“It’s Black Cobweb,” he continues. “And with the amount in the syringe, it’ll work quickly. She’ll be dead in under a minute. Probably half that, considering how small she is.”
My lungs seize.
“Leave her alone.” I cock the trigger. “You have a problem, take it up with me.”
He sneers. “That’s not how it’s going to work. Because I have a problem with both of you. Nosy Beatrix and her interfering boyfriend. You fucked everything up. And nowbothof you are going to pay.”
Tears spill down Bea’s cheeks. “Go,” she pleads. “Indy, go. He’ll hurt you, too.”
My gaze snaps to hers. “I’mnotleaving you.”
“No, you’re not.” The man—fuck, whoishe—grins. “You’re both coming with me.”
“No.” My refusal is immediate. “She’s not goinganywherewith you.”
“But she is.” He shoves Bea forward. She takes a stumbling step. The needle pricks her skin, and a tiny spot of red appears.
“NO!” I roar. It’s all I can do to keep myself from lunging at them. “Don’t touch her with that!”
“Then do what I fucking say!” he snaps. Anger reddens his face. “If you don’t want me injecting her with this right fucking now. I’d rather wait, but if I kill her now, that’ll work, too.”
Bile rises in my throat.
Icy terror seeps into me.
I thought I knew what fear felt like.
He wants her alive, a small voice of logic reminds me.Or he would have killed her already.
Maybe so. But the syringe is right there. And while I don’t know if it actually has Black Cobweb in it, I can’t risk it, either.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he says. “You’re going to put down your gun. And your phone.”
Bea whimpers.
Anger ignites into incandescent rage.
“Put it down!”
Fuck.
The way he’s holding her, and with the syringe right there—taking a shot is too risky. If he moves, I’ll hit her instead. Or he could inject her with whatever drug he has, and if it’s Black Cobweb…
“We’re going out to my car,” he says. “All of us. Nice and quiet. Try anything, and I’ll push the plunger. She’ll be dead. You won’t be able to do anything about it.”
Fuck.
Bea looks at me. She’s crying. My heart feels like it’s being ripped from my body. “Go,” she begs. “Please. Just go.”
“No.” There is no way I’m leaving her. Not now. Not ever.
As I slowly set my gun on the counter, the man smiles triumphantly. “Now your phone. No sudden moves.”
“I’m staying with you,” I tell Bea. “It’s going to be okay.”
The asshole laughs. “If it makes you feel better to think that.”
From the look in his eyes, he thinks he’s won.
