Cowboy Cool: Book 5 (Cowboy Justice Association) (31 page)

Bidding Logan goodbye, they promised to talk again the next day when Logan had had a chance to review the documents. Reed picked up the paper and stared at it, oblivious to anything going on around him. He could only hear the buzzing in his head as his brain put the puzzle pieces together.

“Bookchiller,” Reed said out loud, things finally starting to make sense. “CHILL stands for Cheryl Hill. She did what Ava did and made a play on words.”

Son of a fucking bitch. Hopefully he wasn’t too late.

Adrenaline shot through him and fear chewed at his stomach, acid building in his throat. His woman—the woman he goddamn loved—was alone with someone who was obviously twisted from the emails and letters. He should have never left her. If anything happened to her he would never forgive himself.

She would be the second woman he’d failed.

But first he needed to calm the fuck down and use his head. Running back to the house with guns blazing would only serve to get Kaylee killed.

His heart pumping, Reed quickly accessed the cameras even as he headed to his truck. The outside of the house looked clear. The bedroom? The same. His chest tightened so painfully at the live feed of the living room it almost took his breath away. Cheryl was standing there with a gun pointed at Kaylee.

To her credit, she didn’t look cowed or afraid. The two women were talking and Reed could only hope Kaylee could keep it up.

He wouldn’t let anyone take her from this world.

“That’s right, honey. Stall her just a little longer. I’m coming.”

*   *   *   *

Reed pressed his body to the side of the house hoping Cheryl hadn’t turned on the camera feed. If luck was with him, she’d feel so comfortable with him out of the house she’d never think to check if anyone was coming. He’d parked his truck down the block so she wouldn’t see it and he had come around the back of the neighbor’s to keep out of the living room’s line of sight. He’d also called Detective French and he was on his way but Reed had made it clear he wasn’t waiting. Kaylee’s life was held in the balance.

A quick check of the camera feed before he’d exited the truck had told him Kaylee was still alive but Cheryl’s expression was growing darker. He didn’t have much more time.

Using the keys Kaylee had insisted he take, he pushed the key into the door off the basement, holding his breath that it would indeed work. Although he’d seen the entrance when he’d come down to the basement for Halloween supplies, he’d never actually used it. He wasn’t even sure if any of these keys were to this door; he could only hope that all the doors were keyed the same.

Turning the key as quietly as he could, he heard the click as the lock disengaged. He exhaled slowly in relief but then held his breath again as he twisted the doorknob and entered the dark basement cautiously. He left the door open to let in enough light to see the stairs that would lead him to the kitchen.

Sweat had gathered on his forehead and back even in the chilly autumn air while his heart pounded in his ears. Going into warrior mode, he turned off his emotions, letting his instinct take control. Messy emotions became even messier missions. Thinking too much didn’t help either. In fact, it could get a man killed in a hurry.

He pushed away any external distractions, focusing solely on the sounds coming from the main floor as he crept silently up the steps. As usual, the door at the top of the stairs was closed and he would need to go through that door at exactly the right moment. Not too soon and not too early.

Pulling up the camera feed but keeping the sound on mute, he cursed as Cheryl walked closer to Kaylee. He needed Cheryl to step away if only for a moment. Anticipating her movements was key to taking her down. He pulled his weapon from his shoulder holster and held his breath as the blood roared in his ears. How Kaylee had become the absolute most important thing in his life he didn’t know, but she had and he’d die before anything happened to her.

She was everything.

*   *   *   *

“I’m not going to sign this letter or take those pills,” Kaylee said, trying to act as calm and strong as she could despite the fear swirling inside. “You’re going to have to shoot me and then everyone will know that I’m the victim, not you.”

“I’ll just put the gun in your hand,” Cheryl scoffed. “It will still look like a suicide. They’ll find the note whether you sign it or not.”

Kaylee had to take a few breaths before she could speak again. Inside she was trembling, terrified of the gun pointed directly at her, but outwardly she was trying to channel Reed’s cool façade. “You haven’t thought this all the way through, have you? If you shoot me the forensic evidence isn’t going to match up. They’ll know I didn’t pull the trigger. And once they examine the letter they’ll know it wasn’t produced from my printer. Really, you’re fucked,” she said bravely. “If I were you I’d give this up. You’ll end up in prison for a lifetime and everyone will know what you really are.”

Kaylee’s breathing was labored and she had to concentrate to keep her legs from visibly shaking. Her once friend and now enemy was becoming less and less talkative, clearly wanting everything tied up and done. Pressing her lips together to keep from screaming, her fingers gripped the flesh of her thighs until the knuckles were white.

Cheryl took a few steps back and raised the arm that held the gun slightly higher pointing it directly at Kaylee’s heart. “Enough talk. Time to–”

Whatever she had been about to say was obliterated by a flash of light and what sounded like an explosion. Kaylee’s ears rang as Cheryl dropped the gun she’d been holding and her hands pressed against her abdomen where a large red stain was blooming on the white fabric of her blouse. Her entire body crumpled to the floor in a heap.

Kaylee sat frozen on the sofa as her mind tried to make sense of what had happened. She was alive and Cheryl was shot and possibly dying. That had been the sound and light Kaylee had seen and heard.

She was alive.

Sirens wailed in the distance but Kaylee didn’t have time to process what that meant as she was lifted by two muscular arms into a crushing embrace.

“Are you alright? Tell me you’re okay, baby.” It couldn’t be Reed’s voice she was hearing. It sounded too anguished, too pained. It sounded like a man who thought he might lose the woman he…loved. He was far from the calm, cool, and collected lawman Ava had described and Kaylee had met only a few weeks ago.

“I’m okay,” she answered but her voice came out as a croak. Pressing her palms against the hard wall of his chest, she leaned back to look up into his face. It was the expression of a man in love. Fear, pain, determination, and tenderness were all etched in his handsome but haggard features. “I can’t breathe. You’re cracking my ribs.”

She’d almost been killed but somehow the only thing that mattered was this one true thing.

Reed loved her.

His arms slackened and he shook his head. “Sorry, baby. I’m just so damn glad you’re okay.”

The adrenaline that had been keeping her going was beginning to ebb and her knees seemed to give way. Seeing her fade, he picked her up and placed her on the couch as streams of people began filling her living room, first from the basement and then from the front door. EMTs crouched around Cheryl while Detective French strode over and knelt beside Kaylee.

“Looks like we missed the action. What happened?”

“I came in the basement entrance just like I told you I would,” Reed said, never taking his eyes from Kaylee, his hands clutching her own. “I watched the camera feed on my phone for the just the right moment, but once I saw Cheryl lift her gun and aim I couldn’t wait any longer. Luckily she’d separated just enough from Kaylee that I was able to throw open the door and get one quick one off before Cheryl pulled the trigger.”

“Good shooting.” The detective glanced at Cheryl lying on the floor motionless and surrounded by paramedics but the stench of blood turned Kaylee’s stomach. “They’ll get her to the hospital. I assume we can have all the camera footage for the trial? From what you said she was admitting everything.”

She gulped in some air and leaned her head back on the couch as her brain tried to catch up to everything that had happened. Reed had actually saved her from certain death. Cheryl had wanted Kaylee dead. Dead. She still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around it.

“How did you know what was going on? Were you watching the camera feed while you were at the coffee shop?”

Reed shook his head even as he was tucking strands of her hair behind her ear. “I figured out it was Cheryl from the email address. ‘Bookchiller.’ ‘CHILL – C. Hill.’ It was Logan and Ava’s email address that got me thinking it. So I checked the feed and saw she had a gun pointed at you. I hoped you could stall long enough for me to get to you. I was only two blocks away at the coffeehouse.”

She cupped his face in her hands, tears spilling over as the enormity of the day began to sink in. “I just kept thinking that I needed to keep her talking…I trusted that you would save me if you could.”

His body trembled under her palms and she knew he understood what that word meant to her. She would always place her trust in this man.

The detective cleared his throat, bringing her back to earth and the present. “I apologize but I do need to get everyone’s statements. There’s going to be paperwork here. Someone was shot and that means we need to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s so Mr. Mitchell can be cleared of any wrongdoing. With everything on film it shouldn’t be a problem, but the sooner we get started the sooner it will be done.”

Reed had shot another human being to protect her. How did you thank someone for something like that?

“Then let’s get this over with,” Kaylee said. “I want to get on with the rest of my life.”

She wasn’t sure if she would be lucky enough to spend it with Reed, but she wouldn’t give up on him. She’d realized today he wasn’t like the men in her books.

He was ten times better…because he was real.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“C
an you stay for a few days?” Kaylee asked as they sat on the back patio late that night. The air was cold but the heater and a flannel throw kept them both warm. Her head was pillowed on his chest and he was playing with her long silky hair.

They hadn’t spoken much today. At least to each other. They’d talked to the police, repeating the same details again and again until they’d finally heard enough. News trucks had shown up at some point but they’d both refused to talk to the press. Of course Brent, Linda, and Walt hadn’t shown such restraint. They’d been on both the six and the eleven o’clock news saying they’d never seen any sign of Cheryl’s behavior.

Reed inwardly predicted people would be coming out of the woodwork soon to talk about how they had seen Cheryl’s obsessive personality before. Something like that didn’t happen overnight but had probably been simmering for years.

Now he and Kaylee were finally alone. Her tears were dried and some of the shock had worn off. The police had suggested she see a victim’s counselor and Reed whole-heartedly agreed. She’d need help making sense of the events and not blame herself for what had happened to Cheryl, because as soft-hearted as Kaylee was, she would think it was somehow her fault.

And there was no one else at fault here except for Cheryl herself. Her actions and decisions had all led up to today. She’d put Kaylee in a life or death situation where only one of them would come out okay. For Reed there had only been one possible outcome. Kaylee.

So now there was no reason for him to stay any longer with Cheryl in custody.

Unless he simply wanted to. It probably wasn’t a great idea but he did want to spend more time with her. He had more vacation to burn and any desire he had to visit Florida or anywhere else had faded away. If he wasn’t going back to work, he wanted to be with Kaylee.

“I have more time before I go back to work,” he admitted. “The mayor made it very clear that I had to take at least six weeks.”

“Does he know that you’ve been calling your deputies almost every other day?” she teased, her hand warm on his chest.

“No, and neither was anyone else to know. Have you been listening in on my conversations?”