“Politics is hell, ya know? Angels can’t fly in Hell with the demons.” Tav’s grin turned pleasant, like his lofty words explained everything.
“What does that even mean?” I huffed.
“It means you’re too good for this world, too good for me.”
I clenched my teeth together, suddenly feeling every part of the fool he made me out to be. “Fuck you, psycho. I can’t believe I almost married you.”
“Is that what you came here to say?”
“You’re a stalker! I know you followed me to the bar with Bradley, I know it was you watching in the corner!”
“I never trusted him.” His words were delivered so nonchalantly they sent a chill down my spine.
I gnashed my teeth together. “I hope I never see you again.”
“If you walk out that door, I can’t protect you.” He threatened.
“The only person I need protecting from is you!”
A cocky smile flashed across his face. “So naïve.”
Before I could reach the door, his hand was at my elbow, pressing me into the wall.
I clutched at his forearm, digging at his fingers as my lungs contracted, desperately seeking air wherever it couldn't be found. Tav was holding me captive and hyperventilation was starting to kick in. I dug into his skin until one of my nails broke, his grip on me unrelenting as he leaned into me with all of his strength to keep me pinned.
Stars splintered behind my eyelids before a burst of energy sizzled to life and I loosened one leg from his weight and cocked my knee far enough back to drive with all of my mustered strength into his crotch.
He yelped, gripping tighter for a moment before I nailed him again with my knee and he stumbled back, one arm held out to block me from another assault. I turned, prepared to run for the door when his hand caught my ankle and I fell. Scrambling against the hotel carpet, I crawled to the door and kicked at his form before he hauled me a half a dozen feet across the room, my t-shirt yanking up in the process and leaving a stinging burn from the carpet.
I kicked and shouted, praying for someone to hear before he flipped me in one motion, twisting my ankle painfully.
“I didn’t think you had it in you, Frey. I gotta say, I didn’t even think you had it in you to make it off that mountain, but here you are. Fighting for your life,finally.”
A glint of metal caught the sunlight, blinding me for a moment to his next move.
“It’s too bad it had to end so badly.” He lifted the handgun in the air, pointing it at my heart and then his temple. “It’s too bad it took you this long to realize I wasn’t your only enemy.”
His words rattled in my eardrums and I wondered if this was the last sight my mother saw before she took her last breath.
Tav’s sinister smile on the other end of a gun.
“Fuck you.” I spit again, dodging between the wide stance of his thighs and then tipping him off balance with all of my might. He landed on the floor and with lightning speed I stomped on the wrist that held the gun until he yelped in pain. I yanked it from his grasp easily, holding it at arm’s length as I backed toward the door.
“Stop fucking with my head,” I breathed, watching him as I snaked my hand into the back pocket of my jeans and loosened the small syringe I’d hidden there. The tiny drops of liquid powerful enough to take down a hippo, or a corrupt politician’s son. When I’d checked out of the roadside motel in Seaport, I’d stumbled into the owner selling what I thought was weed to a local teenager. When I’d revealed to the motel owner that I was looking for my husband, but that I didn’t know if I could trust him—he’d given me a small syringe of fluid and told me to puncture the vein deep in the event of an emergency. A quick-acting deadly dose that might save my life. I didn’t think I’d need it, but confronting Tav without any other weapon felt too risky. And now it might be the case that the motel owner selling drugs on the side could be the difference between my life and Tav’s.
“Good luck finding your husband,” he laughed as I walked away from Seaport, deadly syringe tucked in my back pocket.
“I can’t believe I trusted you for so long.” I approached Tav, his eyes wide and shining as his gaze bounced between the syringe in one hand and the gun in the other.
“I’ve got a few surprises of my own.” I hunched at his shoulder and pressed the barrel of the gun to his temple. “It’s not just kill or be killed on that mountain, it’s kill or be killedperiod.”
His lips twisted open but before he could form another word I plunged the needle deep into the vein at his elbow.
“Thanks for everything, Tav. It’s been a fucking pleasure.”
I left the syringe dangling in his arm and stood, tucking the handgun into my bag and walking out of the door.
The press would have a field day but I would be long gone by then. I grinned following the signs for the exit as I walked down the hallway. I’d need to dispose of this gun, but I was confident I’d left nothing to implicate me in this crime.
