I glance at Avery in disbelief. Her eyes are blinking open and shut like she’s taking little pictures, trying to work out what’s happening one image at a time, her face pale.
“Why?” I ask, turning my attention back to the man.
He laughs but there’s no humor in the sound, only menace. “How about we all sit down and I’ll fill you in over a cup of coffee. Are you kidding me? Get in the fucking van or I’ll shoot you both!”
A voice like speaker static hisses from the back of my mind:Don’t do it, Grant. Do it, and you’re both dead.Not that we have a choice. If we don’t do what he says, he’ll kill us. I’m positive he isn’t bluffing. There’s no good outcome here.
“Okay,” I say, guiding Avery closer to me. “Just take it easy. We’ll do what you say.”
“Not you,” he says, his gaze shifting from me to Avery. “Her.”
Her.The word smashes through my skull like a cannonball.He means Avery. This man intends to take my wife.
I step in front of Avery and slowly raise my hands. “That’s not happening.”
“It’s not up to you.”
“She’s not going anywhere without me.”
“Grant …” Avery whispers behind me, but I don’t turn around. I keep my focus centered on the man.
“You’re not taking her,” I say.
He tilts his head and regards me, his eyes narrowing to two blue flames. His grip on the gun firms, and he steps forward and levels it at my head.
My eyes screw shut a second before he fires.
My ears explode. The sound that follows is like a power drill burning through my skull. A high, piercing shriek. One I shouldn’t be able to hear because I should be dead. But I’m not.
I’m alive.
How am I still alive?
Because it was a warning shot. He must have moved the gun before he pulled the trigger.
My eyelids click open, and I try to make sense of what’s happening.The man is standing right in front of me now, barking words I can’t hear through the ringing in my ears. His voice is a muffled throb. It’s like he’s standing above me, yelling down through ten feet of water.
I shake my head and try to clear the cobwebs. Pop my jaw. “I can’t hear you,” I say.
It does nothing. His eyes are two electric pools of anger. His entire body is a snarl. I vaguely register Avery’s fingertips brushing my arm from behind. I can’t let this man take her.
“Don’t do this,” I plead. “You can have our car. My wallet. Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
He shakes his head, his gaze coming to rest on Avery.
“No,” I say. “No.Please listen to me. I can get you money if that’s what you want. I just need—”
Before I know what’s happening, he slams the butt of the revolver straight into my temple.
My head snaps toward my shoulder.
White lights wheel through my vision.
Sparks firework and hiss in my brain.
My knees buckle, and I crash down. My teeth clack together when I hit the ground, the taste of warm metal flooding my mouth. The tang of iron and copper. Flecks whirl through my vision, and I know I’m seconds away from passing out. But then I hear the scream and the world comes rushing back.
“Grant!”
