Page 56 of Keeping Her Safe

“Why didn’t you kill me in Florida?” She had to know. Wouldn’t it have been easier?

“I needed Wainwright. I needed to get rid of him also. I tried, but you got away. Once you two were gone, I could finally get everything changed over to me. It didn’t matter about the will once the only person who knew who you are was gone. I would have it all.” Ken smiled and pulled a gun from under his jacket. “But now I have the opportunity to kill your heirs. I will do that also.”

“But they have heirs. The money will roll to them.” Zephyr looked at her sisters, who were scattered across the room. There was no way to protect them all from this man and his gun. Zoey was right behind her to the left, so Zephyr took a step in that direction to block her from the gun. Della and Evie were further back, almost not in the kitchen anymore.

“Grant Miller,” Della stated loudly into the room. Neither sister looked at her for saying something odd, but Ken did.

Taking a deep breath, Zephyr rushed at him, throwing herself onto the gun in his hand. It must have taken him by surprise since his eyes jerked back to her, and she heard him curse. They were close when she started toward him, and she was almost touching him when she heard the gun’s loud report in the room. It was louder than she had ever imagined. The light that flashed from the end of the gun surprised her. But what took her breath away was the intense pain. It was everywhere all at once. Then it was gone, and so was light and sound.

CHAPTER 21

Zachary stood waiting outside the mansion with Gabe and a few other cops. On the way to town, Della’s SUV had stopped, and all the sisters had piled out. In his heart, he knew they were getting to know their new sister, but he wanted to be there for Zephyr as well. Over the past few days, he knew that there were things she had not told him and was probably telling them.

Gabe had most of the cops in town and an ambulance on the case. Yes, he knew someone was after her, but were they that close? The town was so peaceful; he couldn’t see anything bad happening here.

“So, you have no clue as to who it could be?” Gabe asked for the hundredth time.

“No idea. Should we go in?” Zachary stared at the house.

“No need, the mansion has a voice alarm system. All the sisters know what words to say to get the cops in an instant.” Gabe smiled. “Della used to get angry husbands showing up to beat her up all the time.”

There was a crackle on the police radio from the car behind them. Instantly, Gabe was heading for the door, along with half the cops that were there. Zachary followed and was right behind Gabe when he pushed open the front door. It looked exactly the same as it had been when he and Zephyr had shown up just a few days ago. The only difference was the sound of a gun going off, something he’d heard many times before.

They followed the sound to the kitchen area. What met Zachary’s eyes had his blood run cold. Zephyr was on the ground with red covering her white sweater, and her eyes were closed. The man standing in the middle of the kitchen was Ken Jackson. He had his hands in the air, and Zoey had her gun trained on him. Gabe also had his gun on him.

Once Zoey saw Gabe enter the kitchen, she dropped hers to the table and slumped to the ground to her sister. Zachary holstered his gun and ran to the women on the floor.

Zephyr’s white sweater was covered in blood. Had he even told her she looked nice in the sweater? Of course not, he was too busy being a cop instead of being the husband he wanted to be.

Helplessly, he watched as Zoey checked for vital signs and then ripped off her flannel shirt, popping most of the buttons off in the process. Rolling up the shirt, she pressed it to the oozing wound.

Zachary took her hand in his, kissed it, and said, “Zephyr, stay here and listen to the stories. I know you can hear them. Are they floating around us? Do you hear them? Are they whispering, or are they yelling? Can you hear the first sentence? Can you hear the end? Just stay with us and listen to them.”

He knew he must have sounded crazy to everyone in the room, and he didn’t care; he wasn’t letting her go that easily. He had to fight for her. If that meant using her weakness for words, he was going to use it.

Kissing her hand again, he saw her eyes open a tiny bit and close again. Then he heard her say, “I’m listening.”

Tears began running down his face. The other cops must have been taking care of Ken because Gabe squatted down to assist his wife. He, too, had pulled off clothes to compress the wound, but every piece that was used was completely soaked by the time another was ready.

The ambulance crew was taking over, and they tried to push him away, but he wouldn’t let go of her pale hand. It was paler than usual. Smaller.

“The ambulance will take you to the hospital in town but will then airlift her to Minneapolis,” Gabe stated, pulling him away from her.

As the EMTs got Zephyr onto a stretcher, Della handed him a USB drive. “Zephyr gave it to me, but I think you should take it. We will be there as soon as we can.”

Zephyr was unconscious as she was rolled into the ambulance, and Zachary climbed in after her. She remained that way through the ten-minute drive and the thirty-minute flight that took place next. The blood also continued to flow. By the time they landed, she had more tubes running through her than Zachary could imagine. He never wanted to see her like that again.

Now he was waiting in the waiting room alone. So far, a nurse had come and said Zephyr was in surgery to remove the bullet. Gabe had called him saying that they were coming, but also that Ken Jackson had confessed to it all. He had been trying to kill Zephyr because he was going to assume her identity. To his surprise, he had also confessed to hiring someone to try to kill Zachary a few weeks before—the man who had shot him.

Zephyr had just woken up when he was able to see her for the first time. Tubes were still stuck in her arms, and she looked so pale, but her eyes were alert. His heart was pounding as he approached the bed, and he let out the breath he was holding when she smiled at him.

Taking her hand casually in his, trying not to touch the tubes, he leaned down and kissed her gently on the mouth. If he hadn’t been so close, he would have missed her hoarsely say, “I guess makeup sex is out.”

“Just on hold, Zephyr. Just on hold,” Zachary said.

“I love you, Zachary. I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry about what I said. For everything I have ever said,” he replied but noticed she had fallen asleep.

---