Page 115 of Ruthless Cross

"A long time ago. I was trying to knock the gun out of her hand, but I missed."

"Not by much. I wish I could get to know you, but I can't." His dad turned away from Callie to give him a look filled with pain and sadness. "Good-bye, Flynn. Take care of yourself."

He nodded, feeling a tightness in his chest. His dad walked up to him, put his hand on his shoulder, and then headed toward the far side of the warehouse.

Flynn didn't see where he went after that as the sound of footsteps coming through the front door made him grab for Callie and push her behind him. He raised his gun once more, until he heard Savannah's voice. He blew out a breath of relief as Savannah and Wyatt walked into the room.

"You okay, Flynn?" Savannah asked.

"I'm fine. Did you get the guy outside?"

"We didn't see anyone," she replied. "He must have taken off."

"Probably when Marcus got shot." He tipped his head toward the man on the floor.

"I'll call for an ambulance," she said, taking out her phone.

"Looks like we have one survivor and one deceased," Wyatt said, squatting down by Victoria's body. "Beautiful woman."

"Beautiful but deadly," he said. "Victoria was the serial killer. Marcus is her son. Apparently, she gave him up when she was a teenager, and he found her a few years ago. He's the one who killed Arthur. He thought if he copied his mother's method of murder, he'd get away with it or be able to blame it on her."

Savannah grabbed a moving blanket off a nearby crate and pressed it against Marcus's wound.

Marcus groaned with pain, but he was fading in and out of consciousness.

A siren lit up the air, and a moment later, the police and paramedics responded to the scene.

As the room filled with personnel, Flynn put his arm around Callie's shoulder. She gazed up at him with her heart in her eyes.

"I knew you'd come for me," she said. "But I was afraid you'd be walking into a trap."

"I had luck on my side."

"And your father."

"Yeah, him, too. Did you know that they were going to trade you for the painting?"

She nodded. "I heard. They grabbed me at the hospital while I was waiting for a car."

"I told you I would come and get you."

"You didn't answer my text. I was just going to go home and change clothes. It was stupid. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. I'm just glad you're not hurt. They sent me a photo of you lying passed out on the floor. I didn't even know if you were breathing."

Her gaze filled with dark shadows. "I didn't know they did that. They shoved me into a van, put something against my nose, so I'd pass out. When I woke up, I was in a storage room with my hands zip-tied behind my back. I didn't know where anyone was. I managed to get free and I climbed up to the ceiling and went through the air vent."

He looked at her in astonishment. "You did what?"

"I was actually pretty amazed at myself," she said proudly. "I crawled through the duct, and then I dropped down onto the second-floor hallway from another vent. I was hidden behind the canvases up there." She tipped her head to the massive paintings upstairs. "I heard voices and I stayed out of sight. I couldn’t believe it was Victoria or that Marcus was her son. She was furious with him. She said he was going to ruin her. And then your dad got hauled into the room. I thought you had to be somewhere close by, but I didn't know, and I was afraid of what you'd walk into. When she looked like she was going to shoot your dad, I threw a wrench at her. Then shots were going off and people were falling. I didn't know what to do. But you were there. You were going after Victoria. You were shooting at each other. I wanted to help, but I didn't want to distract you."

"I'm glad you didn't try."

"I thought you were going to shoot her."

"I wanted to. But she wanted it as well, and I couldn't give her what she wanted."

"So, she killed herself." Callie glanced over at her body. "She died just like Arthur, but she didn't kill him."

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