Chapter Fifteen

"Let her go, Jones!" Brady ordered aiming his gun at the killer. He was trying to find the right shot but he was afraid to shoot Laura.

"Not on your life!" Waylon snarled lowering himself so that he couldn't be seen behind his captive. Laura stiffened slightly but didn't move for fear of the knife going further into her neck.

A scream rang out from the lobby as guests realized what was happening. Waylon watched out of the corner of his eye as hotel security came into the area. The exit to the outside was now blocked leaving only the corridor leading into the back of the hotel open. He moved backward, dragging Laura with him. At Brady's order hotel security started moving guests away from the area though many did not move, their eyes watching vigilantly on the scene.

Joe stood with Vanessa and pushed her behind him. He didn't have his gun but he sure as hell wasn't going to let this monster kill his mother or anyone else for that matter. He looked over at his father who glanced at him briefly. The look in Fenton's eyes told him everything he needed to know: if you find a hole, go for it. Waylon seemed to not be paying any attention to Joe so he crept forward. Seeing this, Fenton decided to keep the killer's attention on him and Brady so that Joe could get through.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked. "You had every chance to get away but yet you're here. Why?"

"Because you and your meddling family have ruined everything!" Waylon screamed his knife quivering slightly. "All you had to do was let me have her but no! You had to go save her! That girl had secrets that Hawkley needed to see and I wanted him to take the blame for it! He's not as innocent as he claims to be and neither are any of the brides! For ruining it all I'm taking from you what you hold most dear!"

"This isn't the way, Waylon," Fenton said calmly. He raised his hands, the gun no longer aimed at the killer. "Let's talk about this. Why did you try to kill Nancy if she wasn't your target?"

"Oh, that," he chuckled. "She pissed me off behind the club. I had no intention of taking her with me. She was just to be taken out in order for me to get to the bride. That changed when she fought the drugs I gave her. I didn't expect it so I took her with me. I know who you all are. I've looked into you for months, including her. I was in Chicago several months ago posing as a reporter. We crossed paths and she almost got me arrested."

"Good on Nancy," the detective pointed out.

"No, it wasn't," Waylon snapped. "She was too smart and figured out something was up but she never knew that I was the Bridal Killer until she saw me. It was right after she got away from me and I couldn't let her find help."

"So you left her on the side of the road to die after hitting her with car?" Fenton asked angrily. "She didn't deserve that. Anyone could have come along to find her. Besides, it lead right to Candace."

"You don't know this area very well, do you?" the man smirked. "I've traveled that road for months and barely anyone drove around back there at 5:30 in the morning. Especially on weekends. They'd rather take the highway. I didn't expect anyone to come by and find her. That was bad luck on my part."

"Which would mean that you are to blame for them finding Candace," Brady pointed out. "They were just following the clues."

"No!" Waylon cried, stomping his foot angrily. "It was him! He found her and dug up that grave! She should have been dead, taking her secrets to the grave!"

"You want to know her secret so badly?" Fenton yelled. "You buried a pregnant woman! You were going to kill two lives, not one!"

"So? What's one less person in this world? People die every day. I was just helping them along!"

"You're insane," Laura whispered. She cried out as the knife punctured her skin.

"I didn't ask you," Waylon hissed into her ear.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement and whipped the knife away from Laura, slicing it through the air. It caught Joe off guard as the knife cut through his arm. He grabbed his wound and stumbled back, hissing in pain. In a split second, Waylon had the knife back at Laura but she had gained momentum and stomped hard onto his foot. The killer yelled in anger then stabbed at her, hitting her back just to the right of her spine. Laura screamed in pain.

"Laura!" Fenton cried, dropping his gun and rushing to his wife.

Brady helped him lower her to the ground then stripped his jacket off. With hotel security keeping guests away and Joe nursing his own knife wound with Vanessa, no one paid attention to Waylon Jones as he slipped down the corridor during the chaos.

"You're going to be okay, Laura," Fenton replied nervously. Brady put his jacket under her to stop the flow of blood coming out. Laura looked wide-eyed at her husband then nodded her head.

"I know," she said softly. "Go, Fenton. Go get him."

He nodded then got up to go after the man just as a guest came over to help with Laura. Brady rose as well and followed Fenton down the hall until they came to a fork. Waylon Jones had disappeared.

"Did he go back to the lobby somehow?" Brady asked looking down one direction while Fenton looked down the other. "That would be the most logical way to go."

"Yeah, but I don't think we're dealing with any logical person here," Fenton pointed out. "He came here for a reason and I don't think he's going to leave until he proves his point."

"Which is?"

"I have no idea but with all the security and guests in the lobby, he'd have a hard time getting through. No, he's around here somewhere, waiting to pounce."

The two mean split up, each taking a different direction. Fenton moved forward then cursed himself when he realized he left his gun with Laura. He was walking into uncertainty with no help. Another turn loomed ahead of him and he slowed down to poke his head around the corner. It was yet another empty corridor. Where the hell did he go?

There was a noise behind him but Fenton whirled around too late. Waylon growled loudly, ramming his body into the detective. Fenton was knocked into the wall and ducked seconds before the nasty looking knife whizzed into his periphery. The knife slammed into the wall, leaving a hole as Waylon pulled it out angrily.

"You. Ruined. Everything!" the killer heaved, wielding his knife. "She was supposed to die, just like Jennifer!"

Fenton jumped away from the knife as Waylon jabbed at him again. "What happened to you was irresponsible! No one should have to go through that pain but that doesn't mean you go crazy!"

"I'm not crazy!" Waylon yelled. He jabbed again only to miss. "Jennifer knew that the moment she took her final breath! As did Jasper! He took her away from me and I never forgave that! When I found them, they had no idea what I would do to them and their families will never know where I buried them!"

"So you did kill Jasper Wilkes," Fenton stated backing away down the hall. The truth was finally coming out.

"Yeah, I did," the killer admitted proudly. "And I would do it again. Why do you think I go after brides? I don't want a man to go through what I went through. All women have secrets that they keep from their loved ones and I intend to find out them all before I kill each and every one of them."

Fenton stared at the man. Waylon Jones really was crazy even though he thought he was doing the world a service. When the killer lunged at him again, Fenton nailed him in the jaw with a hard punch to the face. Waylon stumbled back against the wall though the knife was still in his hand. He run toward him again though this time he pushed Fenton up against the wall, the knife inches from his face.

"Jennifer was my whole world!" Waylon hissed. "If she had said something before our wedding day, I wouldn't have done anything that I had done and she would still be alive! Jennifer is to blame for all of this!"

"So you think killing brides is the answer" grunted Fenton as he tried to push the man away. "That's not how life works!"

"Dad!" cried a familiar voice in the distance though he didn't answer. His attention was on the knife as it inched toward him.

Fenton gripped Waylon's hand and pushed the knife away from him before head-butting the killer, knocking them both senseless for a brief moment. Fenton swayed slightly, regretting his decision to use the maneuver as a headache started to come on. He raised his head to see Waylon having the same problem, the killer doubled over with his hands on his knees. The knife lay at his feet and Fenton took the chance. He lunged at Waylon despite the pain and the killer stumbled back against the wall.

"That was for the girls you killed and the lives you destroyed!" Fenton boomed as he landed a punch to Waylon's face. The killer couldn't gain his composure quick enough as another punch flew through the air, landing on the other side of his face. "That was Candace and Nancy!"

Waylon pushed Fenton away as blood from his fat lip. The detective could see the make-up coming off the man's face and a black eye forming in its place. The killer wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and narrowed his eyes.

"You're going to jail," huffed Fenton as he stared back. "You're going to pay for what you've done."

"I'm not surprised that you aren't going to kill me," Waylon laughed maniacally. "Just like Martin Davenport."

The detective's face drained of all its color at the mention of Davenport. Waylon laughed again.

"Oh, I know all about him and how you put him away by shooting him in the back. Just what a coward would do," he continued though he couldn't finish another word. Fenton threw another punch at the unsuspecting man this time landing in the nose. A loud crack resonated around the small corridor and Waylon cried out in pain as he grabbed his nose. Fenton winced in pain of his own as his hand felt like it was on fire. He had punched a little too hard and now his hand felt like it was broken.

"My nose!" Waylon wailed. Blood splattered all over the floor. "You broke my nose!"

"And you deserved it!" Fenton hissed back. He leaned into the man's face to have him hear him better. "That was for touching my wife."

"Dad!" cried the voice again. Fenton could hear footfalls coming towards them and he stepped away to greet Brady and surprisingly Frank who rushed around the corner. The two stopped when they saw the scene then looked at Fenton. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Frank" he huffed. "That's more than I can say for him. What are you doing here?"

"I figured something was up when you got off the phone quickly so I came over to see if you needed help," his son explained. "Joe and Mom are being looked at by the paramedics and told me where to go. That's when I ran into Detective Brady."

"Arggh!" boomed a voice behind him startling both men. With a last ditch effort and unexpected energy, Waylon lunged at the two with the knife held high in the air. Just before he was on top of Frank, several shots rang out. Waylon stopped in his tracks, the knife sliding from his hand. Fenton pulled Frank away. He hadn't expected the killer to regain his composure so quickly and wanted his son out of the way.

Waylon's face was frozen in shock, his eyes wide. He slowly looked down at his shirt where a dark red stain was slowly forming. Shaking he looked back up at Brady who still held the gun at ready, the barrel still smoking from being shot. Waylon's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed to the ground.

Fenton and Frank slowly advanced toward the killer while Brady continued to aim his gun. The killer looked dead, his bloody chest unmoving. When Fenton nudged the man's leg, there was no reaction. The Bridal Killer was dead and the nightmare was over.


Author's Note:

I know this is a really short chapter but I felt that adding anything else to it would ruin the ending. I am so happy I was able to get this out before Christmas! Nice Christmas present, huh? Anyway, there is something that I wanted to let you all know about as we head towards the conclusion of this story. I have decided to change the line up of the stories yet again (I know, I know). I felt that I needed to bring another story into the mix first before we have the Drew-centric story that will still come though later on. I just felt that the way everything was going, I needed a bridge between this one and the other. Best Served Chilled is coming and will be the next story. It's a long-time coming. More than likely it will come sometime in January so keep an eye out for it. We still have a few more chapters to go along with the epilogue for this story, so don't give up on it yet! We have to find out what's going on, right? Plus, even though he is dead, we will be finding out more about the Bridal Killer. And yes, he IS dead! Thanks so much for all the amazing reviews for the last chapter and to those who continue to read! I love the support that this story is garnering and you guys are all awesome! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and if you will, please leave a review! Have a wonderful and merry Christmas! May God bless you and keep you safe during this holiday season. Rejoice for the King over all the earth has come. On this Holy Night, I'll rejoice and sing all Glory and honor to Him who will reign forevermore. (copyright LCW)