Shout-Outs: Guest, Tina, Jane Doe51, Nerwen Aldarion, and Marcia Santos
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Author's Note:
Surprise! An update! And so soon after chapter 10. The truth is that I've had the events of this chapter planned for a year, and I couldn't wait to write it. Plus, I have a new writing commitment that I am eager to start soon.
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Chapter 11
Kane Reynolds
"Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis 4:9 (ESV)
He paced around the hotel room like a caged animal. He was certain that his brother was going to have him arrested. And then there would be handcuffs and poison pills in the back of a squad car. It would be a tragic ending to a tragic story.
Nobody would care what happened to him. He would just be one more person in an extensive list of people who had betrayed Red John. Somebody that his other disciples would whisper about long after he had died and been buried.
Be careful, they would say, or you might turn out exactly like Kane Reynolds did.
Eventually Lorelei's own betrayal would be discovered, and Red John would do away with her as well. Their child would be placed in one of the group's most revered households, and she would never know who her real parents were.
The lifestyle he was living just wasn't fair.
And for the first time since he'd joined Red John, he wished that he had done it with both his eyes wide open. He didn't know if he would do things differently, but he would have made a more informed decision. Maybe it wouldn't have been one that would affect everybody on an extremely deep level.
The hotel door opened and Lorelei came in, carrying a paper sack from a local fast food chain.
"I brought you breakfast," she said. "In case you're hungry. . ."
Kane turned and looked at her. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.
"Tell you what?" Lorelei replied, tossing her shoes off and sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"About your pregnancy!" Kane answered, looking down at her stomach.
Lorelei closed her eyes, her hand flying protectively to her stomach. "Your brother has a big mouth," she said.
"I deserved to know!"
"Fine!" Lorelei said, getting to her feet and planting herself in front of him. "Kane, guess what! I'm having your kid. There! I hope you're happy!"
Kane's shoulders sagged. "We're both going to die."
Lorelei frowned. "Not if we keep things quiet."
He shook his head. "It's not going to be possible to keep things quiet. I told Patrick that I'm working with Red John. He's probably reporting it to the police as we speak. You know what I'll have to do when they arrest me. And as for you, you might have nine months to live. . . but after he realizes who the baby really belongs to you, it'll only be a matter of time before you die too."
"Then we'll have to figure something out," Lorelei answered. "We can run away—"
"You know as well as I do, that we can't do that. We could go all the way across the world and he'd still find us."
"You'll think of something to get us out of this mess. You always do," Lorelei told him. "You aren't one of Red John's closet friends for nothing—"
Kane shook his head. "Lore, you know as well as I do that the only way out is in a body bag."
"So, we'll pretend to be dead then and then we can get witness protection or something. I'm sure that your brother and Agent Lisbon would be willing to help us. Especially since I'm pregnant with his niece or nephew—"
Kane shook his head. "No. Witness protection won't work either; he probably has people working for him in that department. No, the only way to get out is if the leader dies. Once our leader dies we are nothing, the whole network will disband. We won't have anybody here to tell us what to do."
"I highly doubt he's just going to keel over one day. He's a relatively healthy man. The only way for him to die is—" Lorelei stopped short and gasped. "Kane, no! You can't be thinking what I think you're thinking. It's too dangerous—"
"It's the only way," Kane answered. "And I am one of the only people he trusts explicitly. It has to be me."
"I won't let you! Think about our child. . . even if you do wind up succeeding, you might spend the rest of your life in jail—"
"Then that's a risk that I'm willing to take," Kane said calmly. "I don't want to die, I don't want our child growing up never knowing who her parents are—"
"That might happen anyways!" Lorelei told him. "Have you ever thought about that?"
"If anything happens to me. . . to us, I'm sure that Patrick will make sure that she knows we loved her."
"If you do anything stupid then we both might get killed before she even has a chance to be born! Are you still willing to go on your suicide mission knowing that? You have three lives in your hands right now, Kane. Please make the right decision—"
Kane didn't say anything as he placed both his hands on her face and kissed her deeply. "This is the right choice, Lore. We need to get out for the sake of our child. I need to right the wrongs I've done against Patrick—"
Lorelei was trembling visibly as she pushed her fingers through Kane's blonde curls and shook her head. "Are you your brother's keeper?" she asked, an ugly dread filling him.
"Am I my brother's keeper?" Kane repeated. "Yes, I am. Up until now, I just haven't done a good job of looking out for him. But you know what they say, it's never too late to change."
"Kane. . ."
"Shhhh!" He whispered as spread his fingers out on her stomach and kissed her again. "I love you and I love our baby. This is the only way."
Lorelei closed her eyes and took a shuddery breath. "I love you too. Please be safe," she replied, stretching on her toes and giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek.
Kane nodded and held onto her in a tight embrace. "I promise."
For a minute, he didn't want to let her go. All he wanted to do was make love to her like all the times before. But this time it would be as a man in love. He wanted to memorize what she felt like and her taste and her smell. Because he knew that despite all of his promises, he wouldn't be coming back to her.
These were their last moments together.
He wanted to savor them.
So, he gave himself two more hours.
.
Kane bent down and kissed a sleeping Lorelei on the cheek before tucking an envelope under her pillow.
He couldn't bring himself to say goodbye face-to-face.
But then he had always been a coward and goodbyes just weren't his fortay.
Besides, he couldn't bring himself to make anymore false promises
TBC. . .
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Author's Note II:
I was always planning for Kane to go and do what he's about to do. I was always planning for him to step up and be a man. Anyways, 1 down 4 to go, I hope you stay tuned for the rest of the story. In the meanwhile, drop a note and tell me what you think.
Thanks for sticking with "My Brother's Keeper" for this long.
Love,
Holly, 6/7/2013_