Stand Of Honor (22 page)

She started hearing shouts outside the door and waited to see if anyone would enter this time
, then jumped when she heard a gunshot. She started pulling her wrists though the shackles again and whimpered when she rubbed her raw skin against the metal. They were too tight—she couldn't escape. She had to accept whatever was about to happen, but she would fight back until the end.

As the
door slammed open and the lights came on, she blinked her eyes, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness. Before she could focus, she heard Nick's voice.

"She's in here!"
She heard him yell back to someone.

As she slowly adjusted to the light, she saw Nick rushing towards her.

"Oh, my God, are you okay?" When he dropped to his knees in front of her, she could see the tears in his eyes. Seeing those tears brought the emotion out in her as well. She could only nod her head in response.

"I'm so sorry
, Melanie." Nick held her face between his hands as he glanced down at her restraints then looked around the room to see if there was anything he could use to free her.

She heard a sound and looked up towards the door.
It was Zane. Their eyes locked onto each other's and she could see the relief in his eyes. She wanted nothing more than for him to rush to her and hold her in his arms. Right now, she didn't care about what had happened earlier. Nevertheless, he stayed at the door. She kept her face blank so he couldn't see her despair.

"I can't find anything to break her free," Nick said to him harshly.
Melanie was shocked at Nick's tone. She had never heard him talk like that, especially to Zane.

Zane nodded and looked down.
Melanie followed his gaze, and saw the feet of a man lying on the ground. Zane bent down and checked his pockets, finding some keys. He picked them up and walked towards her, staring at her the entire time. As he approached, Nick grabbed the keys out of his hand and came back to Melanie to unlock her wrists.

She looked back and forth between the two of them
. What the hell was going on?

Nick unlocked her wrists and saw the raw skin and squeezed her hands in sympathy.

"That's my sister
. Always the fighter," Nick said gruffly.

"Let's go before anyone else shows up," Zane commanded.

Nick helped Melanie to her feet. Her legs were sore and she was slow moving at first, however she sensed their urgency and picked up the pace quickly. As they rushed up the stairs, she saw the bodies of several men scattered throughout the house. She had to step over at least two men before they reached the front door. She heard them moaning, so at least they weren't dead.

Zane opened the front door and looked around before motioning them to follow.
They quickly exited the house and ran along a tree line to stay out of sight. Zane ran to a dark sedan and she and Nick quickly entered the car with him before Zane pulled out quickly and sped away from the house.

She wanted to ask them what
had happened, but something kept her silent. The tension between Zane and Nick was almost tangible—she would have to wait for answers.

As Zane pulled up to Nick's house, he turned to
him.

"I'll make sure they don't come after either one of you again," Zane said quietly.

"You do that," Nick growled, stepping out of the car. He opened the back door to help Melanie out. As he did so, she looked back at Zane, yet he kept his head forward. Before she could speak, Nick pulled her away from the car and shut the door. She then watched as Zane took off down the street.

She looked up at Nick.
"What the hell is going on?"

"Let's get in the house and I'll explain," Nick replied.

They walked into the house and he pulled her to the couch. He went into the bathroom and came back with some ointment and bandages for her wrists. As he sat down to administer the medication, he started to speak.

"Melanie, do you remember much
from the day Mom died?" Nick asked her.

"Yes, I remember everything from that day," Melanie replied.
There were always some memories you could never let go, no matter how many years passed.

"What about the guy that stabbed her?"
Nick continued.

"Yeah, I remember you punching him after
Mom… passed." Melanie felt herself shaking, seeing it happen again in her mind.

"His name was Matthew.
I was so angry… all I wanted to do was keep hitting him until he was dead, too. He had just taken our mother, and he just stood there like he didn't care."

Melanie sat quietly as she watched her brother relive that day.
She didn't know why he was bringing this up now and was curious to hear the rest of this story. He finished wrapping her wrists and leaned back on the couch.

"They took him straight to the juvenile detention center after it happened.
The next morning, I called the center to ask what his punishment was going to be." Nick was breathing heavily now. "They said that a family member had gotten him out and someone would be following up with official charges. I couldn't understand how they could let a murderer free just like that. I tried to ask more questions, but they wouldn't tell me anything.”

"I never knew." Melanie was surprised
that Nick had never shared this with her.

"I know.
You were so young. Dad and I thought it was best if you thought he was in jail."

Nick took another deep breath.
"When you went with Dad to make arrangements for Mom's funeral, I went to meet Zane. He promised he would help make him pay for killing Mom. We were both too fucked up with grief to think rationally as he went looking for him.”

Melanie felt herself stiffening.
She didn't like where this was going or the look on Nick’s face that he made no effort to hide.

"We knew where he hung out
. He worked for his brother, selling drugs to middle schoolers. He was there that evening, selling drugs and joking with his friends the day after had Mom died, like it had never happened." Nick was becoming more heated as he spoke.

"We waited until he was finally alone
, then Zane kept a look out while I went to confront him. I came up behind him and he turned as he heard me approach. When he saw me, he pulled out a fucking knife and held it towards me." Nick's voice got even harder. "He said,
I'll kill you like I killed your mother,
and then he came after me. I realize now that he was high. Not that it would have made a difference. When he lunged at me, I grabbed his wrist and took the knife from him. I stabbed him in the chest, Melanie. I was so angry at him over Mom, then him trying to kill me, that I reacted without thinking.” He stood up, turning away from Melanie. “I wasn’t sorry. Not then and not now.”

Melanie gasped.
She had always thought the boy who had killed their mother had gotten murdered in jail. At least, that's what her dad and Nick had told her.

"I stared down at him, blood pouring out of him, and
I didn't care. It felt good knowing he was going to die. He had killed Mom. I had stood and watched him sell drugs to young kids all afternoon. Before I knew what was happening, Zane was there, wiping my fingerprints off the knife and pulling me away. We got away as fast as we could before anyone could see us."

"Oh
, my God, Nick. You killed him?" Melanie was stunned.

"He deserved it
, Melanie," Nick said forcefully. She heard no remorse in his voice.

"And Zane was in on it?"
This went beyond Melanie's wildest imagination as a feeling of deep sadness washed over her that Nick and Zane had carried this secret with them for years.

"He saved me from getting caught."
Nick said it coldly with no hint of gratitude.

“Did Dad know?”

“Yes. He told both of us to keep our mouths closed.”

Melanie tried to process everything her brother was telling her
. She was still in shock from learning her brother had killed someone, yet she couldn't understand the animosity between him and Zane.

"What happened today?" Melanie asked.

"Zane went to your apartment to talk to you. He said your car wasn't there, but he talked to Trish to see if you had called her. When he was walking back to his car, he found your phone. He knew you’d dropped it on purpose."

Melanie felt her heart warm
, knowing that Zane had immediately understood what had happened. She also realized that the men who had taken her must have hidden her vehicle. She shivered. It showed how good they were—she wasn’t the first unsuspecting victim they had kidnapped.

"He came to my place to let me know you had been kidnapped
, but also said he knew who had you." Nick shook his head in anger. "I thought it was because of me that you had been taken. Because of killing Matthew. I've always worried about you being punished because of my actions.

"Zane took me to Matthew's brother, Dragon.
While we were there, I found out Zane has been working for Dragon for years. Going after people that tried to escape the cartel. He'd been profiting from it all these years. That son of a bitch works for a drug cartel. And not just any cartel, it's the one that Matthew's brother leads. Dragon is the one that got Matthew out of juvie. He has connections that get him whatever that fucker wants."

"Oh
, my God. So you made Dragon tell you where I was?" Her rescue was starting to make sense now, but then Nick shook his head.

"No, he never told us where you were."

Melanie was confused again until Nick continued.

"Fucking Zane knew where you were all along," Nick snapped.

"What?" Melanie was lost now. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Zane is in the cartel
. He has friends that talk. He knew where you were all along, but didn't tell me." Nick was furious again. He stood up to pace as he continued the story.

"So if he knew where I was, why did you go to Dragon?"
Melanie asked.

"Apparently, Zane tried to quit.
So to punish him, they took you. You are the only person he's close to. I should have never let him get involved with you. I'm sorry, Melanie. If I had known, I would have kept you away from him." Nick gave an ugly, sarcastic laugh. “I can’t believe I was actually relieved when you became involved with Zane. I thought you would be safer with both of us watching over you.”

Melanie felt sadness overwhelm her, knowing Zane wasn't who she
’d believed he was. It still didn't explain why he had gone to Dragon first. Before she could ask again, Nick stopped her, recognizing the confusion in her eyes.

"Don't ask me what happened next
. You don't want to know." Nick looked her directly in the eyes.

In that instant she was certain of
what had occurred without being told. Zane would do whatever he had to do to protect her. She had no doubt in her mind which man had killed Dragon. She dropped back against the couch and closed her eyes.

She
honestly didn't know a damn thing about the man she had fallen in love with.

Chapter 25

"Weak!" Nick yelled in her face.

Melanie was sparring with Nick and he was responding to her pitiful attempt to surprise him with an upper cut.

"Damn it
, Melanie. You're wasting both our time. Either focus or get out," Nick snapped at her.

Melanie wanted nothing more than to smack that scowl off his face, but fuck, he would just block it and then she'd be even more pissed.
Instead, she flipped him off and stepped out of the ring. She needed to regain her focus.

She walked into one of the back offices and slammed the door
, locking it without bothering to turn on the lights. She dropped down into a chair and worked on clearing her mind.

He admitted that he'd never gotten over the murder.
Even though he was glad Matthew was dead, he still carried the guilt of taking someone's life. Melanie had never had any idea of the demons her brother had carried with him all these years. He was incredibly gifted at putting the happy face on for her. She never would have guessed he would be so good at hiding all the darkness he carried within himself. He’d apologized for not being there for her like he should have been, and then Nick had finally agreed to train her. Melanie recognized now, after training with him, that he wasn’t able to maintain the act of being carefree after a prolonged period of time.

Now that
it was out, Nick wasn't putting on a show for her anymore. She was seeing a darker, more troubled side of him. She didn't know what to do to help. As far as she knew, only Zane, their father, and she knew the truth. Nick wouldn't let her help him and Zane was out of the picture now. Her father, the only adult when this hell had gone down, had proved once again that he was useless.

Her thoughts drifted to Zane.
She hadn't seen or heard from him in over a month. She missed him so much. However, he worked for a drug cartel. He killed people. He was a bad person. Those were things she kept telling herself every time she started to call him or drive by his house. Plus, on top of all that shit, he was still fucking his ex-girlfriend. It was almost humorous that she was angrier about that than everything else. So why in the hell did she still think about him all the time?