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“We?” She pulled from the parking lot, praying someone had seen her, that someone would know who she had left with.
“Come on, you’re not a stupid bitch,” he clucked in amusement. “Johnny knew this morning that he’d been set up by Natches. Someone figured it out. He did a damned good impersonation of you until Dawg hooked up with you and was able to track your movements. We just needed a little more time, and we would have had the money while those nasty little terrorists would have believed it was you. Even those yahoos who helped steal the missiles didn’t know who Johnny was. Or you, for that matter. Until the other day. ”
“He told them who I was?”
Bedsford laughed again. “Walked right into the detention center and flashed your ID and signed your name. They all know who you are now. I don’t think Dawg’s going to be able to keep you safe.
The men who helped Johnny steal the missiles think you have them. The men who paid half down on a shipment they’re never going to get think he’s you. ” His smile was satisfied. “You’re dead, no matter what. ”
He wasn’t going to let her go. Of course, Crista had figured that one out already.
“So why not just shoot me now and get it over with?” Her hands clenched the steering wheel hard as she turned down the road leading to the highway.
She didn’t believe in going easy. She had one chance, and it would be risky. At the end of the lane was a traffic signal. It was green right now, but if she timed it just right, she might have a chance to escape.
Her heart was racing, fear thundering in her head as she drew closer.
“You know, I won’t mind blowing your head off if you try something crazy. ” The gun shifted in his hand, the barrel pointing up as she brought the van to a stop as the light turned red. “Wouldn’t it hurt so much less to just go along with me and pray your boyfriend rescues you?”
He couldn’t rescue her if he didn’t know where she was or who had taken her. And he couldn’t rescue her if she had a bullet in her head.
She glanced at the gun again, then up at the scowl on Jim’s bulldog face.
“Dawg will kill you,” she told him, knowing he would. But she would still be gone if she didn’t do something. Fast.
Johnny’s warning look earlier in the day had assured her that she had taken the wrong side. He would show no more mercy toward her than he had the transport driver whose truck he had hijacked.
“Dawg won’t kill me if all he has to do is clear your sweet little name and I’m nowhere to be found,” he grunted. “Look bitch, we just have to do one more thing. That’s all. If you’re missing when it goes down, and we fly out of here, then we’re in the clear, no matter what you say. Your word against ours, plain and simple. And it won’t matter anyway. Johnny’s going with me to Nicaragua. I have some friends there. Some contacts. ”
“Are you crazy, Jim?” she asked as she pulled onto the highway, amazed at the man’s gullibility.
“Do you think Johnny did this just so he could escape to some damp jungle? He has no intentions of leaving Somerset with you or of letting me go. ”
“I don’t really care what he does with you. ” There was a shrug in Jim’s voice. “And he promised.
We’re going to take the money and set up in a nice little hacienda there. We have it all picked out. ”
Crista blinked in surprise, directed a look back at him, then jerked her eyes back to the road.
Bedsford was in love with Johnny? She could hear it in his voice. It softened, and the scowl was no longer on his face. His expression radiated with emotion, and his dark brown eyes gleamed with purpose.
“Johnny couldn’t live without being close enough to his cousins to throw their failure in their faces,”
she whispered painfully, knowing she was driving herself to her own funeral.
“Turn at the next light,” he ordered. “We’re going to head out of town. I’ll let you know when to turn again. ”
“We’re not going to Johnny’s?”
“Why would I do that?” Jim asked her as though surprised. “That would be like hanging a sign on his door. We’re going to meet him somewhere else. That’s all. ”
“Where he’ll kill us both. ” She was certain of it. “He killed the driver of the transport truck for no reason, Bedsford. He’s not going to let you live. Or me. ”
“Johnny loves me. ” The belief in his voice terrified Crista.
“Johnny loves the money his mother gives him, trying to steal more from his cousins, and convincing everyone how socially acceptable he is,” she said. “He won’t see that destroyed. And he won
’t allow either of us to live. ”
