Prophecy: Rapture Read online

  “For what?”

  “For the line you fed her.”

  “What line? That’s the truth.” He watched her face.

  Kyla didn’t seem upset, though she shook her head in confusion.

  “Yes, it really is true. I didn’t know until Eric told me. The old laws are still on the books. If those three conditions are met, you’re considered common-law married.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I don’t know. I suppose I wanted to be sure you really wanted to marry me. I didn’t want you to feel trapped.”

  “Trapped? This is the best news I’ve had in days.” She smiled crookedly. “Mr. Connor?”

  “Yes, Mrs. Connor?”

  “I think I like that.” Kyla kissed him passionately. “Now, help me get this bandage on.”

  * * *

  Greg Robbins watched his panel of reporters file in. He ran down the rules again for the benefit of anyone who wasn’t forewarned. “Do you all understand?” he asked.

  Everyone nodded.

  “What part do you play?” Mr. Fergerson asked Robbins.

  “I’m a mediator of sorts. If things get out of hand, I rectify it.” Robbins didn’t see another question coming, so he nodded to the cameraman. “Turn it on.”

  “Kyla, Joe, this is our panel. We have Jacqueline Bourne from Channel 2, Emma Raines from Channel 4, Tyler Steadman from Channel 11, Louis Fergerson from CNN, and Sharon Kaye from The Press. If their names escape you, you’ll notice I made place cards for them. If you two are ready up there, we’ll get started.”

  The monitor suddenly blinked on, signaling that Kyla and Joe had given the cameraman upstairs the thumbs up.

  “We’re ready up here,” Kyla answered.

  Robbins noticed the flinch from Bourne at the sight of the beautiful girl’s battered face and body. Kyla was sitting cross-legged on one hospital bed dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Joe was lying in the next. He wore a t-shirt, but was covered with a sheet and blanket to the waist.

  Kyla smiled. “Welcome,” she greeted them.

  Robbins turned to the reporters with a smile. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Joe and Kyla Connor.”

  He knew the shock value that announcement would carry, but after their run-in with the nurse, it was a favor Stanton was happy to grant them. Their blood tests had been drawn for their license, a new nurse assigned, and the hospital had officially recognized them as a common-law married couple within the hour. Stanton had seen the potential for a lawsuit and gone with the letter of the law.

  Bourne snapped a look at Robbins, then back at the couple. She kept her voice businesslike. “You’re married? When did that happen?”

  Joe smiled and took Kyla’s hand. “As you all know, Bishop Brian Johnson performed a religious ceremony for us, but we wanted a legal ceremony. We still intend to have one, but we were happily informed that by state law, we are already common-law married. That being the case, we saw no reason not to announce it.”

  The group was silent for an instant.

  Bourne spoke again. “Is it true that when the police arrived, the two of you had wound your bound arms around each other in an embrace?”

  Kyla smiled. “Almost. Joe had his arms around me and I was nestled to his chest.”

  Steadman spoke up. “Please, don’t think me rude, but I can pick out several injuries on Mrs. Connor, but what exactly are your injuries, Mr. Connor? Besides the rope burns, that is.”

  Joe had been waiting for that question. Robbins could tell. The sweep of blankets was theatrical.

  Once his leg was uncovered, Joe tapped the cast. “I was shot,” he said.

  Fergerson cut in. “I heard a rumor that you sustained your injury while acting as a human shield for your wife. Any truth in that?”

  Kyla chuckled. “Any truth? All truth. The bullet he took was intended for me, but he pulled me down and covered me so that it hit him instead.”

  “Why the leg?” Fergerson asked.

  Joe shrugged. “The gun was in motion. We were in motion. He fired anyway. He was desperate because he knew he wouldn’t get another shot off. It was pretty crazy.”

  Kaye spoke up. “What was your reaction when you realized your husband had been shot?”

  Kyla grimaced. “I was horrified. I knew there was a chance that we might not make it. I wasn’t prepared for the reality of it.”

  “Is that why you told the paramedics to take him out first?”

  “Yes. They agreed once they saw his wound. He was unconscious. I had no idea if we had time to waste.”

  Raines cut in. “Why is it that the gunshot wound and the abrasions from the bonds are your only wounds when your wife sustained many more injuries?”

  Joe answered that one. “There are two reasons for that. One is that they had knocked Kyla unconscious and had a gun to her head.”

  Kyla shuddered at the thought.

  Joe squeezed her hand and smiled at her before continuing. “I gave up my weapons willingly in hopes of doing something constructive later. I guess I’m lucky they didn’t shoot me right then and there. The second is that they had us separated at the convent. At one point, Kyla slipped her first set of ropes and took off in hopes of getting help.”

  “You’re saying Kyla escaped?” Kaye interrupted him.

  Kyla answered that one. “For an hour into a crumbling maze of tunnels under the campus, but I never found an exit that led all the way outside. The closest I got was the gym building, but it had a deadbolt and safety glass, so I was still trapped.” She paused and glanced at Joe.

  “When Harris caught her,” he started. Joe hesitated, then continued. “Kyla tried to run. The tunnel was collapsing, but he wouldn’t give up.”

  “It was probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done. I was kicking and punching at this man who was twice my size and professed to be a hired killer. I had no idea where I was, let alone Joe, Stacie, and Gram. The ceiling was falling in around my head—”

  Fergerson broke in. “Harris? By that, you mean you were fighting Justin Harris?”

  Kyla nodded.

  “Did you do any damage?”

  “Some, but not nearly as much as he did to me.”

  Joe nodded. “As near as I could tell, she broke his nose and sliced open his face at the cheek. She took a pretty severe beating in return.”

  “Sliced open with what?” Steadman asked.

  Kyla cupped her hand in her lap. “A fist sized stone with a sharp edge. I punched with my left hand, which I knew he would deflect, but it left him wide open for the rock in my right. It didn’t work. He didn’t lose his grip on me.”

  For a moment, no one asked a question. The stations would have fun editing out the shocked expressions.

  Fergerson found his voice first. “Harris must have lost his touch.”

  The nervous laugh that Robbins heard must have sounded its edge of hysteria to even Kyla herself.

  “No, definitely not. Even the second go-around we had, he was the hands down winner. I could barely walk when he was done with me. The first time,” her smile faded, “I almost didn’t survive.” Kyla glanced at Joe, then back at the screen. “No, Harris hadn’t lost his touch. He could have easily killed me either time.”

  Steadman looked at the screen intently. “By the first time, you mean the night you disappeared?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “What happened?”

  “He attacked me at my apartment as I came in. I was half-dead by the time Joe arrived, and I never actually managed to land a punch. Joe saved my life.”

  Joe shook his head. “What she’s not telling you is that she saved my life as well.”

  “When did that happen?” Bourne asked.

  “That first night. Harris had her pinned. He was choking the life out of her. He had a gun in his hand.” Tears filled her eyes, and Joe wrapped an arm around her shoulders before continuing. “He could hear me coming, and he made a rather blunt threat about what he was going to do to
me.”

  Tears trailed down Kyla’s cheeks. She closed her eyes and moved closer to Joe.

  Robbins watched the hard-boiled reporters with fascination. They were enchanted.

  Raines spoke. “What happened then?”

  Joe didn’t look up at them. He kissed the top of Kyla’s head and started speaking again. “She attacked him. She may not have landed a punch, but Harris was forced to deal with her instead of me. He broke her ribs and knocked her unconscious, but by then I was on top of him. He literally lost his shot at me.”

  Fergerson cut in. “But you weren’t alone that night, were you?”

  “No, my friend Eric was a few steps behind me. That’s when Harris decided to cut and run.”

  Kaye interrupted. “If Kyla was unconscious, how could you know she wanted to hide?”

  Kyla wiped tears off of her face. “He didn’t. He assumed I would, and he was right.”

  “What if he had been wrong?” Kaye asked.

  “I would have gone to the hospital when I came to.” Kyla shook her head. “Joe had one shot to get it right. If I wanted to hide, the hospital and police were the wrong choice.”

  “Why hide at all?” Bourne asked.

  “As long as I was in circulation, anyone I stayed with, talked to— Anyone and everyone was a target. The only way to keep my family and friends safe was for me to disappear.”

  “What about the other people you were with?” Fergerson asked. “Weren’t they important enough to stay away from?”

  “At first, I wasn’t capable of functioning on my own. When I thought I was, I started systematically pushing everyone away. I was working my way towards ending up completely alone. At times, I was a right royal brat.” Kyla smiled at Joe. “That was what you called me, right?”

  He turned deep crimson and nodded.

  “The problem was, no matter how horrible I was, they weren’t leaving. I walked away a few times, but I’d end up back.” Kyla sighed. “Joe always followed me to make sure I was all right.”

  Raines cut in. “What was in it for them? Why stay with a right royal brat?”

  “I don’t know. I wish I did.”

  Joe cut in. “At first, they stayed for Gram and for me. When she’s a brat, Kyla’s not easy to love. Eventually, she learned that we were in for the long haul, and they got to know the real Kyla. For some reason, they still decided to stay.”

  “Thanks a lot. We all had our moments. You have to admit you were a bit overbearing at times. While we’re being honest, you and Gram were the only two who had to deal with me for any length of time. Even Eric was rarely there.”

  Joe smiled at her banter. “I remember being overbearing. You tended to let me know when I was.”

  Robbins was sure this was the Kyla and Joe that Gram saw most often.

  Kaye asked the next question. “Who’s Gram?”

  “Samantha Allen,” Joe answered.

  “You called her Gram?”

  Kyla answered. “Everyone who knew her called her Gram. After awhile, I almost forgot her real name. Detective Waters asked me about her, and I had to stop and think about who he meant. No one called her Samantha Allen.”

  Steadman spoke up. “Who else were in and out while you were hiding?”

  Joe answered. “Almost a dozen people were helping her hide in one respect or another. Some provided medical support. Some emotional.” He shrugged.

  “You won’t tell us who they were.”

  Kyla seemed torn. “Those people were doing their best to keep me healing and hidden. They were going out on a limb for me. If they wanted to risk the wrath of the law to tell their stories, they would have done it. I can’t repay their kindness that way.”

  Fergerson cut in again. “You talk about Eric? Why turn him in and no one else?”

  Joe smiled. “We didn’t. The police had a witness that placed Eric with me on my way to Kyla’s when she was being attacked.” He shrugged. “There was simply no way to shield him, so we filled in the rest of the story. We look at it this way. Everything those people did to keep us safe for as long as we were, they did for us. Any responsibility for it is our own.”

  Raines asked the next question. “I heard Gram hired you as a bodyguard to protect Kyla.”

  Joe raised an eyebrow, but his smile widened. “You’re well informed. Yes, I was her bodyguard before we started dating. That’s how I knew Harris was there. I had visual and audio on most of her apartment.”

  “Most?”

  “She had to have some privacy.”

  Steadman cut in again. “So you became her bodyguard and her lover. Wasn’t that a detriment to your objectivity?”

  Kyla took that one. “Mr. Steadman, this may be hard for you to understand, but when Harris attacked me, we weren’t lovers. We had started dating. It had become fairly serious, but we definitely weren’t lovers.”

  Steadman nodded. “I apologize.”

  Kyla nodded, and Robbins motioned Steadman from off camera. He had one strike, and he knew it.

  Bourne took over. “But wouldn’t having a personal interest make protecting Kyla harder?”

  Kyla smiled. “I don’t think so. Gram didn’t think so, either. We’re both here and alive after several run-ins with Harris and his boys.”

  “But why is that? You said Harris could have killed you either time? Why are you still alive?”

  “The first time, Harris wasn’t picky. He would have killed me, if Joe hadn’t intervened. The second time, he needed information. He wanted to know who knew about him and what they knew. Harris could have killed me in the tunnels, but he didn’t want to. He just wanted to make sure I couldn’t run until he had his precious information.”

  “Did he ever get that information?”

  “No. By the time I regained consciousness, all hell was breaking loose.”

  Fergerson cut in. “Was that how Gram died? In an effort to make you talk?”

  Joe started speaking, but Kyla touched his arm and shook her head. Robbins could faintly hear her telling him she wanted to answer that one.

  “No. What Howard Anderson did was a hate crime. No more. No less. He didn’t care about information.”

  “What religion was Gram?”

  “She believed in loving Goddesses who were Mothers and Protectors of all.”

  “But what religion?”

  “Mr. Fergerson, is there a reason why you need to name it? She had a religion and I respected her choice. I never asked her to name it. I happen to think it’s immaterial. She was kind and loving, and her beliefs made her all the more so. I knew what religion Mr. Anderson was. He was probably the most un-Christian-like Christian I ever met.” Kyla sighed. “What’s in a name? Kind is kind and intolerant is intolerant.”

  Robbins signaled a warning to Fergerson, but the other man ignored him.

  “What is your religion?” he asked Kyla.

  Joe cut in. “What difference does that make?”

  Robbins spoke out. “Mr. Fergerson, we’re off topic.”

  “I don’t think so. Why won’t you answer, Mrs. Connor?”

  “I believe in religious tolerance. I believe in God. I believe he put in motion what creation is. I believe he sent Jesus and many other people with messages for mankind. I don’t presume to speak for my God or know His mind. If someone else names their god a different name or worships Him or Her in a different way— Well, who’s to say I’m right and they’re wrong? It’s semantics. Kind is kind.”

  “What religion?” Fergerson prodded.

  “I don’t believe in naming religions. If you want to get technical, you could say I’m a Christian, but not Reverend Cole’s version of being a Christian and not Howard Anderson’s version of being a Christian. To be my type of a Christian, you have to be like the Good Samaritan. It didn’t matter to him that he was helping an Israelite. Why should it?”

  Bourne smiled. “Kind is kind.”

  Kyla nodded.

  Fergerson wasn’t done yet. “You call yourself a C
hristian?” he asked.

  Robbins tried to break in, “Mr. Fergerson—”

  “No,” Kyla answered calmly. “I said it’s the closest one. I don’t believe in most organized Christian sects, because the true fellowship is gone. Many people have forgotten to interpret and interact with God for themselves. They let priests and pastors do it for them on one level or another. Or all. I believe you have to build your own relationship, make your own choices.”

  She looked directly into the camera. “What I don’t believe, Mr. Fergerson, is that you have retained your objectivity. I don’t believe that you should continue on the panel.”

  “You’re not objective,” Fergerson argued.

  “You asked me a subjective question,” Kyla pointed out.

  Robbins stepped up where he knew the camera could see him, where Kyla and Joe could see him. “Do you want to continue without Mr. Fergerson?” he asked the couple.

  They both nodded.

  “Let’s take five, Kyla. I think we all need a break.”

  The monitor showing the upstairs went blank.

  Robbins turned on Fergerson. “You were warned. You’ll have to leave the room. You can wait for your tape or let my secretary know who’ll be picking it up.”

  “Just like that? She snaps her fingers and I’m out?”

  “She’s not ready for this. She’s exhausted. She’s still healing. She only agreed to get vipers like you off her back so she can get some peace for the first time in six or seven weeks. You’re through here. Hope your bosses understand.”

  The look on Fergerson’s face was downright murderous. He stood and stormed out.

  Robbins sighed and turned away. Something caught his eye. The red light was still burning on the camera. Joe and Kyla saw it all, but it was also recorded. The other networks were going to have a field day tearing Mr. Fergerson’s career to shreds.

  * * *

  Robbins stepped in front of the camera. “Are you two ready up there?”

  The picture flicked on. Robbins startled, then smiled. Kyla had crawled into Joe’s bed and fallen asleep on his shoulder. Five minutes had been too long for her.

  Joe smiled sheepishly. “You were right. She isn’t ready. We could take a longer break or break until tomorrow, or I could answer questions without her for a while.”