My knuckles turn white from clutching the knife.
Silence in the woods.
It’s as if the forest creatures know a more significant predator is on the loose, and they skedaddled for safer ground.
Part of me wishes I had gone with them.
A bead of sweat stings my eyes. I blink a few times to clear my vision.
And it’s then I’m knocked to the forest floor, a large body is pressing his knees into my back, pinning my arms underneath me.
“Tsk, tsk, Kitty Cat,” Jeffrey Rose says in my ear. “You shouldn’t be here. I would have let you live as a favor to my old pal Wysdom. But, you found my safe house, and that means you must die.”
I don’t know what comes over me. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s pressing into my bruises that have bruises. Maybe it’s the long hours and sleepless nights I’ve had ever since Dakota Helfinger ran me off the road. Maybe I’m just tired of all this shit.
I laugh.
Not a dainty chuckle.
Not a slight titter.
A full-on belly laugh. And it’s hard to continue because Jeffrey Rose is pressing on my kidneys, making it hard to draw a deep breath. But the laughs keep coming until tears stream down my face and onto the dirty ground.
“Did you hear me? What is wrong with you?” Rose yells.
I can’t wipe the tears from my face because my hands are pinned. I feel warmth seeping out of the bullet hole in my left shoulder. There’s no time to worry if this is because my stitches tore, or I stabbed myself with the knife in my hand when Rose pinned me to the ground.
Because I’ve lost my damn mind.
And it makes me laugh harder.
I gasp for air. “Seriously. You need to work on your bad guy banter. Maybe a thesaurus? Do they have those at Serial Killers ‘R Us dot com?”
“I’m going to kill you. It doesn’t matter how I tell you about it,” Rose presses harder into my back. It’s getting harder to breathe.
My laughing jag tapers off. “Out of curiosity, since you’re going to kill me and all, why do you think Wysdom’s your pal? Does she send you Christmas cards? Babysit your dog while you travel?”
“I killed someone for her, and she did me a favor,” Rose sniffs.
I stiffen. This is news to me. But then again, Jeffrey Rose is a fucking serial killer. So, it would come as no surprise to me if he had a deluded sense of reality. It’s something I’ll file away for later when I get out of this.
Because I have to get out of this. Ryker and I have unfinished business.
“Funny,” I laugh again. “Wysdom doesn’t talk about you at all.”
Rose lets up on me slightly. It’s the opening I need. I throw my body back, my head cracking him in the nose. He howls and lets go of me altogether. I’m up on my feet, slower than I should be, but I’m also bleeding from several spots on my body. Blood spurts from Rose’s nose. He staggers around the area.
“You broke my nose,” Rose wails. “You bitch!”
I inch closer to him. He’s not carrying any weapons that I can see.
“Keep up your sweet-talking,” I pant. “I might go easy on you.”
I’m waving a red flag in front of a bull, but I can’t stop it. Not now. Not after he threatened my family and the man I love.
Shit.
I frown.
