Malcolm was losing his edge, sacrificing reason to emotion. But that wasn't a good thing. It made him less predictable and far more dangerous.
What now? Sebastian needed Jane to be conscious, alert. He needed her to walk out under her own power and be able to drive the car. He wanted her as far away from this place as she could get.
"Jane? You okay?" he asked.
There was no response.
"Answer him!" Malcolm raised his gun as if he'd hit her again, but Sebastian growled a warning that stopped his downward thrust.
"You hit her one more time and I'll shoot you this instant. Do you understand me?"
"You don't know how to shoot," Malcolm said, but that went against all evidence to the contrary. Sebastian was no longer the trusting, law-abiding dad Malcolm had known a year ago. And there was enough uncertainty in Malcolm's voice to tell Sebastian he'd noticed the changes.
Getting down on one knee, Sebastian took careful aim. "Try me."
304
It was a bluff, but it worked. Malcolm didn't strike Jane. Lowering his gun, he shook her with the opposite hand.
"Hey, snap out of it. Sebastian's here. Tell him you're fine." He tore off her gag. "Tell him you want to go home."
"I wanna go home," she repeated dully, and Sebastian wished, more than anything, that he could make it possible.
"Untie her. She has nothing to do with this, Malcolm. This is between you and me."
"Throw down your gun and I will."
Sebastian couldn't do that. The second he did, he and Jane would both be at Malcolm's mercy. "I won't give up my gun."
"Sebastian, get out of here." Jane seemed to be regaining her faculties, but Sebastian ignored her. He couldn't afford the distraction. Not right now.
"Cut her loose and let her walk out," he told Malcolm.
"Are you kidding me? So she can help you? So she can call the police?"
Sebastian's finger began to sweat on the trigger. He wasn't getting out of this as quickly as he'd hoped. The police were probably on their way. Would they intervene before he could finish? Would the surprise cause Malcolm to fire? "This is your game, Officer Turner. What kind of play do you want to call?"
"That's it. She's dead." Malcolm spoke as if he was tired of fooling around, as if killing Jane was his only way out. So this time when he put the gun to her head, Sebastian feared he'd really pull the trigger.
In a panic, he raised his own weapon to get off a shot he hoped would save her life. It was her only chance. But the blast that nearly blew out his eardrums told him Malcolm had fired first.
The noise took Malcolm by complete surprise. He'd been about to pull the trigger when someone fired at him from the other doorway. Who the hell was it?
Had Sebastian called the police? Malcolm had been so caught up in his standoff with Sebastian, he hadn't noticed any other movement, any other noise--but he hadn't been listening for it, either.
Scrambling to take cover before he could be fired on from both directions, he managed to roll behind the couch, which effectively shielded him from both doorways. Jane was the only one out in the open. She was tied to that chair and couldn't move, but Malcolm didn't care about her. He thought it would be the 305
greatest irony in the world if Sebastian shot her himself. Then maybe he'd rot in jail while Malcolm took off for the Bahamas or some other tropical paradise.
Another shot rang out. This one sounded as if it lodged in a wall. A third followed. Sebastian cried out to whoever it was to stop, but if this was a cop, he didn't seem to realize that another person was at risk. He just kept firing.
Sebastian dashed in to save Jane--and took a bullet. Malcolm heard the shot and the resounding grunt. He'd been firing himself, had done so several times, but he didn't think he'd hit anything.
In an instant, Sebastian toppled the chair and threw himself on top of Jane, protecting her with his body. Now that he was so low to the ground, Malcolm couldn't hit him without standing up, and he knew the second he got up he'd be dead.
"Who are you and what do you want?" he cried out to the stranger.
"I want you," came the response.
"Luther? Luther, stop!" It was Jane. She seemed to recognize the man's voice, but Malcolm had never met a Luther. Who was this person and how had he found them? Why did he have a gun? He was quite obviously not the police.
And then it became clear.
"This one's for Latisha," the man yelled and fired again. "You will
never
touch my daughter, or any other man's daughter, again."
Malcolm became aware of Sebastian pulling Jane from the room. He wanted to stop them, but he couldn't lift his head without the risk of having it blown off. It seemed the stupid son of a bitch who'd pinned him down from the opposite doorway was determined to keep shooting. But just as that thought went through his mind, the bullets stopped.
"Take her and get out of here," Luther called in the ensuing silence, and it was only then that Malcolm realized his error. The bullet Sebastian had taken must've been his own because Luther hadn't been shooting toward Jane. He'd been shooting away from them, giving Sebastian the cover he needed to get her to safety.
And now Latisha's father was shooting to kill. There was nothing to stop him.
This was over. He had to get out, but how? The police were on their way.
Even if he could make it to the door--and that seemed impossible--they'd be on top of him before he could get as far as the drive. And being captured would be worse 306
than death. Then everyone he knew from before, his family, his neighbors, his friends on the force, they'd all know what he'd done.
The sirens were drawing close. Seconds later, he could hear the slam of car doors and the shouts of men he didn't recognize. He had to make a decision.
Dropping his gun, he lifted his hands and stepped in front of Latisha's dad.
"Do it!" he yelled. "Do it now! I'm right here."
His actions took the man by surprise. Seemingly determined to give Malcolm exactly what he'd asked for, he aimed. But then he lowered his weapon.
"Hell, no. You ain't worth it. I'd rather leave you to your own kind." Then he fired a final shot into the ceiling and ran out the back.
The stampede of feet told Malcolm the police were coming through the front door. Scrambling for his gun, he reclaimed it and raised it, pointing at the entrance to the room. If he couldn't get Latisha's dad to shoot him, he'd provoke the first officer. But that officer didn't fire. Instead he ducked behind the wall and yelled out, "Put down your weapon!"
"You're not taking me in. I won't go to prison," Malcolm said. Then he turned the gun on himself. Squeezing his eyes closed, he swallowed hard and told himself to pull the trigger. One shot, and his brains would splatter on the wall. It would all be over. It was the only way left to win.
But he couldn't do it. He didn't have the guts.
Sagging to his knees, he let the gun fall as tears began to streak his face.
Sebastian had won.
Jane couldn't believe that Sebastian was safe. She saw the dent in the bulletproof vest he'd been wearing that showed where the bullet had gone. It had hit him hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He admitted that it hurt, said he'd have a bruise on his chest, but it hadn't seriously harmed him. He was fine and, although she felt as if her head was about to explode from the beating, Jane knew she'd be okay, too. Once again, she'd survived.
"Where's Kate?" she asked as Sebastian held her in the back of David's car.
David was inside now, but he'd called an ambulance, was insisting that both of them get medical help. Afterward, they'd have to answer a lot of questions. But that could wait. The police had more important things to do right now.
"At the Burkes'."
"Does she know that I was in danger?"
307
"No. I didn't tell her."
"That's good." She closed her eyes until she felt Sebastian nudge her gently.
"Can you believe it's over?" he murmured.
She gazed at the car that held Malcolm. He wasn't looking at them. His head was bowed as if he knew he'd made the biggest mistake of his life.
"He's going to prison," she said.
"He was a cop who murdered three people. They have irrefutable proof. I think he'll get the death penalty."
"Where do you suppose they'll try him?"
"Here."
"But he killed two people in New Jersey. They have the death penalty there, too, don't they?"
"They do, but they haven't had an execution since 1976."
An officer crossed the lawn and strolled up, frowning over some notes he'd been taking on a clipboard. "When I got here, I heard two different kinds of gunshots. But you two were the only people I met coming out. Was there someone else inside the house, someone besides the two of you and Mr. Turner over there?"
Jane sat up despite the blazing pain in her head and looked around them.
Where had Luther gone? He'd appeared and disappeared in a matter of minutes.
Why hadn't he stayed?
And then she understood. There must be warrants out for his arrest. If he'd stayed, he would've ended up in jail himself, even though it was largely because of him that she and Sebastian had made it out alive. "No, I don't think so," she said.
"But then, I'm a little confused. I--I was punched in the head. I heard shots. But I have no idea where they were coming from."
The officer turned to Sebastian. "What about you?"
Sebastian glanced at Jane, seemed to grasp what she was doing--and why she was doing it. "I fired a few shots. And Turner over there fired a bunch. He hit me with one. But that's it, far as I know."
The officer frowned. "I'll be damned," he muttered and walked away.
Jane smiled at Sebastian, then asked for his phone. He pulled it out of a pocket that was otherwise stuffed with ammunition and turned it on before handing it to her.
She wasn't sure she could remember Luther's number, but after three attempts, she reached him. "How did you know?" she asked without preamble.
308
"Know what?" he said.
"Where we were?"
"I came over to the office to see if I could fin' you. I wanted to tell you that our boy was roughin' up some hos earlier today, that he was back to his old tricks. I saw the van turn out of the drive and knew it was him. That was the same car my girls described to me. I tried to follow it but lost him. Took me a while, drivin' that damn highway, to find it again. But then I saw it sittin' there, plain as day in the driveway."
"You saved our lives."
"You did all you could for Latisha. I...appreciate that."
It was the kindest thing Lucifer--Luther--had ever said to her. "Wow," she murmured. "You've got me feeling all warm and fuzzy. Like maybe you don't hate skinny white bitches anymore."
His laugh was a deep rumble. "Don' let it go to your head."
She slipped her hand into Sebastian's. "The police were wondering about a third shooter," she told Luther.
"What'd you tell 'em?"
"That we don't know of a third shooter."
There was a slight pause. "That's probably the best," he said.
"We thought that might be the case. But they may not let it go. The evidence tells a different story, you know."
"That's okay. They'll never know it was me unless you give them my name."
That was probably true, as well. "How can I give them your name?" she said. "I didn't see you there. I was too confused to really understand everything that occurred. And Sebastian didn't see you, either."
"Then there's nothing to worry about."
She could tell he was about to hang up. "Luther?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks," she said and smiled as she disconnected.
"You feeling okay?" Sebastian asked.
She snuggled closer to him with a contented sigh. "I'm doing better than I have in a long while."
"Because you're in love with me?" he teased.
"Because
you're
in love with
me,"
she said and pecked him on the lips.
309
T
he Valentine's Day party Jane had suggested was a great idea. With Malcolm in custody, Sebastian felt like celebrating.
He stood at the periphery of the crowd that milled around the conference room and reception areas at The Last Stand. There were a lot of people he didn't know--people who volunteered for the charity, legal associates and so on--but there were a few he did. Jane's former in-laws. Kate. Jonathan, a private investigator he'd met at the office a few days ago, and his fiancee, Zoe. Sheridan and her husband, Cain. Mary, too, had come at his invitation. She'd bought herself a new dress and was smiling and chatting with everyone. Gloria and Latisha were in the corner talking to Skye. Even Luther had shown up. He didn't mingle. He folded his arms and leaned against the far wall, watching everyone, but he seemed pleased.
"Jane tells me you plan on staying in Sacramento."
Sebastian turned to see that Mary had made her way over to him. "That's right."
"For good?"
"I think so." Unless he could convince Jane and Kate to go back to New York with him. But he understood why they were reluctant to do so. He didn't want to take Kate from a school she liked, either. Maybe when she graduated in six years, they'd be ready for a change.
"What will you do about work?"
"I'm hoping to stay in the same field. I have some interviews this week." He actually wasn't too worried about finding employment. Lincoln Hawke Financial hadn't been happy to receive his resignation, but he'd been their top performer and they'd promised him a glowing recommendation. He was eager to get back to regular life, to try his hand in this new tougher market and to start earning money again so he could buy the house he wanted for Jane and Kate. If he found a buyer for his condo in New York, he'd be able to do that even sooner.
"Wow," Mary said, but it had nothing to do with his response.
He pulled his eyes away from Jane, who'd just smiled at him from where she was admiring Sheridan's baby. "What's wow?" he asked Mary.