SEVENTEEN
THE CAR BOUNCED AND JOLTED as they drove deeper into the scrubby forest. Buckled into the passenger seat, Claire gritted her teeth and held onto the strap above the door. Beside her, Samson drove with one hand and waved the gun at her with the other. She was becoming more afraid by the minute that he’d squeeze the trigger when they hit a pothole and accidentally shoot her.
“Did you kill, Pete?” she asked. Keeping him talking seemed like the best idea out of a list of bad ones and if she didn’t make it out of this, she wanted to know.
He laughed and her stomached turned. “Not me personally, but yeah, I guess you could say that. Nosey bastard saw my guys plant the ammo so they walked him out the sixth floor window.”
The cavalier way he talked about killing someone she loved had her biting back a sob, but she didn’t want to give the sick bastard the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
“What? It was his own dumb fault,” said Samson. “I wasn’t trying to kill him. I was trying to fuck with you. Well first Matthews and then you.”
“Why?” She understood competition and knew it must have hurt for him to lose the Ashton Court job but why target her specifically? “Oh God,” she said, starting to connect things. “It was you. The vandalism on my house. That was you, wasn’t it?”
“Fucking cunt, you have no business being on a jobsite. And you sure as hell have no business taking work from me. I knew Masters was listening with his dick instead of his head the night of the 609 West opening. He was fucking you and screwing me over. As long as you were whispering in his ear, Matthews could do no wrong, so I made sure they did. It would have worked too, and we could have all gone back to making money. Maybe not as much for Masters,” he said with a laugh. “But he has enough already, dumb fuck. I’ve been stealing from him for years and he was too stupid to know or too rich to care. Either way, you came along and fucked everything up.” He waved the gun around dismissively, and Claire sucked in her breath, praying he kept his finger off the trigger.
“You must have some kind of magic fucking pussy to get him to hire Matthews again after all the shit that went wrong on the job.” He slowed the car down as the small cabin came into view. “Maybe I’ll try it for myself and see just how magic it is. We can make Masters listen to me fuck you and then he can beg for your life.”
He was going to kill her. He was going to rape her and kill her and her baby and knowing that would kill Luke. Tears she couldn’t hold back any longer streamed down her cheeks. For her and their innocent baby but mostly for Luke who’d be left behind to face whatever happened.
“What are you crying for?” he said, grinning at her. “I haven’t touched you. Yet.”
“You won’t get away with this,” she said as he dragged her out of the car. “He won’t ever stop looking for you.”
“Darling, I don’t give a fuck. I’m out of money and out of time. I don’t have anything left to live for. I’m going to make sure Masters doesn’t either, but first I’m going to have as much fun as I can.”
A BLACK CLAD figure stepped out of the trees, and Jackson pulled the car to a stop and rolled down the window.
“He’s got her in a cabin about thirty yards ahead. Jason’s in position but he hasn’t had a safe shot yet. They can’t take him without risking the woman.”
Luke unbuckled the seatbelt and opened the door. He’d trade himself for Claire, promise Samson anything, including his life, to get her out of there or at least out of the line of fire so Jackson’s team could do their job. Nothing mattered but making sure she was safe.
“Wait,” said Jackson as Luke stepped from the car. Luke’s cell phone rang, and both men froze.
Hitting the button to silence it, Luke looked at the screen and saw Ed Samson’s name. He turned the screen so Jackson could see and then slid his thumb across to answer.
“Masters,” he said not trusting him to say anything else without giving away what they knew.
“Well, hey, Luke,” said Samson, sounding almost happy. “I’ve got Claire here with me. I know she wishes you were here, but I’m glad to have her to myself.” There was a muffled sob on the other end of the line, and Luke didn’t think; he started to run in the direction of the cabin.
“Don’t you dare hurt her, you fucking bastard.”
“I’m not going to hurt her. At least not to start. I just want a taste of what she’s been giving you.”
He heard Claire’s sob again and flew, desperate to get to her. “Not one fucking hair,” he ground out between gasping for breath.
“Sounds like you’re in a hurry to get somewhere, Masters. Oh no you don’t,” said Samson. his voice taking on an urgency that hadn’t been there before. “Stupid bitch, don’t you fucking dare.”
The sound of a gunshot ripped through the air and Luke stumbled.
“Claire!” he roared, but the line was dead.
