Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“I’m a fixer. That’s what we do.”
“So of course everyone turned on me. I lost my wife, my kid, my job, all my assets are frozen, I’m on the run, and… I’m not doin’ it anymore.”
“Okay.”
“And then I realized, you’re the cause of all my problems, not Griffin Duchesne.”
Sometimes I hated being right all the time, but in this instance, better me than Griff. I would not have had things work out any other way. “Yeah, but you want to be free, don’t you? Why do this? Why come back?”
“I told you—my life is over. Taking you with me helps, at least a little. The two of us will go right off Thompson Bridge up here, and that’ll be the end.”
A murder suicide. And while that would be cause for concern, there was going into water dead and then there was going into water alive. I picked the latter.
When he pressed the muzzle of the gun to the back of my head, I hit the gas, which sent him flying back against the seat, surprising him into firing, putting a bullet in the roof of the vehicle. I didn’t want him shooting me through the back of the seat, so I took a sharp right, which, instead of us hitting the railing and flying into the lake, put us in a powerful spin. I was belted in, he was not, and the force sent him crashing into the window, his head taking the brunt of the collision. When I hit the brakes and came to a bouncing stop, he flew into the back of the passenger seat, striking it hard, knocking him unconscious.
I unclipped quickly, checked on him, then pushed him over. The thud from his fall to the floor of the vehicle was followed by a groan, which I was happy to hear. Alive was better. Alive he could stand trial for James Mullane’s murder. All the rest of it was horrible, but that was the worst.
Retrieving my gun crossed my mind, but it was better to let Newcastle PD take it into evidence, along with Wilson’s Sig, and then keep his for the trial and return mine to me. Adding more charges was always good, and aggravated kidnapping was no joke.
There was rope in the glove compartment, a bad sign unless whoever had it lived on a ranch, but it was useful now, as I had no cuffs or zip ties. After that, it didn’t take long for someone to stop—since they couldn’t get around me on the two-lane bridge—and call 911 for me. What was helpful was that someone else had alerted them and they were on their way.
“Aren’t you Griff’s guardian?” the guy asked as we stood together at the front of the Tahoe. “I think we were on the plague field trip together. I’m Ted.”
I smiled and nodded. “How sick was yours?”
“I have never seen my daughter turn that shade of green. I had to bring snacks to the bathroom for two days. And the worst part—or maybe not the worst, given how sick she was—her mother was trying to get home to us for three days, but she had the whole Planes, Trains, and Automobiles experience.”
“Oh, man, I’m sorry.”
Wilson screamed then, and Ted startled, looking worried. “He can’t get out of that knot of yours, can he?”
I shook my head. “He’d need a knife, and I have the only one.”
“That’s good,” he said, his relief palpable.
Five minutes later, two police cruisers showed up, and five minutes after that, Deputy Chief Sampson.
“This is a great start to your new job, Miller,” he teased me.
I flipped him off.
“Oh, we’re gonna get along so well.”
I had no doubt.
Luke showed up moments later, and when he tried to drive down to me and was barred from doing so by the newly arrived State Police, Sampson ordered me into his SUV.
“Very fancy,” I told him.
“Nice knot you tied back there,” he complimented me. “And I need you in Newcastle later today to make a statement.”
“Will do.”
Once we reached the police tape, he stopped the car, and I got out. I waved, he waved back, and the next moment Luke crashed into me, holding me so tight, I could feel his heart beating.
“I will never leave you if it’s within my power,” I vowed, threading my fingers in his hair, my other hand on the small of his back, under his layers of windbreaker and sweater.
“Is all this over now? Is he going to prison?”
“Yes. That’s what you get for kidnapping, which he just did to me, and more importantly, they know he killed James Mullane. He will never be a free man again.”
“Okay,” he said, more to himself than to me, calming, his voice evening out. “Okay.”
“I love you.”
“And I love you. That’s why I was so scared. I couldn’t breathe until I saw your face.”