The irony would have made her laugh were it not for her desperate situation.
The motor cut off and she shut her eyes as she heard his footsteps approach. “I know you’re awake, so don’t bother pretending otherwise.”
She kept her eyes shut anyway until his foot connected with her thigh.
“Open your eyes,” he shouted.
Heart pounding, she looked up at him. “Why are you doing this?”
He laughed as he sat on a bench seat and set her gun beside him on the cushion. “It’s all well and good for Jason to have killed my wife, but you, you’re a different story. You need to disappear.”
A chill slithered across her skin at his casual tone. “No one will believe that Jason is a murderer. You’re the one they’ll fry, not him.” She thought about Jason. She never should have bucked at his attempts to protect her. If she’d only listened to him, allowed him to take control of her safety, she’d never be in this position. She’d cheated herself out of a future with a good man, a man who might have worshipped her forever, a man she’d already started falling in love with. Instead she would die alone, never having known what might have been.
Farley threw his head back, laughing. “I’ll be long gone, sweetheart.” Standing, he shook a finger at her. “I have something that guarantees me a life of ease. Some tropical paradise where lovely caramel-skinned women will fan me with palm fronds and feed me grapes in bed.”
When he crossed the deck and started riffling through a cooler, she tried to stretch the tape binding her wrists. It was wet from the floor and she could feel the plastic growing gummy. She poked her fingernail through the middle and worked the tear toward the edge.
Farley returned holding a fabric wrapped package that looked familiar. The book. How the hell had he gotten his greasy hands on it?
“I see from your expression you recognize it, huh?” His wink turned her stomach. “I have no idea how Jones acquired it, but that rather nervous, white-haired man told me all about this book. How it would fetch millions. Told me right before he died, poor soul.”
He spoke so casually about killing Art. How many people had he murdered?
A satisfied smile spread across his face. He sat on the bench next to where she lay and captured a lock of her hair, twisted it around his finger. Between his disgusting touch and his sweaty stench, her stomach lurched.
“We might as well have some fun before we have to toss you overboard, hmm? But don’t get any ideas about just swimming out of my life.” He pointed toward the front of the boat and she noticed two concrete blocks and a length of rope near the cooler. “You’ll be cozying up to those, instead of your cheating bastard boyfriend.”
Her blood turned to ice. “You’re wrong about Jason. Your wife was trying to get the book from him. She told him she’d hurt me. She cut my brake lines and ran him off the road. They weren’t lovers.” She worked the tear in the tape, tried to inconspicuously force her ankles apart.
He released an exasperated breath as he shook his head. “Honestly, blondie, do you really buy that? The wife…excuse me, the girlfriend is always the last to know. I saw them together, watched them kiss, get it?”
“You’re wrong. Jason’s never even met her.” The tape finally broke, but she kept her hands where they were.
“Ha! Did he tell you that? What a sucker you are.”
She slid her gaze to the bench seat. The gun was still there. All she had to do was keep him talking and maybe she could distract him long enough to get the gun. She still had the issue of her bound feet, though. Unless she could convince him his gross come-on was working. He’d have to remove the tape from her ankles. A glimmer of hope lifted her heart.
Releasing her hair, he stood up. The he crossed the deck and picked up the gun. “Thought I’d forgotten about it, did you?” His laugh was cruel and taunting. “Just a little game. My wife used to love my games. Not really.”
“You’re sick.” Damn it. She’d been so close.
“Maybe. But you’re about to be dead.” He scratched his head with the barrel of the gun. “I think I’ll kill Jones too instead of making sure he goes to prison. Why take a chance that our screwed up justice system will let him off the hook?”
Dread clawed at the back of her throat. “He’ll get to you first. You’ll burn in hell before you succeed in harming Jason.”
He threw his head back, laughing. “Spoken like a fool in love. Soon to be a dead fool.”
Tears stung her eyes. He was right. Though she’d only known Jason a short time, she’d fallen for him. She blinked back her tears and schooled her expression.
I’ll be damned before I let the bastard see my fear. When her arm started falling asleep, she rolled a fraction of an inch and something scraped her skin. Moving her hands to the spot, she fingered the sharp metal edge at the joint of one of the benches. If she could manage to move her feet there, she knew she could cut into the tape around her ankles.
Farley took off his shoes and socks and set them near the cooler. He turned his back to her and she heard the distinct sound of a zipper. His pants dropped to the deck then he picked them up and neatly folded them over a seat. Wearing white boxers and an undershirt, he made a ridiculous looking murderer, but Kelsey couldn’t bring herself to laugh.
“Too hot out here for work clothes.” He strode toward her, his feet making squishing noises on the carpeted deck. “You’re wearing too many clothes as well, blondie. For what I’ve got in mind.”
Tamping down her revulsion, she racked her brain to come up with something to stall him. She thought about the defensive training Jason had given her.
Go for a target on the head.
“You’ll have to at least remove the tape from my ankles. Then you can take my pants off.” She held her breath as he approached her.
Eying her warily, Farley crouched at her feet. Using a screwdriver, he poked through the tape and ripped it apart.
Kelsey drew a ragged breath.
This is my only chance.
* * * * *
Jason parked his sister’s Jeep on the street a few yards from a community boat launch at Dumfounding Bay. He spotted a pontoon in the middle of the lake right away, the only boat in sight. It had to be Farley. Swimming that distance was out of the question. He needed to get there fast.
Shielding his eyes from the sun, he glimpsed a ski boat tied to a dock behind a nearby house. Hell, he’d already run from the police, what did he have to lose? Rifling through the Jeep’s glove box, he found the pink emergency tool set he’d bought Jenna a few Christmases ago.
He stashed his gun into his belt, then headed toward the dock. Thankfully, no one was around as he slipped into the boat. Unfortunately, there was no key in the ignition. Using Jenna’s tools, he removed the cover from the small engine and disconnected the main wiring harness.
When he pull started it, he thanked his lucky stars that the motor roared to life.
Someone came running from the house, shouting at him. “Hey, come back here!”
“It’s an emergency. I’ll bring it back. I promise,” he called to the man. No time to deal with that now.
Kelsey had to be alive. If Farley had touched her, he’d rip the son of a bitch to shreds with his bare hands.
* * * * *
Kelsey drew her feet back, then kicked toward Farley’s nose as hard as she could. Her right heel made contact with something hard and bony.
He gasped and reared backward, clutching his hands to his face. The gun dropped onto the deck and slid away. “You lying bitch!”
She took advantage of his disorientation and got to her feet.
Damn it, where did the gun go? But the carpeting was dark and so was the gun. Without her glasses, she’d be lucky to find it. If she made it out of this alive, the first thing she was going to do was to get some contact lenses.
“I’ll kill you!” Farley stumbled toward her. Blood streamed from both nostrils and dripped onto the deck.
She backed agains
t the low rail that circled the boat, heart in her throat, panic pounding in her head. The vessel pitched to the right.
Jason’s voice played in her head. Go for a weak spot. If your attacker is injured somewhere, use that to your advantage.
Drawing back, she slammed the heel of her hand into his nose. His pained scream gave her hope. Without hesitation, she kicked him in the balls. He bent over next to the rail, muttering curses as he cupped his crotch.
She circled around him and chopped the side of her fist into his neck, one of the nerve bundles Jason had pointed out during her training. Then she lifted the cooler and brought it down hard on his back. He somersaulted over the rail and into the water.
Frantically, she dropped to her knees and searched for the gun. An engine sounded in the distance and grew louder. She looked up and made out some sort of airplane, although it might have been a large gray bird. It got closer, whirring mechanically.
A helicopter. Thank God!
Her fingers closed around the gun and tears of relief spilled onto her cheeks.
An angry growl captured her attention. Farley threw an arm onto the deck and curled his fingers around the rail. He grunted as he tried to haul himself up to the boat.
She aimed the gun at him and steeled herself. “I’ll shoot, I swear I will.” And she knew she would. It was her life or his. The choice was easy.
A speedboat approached out of nowhere, heading straight for her. Even without her glasses, she recognized Jason as he leapt into the water from the moving boat. He hooked his arm around Farley’s neck, yanking him off the pontoon.
The speedboat crashed into the side of the pontoon. The impact knocked her onto her back and the gun flew out of her hands. She rolled onto her stomach and patted the deck, but she couldn’t find it.
Edging to the railing, she made out the two men fighting in the water, but couldn’t be sure who was who. They both had short dark hair. Her leg hit against something cold and hard.
The gun! Reaching to her side, she grabbed the barrel then got to her knees, leaning against the metal bar to steady herself.
The men splashed and punched, growled and grunted. She recognized Farley’s white shirt as he tried to break free of Jason’s grip. She aimed the gun at him.
“Shoot him, Kelsey,” Jason shouted.
Jason was so close to Farley. What if she missed?
“Shoot!”
She cocked the gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet pinged on the edge of the pontoon.
Jason hooked an arm around Farley’s neck and yanked him away from the boat.
The helicopter hovered overhead, stirring up a fierce wind and a deafening mechanical roar. “Drop your weapons,” came the command from a bullhorn.
“Don’t do it, Kelsey.” Jason grunted as Farley landed a loud punch.
She cringed, but didn’t let loose of her weapon. The men separated for a few seconds and she saw her opportunity. She fired another round, but again missed.
Farley laughed. “Stupid bitch.” He lunged at Jason, but Jason threw a punch at his face and Farley let out a pained yelp as he dipped under the water.
Jason swam toward the boat, but Farley resurfaced and grabbed his foot.
The gun shook in Kelsey’s hands. She fired again. Farley’s eyes opened wide. Then he disappeared under the water. Bubbles tinged with red floated to the surface.
“Drop your weapons.”
Kelsey looked up at the helicopter and set the gun on the deck by her feet. Then she raised her hands in the air.
Jason hoisted himself onto the pontoon. He climbed over the rail and yanked Kelsey into his wet embrace. Staring at his face, she noticed half a dozen scrapes and cuts. His eye was swollen and growing more purple by the second, but he’d never looked more handsome.
He cupped her face in his hands. “Are you all right?”
She didn’t trust her voice, so she just nodded.
“I don’t know what I’d have done if anything had happened to you, Kelsey.”
Jason’s words barely made it over the din of the helicopter, but they wrapped around her heart and tore away all the walls she’d been building for years. She kissed him with more passion than she’d thought she possessed. She’d lived through a nightmare in the past few days, but the ordeal had lifted the veil of gloom she’d imposed upon herself. It was time to walk in the sunshine again and she knew just the man she wanted by her side for the journey.
Epilogue
Five weeks later
Jason unlocked his house and ushered Kelsey inside. “Ta-da!” He let Elvis off the leash and the dog ran ahead.
The strong smell of paint hung heavily in the air. Kelsey scanned the room and smiled when she saw the ecru walls, the color she’d advised him to choose. “What the…” The room was now filled with all the furniture she’d said she liked when she’d gone shopping with him. From the brown leather couch to the oversized ottoman to the round pedestal dining table and chairs. He’d picked everything she liked.
“You didn’t buy all this stuff just because I said I liked it, did you?” She crossed into the kitchen and it too had been painted the terra cotta shade she’d loved from the paint chip.
He clasped his hands behind his back and pursed his lips.
“Well? This is your house, Jason. Shouldn’t you have picked out the stuff you liked?”
“Everything was damaged in the fire, so I figured I’d start over and borrow your taste when I did. Between what my insurance company paid and my portion of the reward money for the book, I was able to upgrade just about everything.”
“I’m glad the book is back at the museum, where it belongs.”
“I don’t want to talk about that damn book ever again.” He offered his hand.
When she took it, he led her down the hallway into the master. A king-size four-poster bed sat catty-corner by one of the windows. The burgundy comforter and bed ruffle matched the new designer window valances. And with the new wood floor, it put her in mind of a decorator room she’d seen in a magazine. In fact, it looked exactly like the page she’d shown Jason. Setting her hands on her hips, she eyed him. “What’s going on here? Why did you make your house over with my taste?”
He took her hand and pushed something hard into her palm. Scrunching her brow, she glimpsed a plain white cardboard box. “What is it?”
“A question.”
These cryptic answers were starting to wear on her nerves. She pulled open the box and found a key ring with her name engraved on it. She lifted it to eye level and narrowed her gaze at the key dangling from the ring.
“I’d like this to be your home too.” Jason stepped closer and wrapped her in a strong embrace. “Will you move in with me?”
She swallowed hard.
“I’d have given you a ring if I didn’t think it would have sent you screaming out the door.”
She couldn’t hold back a giggle. He was right. She couldn’t begin to think about marriage yet, but this step, she looked forward to taking with him. Pushing to her tiptoes, she kissed him. “I love you, Jason.”
A satisfied smile settled on his lips. “I love you too, Kelsey. You just let me know when I can get on one knee and ask you the next question, okay?”
“Okay.” She had a feeling it wouldn’t be long.
About the Author
Wynter Daniels is the multi-published naughty alter ego of contemporary romance author Dara Edmondson. She lives in Florida with her husband of more than twenty years and their two nearly grown children. They are all the slaves of two very demanding cats.
Wynter enjoyed careers in marketing and the salon industry before her wicked prose begged to be set free. She hopes you enjoy her steamy stories.
Wynter welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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> Also by Wynter Daniels
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Getting Even with Warren
Horsing Around
Tropical Exposure
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