“What did you say?” he hissed.
“I said it was all a lie. The president isn’t really dead.”
I had no idea if I should be telling him all this, but I needed to buy myself some time.
“No!” He gasped, shock radiating through him.
I seized the moment and twisted out from beneath him, scrambling to my feet.
“Yes. And now that we know who’s behind this, he can come out of hiding.” I taunted.
His eyes were wild and unfocused. I felt like I was prodding a wild animal, and I had no idea how he would react.
My eyes focused on a silver instrument that must have fallen off the tray when I knocked into it. It was close to my foot, just within reach.
“I’ll kill him myself,” Mr. Caroway growled, straightening and taking a step toward me. “Right after I kill you.”
“Is the vice president behind this?” I asked. I had to know the truth.
He made a face like he ate something spoiled. “Of course not. But I’ve been with him so long he would have brushed my little indiscretions under the rug. He would have made it so no one ever knew.”
What the fuck was he talking about? This was all because he wanted to cover up his sins?
He lunged and I ducked, scooping the instrument off the floor.
I heard Spencer out in the hall, yelling my name.
I shouted out just as Mr. Caroway lunged at me again.
He collided with me this time, both of us going down in a tangle of limbs. I landed on the bottom, my vision slightly blurry from hitting my head against the tiles.
Immediately, I began to struggle against the thick weight pinning me down. I shrieked, afraid he would wrap his hands around my neck again. I never wanted to feel that way again.
But he didn’t move to do that.
In fact, he didn’t move at all.
His weight was ripped away, and Spencer appeared behind him. The heinously bright lights of the room were making it hard to see.
“Elle?” he said, still gripping Mr. Caroway by the back of his jacket.
I looked down.
The instrument was sticking out of his chest. Blood saturated the shirt around it.
“I stabbed him,” I said, shocked.
“Fucker deserved it,” Spencer said, letting go of him. His body made a smacking sound against the tile, and Spencer reached for me.
On my feet, I wobbled. My throat was burning, my head hurt, and I couldn’t stop staring at the man I just stabbed.
Was he dead? I couldn’t tell. He wasn’t moving. He was lying there like a lump. This was the man who’d been terrorizing me. He was crazy.
Spencer grabbed my chin and pulled my face up. His mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear anything he was saying. He seemed to shout something over his shoulder, and a friendly looking nurse appeared.
I squinted against the lights, my head lolling back and forth. “She’s going in to shock!” the nurse yelled and rushed away.
Spencer’s arms wound around me, supporting all of my weight as I began to slide to the floor. My chin was titled back and something warm and moist covered my mouth. A rush of air forced its way into my starved lungs, and I gasped.
“That’s it, Elle,” someone said above me. “Breathe.”
Another breath forced its way into my lungs.
After several long moments of gasping for breath, my eyes opened and focused on Spencer hovering above me with a drawn face. Had he been giving me mouth-to-mouth?
“Hey,” I croaked.
“I can’t leave you alone for two seconds, darlin’,” he drawled, relief taking over his features.
“It was him,” I said, my voice strained. “He was the one behind it,” I croaked, trying to sit up so I could make sure he didn’t get away.
“Shh,” Spencer said, pressing me back down. Seconds later, a nurse came over and strapped an oxygen mask to my face.
“Just breathe,” he said, brushing the hair out of my face. “He’s still here. We got him.”
I tried to speak but couldn’t because of the mask.
“He won’t hurt you anymore,” Spencer vowed. “He won’t hurt anyone ever again.”
I knew then that I had killed him.
Tears gathered in my eyes and leaked down the sides of my face. Spencer gently wiped them away, but more continued to fall.
“You did what you had to do,” he said softly. Then he picked me up off the hard floor and laid me on a nearby bed. “Everyone is safe now. Jack can come home.”
I wanted to tell him everything I knew, about how I didn’t think the VP was responsible, how he wanted something he did covered up. But every time I tried to talk, Spencer would shush me. The pure oxygen filtering into my system was welcome, and it didn’t take long for me to give up. I could give him the details later.
A few minutes later, the doctor checked me out and declared I had a concussion. Then he turned to Spencer. “You ripped out the stitches I just put in,” he reprimanded.
“Sorry, doc,” Spence said, winking at me. “My girl needed me. I couldn’t let her down.”
The doctor began ordering people around for more supplies to redo his stitches, and Spencer returned all his attention back on me.
“So what do you say, darlin’?” he asked. “You gonna make time for me in that busy life of yours?”
I reached up and yanked the mask away from my face and smiled. I no longer worried about him walking out on me when the going got tough. We’d already been through hell, and he was still here. He was still gazing at me with love-filled honey eyes.
He was everything I’d ever wanted and never thought I’d have. I wasn’t going to mess this up by pushing him away. Like I told him before, I trusted him.
“Kiss me,” I murmured.
“Is that a yes?” he said, his dimples making an appearance.
“That’s a hell yes.”
He covered my mouth with his while the nurses in the room began fussing saying he was going to steal all the oxygen I’d just managed to replenish. I threaded my fingers into the hair at the base of his neck and pulled him closer.
The nurses continued to fuss.
We ignored them.
EPILOGUE
One Year Later…
I pulled the last batch of cookies out of the oven and set them on the stove to cool slightly before transferring them to the platter on the counter. Jack came running into the room, chasing the rambunctious puppy that Spencer bought him.
He said all boys needed a dog.
I think that meant he really wanted a dog and just needed an excuse to buy one.