Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
May tried to launch herself out of the trunk, but he shoved her back and slammed the lid again. Damn it. She struggled, trying for the latch, but it wouldn’t give.
Kyle was back in minutes, opening the lid.
She blinked against the rain and saw they were outside the garage of the sprawling river house. The place was shielded by trees that created a private alcove. Nobody could see her here.
He manacled her by the upper arm and yanked her out of the trunk so violently her feet barely found the ground before she stumbled. Mud slid under her shoes. Rain blinded her. She tried to wrench free, but he kept her arm locked high and tight.
“Knock it off,” he hissed, drawing the gun from his back to press against her ribs. “You need to walk with me, or I swear I’ll end this now.”
She had to survive this. Ace had to be looking for her. She hoped he wasn’t still in his hearing. A sob tore through her, muffled by the gag that was choking her. She’d look for a knife inside the house.
Kyle dragged her around the side instead, keeping the structure between them and any road view. She fought him every step by digging in her heels and trying to twist her wrists toward her mouth to loosen the gag. The rain made the rocks slick and she nearly went down twice, but he kept hauling her upright.
“Walk,” he ordered, tightening his grip until her shoulder burned.
She tried to scream anyway. The bandage swallowed the sound into a useless hum.
They moved down a narrow path that cut toward the river. Spruce branches bent under the rain and brushed her shoulders. The sound of the current grew louder with every step.
Lightning split the sky. For one second, the world went stark. The dock stretched ahead, slick and narrow, bouncing with the current.
A boat waited at the end.
She looked frantically around the small cove at the other river houses, but most were dark. Would anybody see her? Even so, through the rain, would they see she needed help? Or was she just a blur with Kyle moving toward a boat?
It was an aluminum river sled, maybe twenty-four feet long, low and narrow. A fishing boat without a cabin. It had a center console with a small windscreen, two bucket seats bolted behind it, and a seating bench toward the back.
Kyle marched her down the dock.
She fought him with a hard kick to his shin at the last second, trying to twist away toward the bank. He threw her into the boat, and she hit the deck on her knees next to Jack’s body. Pain shot up her thighs. Rain plastered her hair to her face.
Kyle stepped toward her, grabbed her by the collar of her lab coat, and hauled her up. “You’re riding back here.” He shoved her onto the rear seat.
Jack’s body lay on the bottom of the boat, partially on its side. Blood pooled on the aluminum below him.
Peter came running down the dock, his shirt soaked through and his breathing hard. “I handled it. The clinic’s clean, and there’s no visible blood in the examination room.”
Kyle nodded like they were discussing a meeting agenda. “Good.”
Peter didn’t even look at her.
Kyle handed him the gun. “Shoot her if she moves, but try not to kill her. I’m looking forward to squeezing the life out of this bitch.”
“We need to make it look like the other deaths.” Peter looked frantically around, his body visibly vibrating. “We don’t have time to take her to Two Trout Creek, but if we dump her by the side of this one, it’s close enough.” His gaze landed on Jack. “We’ll need to bury him somewhere else.”
May’s head spun, and her stomach revolted. Her best move was to wait until they were headed out of the alcove to jump from the boat. Could she swim with her hands bound?
Kyle untied the boat and stepped up to the console. He turned the key, and the jet motor caught with a metallic growl. The aluminum hull shuddered as the intake grabbed water, and the vibration ran straight through the deck and into May’s spine.
Rain slashed sideways now. The sky had lowered into something heavy and bruised. Wind ripped across the wide river and churned it into rough, uneven chop. Spray slapped hard against the hull.
May braced herself and tried again at the knot around her wrists, dragging the bandage against the metal base of the bench seat. It scraped. Not enough. She pulled harder.
The dock shrank behind them and the house blurred in the rain. The river opened wide and powerful ahead of them, gray and unforgiving. They were headed upstream.
Rain smashed down on her, keeping her cold and alert. There was no way she was letting them kill her. She bunched her muscles to leap, and Peter steadied his aim at her. “You’ll be dead before you hit the water, Dr. Smirnov.”