We barely knew each other, but Iknewhe wouldn’t leave me.
I just had to hold on until he got there. So I clenched my fingers around the broken chair leg and held the fuck on.
There was a sound at the door. Scraping. The iron bolt sliding back.
I leaped up and darted to the side, to make myself as invisible as possible in a large rectangular room. I clasped the chair leg in both hands like a baseball bat, with the splintered end ready to hit whoever came through the door.
Please be Garrett. Please be Garrett.
The door pulled open, and as soon as I recognized the height wasn’t Garrett’s, I swung my chair leg with all my might.
But it was Conrad Richter, and he blocked my arm with one of his, doing one of those complicated wrist things to steal my makeshift weapon and toss it across the room. “You’re very predictable, you know that?”
I scrambled backward, pulling out chairs as I moved. “Stay away from me.”
“We don’t have time for this.” The cut across the bridge of his nose was red and raw, the skin around it already darkening into a bruise. Good. At least I’d managed to break his nose in the car.
“We’re leaving.” His voice held an edge—not like at Henri’s, when he’d been calm and in control. Not like in the car or in the collection room. “Now.”
Leaving? Why? Where to? Because the police had come? I darted to the opposite side of the table from him. It was longenough I could play this chase game, and if he were in a hurry, maybe he’d give up on me.
He was between me and the door.
Logic, Grace. He’s faster. He has a gun, but he hasn’t pulled it. What does that mean?
He moved left. I mirrored right. He moved right. I mirrored left.
“You’re a pain in my ass.”
“So leave me alone.”
He made his choice. He went left around the table, and I sprinted around it, straight for the door.
But he’d feinted. Planted his off-hand on the corner andvaultedover the table. His feet connected with my side, sending me crashing into the wine racks. Before I was able to reorient myself, he grabbed my wrist. “You’re just making this worse for yourself.”
He yanked me hard toward the door.
I twisted against him.
He spun me, one practiced motion, and my back hit his chest. I felt the knife at my throat again, but it wasn’t there. He hadn’t pulled anything. It was my imagination. He pinned my upper arms against my sides so I couldn’t fight him.
Go for his instep!I planted my foot hard on his, and he loosened his grip long enough for me to wrench free, but he shoved me against the wall next to the door. My head hit the wall, and the world spun.
Run, Grace! Run!I had a clear path to the door, but everything was spinning around me. Swimming. I couldn’t… couldn’t…
A figure appeared in the corridor, coming down from the steps. The height was right. I couldn’t see his face, but I knew.Garrett came for me.My knight in shining armor was here.
Richter closed the distance with me, his hand finding my throat. He squeezed, pressing me into the racks, bringing his face inches from mine. “I should snap your neck right here and be done with this.”
It was all threats. It hurt, but he wasn’t compressing my windpipe enough. If Garrett was here, that meant his team was here. Which meant Richter needed me as a hostage to get out. Heneededme in one piece.
I hit his ribs with my left hand, the one on the opposite side from Garrett. I had to distract Richter and make enough noise that Garrett could sneak in. If Richter heard him coming, it would be the same as at Henri’s. He’d spin me to his chest, pull the knife, and maybe he’d kill me this time.
“Or I could choke the life out of you.”
I tried kneeing him in the groin, but he blocked it. Tried pulling his wrist away, but he was too strong.
Hitting and kicking wasn’t the opening Garrett needed.
