'Surprise,' he said.
Chapter 113
IT FELT AS if my heart stopped and then started up again. My mind was racing. Kyle must have had some kind of major procedure. His face wasn't Kyle's at all.
'That's right,' he said. 'Everything you're thinking right now is true. Except for the part where you save everybody. That's not happening.'
Farther up the beach, Nana was watching from under an umbrella. Damon, the only one not to have met Max Siegel, was on a lounge chair beside her, listening to his iPod.
'What do you think, kids?' Kyle said, putting some Siegel back into his voice. 'Want to go give your dad a good-morning kiss?'
He pocketed the phone and took up Ali's hand, making sure to show me a flash of whatever was under that towel. A gun of some kind.
God, no. This wasn't happening.
We'd left our own weapons back in DC, very much on purpose. Now that seemed like a horrible mistake. I'd have to improvise. But how? Using what as a weapon?
I whispered fast and low to Bree as they came across the beach. There was no time to consider options. There was just my instinct, and a quick prayer that we got this right.
'Hey, Daddy!' Ali called out as they came toward the terrace stairs. He tried to pull ahead, but Siegel – Kyle! – kept hold of his hand. It was everything I could do to stay where I was.
Jannie ran ahead of them. 'Can you believe Mr. Siegel is staying here, too?' she said, and kissed me on the cheek. 'Is that crazy or what?'
'Unbelievable,' I said. Neither she nor Ali seemed to notice how hollow my voice sounded.
'Sorry to drop in like this,' Kyle said, as Max. He was grinning at me, daring me with his eyes, obviously wanting me to make some kind of move. And the voice – it wasn't Kyle's, but it was Kyle's. How could I have missed the similarities before? It's amazing how the brain follows what the eyes see – or don't see.
'No problem,' I said. I kept the charade up for the kids' sake and moved back inside. 'Come on in. Bree's taking a shower, but she'll be right out.'
Kyle put a hand on Ali's shoulder, and my stomach turned. 'Why don't you go and get her?' he said, smiling. 'I'll wait here with the kids. I'm sure she'd like to know I was here. What a coincidence. Is this crazy?'
Something like an electric charge passed between us – something a lot like hatred. 'Bree?' I called out. I moved toward the bathroom with my eyes still on Kyle. 'Can you come out here?'
For just a second, I poked my head in. 'Max Siegel just dropped by,' I said, loud enough for his benefit.
Bree was slipping out of her T-shirt and sticking her head under the running water while we stared helplessly at each other.
'Be right there!' she called back.
I turned to face Kyle again. He was still holding on to Ali.
Jannie was sitting on the edge of the unmade bed, but now she was watching me intently. I think she had started to sense that something was wrong.
'She'll be right out,' I said, as naturally as I could.
'Good,' Kyle said. 'Then I'm going to take you all for a drive. Kids, you up for a little adventure?'
'Sure!' Ali said. Jannie stayed quiet. The whole time, Kyle kept his right hand covered with that towel, his gun out of sight.
When Bree came into the room, she was in bare feet and wearing one of the resort's robes. You'd never know from watching her that she was just as scared and pumped up as I was.
'Max, good to see you,' she said, and extended a hand as she came toward him.
'Not as good as it is to see you,' he said, without hiding his pleasure anymore.
But then as they went to shake, Bree's free hand whipped a small canister out of the pocket in her robe – the hair spray from the complimentary kit in the bathroom. She sprayed it in Kyle's eyes. He yelled in pain, and with a second fluid motion, Bree kneed him in the groin.
At the same time, I took a glass decanter off the bar, where I'd positioned myself. I crossed the floor in three fast steps and swung as hard as I could. The heavy container smashed into Kyle's jaw and nose. He crumpled to the floor. Shards of glass flew everywhere.
Ali screamed, but there was no time for explanation or soothing. Bree scooped him up as if he were weightless, grabbed Jannie's arm, and got them out the door.
And I fell onto Kyle with everything I had.
Chapter 114
KYLE SWUNG HIS fist and caught me square in the jaw. A shock ran through my head, but I couldn't swing back. I now had one hand on his wrist and the other on the gun he'd carried in.
I head-butted him instead, hard, where he'd already been cut. It was enough to wrench the weapon free. A Beretta nine millimeter. Max Siegel's gun.
I scrambled backward on the floor, aiming it between his eyes, which he was rubbing at furiously, trying to see.
'Roll over!' I told him, getting to my feet. 'Face down on the floor, hands away from your body!'
Kyle smiled. His eyes were practically bloodred, running with tears, but I knew that he could see me again.
'This is ironic,' he said. 'I could have sworn you were lying that night in the car, but you really can't pull that trigger, can you?'
'Not without a reason,' I said. 'So either give me one, or roll over and kiss the floor – right now! Do it!'
'You know I don't say this lightly, Cross, but fuck you.'
Suddenly, he did roll, too fast, and a shard of glass clenched in his hand crossed the space between us. I felt the muscle in my calf tear. My knee buckled. I was halfway to the ground before I knew what happened.
And Kyle was up on his feet.
He stumbled on his way out, and it probably saved his life. The one shot I managed to get off splintered the sliding door instead of his head, just before he jumped off the terrace and disappeared outside.
Chapter 115
I FIRED ONCE into the air as I came onto the beach. Anyone who wasn't already moving out of Kyle's way started scattering now. His gait was erratic. It was possible he had a concussion, but my leg wasn't doing me any favors either. I had never seen a chase like this one.
Some people were screaming; others were pulling their kids out of the water. Then, without a clear shot, I could only watch as Kyle reached down and plucked a small boy, maybe two or three years old, off the ground before his mother could get to him.
The woman ran right at them, but Kyle clutched her boy over his torso like a shield.
'Get back!' he screamed. 'Get back, or I'll -'
'Take me!' The mother was on her knees, unable to come closer or turn away. 'Take me instead!'
'Kyle, put him down!'
He turned to look at me then, and I was close enough to see the calm coming back into his eyes. He had the bargaining chip he needed, and he knew it.
