Secrets Among the Cedars (Intertwined Book 2) (20 page)

"We were delayed because of weather, but we're almost there. How are you?"

Kathryn shot a quick text back.

"I was doing okay, but it's storming, and I saw a man outside my door just now."

Chapter Twenty-one

An explosive pounding came at the door and Sadie growled. Kathryn jumped and dropped her phone on the floor where it spun out of sight underneath the sofa.
Every nerve ending in her body felt raw and electrified.

"Open up! You've got something I need, little lady."

Frozen, Kathryn clasped her hands over her mouth and screamed a muffled scream into them. Everything she'd fought against this week was now standing behind that door. She'd found the weapon. Why hadn't she left Cedar Key when she'd had the chance?

The pounding at the door came again. The chair jammed under the doorknob should hold, but there was no guarantee.

"Let me in!" That voice! It was Barney, the same voice from the threatening phone call.

Kathryn dropped to the floor and searched for her phone in the dimly lit room, finally landing her hand on it beside the foot of the sofa. From her place on the floor, she rushed a text to Phil.

Are you close yet? Barney is banging on the door and trying to get in. If he breaks in, he'll kill me. Or worse.

Her phone chimed a few seconds later.

We landed a few minutes ago. Get Sadie and the gun and escape out the other door. Follow the lights to the airstrip. I'll be waiting here.

She ran to the kitchen, grabbed Sadie's leash, and connected it to her collar. Her breath caught in her throat and threatened to choke her. Sadie continued to bark and growl, the hairs on her back standing at full attention and her ears pinned back.

Kathryn flung her purse strap over her shoulder, grabbed the gun from its hiding place, picked up her laptop bag and keys, and headed toward the patio door. Barney banged on the front door again. This was Kathryn's chance to escape. She tugged on the leash and forced Sadie to follow her. Barney rang the doorbell and banged on the door until the door facing sounded like it would crack.

"Help me!" Kathryn scream-whispered, fear gripping her vocal chords. Who was she talking to? No one was around to help her. But maybe God was. "Come on Sadie," she whispered. "Be quiet." If Sadie barked once they got outside, Barney would be on her trail within seconds, and her hopes of escaping would be dead forever.

She jammed her feet into her sandals and made it to the patio door, her arms heavy-laden, and slid the lock open with a click. The rain had stopped, but the wind still tossed the trees around in the night sky. She had a choice to make right now. Would she shrink back like a coward, like a first year law student in a mock trial, or would she straighten her shoulders and boldly conquer what was out there? Would she give in, or would she win this battle?

She'd win it, or die trying.

She pulled the door open, and then halted. She whispered, "God, if you're there, please get me and Sadie to safety."

Barney banged again on the door and screamed words at Kathryn she'd only heard in the belly of the prison. Now was her chance. She darted out the door, pulling Sadie along, although the dog tried to go toward the front yard where Barney waited on the porch. Kathryn tiptoed across the pool deck and inched her way to the edge of the tree-lined property. A distant rumble of thunder sent an eerie tension to her bones. The sky flickered with heat lightning, and she bolted toward the airport.

#

On the flight back, Drew had said few words. He hadn't had much to say when Phil told him the story of how his life had changed. How after Maria dumped him, he took a long look at the direction of his life. That that's what caused him to quit the law practice and stop defending criminals.

But, in truth, there was more to it than that. He'd wanted his life to not only be absent of negative things but to include positive things. He'd wanted to have relationships with people that mattered. When Phil started going to church and turned his life over to God, he'd met all sorts of new people who really cared for him and who he could care for. His life changed in unimaginable ways.

Drew obviously wasn't ready to make a change like that. He had too much invested in the family business. His quiet on the way back to Cedar Key spoke volumes about what was on his mind. Phil's words had to have made an impact on him, if even just a little.

They climbed out of the plane, and Phil reached for Drew's hand. "It was good catching up with you. I'll see you around."

"Hold up. We're not done here."

"What do you mean, Drew?"

"We've still got a matter of that D.A. She's down here snooping around."

"Drew, I told you it doesn't matter. She's not on the case anymore."

"It matters. If she's looking for something, and she finds it, we could all be in a lot of trouble."

"Don't say we. I have nothing to do with this. And I recommend if you do, you'd better come clean. If you don't, you'd better tell the authorities what you know. Or else you could go away for a long time."

"Not going to happen."

Phil turned away from Drew. Even though he'd told Kathryn to meet him there at the airstrip, he'd head toward his SUV to distract Drew.

"Where you going, Cuz?"

"To get my Range Rover."

"I'll drive you."

"That's okay. I can walk. I need to stretch my legs."

"No, I'll drive you. We need to go have a visit with your friend."

Phil patted his pockets and held up his index finger. "Hold on. I left something in the plane."

"Hurry up then."

Phil climbed back into the plane. The pilot sat in his seat adjusting his controls for takeoff. "Excuse me. Can you wait here a few minutes?"

The pilot’s serious eyes examined him beneath an arched eyebrow. "Why?"

"I need a ride back to Georgia, but first, I've got to get one of my friends."

He chuckled, obviously finding Phil’s request ridiculous. "Have you got money? I don't fly for free, you know."

"This is an emergency. Someone's in danger. We've got evidence that's crucial to a murder investigation taking place next week, and someone here doesn't want that evidence leaving Cedar Key."

The pilot clicked a few switches on his console. He faced Phil and grinned, this time his eyes sparkling. "Sounds dangerous. I’d love to be a part of your scheme. I could use some excitement. I'll wait."

"Thanks, man. My friend, Kathryn, should be here in a second." Phil grabbed the keys out of his pocket and jumped out of the plane. He halted and turned back around to the pilot. "Oh, and, the guy that was with me before, don't let him on this plane if he gets here before I return."

"Yes, sir."

Phil jogged down the airstrip through the fence to the parking lot and jingled his keys in the air so Drew could see them. "I found them."

"Good. Now let's go."

"I'd really like to get my SUV out of the kayak rental's parking lot. Will you take me to it?"

"Yeah, whatevah. Get in."

As Phil started to climb into the car, Kathryn and Sadie burst forth from the trees and rushed straight up the road toward him. Then Kathryn froze, her eyes wide with fear, and she yanked Sadie close to her side. She’d obviously seen Drew there.

Drew was already sitting in the car and didn't see her. Phil motioned with a nod for Kathryn to head toward the plane. She jerked Sadie's leash and ran, balancing her laptop and purse. Did she have the gun with her? Hopefully, she'd not dropped it in her frantic escape from the house. Phil plopped down into Drew's car but kept his legs outside.

"What are you doing? We need to get going."

"I’m stretching my legs for a minute. We've done nothing but sit and ride ever since we left."

Drew laughed. "You're getting old, cousin."

"Hey, since I've lived here in Cedar Key, I've become a lot younger than I was before. I walk a lot. I stand for hours when I fish. So forgive me if I've gotten stiff by sitting so much today. You ought to try something other than sitting around smoking cigarettes sometime."

"How do you know I don't exercise?" Drew cranked the car.

"I don't know, but you don't look like the type."

"Shut up and get in. You're stalling the inevitable."

Phil swung his legs around, pivoting in the seat. He glanced up toward the plane. Kathryn and Sadie had made it safely inside. "Aw, man, I'm missing my phone. I must've left it in the plane too."

"Forget it. You can get another one. We've got an appointment with your lady D.A." Drew pulled the car out of park.

"I don't think so." Phil jumped out of the car and took off through the gate and across the runway toward the waiting plane.

"Stop! Phil, I'll shoot you!" Drew screamed and came after him.

Phil froze and turned around. Drew's gun glimmered in the moonlight. Phil raised his hands in the air, but took small steps backward toward the plane. “You won’t shoot me.” There was no way he was going to let Drew stop him from getting on that plane and getting Kathryn to safety.

"Phil! Come back here." Drew's face looked like it would explode.

Phil spun around toward the Baron and bolted the last few feet to the door. He launched himself into the plane using the footrest, jumped in, and slammed and locked the door behind him. "Go!" He shouted, his breath coming in gasps. He hadn't run that hard or fast since the Moratti clan chased him down Brooklyn Avenue after their leader went to prison for running an illegal gambling ring.

"Yes, sir!" The pilot accelerated, and they were off.

Phil plopped down into the seat next to Kathryn, sweat dripping from his face and wet circles staining the armpit areas of his shirt. Kathryn, on the other hand, was a vision of loveliness, dressed in a blue Cedar Key T-shirt and shorts. Her eyes were wide with fear, but they were beautiful and glossy just the same. Her cheeks were rosy from running to the plane in the evening's humidity, and hopefully a little bit from being with him.

Chapter Twenty-two

"Phil, I'm so glad you made it!" Kathryn, breathless, reached for him, and Sadie squeezed between her knees wagging her tail.

Phil's arm pressed against hers, and the heat radiated from him and soaked into her body. The most wonderful feeling in the world, to have this man beside her as they went off to make sure justice prevailed.

"Hi. How you doin'?" He shrugged his eyebrows and winked.

Kathryn laughed at the accent and the flirtation she'd grown so accustomed to, then she grabbed Phil's forearm. "How am I doin'? I'll tell you how I'm doin'. I'm freaking out! I'm scared to death. I've never been so glad to get off the ground in all my life, even though I’ve been on buses bigger than this plane."

Phil leaned over toward her and rested his forehead on hers. "We're going to be okay now." He withdrew his head from hers and apologetically wiped his sweat from her forehead. Kathryn's skin tingled from his touch regardless of their dangerous situation.

"Fasten your seatbelts, please," the pilot said as Drew banged on the side of the plane and tried to open the door.

Kathryn pointed out the window into the darkness where Drew ran alongside the plane. "What about your cousins? They've got to be stopped."

"We'll call the police when we land."

"Here we go," the pilot called out. The plane pushed forward and left Drew behind them on the runway, waving his hands in the air.

Kathryn gripped the armrests. "There's no time for that. They'll get away."

"I'll call the chief right now before we take off." Phil reached for his phone.

"Good luck getting him. I tried several times this week, but he was never available for me."

“He’ll answer.”

“And I’ll text my mom and get her to call the D.A. He needs to be waiting on us at the airport. The police should be there too in case Drew and Barney manage to catch a plane in the next few minutes."

"Good idea."

They buckled their seatbelts, and the plane lifted off of the runway as several loud thuds pounded its sides. "Go, go, go! He's shooting at us!" Kathryn screeched to the pilot.

Phil leaned over Kathryn and looked out the window. Kathryn pressed her body against the seat and kept her eyes closed, and Sadie whimpered and tucked her head between Kathryn's knees. Phil dialed the police and waited. "Chief, this is Phil Tagliaferro. I'm flying out of Cedar Key right now on an emergency. I need you to get to the airport and arrest my two cousins."

He sat silent for a moment, while Kathryn texted her mom, then hollered over the roar of the plane's engines. "I don't have time to explain. We've lifted off, and I can't talk but a second more. It's Drew and Barney Ezzo. They're in a black Mercedes, and they were last seen at the airstrip. They're involved with the Louie Ezzo murder trial in Georgia—hello? Hello!" He sighed and powered down his phone. "My phone dropped the call."

"They'll get them." Kathryn patted his hand. "Thank you for thinking so fast and getting this plane."

"I wasn't thinking that fast. It's the plane we flew in on, and I just happened to think about asking the pilot to take us back right before climbing out."

"Well, good thinking. How will I get back to my things though?"

"We'll take another flight back tonight or rent a car."

"Won't a flight be too expensive? And renting a car to drive back will take too long."

"Don't worry about the details. We'll get you back."

The plane circled Cedar Key, leaving Drew and Barney behind.

"So this is your second flight today."

"Yes, ma’am, it is."

"You're exhausted, aren't you?"

"Exhausted beyond words."

"I'm sorry you're having to fly with me back home. I feel so bad that I got you mixed up in this mess."

"You didn't get me mixed up in this. I wanted to help. Besides, my cousins—my whole family—wanted me involved in this from the beginning."

"I guess you're right. It's part of your destiny." She smiled a weak smile, and Phil shook his head. "My mom called to tell me our faces were all over the news."

"My pops called me and told me the same thing."

"She was furious until I explained how we met and that you refused to represent Louie."

“Pops was almost angry enough to fly down to Cedar Key and knock my head off my shoulders."

"I'm glad he didn't." Kathryn shook her head and laughed. "How did it go with your uncle?"

Phil sighed and rubbed his bloodshot eyes. "Like I expected it would go. He wouldn't confess. Just wanted me to represent him. He thought it was funny that a woman was prosecuting him."

"But I'm not."

“You’re not a woman?”

Kathryn squinted. “Very funny. Not prosecuting.”

"I told him that. He agrees with Drew that you should be dealt with because you've been snooping around Cedar Key."

"Well, at least I'm safe now, and so is the gun." She patted her laptop bag. "Did you tell Louie I'd found it?"

"No way! I didn't tell Drew either. I wanted them to sweat it out."

She laughed and covered her mouth to stop the yawn that burst forth.

"You're exhausted too, aren't you?"

She slumped. "I suppose. I took a good nap though until I was woken up by the storm and then sent into shock by Barney banging on the front door."

"Has the antihistamine worn off?"

"I think so. No leftover side effects from the reaction either." She folded her arms across her stomach and squeezed her upper arms. "Thanks for rescuing me."

"I didn't rescue you. I left you alone, and you had to make it to the airport by yourself, dragging your dog and carrying the gun and your computer. A real rescuer would've told you to hide somewhere until he came to get you."

"If we'd gone with that plan, I believe you wouldn't have made it. Drew seemed pretty determined to get you out of the way."

"Yeah. He was a little miffed with me."

"About what?"

"I asked too many questions about his lifestyle, tried to encourage him to give up his way of life and turn things over to God."

Kathryn smiled. That did not surprise her at all about Phil. He was passionate about his faith. "Good for you."

"He listened, but he didn't take it to heart."

"You don't know that."

"What do you mean?"

"Take me, for example. I've been running for a long time from something I didn't know. I wasn't happy, but didn't know why. I thought it was because of my breakup with Zeke. Or my dissatisfaction with my career. Not feeling adequate enough for my dad. You name it. I'm a mess." She let out a nervous chuckle. "Since I came to Cedar Key, something else has been eating away at me."

"You mean, other than the case?"

"Yes." The blackness outside the window reminded her of the darkness in her heart as little as a week ago.

Phil folded his hands across his lap and turned to face her. "Have you figured it out?"

"Yes." She swiped away tears that stung her eyes. This time, she didn't try to hide the flow from Phil.

A repetitive alarm sounded, and the pilot promptly flipped switches and turned dials. Phil grabbed Kathryn's hand. Whether it was to comfort her or to comfort himself, it didn't matter. Nor did it help much. Their interlocked hands wouldn’t prevent the plane from going down, and it wouldn’t save their lives.

"Excuse me, we're experiencing some difficulties."

"What do you mean?" Phil leaned forward.

"It appears our left wing fuel tank is lighter on fuel than the right wing tank by 1.5 tons. I'm guessing whoever shot at us punctured the tank. I'm going to use the right fuel tank only for the duration of the flight."

Kathryn gasped, yanked her hand away from Phil's, and covered her mouth. “Will the plane catch on fire?”

"No. We're going to be all right, ma'am. I've got enough fuel still to get us to the airport. I'm a former aircraft carrier pilot, and I've flown in situations worse than this. We'll be okay."

Kathryn wiped her tears away and braced herself for the unfamiliar events that were about to happen. She hated unfamiliar things. She preferred the expected. The routine. The predictable.

But she was used to unfamiliar things happening in the courtroom, and she was tired of being weak like she’d been for the last few days, so she’d have to suck it up and deal with this situation. This situation, if she lived through it, wouldn’t go on her list of favorites, but as long as it ended with her heart still beating and with the opportunity to tell the ones she loved that she'd found her purpose in life, she’d be fine.

Phil took her hand and stroked it. "Kathryn, don’t worry. The pilot is going to fly this baby to Georgia without any trouble. Tell me what you were going to tell me a few minutes ago." Phil patted her hand and turned her face toward him.

She sniffed and wiped her tears away. "I don't know if it even matters now. If we don't make it, it's pointless to even ponder it."

"We're going to make it. Now tell me what's been eating away at you."

She squeezed her eyes shut. "I've—I've tried for so long to please everyone in my life by doing whatever they wanted me to do." She opened her eyes and let them find a home in the comfort of Phil's eyes. "I believed I was sacrificing my happiness for others. I realize now that in doing that, I wasn't sacrificing anything. I was instead being prideful."

"How so?"

"I was trying to please others because I cared about what they thought of me. I wasn't doing things with the right motives. I was selfishly protecting my reputation."

Phil puckered his lips and considered her words. "What could you have done differently?"

"I could've followed my heart and gone the direction I knew I was made to go."

"Which is?"

"I'm not sure yet. Maybe it's a dental non-profit type thing. Maybe it's something else. But I'm pretty sure if I go any further with my legal career, it'll be to appease my father and to impress my co-workers. I'll stack more pride on top of the cupcake of pride I've already created. Just like this weapon had to be discovered, the secrets in my heart had to be unearthed."

"That’s deep. Why do you think you've come to this realization now?"

"God showed me."

"He did?" Phil smiled, the skin around his eyes crinkling.

"Yes. He unearthed everything. I can't explain it, but he did. I tell you all of this because you shouldn't give up on Drew. Or even that louse Barney. You set a good example and have a way of making people think about their lives."

"I'm not sure about that, but thanks just the same."

The plane bumped against the wind and dropped, causing Kathryn and Phil to come up off their seats. Sadie whimpered and jumped up on one of the seats across from them. Kathryn bit her bottom lip to keep her scream inside and reached her foot out to rub Sadie.

"Everything is okay, folks. It’s just some turbulence."

Kathryn sighed. "Another thing I realized this week and I'm realizing even more right now is that I like to be in control. When things haven't gone the way I thought they should, I've blamed others instead of taking responsibility for my actions. I thought I didn't need anyone to protect me or rescue me. I guess I learned all that from my dad. But this week, after witnessing God in your life, I’ve learned that we need others, and it's okay to need rescuing and protecting every once in a while. I don’t have to be in control all the time."

Phil ran his fingers through his hair and squeezed the back of his neck. Then he dropped his hands to his lap and smiled. "I'm glad God used me to show you that. You're a wonderful woman. Being strong and independent isn't always a bad thing. You wouldn't have gotten this far without those strengths."

"Maybe." Sadie jumped down off the seat and squeezed between Kathryn and Phil's legs.

Phil grabbed Kathryn’s hands. "No maybe. Yes. You're where you are, the good and the bad, because God gave you strengths and weaknesses that make up who you are. You'll succeed when you learn to let go of what others think and realize that you're uniquely you for a reason. When you ask God to show you why, He will."

"Well, I’m willing to give it a try. It’s going to be hard to let those old habits die though. I’ve been living behind this façade for a while now.”

“That’s all God asks.”

She nudged him. “What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Please tell me you've learned something this week." She raised her right eyebrow.

"I have."

"What?"

"I've learned that women aren't all bad."

"We're not?"

"Nope. You've saved your kind from being crossed off my list forever." He winked.

"Well, I'm not sure that's good for me. I mean, if women are good now, you'll be on the hunt for as many good ones as you can find."

Phil squeezed her hands and drew her close to him. "Counselor, I have to object to your summation."