Rescue Me (41 page)

And now this. What drives a man to this point
of lethal obsession? She shivered and struggled against her
bindings. “Spencer? Where are you? I don't see you. I can't see
you.” She heard the panic in her voice and drew a sharp breath. It
was a little late in the game to start panicking.

“Oh, baby.” Spencer's voice shook and it
drove her fear up a notch. He didn't think he'd make it. She heard
it in his tone. If she could cry, she would. But she just didn't
have the energy. “Hold on. Please. Just hold on for me.”

She fell silent and listened to the sounds
around her. She thought she heard footsteps behind her and twisted
around until the ropes cut in to her wrists. She cried out.

“What? What is it?”

“I,” she stopped and listened again. Those
were definitely footsteps. “I hear something. Is that you?”

“I'm heading down the ravine now. I need you
to key your mic to stay on. I'm going to use it to find you.”

“I can't. My hands are tied and he set the
radio to voice activation.”

“Then talk to me. Just don't break
transmission.”

She closed her eyes. The peaceful warmth
surrounding her made her want to give in to the darkness. At least
then the pain would go away. “I just want to sleep.”

Her lips quivered and the rest of her body
started to shake uncontrollably. The darkness welcomed her, warming
her in its embrace. She stopped shaking.

“Kathryn, stay with me.” When she didn't
answer him, he barked, his tone sharp, “Kathryn? Kathryn! Don't you
fucking hold your tongue now. Talk to me!”

She'd lost the fight. She wasn't afraid to
admit it. Even Spencer knew she wouldn't survive this. She heard
the fear in his voice. The elements tried to take her once, but
fate had other plans. Now, she didn't even resist. Let the elements
take her. They welcomed her like an old friend. It was so peaceful.
No noises. No cold. Just quiet. She wanted to listen to it
forever.

“Tell me a story,” Spencer said, his voice
soft, so intimate. She loved his voice. “Kathryn. Talk to me, damn
it. I have to find you. I need you.”

“Oh, Spence.” She wanted to cry, she really
did. But her body didn't want to do much of anything, including
expelling the energy needed to make tears. “Can we talk later? I'm
so tired.”

“No, damn it! Talk to me now. We're at the
house, talking over dinner. We have some smooth jazz playing in the
background. We're sharing a bottle of wine. Now it's your
turn.”

She drifted off again.

“Kathryn!”

“Stop yelling at me,” she whimpered. What day
was this? Didn't she have a meeting with investors today? Her mind
scrambled things around in her head and nothing made any sense.

“Then talk to me.”

“I'm cold,” she whispered.

“I know, baby. When I find you I'll warm you
up personally. I'll put my arms around you so tight and never let
you go. But you need to talk to me. Please,” he urged. The resolve
in his voice gave her strength.

“I want to go home, Spence. I didn't think it
would end this way. I wanted to grow old.”

“With me?”

She smiled and wished he were there to be
with her during her last moments on earth. “Yes. I don't want to
die.”

“You aren't going to die, Kathryn.”

“I'm sitting here tied to a tree, for
Christ's sake. I can't feel my hands, I have no idea if my toes
have fallen off from frostbite, and my nose itches! Why does your
nose always itch when you can't scratch it?”

She swore she heard a faint high-pitched
squealing off in the distance. Squelch? Her heart picked up a beat.
Could Spencer be close enough so that his radio started to back
feed? Wishful thinking or was her mind shutting down?

“Talk to me, sweetheart.”

Right. Talk. Her heart slammed into her chest
as her blood pumped faster through her veins. “There's so much I
want to say to you that I don't even know where to begin. I'm so
sorry for how I've been treating you. You have every right to hate
me.”

“I don't hate you,” he replied with such
tenderness it almost hurt to hear.

“Do you love me?”

The high-pitched squeal increased and gave
her the spins. What an annoying noise, but necessary. “I know you
were only trying to protect me. I get that now. I just wish I could
see you one more time, if only to say goodbye. I'm...” She faded.
No matter how hard she tried to open her eyes, she couldn't. The
darkness started to consume her and she wanted to just give in.

“You're what?”

She opened her eyes at the sound of Spencer's
voice. Then she turned her heard.

And there he stood.

It had to be the most glorious sight she'd
ever feasted her eyes upon. Storming smoky eyes. Rich, dark waves
of hair. Undeniably male. She blinked twice to make sure he was
real. When he bent down and untied the ropes, she knew she hadn't
imagined him.

Kat collapsed into his arms, this time
finding the strength to cry. “I didn't think you'd make it. I
thought I was going to die.” She ripped at the vest.

“No,” Spencer grabbed at her hands. “Becker
rigged the vest to blow if we try and remove it.”

“Oh shit,” she whimpered. Spencer took his
jacket off and wrapped it around her before lifting her into his
arms and starting back up the hillside. “Spencer, what if we don't
make it?”

“We will.” The steely determination in his
voice convinced her that they would.

She nestled into his arms and held on as he
raced them back. Spencer kicked the door to the cabin open and set
Kat down on the bench. Travis jerked his head up, his eyes wide as
dinner plates, clearly shocked that they were there. Thank God
Spencer had duct taped him to a chair. He whimpered when Spencer
marched over and ripped the tape from his mouth.

He gasped and pulled in a deep breath.
“Jesus, Spence. Are you trying to kill me? I couldn't breathe.”

“Tell me how to disarm it.”

“It doesn't work that way. Untie me and
I'll
disarm it.”

Spencer grabbed Travis by the throat. “Fuck
you, Becker. Tell me now or I'll just get someone from TREX's bomb
unit up here.”

“Suit yourself.” He drummed his fingers on
the arm of the chair. “Of course, since you've only got…” he
glanced at the wall clock. “Seven minutes, give or take, you should
probably call TREX's coroner unit instead. With the number of
bodies your agency accumulates, you must have a unit like that,
right?”

“You'd be killing yourself, too.” Kat pointed
out as, little by little, she began to thaw out.

“With a mess like that they don't even count
the body parts. Besides, Salazar was the only one who knew about my
involvement aside from you two. Since he won't be talking, and soon
neither with either one of you, they wouldn't even know to look for
me. I'll be long gone.”

“Fine,” Kat spoke, her voice growing stronger
and stronger as her strength returned. She met Travis's eyes with
an intense loathing. “I'll come sit on your lap until it detonates.
Oh, come on. Don't look at me like that. It's what you've always
wanted, right? With us together? We can die together when the bomb
goes off.”

“Tempting, Juliet.” He turned to Spencer.
“Untie me. I'll disarm it.”

Spencer hesitated and worked his jaw.

“Tick tock.” He smirked.

Clearly against his better judgment, Spencer
ripped the tape off Travis's wrists and ankles. “Now do it.”

Travis nodded, stood, and approached Kat. She
tensed, readying herself to attack him if he did anything other
than what he said he'd do. He pushed a few buttons on his remote,
then reached around her and pushed a few buttons on the vest. The
beeping silenced. She ripped it off and threw it across the
room.

Spencer charged. Travis jumped aside, rolled
on the floor, and came back up with a gun, pointing it directly at
Spencer. Kat found the strength to stand even though her legs
wobbled. “Travis! No!” She scrambled and stood in front of
Spencer.

He pushed her out of the way and charged at
Travis again. He fired, hitting Spencer in the shoulder. The impact
spun him around backwards. Spencer charged again. Another shot rang
out.

And Spencer went down.

“Spencer!” Kat screamed and fell to her knees
at his side.
Oh Jesus God.
Not the head. Blood surrounded
them, pooling beneath him and covering her as she pulled his limp
body into her arms. His eyes were closed. He didn't respond to her
voice, her touch—nothing.

No.

Please God. No!

“Turn around and face me,” Travis ordered in
such a callous voice that it shocked her. Kat ignored him and
hugged Spencer's head to slow the bleeding. She heard the
distinctive cock of the gun. “I said turn around. Now.”

Kat faced him, her rage for this man burning
inside her. She'd never hated another human being as much as she
hated Travis Becker right now. “How could you do this? Think of
your wife. Your girls.”

“Come on, Kat. There never was a wife. And I
sure as hell don't have any kids, at least that I know of. How
about I fill you in on everything Spencer never told you before I
kill you.”

“I don't care, you son of a bitch. If you're
going to kill me, why does it matter?” She focused on Spencer. His
breaths came in shallow gasps, but at least he was breathing. She
stole a glance to Damon Salazar's body in the corner. Good. One
down.

One to go.

“Pay attention, Kat.” Travis came closer and
fisted her hair. Pain screamed along her scalp but she refused to
give him any satisfaction and make any noise. She fought him, but
couldn't kick and twist the way she wanted to or she'd hurt
Spencer.

Travis gave her a jerk and she pulled away
from Spencer, dropping his head onto the floor with a thud. He
groaned out his favorite cuss word. At least he reacted.

“Let me go, you bastard.” She turned out of
Travis's grasp and elbowed him in the balls. He howled and kicked
her ribs, shoving her away. Kat went flying and landed on the floor
next to Salazar's body, the breath knocked from her lungs. She
gasped but couldn't pull in any air.

“I love it when you're feisty. I've wanted to
fuck you for years, but I always knew your little boyfriend there
would cut off my nuts if I so much as hinted at it.”

She glared at him as she coughed to catch her
breath. “He's not the only one.”

Spencer made a gurgling noise and she
scurried over to him. His breathing had grown even more shallow and
he'd lost a lot of color. And blood. So much blood. The copper
smell sank into her senses.

Travis grinned. “It seems Spencer is taking a
bit longer to die. Oh well.” He chuckled as she released a sob, a
hand on Spencer's chest.

“How could you?” Kat whispered and lowered
her head. She was helpless except to hold Spencer in her arms as
the life slowly slipped out of him.

“This last search really set everything in
motion. I needed to find Sam Green before TREX did. Thanks to you,
that didn't happen. Do you have any idea how much you've fucked up
our plans, Kat?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You found Tommy Miller alive, which pissed
us off. But we could still work that angle. Miller has several
other weaknesses to pick off. When Salazar and Green got into a
shooting match, I was ordered to kill them both.” He grinned. “So I
did.”

“Why does any of that matter now?” She
squeezed Spencer's head, not giving a shit who the 'us' was in this
scenario. “You've won, Travis.”

“Not yet. There's still one more loose end to
tie up. Once I broke into your apartment and saw the information on
the Order
, I knew Sam had told you too much. The senator
gave me the order to kill you, too.”

She didn't care in the least about any of
that while the man she loved died a little bit more every second in
her arms. “And Spencer?”

“I threw that one in for free. One less TREX
agent I have to worry about finding me after I disappear.” Travis
pointed the gun at Kat's head. She closed her eyes and prayed for a
direct shot so she died without any pain. “Goodbye, Kat. It's been
a pleasure knowing you.”

“Can't say the same.” Spencer mumbled.

Kat fell back as the gunshot rang in her
ears. Another shot from Spencer's gun had her scrambling back, then
another and another echoing through the cabin.

Travis fell to his knees. He stared at
Spencer in disbelief. One more shot, this one to his head, and he
collapsed face down on the floor, dead. Blood pooled around him as
it drained from his body.

Kat scooted to Spencer, pulling him into her
arms. He dropped the gun and collapsed against her.

“You did it, Spencer.” She smiled down at him
and wiped away a tear as it streamed from the corner of his eye. He
smiled weakly and brought a hand up to her cheek.

“We did,” he rasped. He searched her eyes and
drew in a labored breath. “I love you, Kathryn. With all that I am.
Don't ever forget that. I just wish—” he grimaced and Kat tensed.
He finally said the three words she'd wanted to hear for over a
year. Hearing them now twisted in her heart. She sobbed. “I wish we
had more time.”

“Spencer, don't you dare talk like that. You
are not going to die.” Burning tears swelled in her eyes and
spilled over. “I won't let you leave me.”

“I'm sorry.” He closed his eyes and a tear
escaped. His hand slid down her face. She took it in hers and gave
it a firm squeeze.

“You promised to stay by my side.”

He looked up at her, sorrow swirling in his
watery gaze.

“You promised me, Spencer. You promised,” she
sobbed.

“There are some things even we can't
control.”

She cried and threw herself down on his
chest. “Don't you dare die! Please! Please stay with me. I love
you.”

“Now you tell me,” he whispered and did a
failed attempt at a smile. Kat lifted off his chest and looked at
him. His eyes were open again, but he'd paled even more. “I have
one hell of a headache.”