He smirked.“Yeah, I’ve done that for fun for a while.When I saw the contest, I came up with the plan.”
The plan to brutally murder Lorrie’s husband?Amka slowly shook her head.“I don’t understand.”
Lorrie preened.“See?Steve is super smart.He went to all of those small towns and did the interviews and everything.He might even win the fifty grand.Can you believe it?He talked Eli into meeting him up here for a boys’ week.”
Steve snorted.“I figured this hick town in the middle of nowhere would be a good place to take care of the problem.”He shrugged.“I thought I had him that first night, nearly nailed him through the window of the tavern.”
Amka gaped.So he’d aimed inside the tavern and not at her on the street?“You were the sniper?”
“Yeah.”Steve’s chest filled.“I’m a pretty good shot.”
This made no sense.“So you weren’t shooting at me?”
“No.Why would I shoot at you?”Steve frowned.
Amka couldn’t breathe.He was a crappy shot, then.Didn’t come close to taking out the guys inside the tavern, even with the window open.“Why did you cut my brake line and plant those explosions?”
He looked at her blankly.
Lorrie coughed.“That wasn’t Steve.He’s a good guy, Amka.He didn’t try to hurt you.”
A good guy?Amka’s stomach lurched.If she screamed, Christian would come running, but Steve would just shoot him.Or her.Or both of them.What should she do?She gulped, trying to keep him talking.Christian would come looking for her soon and hopefully hear them.“So you killed your friend out in the forest and gouged out his eyes?”
Steve winced.“Yeah.It was totally gross, to be honest.But once I was here, I heard about those other deaths, and I figured why not?Everyone would think he was just another victim.”His face fell.“But now you know everything, and I’m sorry, that can’t happen.”
Amka looked at Lorrie.“Why didn’t you just get a divorce?”
Lorrie looked down at her hands.“Eli had money.It was his before we got married, so it’d be his if we got divorced.Our community property isn’t much.So now his money is ours.We plan to do really good stuff with it.I promise.”
“Don’t give me that innocent act,” Amka spat.“You’re a stone-cold bitch, Lorrie.A killer.”
The woman paled.
“Actually, I’m the killer,” Steve hissed.“You’re about to know that.If you scream, I’ll shoot you and everyone who even thinks of coming through that door.”He gestured with the gun toward the window.“Go to the window and open it.Quietly.No screaming.No sudden moves.We’re getting out of here, and you’re going first.”
She shook her head.“I’m giving you one warning.You do not want to do this.Christian will find you, and he’ll destroy you.”
Steve just stepped closer, gun steady.“You’re going out that window.”
She turned toward it.Her body was shaking.Not visibly, but she felt it.Deep in her legs, in her spine.If she let Steve get her outside, he’d kill her.No question.Her hand touched the sill.
Steve moved behind her, close.Too close.
She took a breath.There was only one way out of this.Then she turned, fast and low, and drove her shoulder into his gut.
He grunted, staggered back, the gun jerking upward as she grabbed for his wrist.She locked both hands on Steve’s arm, trying to wrestle the weapon free.He shoved her hard.They went down together, tangled, his knee hitting her side.
The gun scraped across the floor.
She went for it.
He grabbed her ankle.
She kicked, connected with something soft, and crawled for the gun, trying to scream but her voice went hoarse out of panic.Her breath burst out of her.
His hand caught her shirt and yanked her back.Her nails scraped the tile.She twisted, elbowing him hard in the ribs.He swore.They rolled, her back hitting the wall, his weight pressing down.
She reached up, found his face, and raked her nails down his cheek.He hissed and shoved her head to the side, fingers digging into her jaw.Her hand shot out, found the base of the IV stand.She gripped it and swung, tears clogging her eyes, panic heating her breath.
