by Jen Talty
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
“I know, babe. I am, too. But we can do this, okay?”
“Okay.”
They each took a bowl and a mug then headed outside. Once she was settled, he went back inside to get more weapons. As he secured his, he heard wheels tearing up the gravel.
“I think this party is about to start.”
Chapter 12
Delaney tried to raise her mug to her lips, but her hand trembled so much she could barely lift it without splashing hot liquid everywhere. The sound of tree branches slapping against each other replaced the humming of the engine, causing her heart to skip a few beats.
“Why’d they stop?” she asked. “Where do you think they are, and what are they going to do?”
“I don’t know,” he said, “but be prepared.”
“For what?” she asked, not wanting to know the answer. Gripping the hot mug with two hands, she finally took one large gulp. Too bad it didn’t have some alcoholic courage in it.
“Relax.” Josh took a sip of his coffee with a steady hand, before scooping up the bowl of oatmeal then shoving a large spoonful into his mouth. “Take a bite.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“All right. Then just look at me and talk.”
She tilted her head, and he smiled.
“Remember, they think you’re still playing me,” he said.
“How could they think you’re that stupid?”
“It’s my blind spot and they know it, so even if they suspect you’ve told me anything, they know I will go to any lengths to protect you. So, focus on the fact that you only did this to save your brother. You’re a loving sister who—”
“It’s going to take a lot of self-restraint not to slap that bastard.”
“Think of it this way.” He patted her leg and squeezed gently, sending some comfort to her brain, but her body still shook. “The longer we can keep them talking, the more likely we won’t die.”
“That’s not even remotely…”
She gasped, jerking her arm, sloshing hot coffee on her skin as her phone buzzed. Grey Eyes number flashed on the screen.
“Answer it,” Josh whispered behind his bowl. “But don’t put it on speaker, and go along with whatever they want.”
She blinked a few times before pressing the phone against her ear. “Hello?”
“Are you with Josh?”
“I am, thanks. How are you?”
Grey Eyes laughed, but it wasn’t a funny sound. “Are you trying to tell me he has no idea what is going on?”
“I really don’t know.”
“I take it he’s close by.”
She swallowed bile. “I’d say that’s a reasonable deduction.”
“Is he armed?”
“Yes.”
“Does he have backup?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” she said, wondering if the fear in her voice gave her away.
“Can you manage to talk freely for a few minutes?”
“Hey, Josh,” she said, moving the phone away from her mouth. “Can you get me another cup of coffee and my tablet? It’s in the bedroom.”
He gave her a sideways glance, but took her mug and headed into the cabin. She hoped he understood to take his time, since his tablet was right by the front door.
“He’s inside.”
“Can he hear you?”
“No.” Her voice didn’t quiver, but the rest of her body rocked like an erupting volcano.
“Our boys are missing. Does he have anything to do with that?”
“Not sure what happened to them. They shot at us.”
“So, he knows we’re coming for him?”
Think fast. Don’t hesitate. “He believes someone is coming for me. I told him I owed some not-so-good people a ton of money.” The way the words eased out of her mouth frightened her. Lying had never been her strong suit.
Grey Eyes laughed again, sending a cold shiver across the back of her neck. “You’re smarter than you look.”
“Josh is going to step outside any minute.”
“In about ten minutes, we’re going to pull into the driveway and take care of Josh.”
She bit her tongue. “I did my part as best I could. I want my brother set free, and then he and I are going to walk away unharmed.”
The phone went dead.
Josh came out of the cabin, holding the tablet and a cup of coffee. She sucked in a deep breath, blowing it out in an attempt to calm her nerves. “Is that wire thing recording yet?”
“Yes,” he said, helping her settle into the outdoor sofa.
“Is it just recording, or can your friends hear us?”
“They can hear us.” He set the mug down. “What happened?”
“They’ll be here in ten minutes.” Blood raged through her body, echoing in her ears. “They’e going to kill us.”
“We’re not going to die today. What else did they say?”
“They wanted to know what you knew and where their men are. I told them you believe I owe some very bad men a large sum of money. That those men were after me.”
“You did fine,” Josh said. “Craypo believes I’m naïve and you’re vulnerable.” He glanced at her with warm eyes. “They don’t know the woman sitting next to me. They’ve underestimated you, and they don’t even know it yet.”
She leaned into him, wanting to suck up his strength and power.
The roar of a car engine churning made her jerk in her seat.
The air filling her lungs burned cold.
“I’m going to go down to the driveway,” Josh said, releasing her hand. “Stay put, but if you do have to move, try to stay behind me. ”
“Works for me.”
As he stood, she noticed he held a gun behind his back. She wanted to scream when he took the three steps down the porch, leaving her behind.
A black SUV rolled to a stop only twenty feet from Josh. “Who’s there?” he yelled.
All four doors opened. The first man to show his face was the man she knew as Gray Eyes. She clenched her fists, and her face heated the moment Kirk rounded the back of the dark vehicle with a shitty grin plastered on his face. Liam, looking unharmed and slightly amused, stood behind the driver’s side door. Finally, Craypo emerged from the back seat.
“Liam?” she called, standing, staring at her brother’s unbruised face and palming her own swollen cheek. “Are you okay? You don’t look hurt.” Part of her prayed that everyone had been wrong about Liam, but deep down, she knew her brother had betrayed her in the worst way possible.
The jackass had the nerve to smile at her. “Thanks for helping us out with this problem.” He pointed to Josh. “We really couldn’t have done it without you.”
“You bastard,” she said under her breath. She hadn’t expected him to come right out and tell her what a fool she’d been. “You’re disgusting.”
Grey Eyes placed his hands on his hips. “Josh, I know you’ve got a gun behind your back. Toss it over.”
Delaney watched in horror as Josh dropped the weapon then kicked it across the gravel driveway.
The moment Kirk picked it up and pointed it at Josh, she bolted down the steps, clenching her fists.
“Stop, Delaney.” Josh held up his hand.
“Hi, baby,” Kirk said, blowing her a kiss. “Were you about to come running back to Daddy?”
Her stomach tightened. “What are you doing here?” she asked, narrowing her gaze, inching forward. Her body scorched as if her skin had been replaced by fire.
Josh looked over his shoulder. He cocked his head. She caught his gaze. They’d only spent days together, but days in close quarters, flirting, fighting, loving. His eyes narrowed, as if to speak to her. The way his mouth twitched, and the way he wrinkled his forehead, she knew exactly what he was trying to convey to her.
Calm down.
She nodded as he spoke the words. She loved him, and every one of these assholes threatened the one good thing she had left. A fist of
anger curled in her gut, making her want blood. She embraced it.
The gun pressed against the small of her back, taunted her. She wanted to point it right at Kirk’s heart.
“What, baby?” Kirk stepped forward, opening his arms. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”
“I’m not your baby,” she said, behind gritted teeth.
Kirk laughed. “Hey, Josh. She get wet for you?” Kirk cocked the gun in her direction. Josh took two steps forward.
“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” Kirk said. “You know I’ll kill her.”
Delaney held her breath, staring at the wrong end of a weapon, remembering the painful blows to her face when Kirk had backhanded her.
“Hello, Josh,” Craypo said as he sauntered a few steps from the SUV. “How have you been since you killed my family?”
“You put a bomb in my car, and you neglected to tell Nic-”
“Don’t you dare speak her name.” Craypo slammed the SUV door. “You’ve never made things easy for yourself, and this situation isn’t any different.”
“What does that mean?”
“That one over there.” Craypo pointed to Delaney. “I didn’t think she’d be able to do it, but as it turns out, she has a great deal of loyalty to her brother. I like loyalty. You, on the other hand, have no clue what the word means.”
“Neither do you, or you wouldn’t have whored out your own wife.”
Craypo laughed, but it sounded more like a wolf howling at the moon. “Oh, Josh. The entire thing was her idea. You disgusted her. Every time she came home, she’d shower to get your touch off her body. She only slept with you out of loyalty to me.”
“If that’s how you need to spin it so you can sleep at night, feel free.”
“You must be wondering why I’m here.” Craypo’s voice cut through the dense fog.
“I suspect you’re here to kill me and you used Delaney to help that happen,” Josh said with a sense of eerie calmness.
“Killing you was plan B,” Craypo said. “I would have preferred to watch you suffer as they stripped away your medal and all your honor to your parents’ memory.”
“It’s not like you to murder someone without fucking with them first,” Josh said.
“Trust me. I’m going to have my fun with you.”
Josh shifted his stance. “Tell me something, then.”
“What’s that?” Craypo asked.
“I want you to admit to being an arms dealer. To selling machine guns that ended up killing twenty-five Marines, three years ago. I want to hear you admit to hiring a hitman to take out the competition.”
“You spent a year with me. Why do you need me to say it?”
“Because I have a feeling I’m going to be taking it to my grave today, and I want to go there hearing those words. That I had enough to put you away. That I did my job.”
Delaney swallowed her pulse
“Don’t do it,” Kirk said. “He’s buying time.”
“Josh just isn’t that bright.” Craypo grinned. “I sold illegal weapons. Even sold them from jail. I’ve conspired to commit murder. I know you had enough to put me away, which is why I wanted you dead. Can we get on with this?”
“Not until you tell me what this has to do with Delaney and her brother.”
“Baby, get one of those chairs,” Kirk said to Delaney.
Her heart tumbled to her gut. “Why?”
Grey Eyes tossed a roll of duct tape at her. “Tie him up.”
She froze, staring at Josh.
“It’s okay. Go ahead,” Josh said in a level tone. Any normal person in a situation like this would have freaked out, but not him. Not her Josh.
Josh sat in the chair, hands on the armrest. His green-gold eyes caught her gaze, and tears welled in her eyes. She stood there, mouth open, unable to say anything.
“Delaney, just do it.” He gave her that look again. That look that, in the chaos and danger assuaged her fear just enough to do as they told her.
“Wrap the tape around his arms and legs,” Kirk said.
She knelt in front of Josh, staring up at him as she fumbled, muscles twitching, with the corners of the tape. How could Josh sit with such composure while a man held a gun to him? She choked on her breath while she tried to wrap the tape around Josh’s ankles, then his hands, hoping she left enough wiggle room for him to escape. His forefinger stroked her wrist right before she bent to rip the tape with her teeth. The gun tucked in the back of her shorts shifted. She paused, hoping it hadn’t peeked out from under her sweatshirt.
“Step away,” Kirk commanded.
“What are you going to do now?” She stood next to Josh, not wanting to leave his side. Her fingers tingled. The desire to pull the gun out and shoot someone scared her.
“Josh is going to kill himself,” Craypo said with a twisted grin.
“Kind of hard to do that when I’m tied up,” Josh retorted. The cool timbre of his voice soothed her nerves, but didn’t settle the acid boiling in her stomach.
“We’ve got it all figured out,” Kirk said. “Your track record with the ladies and your inherent death wish threw you over the edge. You’ve been acting erratic lately.”
Josh actually cracked a smile, which sent Delaney’s pulse into overdrive. Never in her life would she have expected to be held at gunpoint. Arms dealers belonged in the news or the movies. Not in the mountains, chasing down a no-name girl and a cop. Her skin prickled as if thousands of spiders crawled up her body.
“You know I’m not going to do that,” Josh said.
“Oh, yes, you will.” Kirk continued to stare at her, taunting her with his ominous smile.
“People in town are talking about how you’ve been unraveling, and we got our hands on your medical records,” Grey Eyes said. “Your shrink mentions an inappropriate relationship with a suspect’s wife.”
“All documented.” Josh shrugged. “And my co-workers won’t accept that I up and shot myself. There will be an investigation, and in the end, my death will be ruled as a homicide, and you’ll be first on the suspect list.”
“I wouldn’t count on that,” Kirk said. “We spoke to a little blond spitfire who told us she couldn’t work with you because you’re so unstable.”
Delaney looked at Josh. He had that look again. The one where he spoke to her and she understood him. Understood the plan that he was forming in his head.
“Ever think my co-worker might have been giving you a line of crap?” Josh asked.
“Perhaps.” Kirk winked at Delaney, and she had half a mind to flip him off. “But, the clincher is, Delaney sent her brother a note saying she was concerned about her safety, and if anything happened to her, it was at your hand.”
“Who forged her handwriting?” Josh asked.
Craypo smiled like a cat who’d just caught a big, fat mouse. “No one, because she’s going to do it now.”
Kirk waggled his finger at her, smiling and winking. “Come to Daddy, baby.”
“If you don’t stop calling me that, I’m—”
“Going to do what?” Kirk aimed the gun at Josh.
She stepped between Josh and the gun.
“Get out of the way, Delaney,” Josh said in a deadly tone.
“Aww, that is so cute,” Liam said. “But you can’t save him, so move.” Her brother held up a pad of paper and a pen.
“I’m not going to be a part of this,” she snapped.
“You don’t have a choice,” Liam said.
“Get over here, baby, and write the note.” Kirk blew her a kiss.
“Do it,” Josh said. “Now.”
She craned her head in his direction, scrunching her face.
He arched his brows. “Delaney.”
“Fine.”
“Come here, baby,” Kirk cooed.
“I’m not your baby.” She felt her nose flare as she took in shallow breaths, taking small steps toward a man she loathed. A man who’d nearly stripped her of all dignity. A man who now pointed a gun at h
er.
Once on the other side, she turned and faced Josh. A tear stung in the corner of her eye.
“Did you fuck her?” Kirk asked.
“I did,” Josh said.
Delaney’s heart beat in one continuous pulse. She knew Josh was trying to get under their skin, but she was tired of her sex life being the topic of conversation.
“Shocking.” Kirk laughed. “She’s a frigid bitch.”
“You are so wrong,” Josh said. His eyes burning with something that looked like pride, and maybe something more. “She’s the best I’ve ever had. Mind-blowing.”
She glared at Josh.
“It’s true,” he said. “That asshole doesn’t know what a real woman looks like and—”
A hard yank of her hair cut the words short. “What the hell!” The handgun in her shorts shifted slightly. Her brother slammed her head against the hood of the SUV. Stabbing pain ricocheted through her brain.
“Let her go,” Josh said in a dark tone. “She has nothing to do with this anymore.”
“You don’t know shit.” Liam released his death grip on her arms, then shoved a piece of paper in front of her. “Listen carefully, and write these words.”
Delaney took the pen, rage gliding across her skin from her toes to her head.
“‘Liam,’” her brother started, “‘I’m scared. I met a man named Josh Burdette. He’s a State Trooper, but something is very off with him, and I’m afraid he’s going to hurt me. I’ve been trying to get away, but he won’t let me. If something happens to me, he did it. Please help. I’m in Lake George. Sis.’”
“Why would I send a letter?” She signed her name, and then slammed the pen down. “I would email you or leave you a text or voicemail.” She tried not to look around for Josh’s friends, wondering why in hell they hadn’t swooped in to save the day.
“You did both,” Kirk said. “But we need your prints on something to make sure this scenario sticks.”
Her brother tapped on her phone and then played a message that sounded like her, pleading with him to come get her.
