Thicker Than Water (37 page)

Someone did, and Sean got to his feet so they could open the ambulance doors. But he didn't get on the stretcher. “Not yet,” he said. Then he turned to Dawn again.

But before he could say anything, her face crumpled and she moved closer to him, hugged him gently. “Don't die, okay? I really want to keep you around.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Besides, my mom's nuts about you, in case she didn't get around to telling you so when you were kissing her back there.”

He grinned. “She did. So are you okay with that?”

“I've been okay with it longer than either one of you have. God, you adults can be so slow to see the obvious.”

“We need to transport you, now,” the paramedic said.

Sean nodded. “Okay.” Ignoring the gurney, he turned and climbed into the back of the ambulance.

“We'll be right behind you,” Julie promised. Then she
turned, finally curious about the increasing activity of the police. Frowning, she called out to Lieutenant Jackson, who was talking animatedly to Lizzie. “What's going on?”

Jackson looked at her. “There's no body.”

“What?”

“Young isn't there. He's gone.” She walked closer, holding up a vest like the one Sean had been wearing. “We found this. And I imagine the bullet in it will match the gun Lizzie fired.”

“He's not dead?” Lizzie whispered. “Mordecai isn't dead?”

“We've got men going through the house. We'll find him. If you shot him from as close as you told us, he'll at least have a couple of broken ribs, and he'll be hurting bad. He won't be moving fast.”

Lizzie shook her head very slowly. “You won't find him,” she whispered. “You'll never find him.” She looked toward Julie. “But you can bet he'll find me.” She looked at Dawn. “And you,” she said softly.

“Jax!” Sean called. “She'll need protection. They all will.”

“I know. Look, Ms. Marcum, we're going to keep you safe, I promise you that. Besides, there's no need to panic. They'll probably have him in custody within a few minutes. But I'd like to take you out of here now, get you somewhere safe, just in case. All right?”

Lizzie looked at her blankly. “There is nowhere safe. Not for me. I betrayed him. There's nothing Mordecai hates more than a traitor.”

A team of men came out of the house, approaching Phelps and shaking their heads. They hadn't found Mordecai in the house. Julie's heart went cold.

Lizzie wrapped Dawn up in a fierce hug, kissed her cheek, then turned and let Jackson put her into the back seat of her
unmarked car. Julie looked at her, held her eyes for a long moment before the door closed; then she turned to Sean.

“Come in the ambulance with me,” Sean said. “I don't want you two out of my sight again until this bastard is in custody.”

Julie didn't argue. She didn't want to be away from him anyway. Taking Dawn's hand, she let her daughter help her into the back of the ambulance, then Dawn climbed in with her. One medic joined them, making it crowded. The other closed the doors, then got into the front. A police officer joined him there to ride along.

Detective Jackson's car pulled into motion right behind the ambulance. Julie saw Dawn staring intently out the rear window, her eyes locked with Lizzie's, in the other car. The vehicle bounced over the dirt road, and Sean winced with every bump. Julie held his hand, stroked his arm, wished she could make it better.

When they got to the bottom of the mountain, they took the narrow road that led to the highway, but when the ambulance turned north, the car that followed it turned south.

Dawn pressed her palm to the glass in the rear doors. Julie leaned closer and saw Lizzie's hand pressed to the glass of the vehicle in which she rode in the opposite direction. Julie stroked Dawn's hair. “She's gonna be all right, baby.”

Dawn shook her head slowly. “I don't know, Mom. I…I don't think I'm ever going to see her again.” She turned into her mother's arms and finally gave way to the tears.

Sean reached out, ran a hand over Dawn's shoulder, then Julie's hair. “What a pair,” he said softly. “I think I'm gonna have my hands full with the two of you.” He met Julie's eyes, held them. “Making the hurt go away. Making you smile
again, after all this. It's gonna be one hell of a challenge. But I think I'm up for it.”

“You've already made up for whatever mistakes you think you made in the past, Sean. My God, you saved my daughter for me. You saved me while you were at it. You got that redemption you've been looking for.”

“This has nothing to do with the past, Jones.” Leaning closer, he wrapped them both in his arms. “It's all about the future, from here on in. Our future, the three of us. If that's okay with the two of you?”

Julie just stared at him.

Dawn elbowed her. “Mom, I think the guy just asked you to marry him.”

“He did?” Dawn nodded. Sean nodded, too. Julie swallowed hard. Then she shrugged. “Well, you do realize I'm going to insist on top billing on the invitations.”

“Is that a yes, Jones?”

She smiled. “That's a yes, MacKenzie. You lucky son of a gun.”

He kissed her, while Dawn and the paramedic grinned from ear to ear.

M
ordecai sat on the pew in the very back of the church, aching deep in his soul as his only child walked down the aisle. She was serving as maid of honor at her adoptive mother's wedding, and she looked beautiful, in a lemon-yellow gown, carrying a bouquet of black-eyed Susans.

Beautiful. Yes.

But Dawn wasn't what he'd hoped for. She wasn't what he'd believed she was. The signs had made that clear to him. He'd had plenty of time to meditate and commune with spirit since that dark day in Virginia. In fact, he'd gone into the mountains, fasted and denied himself water for four days while he waited for guidance to come.

And it did. It always did. And he understood now. Dawn wasn't the one. She wasn't heir to his legacy. The child who was would not be his biological offspring but someone chosen by
God. He would find the heir. He would—just as the holy monks of Tibet always found the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. He would find the heir. All he had to do was watch the signs.

It troubled him that Dawn would live in fear of him, never knowing the things he knew. He didn't want her to be afraid. So he'd decided to visit her one last time. When her mother opened his wedding gift, she would know. She would understand.

The bride came down the aisle next, and everyone rose to their feet. At the altar, Sean MacKenzie turned to watch her approach in a slender, figure-hugging gown of vanilla-tinted satin. She didn't wear a veil, just a red rosebud in her hair. She looked lovely, Mordecai thought. She really did. And the man who awaited her seemed unable to wipe the happy smile from his face.

Dawn had wet eyes as she watched Jewel coming to the altar. When she got there, and they all turned to face the minister, Mordecai slid from his pew and moved silently to the door. His gift was simple. A packet of legal documents, relinquishing all parental rights to Dawn Jones, formerly known as Sunshine Young.

He thought it would probably be the most memorable gift the couple received.

As he exited the church, stepping into the bright sunshine, he pushed the ridiculous toupee from his head, shoving it into his coat pocket, but left the sunglasses in place.

He'd rather hoped Lizzie might show her face at the happy event. But no. She was safely relocated in some faraway place, living under an assumed name, thanks to a helping hand from the federal government.

But nothing could stand between him and Lizzie. Nothing. She had been his only real love. She was the mother of his child. She had lulled him, won his trust, and then put a bullet into his heart, or tried her best to. She'd betrayed him in the most hateful way he could imagine. With a kiss.

Just like Judas.

He had a gift that could not be denied, even by those who might question his sanity. And he had a powerful connection to his Lizzie, his Judas.

He would find her.

And when he did, she would learn the true price of betraying the Son of the Father.

“Amen,” he whispered, and he walked down the church steps to his car.

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