Never Say Goodbye (Rebel Walking #6) (29 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Kimber

This is a short flight and I'm nervous to get off this plane and get to the house. I hope out of sheer coincidence this works. What are the odds that my criminal father knows Lilly’s and that his information would help me bring her to safety?

I grab my bag and exit the plane as soon as the doors open. The urgency must show on my face because a few people move out of my way.

I rent a car and enter the GPS into my phone.  As I get closer, my nerves begin to play tricks on me. I second guess not telling the guys where I'm at.  Luke’s text just came through asking me where I'm at and I don't know what to tell him. How do I tell him that I hopped on a plane and flew across a few states without telling him.  He's bound to be worried. He's bound to be pissed, but if I find her I'm sure he’ll forgive me.

I leave the car in the parking lot closest to the house. I'm going to have to hike through the woods to stay hidden. This parking lot seems to be the closest location to do that according to the map on my phone.

I send a quick text back to Luke telling him not to worry about me hoping to buy some time to get some information.

The hike is easy and I use my phone to help guide me to the house. It's very secluded and protected by the mountain.  I have a strange feeling being out her all alone, but I just keep thinking of the possibility that she's actually out here.  

I sit on the ground out of sight and watch for any sign that they're here.  There's nothing for hours and I almost feel like a failure until I see a truck driving up the road.  It's almost dark, but I can see them as they park and get out, him holding a gun towards her and Lilly hesitating to walk with him.  They exchange a few words before he makes her go inside and I contemplate my approach.  

He's going to have to restrain her.  She's going to fight him and I just hope she holds out long enough for me to help.  

I reach for my phone to text Luke, but can't get any service out here.  Just as I give up trying to text, the door opens and he leaves in the truck, racing down the over grown road out of sight.

I don't hesitate a second, I know I have a small window to get her out and need to hurry my ass up.

Running through the last bit of trees and fallen branches I lose any logic.  My adrenaline takes over and I barge into the house, yelling her name.  I know the house is vacant because I haven't seen a sign of life until they showed up here.

I hear a muffled cry toward the back of the house and rush to get to her.  She's screaming through the door for help and my heart sinks when I see the door has a padlock on it.

“It's okay, Lilly.  Step back from the door.  I'm going to try to open it.”

I look everywhere around me for a key or something to cut it open, but see nothing.  

I start kicking it.  Pulling out my years of training and focus, I kick the fuck out of this door.  My head is pounding with noise when I hear the rumble of that large truck over my kicks.

I give it one last kick, breaking the door into a few pieces, then find a room to hide in just around the corner.  I'm pissed that I didn't get it cleared enough so she can get out.  I left the door looking as if someone has busted in though so I hope he looks in there first.  

My breaths seem so loud as I try to be silent.  He has to hear my heart beating or my mind working overtime coming up with a plan.  

He stomps through the house and straight to her door.  Pushing through a few pieces of broken wood, I hear him begin to scream at her.  

“You better still be in here.  I'm not going to let you go this easy.  You'll spend your life looking over your shoulders for me.  You'll always have to hide.”  He opens the lock and let's the rest of the door crumble to the ground and I take this moment to surprise him.

It's the first rule in fighting.  Always keep the element of surprise.  I know he knows someone is here, but he won't be expecting a short female.  

I look quickly to see that she's fighting him.  She lands a knee to his balls and I take that signal as mine to move fast.  I step quickly yet quietly behind them and grab him by the back of the head.  He stands up, leaving me straddling his back like a fuckin’ spider monkey, so I climb him.  Getting my grip on his head, I snap it.  In an instant, he falls to the ground taking me with him.

It's instinct.  It's what I've been trained not to do, but shown in case of any instance like this.  Lou wanted me safe.  Lou trained me with deadly capabilities but always taught me to reel it in and prove discipline.

“Is he dead?”  Her hysterics get louder when she moves closer to look.  

“Yes.”

“Oh my god.  Who are you?”  I can't tell her who I am.  How can I tell her I'm Luke’s live in girlfriend?  That I'm in love with the father of her baby and I wish I was carrying it.

“I'm a detective.”  She grabs her stomach and bends in pain, crying even louder than before.

“Detective.  I need a doctor.  Something is wrong with my baby.”  

My gut aches.  My insides flip and my memory flashes to my own night so very similar.  Her yell brings me back to today and I move to help her, adrenaline still prominently feeding my body with power and speed.

“My car is through the woods, so we’ll need to take his.”

“Okay.  Just hurry.  I don't want to lose him.”  Him.  Luke's baby boy.  A boy that he’ll be the best father to and will love like no other.  

“I'll take care of you.  Let's get the fuck out of here, that's the first step to saving this baby.  I don't know if he has anyone that may come through here, but we don't want to take a chance.”

“I agree.  Get the fuck out of here.”  She starts to move slowly toward the door, so I slide under her arm and help her walk.  

She's been through so much.  This baby has to make it.

I get her to the hospital and leave the truck in the entrance.  I leave the keys in it so someone can steal it, or burn it for all I care.  

Pulling out my phone, I call Luke.  This will be one hell of a phone call and I hope he doesn't hate me for what I've done.  

“You need to come to Nevada.”

“What?  I'm already here.  Where are you?”

“I'm at Cedar’s Hospital near Tahoe.”

“What's wrong?”

“I have Lilly.  She's in labor.”

Chapter Fourteen

Luke

“What?  Is she okay?  Can I talk to her?”

“She's right here, but she's hurting Luke so she may not talk much.”

“Can you just put the phone to her ear then.”

“Baby.  Let me hear you.  I need to hear your voice.”  She cries into the phone and says my name and my entire world stops.  Time is not moving.  I'm not moving.  I can't hear any other sounds except the few words she's speaking.

“I'm so sorry!  Please please forgive me.”

“Yes.  I'm so near the hospital, I'll be right there.”

“Something is wrong with the baby.”

“Be strong.  I'm almost there.”  

I look to Holden as he steps away from the body.  Alex’s body is at his feet and it's all starting to make sense now.  When we first rushed the house, we were so damned confused to find him dead in a room with broken pieces of the door scattered everywhere.  

I imagined a SWAT team or some massive beast, but apparently it was Kimber.  

“Cedar’s hospital.  We need to fuckin’ hurry.”

Lilly cries though the phone and I can't calm my crazy beating heart.  How the fuck am I going to get there in the next second because that's when I need to be there.  I'm impatient and tired of missing everything when it comes to Lilly.

I can hear the doctor talking to her and they're checking for a heartbeat.  

“Luke.  They're looking for his heartbeat.  I'm so scared.”

“It’s okay.  It has to be.”

The room goes silent and I strain to hear any sign that everything is alright.  

I’m so fucking impatient and I just want to scream through the phone and demand the answer.  

She finally puts me on speaker and I listen to the swooshing sound of his heart beating.  Me son’s heart is beating.  My son.  The one Lilly is carrying.  Lilly is alive and she's carrying my son.  The reality of it all slams me in the chest and I'm terrified it'll all be taken away from me in a flash of a second like a terrible nightmare.

Holden races like an insane person and gets me to the emergency entrance where I don't even wait for the car to stop.  

The nurses attempt to hold me back as I enter, but Kimber intervenes.  “This is the father to the one in room five.”  The double doors open and I look for her room, walking around the nurse trying to show me the way.  She needs to walk faster or get the fuck out of my way.  

I step into the doorway and look at her.  She's on the bed with her belly showing, while the doctor is still checking on the baby.  Her tears flow heavy when she sees me and create a rush of my own.  I grab her into my arms as soon as I can, squeezing her tight.

We hold each other crying for a few minutes while I pull back over and over to make sure it's really her face.  I don't even think about it before I kiss her and then I'm hit with the reminder that Kimber is probably watching.  

I look around to find her, but she's not there.   

“Your baby is fine.  I'm going to keep you for observation, but it looks like the baby is completely healthy.”

“Why was I hurting so bad?”

“Stress and anxiety can play a number on your body.  It seems you have a little of that going on.  We’ll want to watch you though for at least twenty four hours, so I'm going to admit you.  I'll leave you two alone for awhile so I get the room called up.”

“Don't you ever fucking do that to me again.”

“I promise.”

“How did you get out?”

“That detective saved me.  You should have seen her, she kicked the door in and then snapped his damn neck like it was nothing.  She was my guardian angel, came out of nowhere!”

“Detective, huh?”

“Yeah.  She was just in here.  Kimber is her name.
”
 

Kimber

His world is complete now.  I need to give him the space he deserves with her.  Seeing his face when he entered the hospital told me what I needed to see.  There's no doubt that I have to walk away from him.  I can't make this more stressful on him than it already is.  This should be a beautiful time in their lives, but instead it's been tarnished and so much has been missed because of all this madness.

I decide to wait in the lobby with Holden.  Even the big strong Holden is struggling to keep it together as he calls the rest of the group.  I don't blame him, I'd want to tell them everything immediately too.  I can hear screams of excitement as he makes his way to Eaven.  

“We’re waiting to find out about the baby.  Yeah, Kimber brought her in.”  I walk down the hall and away from the rest of his conversation trying to think about where in the world I want to start my life again.  Missouri isn't the place, no matter how much I fit in there.  

I decide to check on Lilly and Luke one last time before I slip out.  Turning the corner to her ER room, I see Luke leaned over talking to her stomach.  He’s been thrown into fatherhood with no preparation, but I know he’ll be an amazing father.  I watch him interact with his son through Lilly’s perfect belly for a little while longer, then see him slide his hand over it and turn to talk to her.  I can't interrupt them during this.  They've been robbed of so many moments like this and it's only right they have the chance to create their own memories.

Turning to walk away, I hit solid man right behind me.  I didn't hear Holden follow me in.  

He walks with me back out to the lobby.  “Tell me where you're at Kimber.”

“I'm going to leave and let them have their time.”

“You need to let Luke decide what he wants.”

“No.  I won't give him an option.”  

“But I know you have nowhere to go.”

“I'll find a place.”  He walks a few feet before turning to face me again.  

“How can I change your mind?”

“You can't.  I have to go.”

“I have a cabin you can stay at for as long as you need.  You can take some time and decide where you want to go.”  He stares at me after his offer, waiting for my response.  I really don't have any other option at this moment so I decide to take him up on it.

“I'd be very grateful if you'd let me stay there.”

“Perfect!  I have a business partner that's not too far from there, he's finishing up an assignment in a few days.  I'll send him up to check on you and make sure you have what you need.”

“I appreciate that.”  He extends his arms and I walk into them.  Even though it's only been a few days since I met him, I'm going to miss him.  I'll miss the entire group of them, but at least I know that broken shell of a man that saved me in California has been fixed and will have his great group of friends to help him through anything life throws at him.  

“How soon do you want to go?”

“I'm leaving now.”

“I'll set up transportation for you as soon as it's available.”

“Thank you.”

I stand with Holden for a few more minutes before he asks, “So how did you get to her before I did?”

“Used my resources.”

“Yeah, well I have very deep resources and you beat us there.”

“My resource was my prison held father.  Guess he decided to try to be a dad for one moment when I asked a favor.”

“So, he knew Alex?”

“Yep.  There's a lot of that kind of stuff around the underground fighting ring.  Plus my father was always being invited to parties and random shit.  It's not surprising he knows him and his private home.”

“You did a number on that door.”

“Eh, that felt good.  I'm just not sure what they're going to say about me killing him.  You know all that ‘keep him alive’ crap.”

“Yeah.  It was self-defense.  You’ll need to be available so they can question you before you fly out.”  Just then a few detectives walk in.  He stands and I watch him approach them.  They look over at me and point as they talk.  I can just imagine what they're saying.  “She killed the big bad Alex?”  The officers walk toward me and begin to talk.  Holden stands proudly as I retell my story and wait for their response.  The detectives don't seem to be angry about anything and in fact thanked me for making their job easy.  The lead guy in Montana on the other hand my have a different response.  They ask me to stay for further questioning before I leave and I agree.  I have nothing to hide.  

I'm sitting by myself when Luke enters the lobby.  His eyes search the room frantically until he sees me.  He sits beside me, resting his elbows on his knees, leaning forward in the usual Luke position he takes when he's thinking.  

“I can't thank you enough.”

“Tell me the baby is okay.”

“He's fine.  They're going to keep her for observation.”

“That's great news.”  I look down at my hand as he slides his over it.

“Luke please don't.  Please don't make this harder than it has to be.”

“Kimber.”

“Stop.”  I stand.  I can't do this if he touches me.  My strength can only stand so much.  “I'm leaving as soon as I'm done with the questioning in the morning.”  He stands behind me as I face away from him.

“Where are you going?”

“I'll figure it out.”  I'm not going to tell him Holden is helping.  I need to keep my distance from him.

“But I don't want you to go.”  I turn to face him and fight back every emotion surging forward.  The tears from my eyes are the proof I'm failing at hiding it, but I give it my best effort.

“Luke.  You deserve happiness.  You deserve to have what was taken from you so tragically and you deserve the woman worthy of this tattoo on your body.”  I place my hand over his shirt where the Freebird tattoo lies permanently on his chest.  

“You deserve that too.”

“And I'll find my own happiness.  This is yours.”  He looks at me for a few minutes, brushing his thumbs beneath my eyes drying up my tears like he always does.  

“Will you at least tell me when you get there?”

“Yes.”  I'm not lying.  Maybe one day I'll let him know where I end up, but it won't be soon.  It's best we cut ties because as much as I want him to be happy, I don't think I can swallow watching it day in and day out.  I love him.  He changed me.  

I stand with him in a painful silence and I try to put my feelings together.  My heart aches, but I know this is what I have to do.

Love hurts.  Love slices you open bearing your entire soul to someone even when they may not love you back.  Love is harsh.  Love is beautiful.  Love is what makes us excited for tomorrow in a world of tragedy and sorrow.  Even feeling the pain I'm feeling now, if I had the chance to do it all again, I wouldn't change a thing.  Loving Luke will always be an important piece of my heart.  Spending the short amount of time with him and feeling his strength and love was better than never feeling love at all.  He taught me how to be loved.  He taught me how to love myself enough to be treated right, and for that I’ll always owe him.