It took all of her strength to not let hopelessness swallow her whole. To breathe through the pain, exhaustion, and fear. To not let the thrashing of her heart consume her.
“I’ve been working at these ropes for a while,” Zane said carefully. “If I create a bit more room, I might be able to dislocate my thumb to get out, but then I’ll need to work on my ankles.”
Her stomach twisted at the thought of him dislocating his own thumb. There had to be another way.
She tugged at her bindings again, and as she did, her butt shifted…and she felt it. There was something digging into her. She gasped quietly when she remembered.
“Zane.” Her voice was so low she wasn’t even sure it carried across the space between them. “I think he left the knife in my pocket.”
His brows flickered. “Can you reach it?”
“I’m not sure.”
She lifted her butt and reached between the slats on the back of the chair. “I can feel it. I’m not sure if I can…” She forced her hand deeper into her pocket, the rope digging into her wrist, burning her skin. Suddenly, she gripped the pocketknife with her fingertips. “I’ve got it!”
Air rushed from her chest, the relief almost causing her to drop the weapon as she pulled it out.
“That’s good,” Zane said. “Watch your fingers as you cut into the rope.”
She flipped it open with her thumb before blindly sawing at the material. The blade was sharp and when she nicked her skin, the pain almost made her flinch.
“Are you okay?” Zane asked, voice sharp.
Or maybe shedidflinch. “Yeah. I think it’s working.”
The rattle of keys in a door at the top of the stairs suddenly sounded.
Bonnie froze.
Oh God. He was coming. Would he see the knife?
No. Her back faced the wall. She could keep sawing at the bindings. She could still get free. She just had to be subtle.
“Careful,” Zane whispered, as boots sounded on the wooden stairs.
One rope popped. She tugged, but her wrists were still tightly bound together.
Dammit!
Monty appeared at the base of the stairs.
Air stalled in her lungs. He looked exactly like his photo. Dark hair and eyes. But also tall and broad and justbigin every way. He looked every bit the former UFC fighter that he was.
He grinned at Zane. “Hey, cousin.”
Fire burned in Zane’s eyes. “You know you’re a fucking dead man, don’t you?”
“I’m the dead man?You’rethe one bound to a chair in my basement.”
“Your basement? I doubt that.”
“Well, it’s mine now that the old recluse who lived here is dead.” He grinned, as if killing people brought him joy. “It pays to do your research before pulling off something like this.”
“And how exactly did you do thatresearchfrom inside a prison cell?” Zane growled.
With Zane keeping the attention on him, Bonnie kept working on the rope. She was so close!
“Haven’t you learned yet, Zane? Money can buy anything. Even prison privileges that I shouldn’t be entitled to. It’s not a question of, ‘Can it be done?’ It’s ‘How much?’” He shook his head. “This is why all that prize money was wasted on you. You never appreciated your fortune the way you should have.”
