Page 42 of Soul Deep
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Christian scented Lily’s approach. Not surprising considering he’d pretty much been lying in wait, hoping she’d fill him in on the details. After all, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that she would have gone through with the plan. She had been resistant from the first mention of the idea, not wanting to paint a target on his back. What he saw as the perfect opportunity, she saw as the height of stupidity. They would just have to agree to disagree, but if Lily had chosen not to… well, that was her right, and they would simply have to think of another way.
He was attempting to not look too eager as he waited for a first glimpse, so the flash of movement barely registered in his peripheral vision before he felt the impact of her supple weight as she tackled him. Expecting to feel the slice of her claws at any moment, Christian braced for the pain of her anger. It never came. Instead, she rolled off of him with a grin, jumped to her feet, and sank into a fighting stance. Her hands raised, fingers twitching in a beckoning gesture, her eyes alight with mischief.
Christian felt his heart take flight. He wasn’t sure what had happened between their talk at the human woman’s house and now, but he had expected stony silence, possibly derision or disappointment, maybe even a killing rage that he had so badly let her down – this, whatever this was, had never even occurred to him, but he certainly wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass him by.
With a happy shout, he lunged forward and marveled at his female’s grace as she easily avoided his grasp and delivered a resounding kick to his gut – all while smiling. Oh, yes, she’d still get her licks in, but something had definitely shifted. He may be bruised and battered come morning, but he had hope – and that was more than he’d had when he’d finally fallen into an exhausted sleep after digging up half his yard.
When Lily came in for another kick, he moved closer rather than away and circled her thigh with his arm to lift her completely off her feet. “Did you do it?” He asked with a grunt as she surprised him by planting her other foot against his hip and climbing him like a tree.
“It’s done,” she gasped as she locked him in a choke hold and pulled, throwing him off balance so they both toppled to the ground. Panting, she bucked out from under his weight and rolled away. “Now we wait.”
Detective Janet Sanford was also panting as she reached the top of the ridge that provided their best vantage point to keep an eye on Lillian Oremun. “Anything?” She huffed as she settled down next to Rick who had his eyes trained on the area below.
He handed over the night vision binoculars. “I was about to call that in, but after watching for a few minutes, I kind of think they’re playing.”
Janet took the binoculars and focused on the scene below. Their suspect appeared to be wrestling with her boyfriend, Christian Black, the man that had supported Miss Oremun’s alibi. Both of them smiling and appearing like they were having a damn good time. Frowning, she watched for several minutes before she volunteered, “Just tonight the woman was saying that she thought this guy may be abusive, yet she’s wrestling with him. Does that make sense to you, Rick?”
Janet didn’t take her eyes from the target, but she could hear the shrug in her partner’s voice, “I don’t much understand anything about women.”
Letting out a little huff of laughter, Janet shook her head, sure that his wife would readily agree. She heard Rick rifling around, the sound of plastic crinkling, then she heard him grumble, “Shouldn’t she be focusing on her next target if she’s the killer?” Another crinkle of plastic and a long thin rope appeared in her line of sight. “Twizzler?”
Janet pulled her eyes from the binoculars to shoot her partner a disbelieving look. “Candy, Rick? Really?”
Rick shrugged and took a bite of the red licorice. Shaking her head, Janet focused once more on the scene below. “Looks like things are breaking up now. Get ready to move.”
She heard the rustling as Rick packed away his candy in preparation to follow Lillian Oremun who was moving off toward her own cabin with a bright smile and a wave back at Christian Black.
The gun shot completely took her off guard. With an expletive, Janet dropped the binoculars and bolted to her feet, throwing Rick the satellite phone. “Call it in!” She yelled, already hauling ass down the steep slope. “We need an ambulance here! Call it in!”
There was a roaring in Lily’s ears as she stood rooted to the spot, her brain refusing to acknowledge what her eyes were seeing. Time seemed to slow as she watched Christian lurch back, his hands clutching his belly before he shot her a look of disbelief, his knees giving out and hitting the ground.
She heard someone scream. Was it her? Suddenly she was beside him, on her knees, adding her hands to his, both pressing against the wound as blood seeped dark red through her fingers. Despite her actions, her brain still didn’t want to work. What had happened?
Christian had told her that he scented a human approaching – had said something about the smell of gardenias – and they’d decided she should head back to her place to wait. If the killer followed her usual pattern, she wouldn’t attack until Christian was alone, so it was best if Lily left. She had agreed. She’d planned to wait until the woman made an appearance with her baseball bat, and then with Christian’s help, they’d capture the woman and call the police. And while the plan was dangerous for Christian, she had had faith in his ability to hold his own. They had never once considered the killer might use a gun.
Finally her brain made the necessary connection. A gunshot. Christian had been shot. Still trying to stem the bleeding, Lily let out a snarl and located the shooter walking calmly toward them, gun pointed directly at Christian with every intention of finishing the job.
Lily’s eyesight may be keen, but right now, she wasn’t believing what she was seeing as the woman raised a hand to slide back the hood of her black sweatshirt. “It has to be done, Lily.”
Doctor Hillary stood before her, that serene smile that had calmed Lily earlier now sent a chill down her spine. Lily shook her head as she positioned her body protectively over Christian’s vulnerable torso and head, “Don’t do this. Please, don’t do this.”
That smile changed to one of patient exasperation like a mother might give to a child who didn’t understand what was going on. “Don’t cry, Lily. They’re not worth our tears.”
“Drop the gun!”
Lily’s head snapped around to see Detective Janet Sanford, gun drawn and gripped before her with both hands, pointing at Doctor Hillary as she slowly approached. “Get an ambulance!” Lily cried, “He’s been shot!”
Detective Sanford never took her eyes off of the doctor, but her voice rang out clear, the words music to Lily’s ears. “An ambulance is on its way.”
If the doctor even noticed the detective, she didn’t show it, stepping closer to Lily, her voice turned cajoling. “Now, move away from him, sweetie, and this will all be over in just a moment.”
Disgusted, Lily growled as she swept a leg out to hook her foot behind the doctor’s ankle and pulled, knocking the woman off balance. It was the opening the detective needed to rush forward and kick the gun out of Doctor Hillary’s hand. “Doctor Danielle Hillary, you are under arrest for the murders…”
Lily’s attention clicked off as she turned her full focus to Christian. His eyes were closed, his lips pinched in a grimace of pain. Yanking off her shirt, uncaring that it left her in nothing but a bra from the waist up, she pressed it hard into Christian’s belly. “Help is coming, darling.” Lily gasped, choking on her tears. “Stay with me, Christian. Do you hear me? You stay!”
“You understand, don’t you, Lily?”
