, that actually makes my point even better. You aren’t the only one who has been hurt by these men.
All of us
have
, in some way. Some more affected than others. I’m not gonna stand here and act like I don’t understand why you’d want them to pay. We’re
all
on the same side when it comes to that. I know you’re used to holding your cards close to your chest, but it’s time to show your hand, and tell us what you know. Your sister, your niece, your cousins… Renata, Taylor, Kennedy, Naomi… they
deserve
that. You can’t deliver retribution right now, but we’re all on the same side, Harrison. Let us help you. Do you know where Damien Wolfe is?”

Harrison pulled his gaze away from Savi and took a deep breath, processing what she’d said. As much as he wanted to be the one to deliver the deathblows, she was right. He was in no position to do it, and it was time for this shit to be over.

He nodded, then reached over to grab Savi’s hand. “I think I just might. Get Marcus back on the phone.”

&

Inez giggled as Kendall made his way up her body, throwing in soft little nibbles and licks to break up the space between kisses. The sun beamed down on their nude bodies, bathing them in light, and warming the tide as it lapped at their feet.

She spread her legs wide, welcoming him inside her, moaning as their bodies connected.

“You know I can’t live without you, right?” he asked, hooking her thighs around him.

She smiled. “
Mmmm
, is that right?” She giggled again as he nibbled at her neck.

“That’s right. Do anything for you.”

“Anything like what?”

“Anything like anything.”

“Blow some stuff up?”

“Yeah.”

“Matar a hijoputa?”

“I’ll kill
two
motherfuckers,” Kendall chuckled, then groaned as she angled her hips upward, allowing him to slide deeper inside here. “What else?”

“Come and find me, wherever I am?”

“If you wanna be found.”

“Come to my rescue? Save me, if you can?”

“Or die trying. You know I love you, right Inez? Inez?
Inez
!?”

Hmm?

Inez pulled her eyes open with a groan, then immediately closed them again, shielding them from the blinding light.

“Shit, sorry,” Kendall said, grunting, and a second later, the light was gone, and Kendall was reaching down into the car to pull her out.

She’d been about a mile down the lonely, remote stretch of highway when she realized something felt off. That feeling had been confirmed by the two much larger SUVs that had come barreling out of nowhere, bearing down on her, but whoever sent them had
greatly
underestimated her will to fight.

With one hand on the wheel, she’d easily disposed of the first vehicle, and from the explosion when it flipped, she knew anyone inside would no longer be a problem. The second SUV had damaged her car and then slammed into her, making her vehicle roll down an embankment, into a thicket of trees.

Something was wrong with her leg, and something was wrong with her lung and ribs, she could feel it. But that hadn’t stopped her from picking up a weapon and eliminating the two men that had come peering into her wrecked car to see if the job was finished.

That had taken all of her quickly waning energy, and she passed out, only waking up in time to answer Kendall’s call. And now he was here. Pulling her free, and cradling her in his arms like she weighed nothing. Any other time she would have hated the way he was babying her as he carried her to his SUV and laid her in the back seat, maneuvering the seatbelts to strap her in.

He was saying something, but her ears were ringing and her head was swimming, so she decided it didn’t matter. What mattered was how it felt, in those moments before she passed out, wondering if anybody would find her. Wishing that she’d told Kendall how she really felt, even if it wasn’t his picture perfect fairytale. Regretting that she’d shut him down, without even considering that maybe… maybe his desire for their life was better.

And it hadn’t mattered.

It hadn’t mattered because she hadn’t done any of that, and it was too late now… or had been, then. Now, it felt like she was getting another chance, to at least try.

And this time… she would do it right… whatever the hell that meant.