Empty.

She glanced back into the kitchen. “Mitch?”

No answer.

Sweat trickled down her spine. Her skin chilled.

Think, Kate. Don’t be a wimpy girl. She spotted the cordless phone on the coffee table. Scrambling for the receiver, she turned it on with shaky fingers. The line was dead.

A gust of wind sent the screen slapping again. Kate jumped and whipped toward the kitchen.

Her purse was on the far counter with her cell phone and keys. She needed to get it. Taking a calming breath, she stepped through shadow and light.

Her foot slipped in a puddle on the hardwood floor. Grasping a kitchen chair for support, she was able to catch herself before she fell. She squinted through the darkness toward a trail of liquid from the back door that ran around the table.

Okay. That wasn’t good. Something wasn’t right. It was time to just go. She reached for her purse from the counter.

Something hard slammed into her from behind. The contents of her purse went flying. Kate hit a barstool, bounced off the edge of the counter and tumbled to the floor.

Her arm took the brunt of the fall. Pain rocketed through her shoulder. When she tore open her eyes, Hannah Hughes was kneeling over her, holding a gun in her hand. “Welcome to the party, Kate.”

Kate saw Mitch on the floor behind the table. His body was limp, his eyes closed. Blood oozed from his head.

Her stomach churned. Oh, God. That wasn’t water she’d slipped in.

“No, look at me, Kate,” Hannah said. “Do you have any idea what kind of mess you’ve made for me?”

What the hell was she talking about? Kate’s brows drew together. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“Don’t play coy with me. I’m not falling for the whole ‘I don’t remember anything’ routine like Ryan and Jake. You’ve been nothing but a pain in my ass since this whole thing started.”

This whole thing. Jake. No.

“You,” Kate managed on a ragged breath. “It was you? But you work with Ryan. I don’t understand.”

“Not very bright, are you?” A twisted smile graced Hannah’s mouth. “Must have been all the drugs. Tabofren would have saved Paula. Ryan knew that.”

Kate’s brows drew together. Grasping her aching arm, she tried to sit up. “Who is Paula?”

“My sister. Ryan was so excited about Tabofren, he fast-tracked it into clinical trials. It worked. But he got cold feet when the FDA caught wind of the side effects and pulled the plug, stopped production. Paula died. That drug would have saved her life.”

Kate swallowed. “You don’t know that for sure.”

“Oh, no? I think we do. Do you have any idea what it’s like to lose someone you love, Kate? Or should I call you Annie? Which do you prefer?” Hannah’s menacing laugh made Kate’s nerves jump. “I forget who I’m talking to here. Of course you know what it’s like to lose someone! Or better yet, Ryan sure does. We made sure of that.”

“You—you did this on purpose? Why didn’t you just kill me?”

“Hindsight is twenty-twenty. I was outvoted. Dad and Jake both thought you might be useful down the line. A kidnapping was better. Then that plane you were supposed to be on went down, and everyone thought you were dead anyway. It made sense to let Ryan suffer. And we were lucky that I had a friend working for the airline who made sure your name was listed on the manifest. People will do anything for money.”

“You…you kept me alive on purpose?”

She shrugged. “Jake needed human tissue samples for his research if he was ever going to get the drug approved through a different company. We didn’t really care if you had cancer or not. We were mostly interested in the side effects. Lo and behold, there you were.”

With shaking fingers, Kate reached up and rubbed her scar. “But how did I—”

“That was the best part.” She laughed. “You didn’t go easily. Your struggling caused a car accident. Jake never lied to you about that. You did hit your head. And it did put you in a coma. That’s what gave him the idea to use you in the study.”

“Jake—”

Hannah’s mouth curled in disgust. “Jake was stupid. Who knew he had a conscience? When he found out you were pregnant, he refused to do the tests on you. Did you know Paula was pregnant when she found out about the cancer? They had to choose—her life or the baby’s. Then she died anyway. When Jake found out about your pregnancy, he figured it was payback. So we waited.”

“Walter Alexander’s your father,” Kate said.

“Not so stupid after all.” Hannah smiled. “He also goes by Karl McKellen. The head of McKellen Publishing. Your boss.”

Sickness brewed in Kate’s stomach. “What happened to Jake?”

Her eyes turned icy. “Cold feet.”

“You killed him.”

“I didn’t mind that he wanted to use you to extract the ultimate revenge. To fuck Ryan Harrison’s wife on a regular basis, to take his family and everything that had once been his? That was brilliant. But once Ryan killed Tabofren a second time, just after the Grayson merger, Jake lost his backbone. He was too worried about getting caught, about Ryan finding out about you and your boy. He wanted us to back off when we were so close to finally getting what we wanted. I couldn’t let him ruin everything. I gave up my life to make sure that drug went through.”

“Oh, my God.” Bile rose in Kate’s throat.

“Go ahead, be sick. Won’t matter to me. You won’t be around much longer to matter anyway.” A smug smile graced Hannah’s lips.

“You…you had the manifest changed so it looked like Jake died on that plane, just like me, didn’t you?”

“Parallels. That was artistic, you have to admit. And everything would have been fine except for you. You just had to start digging into things that were better left dead and buried. And Jake, that dumbass. So stupid for leaving that picture in your fucking house. I should have killed him years ago.”

Kate swallowed. No one was coming for her. Mitch wasn’t moving. She didn’t know if he was dead or alive at this point. “You killed the research patients.”

Hannah didn’t answer.

“And Janet Kelly. You took Ryan’s car that morning. Was she threatening to turn you in?”

“Do you really think I’m going to answer your questions?”

Kate caught movement behind Hannah. “Did you kill your father too?”

“That was an accident.” A hint of pain crossed Hannah’s features. “We got into an argument. His sacrifice is nothing, though, compared to the number of people who have died because drugs that should be used to save lives are denied from the people who really need them. What’s the purpose if they can’t be useful?”

Mitch levered himself up at Hannah’s back. Blood trickled down his forehead. He blinked twice and swayed.

Panic coursed through Kate. She needed to keep Hannah focused. “The FDA makes regulations to keep patients safe—”

Anger flashed in Hannah’s eyes. “Don’t lecture me about safety. If patients had access, my mother would still be alive. My sister would still be here today. If a few people have to die for the good of many, so be it.”

Mitch rammed into Hannah from behind, knocking her back against the counter. The gun rocketed across the floor. On a moan, he fell into a chair and crumpled to the ground. Kate scrambled to her feet and reached for a candleholder on the kitchen table. When Hannah tried to push herself up, she swung.

The candleholder hit Hannah across the face. Kate skirted out of Hannah’s grasp. She slipped in a puddle of blood. Hannah wrenched herself off the floor and launched herself at Kate. They struggled and rolled across the kitchen. Hannah pinned her to the floor.

Kate’s arms ached, her muscles throbbed, but she wasn’t going to die like this. Hannah reached for the gun. Kate kicked and clawed, managed to clamp her hand over Hannah’s on the handle of the gun.

No. No. No. Not like this. She had too much to live for. Kate fought with every bit of energy she had. Reed. Julia. Ryan. She couldn’t lose them.

When the gun went off, Hannah’s eyes widened. Her body froze, and she looked down at Kate in shock.

The barrel of the gun was pointed at Hannah’s chest. Her body slumped. She fell off Kate. The gun landed on the hardwood floor with a clank.

Kate scrambled to her knees, frantically checked Hannah’s pulse. Nothing.

“Come on, Come on,” she muttered, pushing down on Hannah’s chest. Blood pulsed from the wound, pooled on the ground around her.

Kate stumbled back, fell on her butt. Hand shaking, she looked around. And spotted Mitch lying motionless across the room.

* * *

Ryan’s car screeched to a halt in Kate’s driveway. He caught sight of the security detail’s car parked across the street when he pulled in. A body was slumped over the steering wheel, and something red was splattered across the windows. His pulse jacked up as he killed the ignition.

Simone’s car pulled in just after his.

“Stay here,” he yelled through the rain as she opened her car door.

A gunshot echoed through the wind.

He tore across the front yard and thrust the front door open with his shoulder. “Katie!”

Simone was on his heels as he raced down the dark hall. His eyes locked on Kate on the floor of the kitchen. Blood covered her bathrobe.

His heart lurched into his throat. He dropped to his knees, frantically searching for a wound. “Where are you hurt?”

“It’s not me,” she choked out. “It’s not my blood.”

“Are you sure? There’s so much.”

“No. I’m fine. Oh, God, Ryan. Mitch.”

Ryan tore his gaze away from her long enough to see Mitch lying on the floor, out cold. Blood trickled down his head. Simone was at his side, trying to coax him awake.