“You?” she asked him, the words thick with disgust as if he were covered in dog shit.
“No, your sister.”He stepped back and waved toward Caitlyn.
She would take Rose’s look—the trembling O of her mouth, her crumpled brow and accusing brown eyes, the gray cast of her cheeks—to her grave.
“Caitlyn…?” She sounded like a little girl whose illusions about the world had been shattered. “You killed him?” Rose erupted into tears. “Howcouldyou?”
Christophe laughed and leaned over, getting right in Rose’sface. “Nice try,bouzin. You could have been an actress. But if you loved Glenn, you wouldn’t have tried to run.”
With a fierce cry, Rose swung her arm around and plunged the small knife that Caitlyn had slipped to her into the side of Christophe’s neck.
Holy shit.
“Aaggh!” He made a strangled sound and grasped at the wound, blood spurting onto Rose, the concrete floor, his clothing.
So muchblood. Just like Glenn. Nausea climbed into Caitlyn’s throat.
Rose scrambled to her feet and turned away from Christophe as he went limp. Using the roughhewn wooden wall to hold herself steady, she bent at the waist and vomited. She sobbed and heaved and coughed.
“It’s okay,” Caitlyn said, her own stomach roiling. To her knowledge, Rose had never even held a weapon, let alone hurt anyone. Caitlynwould have given everything to trade places with her in that moment. To spare her sister that act. “You had to.”
Rose wiped her mouth on her loose shirt. “I know.” Squaring her shoulders on a fortifying breath, she rushed to Kurt’s corner as if she hadn’t just killed a man and lost her lunch.
She was a goddamned Amazon.
Rose cut his bindings and handed him the knife with trembling hands, sinkingto her knees as he freed Caitlyn.
“Are you okay?” Caitlyn asked, rushing to drop to the ground beside her, only several yards from where Christophe lay silent and motionless. She couldn’t think about him. Her sister and Kurt were the only ones who mattered now.
Rose scooted back, putting at least a foot of space between her and Caitlyn. “I don’t know.” She looked up with watery eyes. “I can’tregret that.” Her shaky hand waved at the dead man. “I couldn’t think of another way, but I’m not sure I’ll ever be okay with it.”
“I understand.” More than she wanted. “I’m sorry.” Caitlyn pressed the heel of her palm against her thigh. Was there anything she could say to make this better? No. “But you were brilliant.”
Rose took a deep, shuddering breath and clasped her hands in her lap. “Didyou really kill Glenn?”
The door swung open and the other guard stuck his head in. “What’s going—”
Kurt crossed the floor in two strides and punched the man square on the chin. Baldy hit the floor, out cold. With Caitlyn’s knife, Kurt cut a piece of rope from the coil that their captors had used to bind them, and secured the man’s hands and feet.
He grabbed the AK and nine mil, slinging therifle over his shoulder, and then approached Christophe, circling around him from behind. He crouched low and felt for a pulse. Catching her eye, he shook his head.
“Let’s go.” He rose, took the .45 from the dead man’s thigh holster, and handed it to Caitlyn.
She made sure it was loaded and the safety was off, and then held out a hand to Rose as she stood. “Our car is just down the road. Doyou think you can you make it?”
Rose took her hand and they followed Kurt as he opened the door and then waved them through after he’d determined the coast was clear.
Skirting around the main building, they stuck to the shadows as much as possible, Rose sandwiched between Caitlyn and Kurt. At the beginning of the long, curving driveway, they hid behind a low wall to study the two guards stationedat the entrance to the resort.
“Did you really kill Glenn?” Rose whispered.
“Yes.” Caitlyn’s stomach clenched. Stupid. Now was not the time for weakness. “He came at me with a knife, so I shot him with his own gun. Long story.”
A tear slipped down Rose’s cheek, the trail glimmering in the lights positioned at the front gate. “Good,” she said, her expression hard as granite. Her hand slippeddown to her belly.
Oh, no.God, no. “You’re actually pregnant?” Caitlyn’s mouth tasted like dirt. It hadn’t been another lie in Rose’s ploy to get free.
“Yes.” Rose bit her lip. “From the first week, he…” She looked away.
