“I appreciate you talking to me.” Special Agent McDonald opened a notebook. “Mr. Lanigan told us you arrived in Sapphire Bay on July 20th. Is that correct?”
Natalie nodded.
“And did you know Mr. Lanigan before you arrived?”
“No. I’d never seen him or read any of his books. What has that got to do with Leith Chapman?”
“Mr. Chapman has been implicated in the deaths of two people. The bodies were found in New Haven and Stamford.”
Natalie gripped the edge of the kitchen counter. “He killed two people?”
“We’re currently investigating their deaths and speaking to the victims’ next of kin.”
“How do you know it was Chapman who killed them?”
Special Agent McDonald’s mouth tilted into a smile.
Natalie’s heart pounded. She hadn’t said anything even remotely funny.
A buzzing noise came from her phone. She looked at the kitchen table. Her phone was on the opposite end to where the FBI agent was sitting.
“That will be Gabe. I’ll ask him how long he’s going to be.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
The sinister tone of the special agent’s voice sent goose bumps along her skin. She had to leave the cottage. “Gabe might have some questions for you.” She edged closer to the back door.
“I’m sure he will when he realizes you’re missing.”
Natalie lunged for the door.
The man threw back his chair and slammed her against the wooden door.
Pain exploded in her head and shoulders.
“You thought you’d get away that easily?” he ground out between his teeth. “Think again, sweetheart.”
Natalie tried to twist out of his hold, but he shoved his body against hers, pinning her to the door. “You won’t get away with this.”
He laughed against the side of her face. “Is that so? My stepbrother didn’t have the guts to follow through on the plans we made. I don’t have the same problem.”
Tears fell down her face. She couldn’t die—wouldn’t die like this.
Remember what Gabe taught you.
Keep talking. Buy yourself some time. Think.
“Leith Chapman is your brother?”
With a grip that almost broke her wrists, he yanked her hands behind her back. “Stepbrother. At least my mother had the sense to leave his no-good father. Stop fighting. This will be a whole lot easier if you do what I say.”
She took a deep breath, relaxed her shoulders. Readied herself for what would come next. “Just like the people you murdered?”
“They were cowards, trolls who should have known better. No one bad-mouths my family and gets away with it.”
Natalie wasn’t waiting to be his next victim. She twisted sideways, threw her heel backward, and connected with the side of the man’s knee.
His howl of pain raged through the cottage.
