Summer wasn’t surprised to hear the pair were in love after the way Paige had talked about him.But she would’ve snorted in derision if she could have at the fact Tyrone obviously considered himself as abetter sort of man.He was a criminal, hiding in the shadows, using violence and intimidation to make his point.There was no honor in that.
“When you took that photo of me and Nathan in Yellowstone, I was furious,” Tyrone went on.“I thought you’d jeopardized everything, months of planning down the drain.But Paige calmed me down, assured me you didn’t even know what you had; persuaded me you hadn’t seen us on the mine site that day because you’d been so fixated on the dreaded company buildings and the damage they were doing to the pristine forest.But I still believed it’d be better if there were no evidence.So I sent Diego to retrieve the photos, but he couldn’t complete the mission.It was nice of your lovely neighbor—Tad, was it?—to let him into the building.Seems like Tad had a bit of a grudge against you, because he even showed Diego where your apartment was.Nice of him, hey?”Tyrone cocked his head and gave her a cheeky smile, as if this was all some huge game to him.“Diego got your camera, but alas you had your computer with you.And then you got away.”
“I did my best,” Diego replied sharply.
“Yeah, that’s all we can ever do,” Tyrone agreed as he cast Diego a sideways glance.But there was indulgence in his eyes, a certain warmth that made Summer think these two had known each other for a long time.This guy wasn’t just a lackey; he was a confidant and possibly even a friend, which was surprising to learn.Perhaps there was honor among thieves after all.Or at least a strong loyalty.Not that it rendered these men any less brutal or desperate in her eyes.And now at least she had an answer as to how Diego got into her building.Blast bloody Tad, she’d let the cops know about his deceitfulness when she got out of here.If she got out of here.
“But it didn’t make our lives any easier,” Tyrone continued.“And by then we assumed you’d probably already found the photo, and we worried the jig was up.We couldn’t complete the mission with the whole of the fucking FBI after us, could we now?”
Summer widened her eyes at him.What was she supposed to say?All she could do was listen to his monologue and hope and pray that the longer he talked, the more chance someone might notice she was missing.Bianca, at least, would be worried by now.Summer was scheduled to meet her at the church so they could put the finishing touches on the interior and then wait for the florist to deliver the bouquets for decoration.The big duffel bag that she’d abandoned by the side of the road when Tyrone had abducted her contained all the ribbons and gauzy fabric meant to be draped across the entrance, along with the wedding ceremony cards that would be placed on each seat for the guests.Bianca might phone Trent or Mayte to see if they knew where she was, perhaps even send one of them around to her apartment to make sure she hadn’t slept in.But she probably wouldn’t have thought of calling the police yet.Nikki had made sure Bianca had Jacob’s number as well as her own, just in case.But Bianca wouldn’t have reached that level of panic yet either.
So, it was up to her to get herself out of this mess.Yet again.She tested the rigidness of the ropes against her wrists as she half-listened to Tyrone as he continued with his story.They were so tight that even the slightest movement caused pain in her right wrist as the rope bit into her skin, but the plaster on her left wrist was much smoother and bulkier to bind.She felt it give a little as the ropes slipped against her cast when she twisted her hand.Stealthily, she flexed her fingers trying to get a purchase on the steel framework.Maybe if she could reach one of the knots…
“Then you disappeared to Sweden,” Tyrone said, bringing her focus back to him.“And that’s when Nathan came up with the bright idea of using you as a decoy.Take you as a hostage so that everyone’s eyes were turned to you, and not on what me and Diego were up to.Pretty neat, hey?”
No, not neat at all.Not when she’d been on the other end of that kidnapping.Not when she’d been the reason that Tyrone had carried out his attack and one person had been killed because of it, and not when Paige had paid for it with her life.She barely stopped herself from shaking her head.Instead, she tried to make her eyes look interested.Keep him talking.He could sermonize and pontificate as much as he wanted as long as it gave her extra time.
Tyrone lapsed into silence, tipping his head back as if studying the deep blue sky of the summer day.“But there is a lovely kind of symmetry to all of this,” he finally said, returning his dark gaze to her.“When I found out about these new fracking wells, I knew exactly how you were going to die.”
Summer watched with increasing trepidation as Tyrone began to pace across the broken earth in front of her.At least he’d given her a hint of what was going on here.This metal contraption must be part of the equipment used to extract the gas from deep underground; perhaps even the drill rig itself.She racked her brain to see if she could remember any recent media reports about fracking wells being built on the outskirts of Seattle.There’d been something about Cougar Mountain now she thought about it.Was that where she was—somewhere in Cougar Mountain Regional Park?
“You see, I’m the son of a dairy farmer’s daughter.I know, I know, I don’t look like the stereotypical farm boy.”He gave a cheerful wave of his hand as he paced.“But the story is quite beautiful.My father, who was Black, obviously, fell in love with my mother, whowasa stereotypical Pennsylvania white dairy farmer’s daughter.Of course, her parents were against the marriage, but eventually they came to see that apart from the color of his skin, he was a good man at heart.He was a hard worker.He gave his life to that farm, and he loved my mother fiercely; did right up until the end.But that’s not the true tragedy.The real tragedy is how that farm was taken away from us slowly, piece by piece, bit by bit, over many years.It was steadily destroyed when the gas companies were allowed to drill nine fracking wells around the farm on government-owned land.They told us there was nothing to worry about; that it was all completely fine and harmless.But then we started losing the newborn calves.A few in the first year, more in the next, until our losses were over fifty percent.”
Summer stopped her covert struggling for a second and focussed on Tyrone’s words.She had a bad feeling she knew where this was going.
“Then, my mum got sick.Little things at first, like she would get lightheaded and have trouble breathing sometimes.Now, she can’t even walk without a frame and is in constant, irrepressible pain.We tried talking to people, to the mining company itself, to the county statesman, to the mayor, and even the governor of Pennsylvania, but no one was interested because they were all getting kickbacks from the corrupt mining companies.Eventually, it was all too much, and we lost the farm.My parents had to move into town, and then my father committed suicide.”Tyrone said this in a bland monotone, as if it had all been inevitable, but Summer caught the hint of anguish in his eyes.“There is only one way to make these people understand, and that’s hitting them where it hurts, take their livelihood away from them.Talking is no good; they won’t listen to words.All they care about is money.”
She already knew most of this, but Tyrone had added his own personal pathos to the story.It was terribly sad, and it explained a lot about him.She already knew this was where his hatred for mining companies had started, and recognized that now it was festering like an open wound.Past trauma always affected your life; she understood that better than most.And afterward, you did what you had to do to survive.
Tyrone stopped his pacing, his eyes glazing over, as if lost in memories.
“Come on, man, stop your yakking, let’s get this over with,” Diego said impatiently into the silence; he’d clearly heard all this before.“The cops could be here any moment.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Tyrone growled, his head snapping up as he refocused on the present.“Keep an eye out while I finish the job, then will you?Make sure there are no witnesses.”
Diego did as he was told, heading toward the perimeter fence, replacing his balaclava as he did so.Shit, she needed to act now.Whatever Tyrone had planned was gonna happen soon.She wriggled her hands again, her broken wrist protesting as she twisted it inside the cast.But something moved, she felt something slip.
“It’ll be over quick, don’t worry,” Tyrone said in a soothing tone, perhaps noticing the anxious lines creasing Summer’s forehead.“Once the flames reach the gas and that pipe blows, it’ll burn for ages.It might take them a few days to identify your body.The heat will be so intense it’ll char the flesh from your bones, so there’ll be hardly anything left.That should give us time to disappear.”
Shit, he was going to blow up the gas rig and her along with it.She should’ve expected something such as this.Her heart was already pounding so fast she could feel it fluttering like a bird inside her rib cage, but at his words, it increased tenfold and she could now hear her own blood surging through her veins.She began to hyperventilate.Did he really expect to get away with it?If she could speak past the gag in her mouth, she would’ve said that the FBI would be onto him like a rash.He wouldn’t get far because Mårten would figure it out and track him down.Too late to save her, but not for Tyrone and his lackey to end up in jail for the rest of their lives.She struggled some more, vainly trying to break free.
For the first time, Summer noticed a small container resting at Tyrone’s feet as he picked it up and walked toward her.He splashed the liquid all over her, and she gagged at the overpowering smell of fuel.Then, he held a lighter aloft in his hand.
Oh, fuck.
He was really going to do this.He was really going to set her alight.She didn’t want to be burned alive.She didn’t want to die.Summer shook her head violently, willing him not to do this, at the same time pulling frantically at the ropes around her wrists, ignoring any pain.
Suddenly her cast arm came free, and she swung it forward, waving it defiantly in Tyrone’s face, screaming at him from behind her gag, almost hysterical now.
Air, she needed air.She was going to pass out if she didn’t get this thing off her face.Awkwardly because of the plaster, she ripped away the duct tape from her mouth.It hurt as it shredded skin from her face, but she didn’t care, dragging in great gulps of wonderful air.She screamed, but it came out more like a strangled cat sound.
Tyrone smiled, a twisted smile, half pitying and half triumphant.“Sorry, darlin’,” he said, flicking the lighter so that a flame appeared.“Screaming ain’t gonna help you now.”
She brandished her cast like a weapon, waving it at his face as he came closer.But Tyrone merely ducked and then stood tall to face her again, the lighter still held family in his hand.
“You asshole,” she yelled.
All of a sudden, her other hand slithered free, and she glared in victory at Tyrone as she brought it around to the front.With both hands loose now, she could… But she’d forgotten her feet remained tied together at the ankles, and with nothing to hold her upright, she lost her balance and toppled forward.Her palms landed in the damp earth, and she cried out in pain as her broken wrist took most of the brunt of her fall.
