“I don’t have to be. I’ll hogtie her in chains and take her back. Damon, too.”
That’s not exactly legal.I thought that, but decided not to speak it. I was in enough trouble with him already. Me and my mouth. It might not take much for him to backhand me across my face from where he sat.
It’s what Brad would have done.
Only a few cars sat in slots near the fence that blocked visitors from the cliffs that overlooked the ocean. Alaric stopped his truck at the furthest end of the lot, making me again think of lovers making out in back seats.
It’s awful damn lonely out here. Maybe more than lovers come here to these cliffs.A shudder ran through me as I noted the sheer isolation and the steep drop to the sea below.Easy way to get rid of someone you don’t want around.
“I love the sea,” he said as we got out. “I come to this place a great deal.”
He took my hand, walking with me to the promontory. I glanced around, but saw nothing of the other vehicles’ occupants. It was as though we had this spot all to ourselves. The salty breeze swept through my hair as we paused at the protective fence separating people from the steep drop.
It occurred to me, through my drunken haze, how little I know of Alaric. I remembered he only needed a wife in order to gain his inheritance. He has that now. Alaric stated he plannedto leave America and return to his home. He promised to be nice to me, and thus far, I supposed he had been.
What he said in the truck hit me.I can end this marriage tonight if you want.He isn’t an American citizen, but of some distant country. What’s to stop him from bringing me to this lonely lookout on the pretext of just going for a drive, picking me up and dropping me over the edge?
Nothing.
Oh, gee, officer, I told her not to go past the fence, she did it anyway. She must have slipped and fallen. I’m so sorry she’s dead.
He’d never face trial and punishment. Just skip off to his country with no extradition laws and be marriage free. A widower with no ties.
Fear plunged its icy dagger into my heart.
I hung back, pulling my hand from his.
“Hayley?”
Alaric turned toward me, his face featureless in the dark. Far below, the waves crashed against the rocks, booming, as though calling my death knell. He was so much bigger than I was. Impossibly strong. I’d never win if he managed to grab me in his powerful hands.
“No,” I gasped, staggering, stumbling over the rocky and uneven ground of the promontory as I backed away from him. “No. Don’t touch me.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, stepping forward.
I didn’t answer. Instead, I spun and ran.
“Hayley!”
He chased me. I ran across the parking lot, panic driving me headlong into the darkness and heading toward the road. The road where I could flag down a car, jump inside, escape Alaric and his murderous intent in the squealing of tires and a cloud of dirt. My breath snagged in my throat, tore like thorns.
I was a runner. I ran for exercise.
But I’d never run for my life before now.
“Hayley, stop!”
Headlights hit me full in the face. A car drove straight toward me. Us.
Alaric was close behind me. So close, I heard his heavy breathing, I thought I felt his hot breath on the back of my shirt. The car spun toward us both, headlights glaring.
I’m saved. The driver will see I’m in trouble, jerk the door open for me –
The car didn’t stop for me. It didn’t stop at all.
Instead, it wheeled around in a tight turn filling the air with dust. The passenger stuck a gun out of the window, the car’s dash lights glinting off the deadly barrel.
“No!”
