All he had to do was walk in the house, pull the trigger two times and they would be out of the picture.At this point, his imagination began to wane.He kept picturing himself opening the door to the room in which Casey was being kept and pointing his gun at her as well.After that, the image faded.Would she beg?Would she cry?Would he be able to kill the woman he once thought he loved?
Fostoria Biggers’s little car fishtailed in loose dirt as Lash sailed down the road toward her home.Only a few more miles.
* * *
“He’s turning south,” Roman said, and held on to his laptop as, moments later, the helicopter took the same turn, yielding to Ryder’s skill.
Roman’s gaze was completely focused on the screen before him.And the farther they flew, the more certain he was of where Lash Marlow was going.
“There’s nothing out here but swamp grass and trees,” Ryder muttered, as he banked the chopper sharp to the right, sometimes skimming so close to the treetops that the skids tore the leaves as they flew by.
Roman frowned, grabbing at the computer and leaning into another sharp turn.“If you were partial to driving there, you should have said so—I’d have gotten one of these things with wheels.”
“Am I still on course?”Ryder asked.
Roman looked down at the screen.“Yes.We can’t be more than a half a mile behind.”
Half a mile.Would that be the difference between Casey’s life—or Casey’s death?
“I don’t like this,” Ryder said, glancing down at the blur of terrain beneath them.“There’s nothing out here but snakes, alligators and wildcats.”
“And the house where Fostoria Biggers was born and raised.”
The helicopter dipped.Not much, but enough to let Roman know Ryder had been startled by what he’d said.
“Who is Fostoria Biggers?”
“One of Marlow’s clients.I thought it was a little too convenient that Marlow has her car and her power of attorney.I checked land records at the courthouse.Would you believe that her house is just a little farther south… in the direction in which Marlow has been driving?”
Ryder looked startled.“How long have you known about this?”
Roman shrugged.“Bits and pieces of it since the first day.But it didn’t all start falling into place until you caught Marlow repeating the kidnapper’s demands, word for word.After that, we didn’t exactly have time to talk.I figured you wouldn’t mind if I took the initiative.”
Ryder’s expression was grim.“I don’t care what you do.But when we get where we’re going, Marlow is mine.”
Roman nodded.That much he understood.He glanced back at the screen.“Read ’em and weep, brother.It looks like our runner is about to stop.”
Ryder’s heart skipped a beat as he looked down at the screen.For the first time since they’d gone airborne, the blip was stationary.He glanced out the windows, searching for a sign of the car and a place to set down.
It was Roman who saw it first.“There!”he shouted.“I see the top of a roof up ahead in that clearing.”He leaned farther forward and pointed across Ryder’s line of vision.“There’s the road, just to your left.”
“I see it,” Ryder drawled.He gave his brother one last glance, and there was a wealth of understanding between them in that single look.“Hang on.We’re going down.”
* * *
It was getting late.Casey could tell by the temperature of the bare wooden floors beneath her feel Every nerve she had was on alert.She’d said her prayers, and such as it was, her little game plan was already in place.The contents of the bottle of lotion she’d found in her purse was in a puddle on the floor just inside her door.Her letter opener was in one hand, held fast at the hilt, and an unopened can of beans was in the other.
Oddly enough, Bernie had had a change of heart, and sneaked them back in to her when Skeet wasn’t looking.From the size of his belly hanging over his belt, she supposed he didn’t think a person should die on an empty stomach.And, she was as ready to die as she would ever be, but not without a fight.
Just as she was about to get herself a drink of water from the bathroom sink, she heard a shout of jubilation outside her door.Her thirst forgotten, she stifled a moan.That could only mean one thing.Lash had arrived.Bernie and Skeet were about to get paid.
* * *
Lash pulled up to the house and put the car into Park, but left it running.This trip was going to be a real hit-and-run.He had to get back into the city and pick up his car at the courthouse.It was the final stage of his plan, and one that would tie up the last loose ends.
He was halfway up the steps when Bernie Pike met him at the door.“Did you get it!?”Bernie asked.
Lash grinned and nodded as he put his hand in his pocket.“Where’s Skeet?”Lash asked.“I want to pay you both at the same time.”
