Micah moved slowly, reaching behind him to remove the gun from the small of his back.Again, he crouched to set the gun down.
“Kick it to me!”the gunman snapped in anger.Bryn winced when he pushed the tip of the gun painfully into her skin.“Stop playing around!”
“I’m just following your orders,” Micah said mildly.Then he swept out his foot to kick the gun toward them.It slid to a stop right next to the first weapon.
“Okay, now let’s go.”The pressure of the gun against her skin eased a bit.Not enough that she dared to attempt to escape, but at least he wasn’t hurting her anymore.
“Go where?”Micah asked.
“Outside to the SUV.”The snide tone was back in the gunman’s voice.“We’re going for a little ride.”
Micah didn’t move.“Look, you got what you wanted.I’m unarmed, and you have the upper hand.But if you’re smart, you’ll reconsider your plan.This whole murder-suicide scenario isn’t going to work because I already told my buddy everything that’s happened so far.Trust me, no matter what evidence you’ve planted to implicate Bryn, the truth will come out.You’re better off letting us go.Take your chances with Bryn going through the legal system.”
“Nice try,” the guy sneered.“You don’t have any idea about the magnitude of what’s at stake here.This isn’t just about a data center; it’s about more money than you could dream of.And since you don’t know anything about that, there’s no way you could have told yourbuddy,anything.”The emphasis on buddy reeked of sarcasm.
“My buddy knows enough that you’ll never get away with this.Not with the evidence I’ve passed on to him,” Micah said, his reasonable tone seeming to irritate the gunman.
She felt the guy holding her tense when Micah mentioned evidence, but it was gone so quickly she was forced to admit she may have imagined it.
“Shut up already.It’s too late for that.We’re ending this now.The only reason I’m driving you away from here is that I don’t want your deaths to postpone the project any longer than necessary.”
“It’s already been delayed,” Micah said with a negligible shrug.“Why bother about that now?”
She frowned, wondering why Micah was poking at him.If the gunman got antsy and killed them here, it was all over.If the guy was able to get them out to the SUV to drive them to a different location, they might have the opportunity to get away.A slim chance, maybe, but it was better than being gunned down here and now.
To her surprise, the gunman responded.“The city council meets first thing tomorrow morning, and I’ve been assured the project will be approved.”From his overly confident tone, Bryn assumed that one or more of the council members had been bribed to go along with the plan.
No wonder these attacks had escalated against her so quickly.This guy wanted her and Micah out of the way so their plan could move forward without a hitch.The only saving grace that she could find was the video that Micah had gotten on his phone earlier.It was the evidence that he’d hinted about.She was a little surprised the gunman hadn’t pressed for more information.
Was that audio conversation enough to derail the project indefinitely?
Or would Richard and this guy holding her at gunpoint have a way of overcoming that obstacle too?Knowing Richard, she felt certain he would have a backup plan.Especially if there was a significant amount of money at stake.
Bryn tried to read Micah’s gaze to understand if he’d called the police.She couldn’t hear any sirens yet, which was far from reassuring.And Micah hadn’t mentioned calling the authorities to the gunman as a warning, although that could be because he wanted to buy more time.If the gunman knew the police had been called, he’d force them to the SUV.
Or just outright kill them both.
Neither scenario was good.She didn’t want to know what would happen if this guy was able to get her and Micah out of there before the police had a chance to respond?
“I said move!”The gunman pressed the gun painfully into her temple again.Despite her efforts to remain calm, fresh tears welled in her eyes.“We’re leaving now.”
“Okay.”Micah didn’t appear concerned.“But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The gunman snorted and eased up on his grip.Still, Bryn couldn’t relax.She blinked the tears away, pulling herself together with an effort.Trembling in fear only played into the gunman’s hands.
He wanted them to be passive and afraid.Two emotions she felt sure Micah would never display.
She tried to gather strength from him.From knowing he would do his best to save them.Even if he failed, she was grateful for the time they had together.
Yet she wished she’d told Micah how much she loved him.How much she’d always admired him and that she would have gone anywhere with him if they weren’t running from the authorities.
Maybe she should have taken him up on the offer to leave the country.It was too late now, but in hindsight, she could admit that having even a few more weeks with Micah would have been better than being shot and killed there today.
“What about Phil?”Micah asked, lightly kicking the fallen man on the floor.“Are you just leaving him here?Or is he going with us?”
“Phil doesn’t matter anymore.”The gunman’s callous tone sent chills down her spine.He really didn’t care about anyone but himself.
And the massive amounts of money this data center project was supposedly going to bring in.
