“I wish that was still true.” Christopher didn’t know what to believe in anymore. Legends, myths, and oaths. All he knew was he trusted Ashley, and he needed to save her. “I might consider dropping the charges. If you help.”
“Why would we help you?” Zach curled his upper lip.
“Ashley’s in trouble.” Christopher’s voice cracked, emotion choking him.
Zach turned a ghostly pale. “What do you mean?”
“She’s gone. Taken.” Christopher ran a hand through his hair. “And if it’s not you two. I don’t know who it is. I can’t lose her. Please.”
Lonnie stood, approaching his partner in crime. “Maybe you do understand the bonds of family.”
Christopher darted his gaze between the pair. “Of course, I do.”
“We weren’t so sure. We all thought you only cared about profit, not people,” Zach said.
“I care about profit because of people.” Christopher bit out the words. He didn’t want a reckoning now. He wanted a rescue. “Listen, I admit to overstepping the interests of my business. I can take my approach down a few notches. But after saving the resort from near ruin, I couldn’t let the shops go down, too.”
Zach stuck a hand through the bars.
Christopher shook on a truce.
“Get us out, and we’ll take the secret path to the boat house,” Zach said.
“Boathouse?” Christopher asked.
Lonnie sighed. “Yep. If Ashley’s missing, it’ll be the Prims. They’re the only ones with anything to gain from her disappearance.”
“And they aren’t clever enough to think of another hiding spot. Most gullible, naive people,” Zach said.
But in his arrogance, Christopher underestimated the real foes and imagined the danger lurked elsewhere. And now she was at risk. He had so much to say and apologize for.
He needed more time.
ChapterSeventeen
Ashley tripped over every tree root she could. She was not about to go quietly. However, she didn’t make any voluntary sounds. Having a dirty hand clamped over her mouth or a piece of tape was not her goal. She did her best to thwart the kidnapping by slowing them down.
Steve was a patient person until he wasn’t. After the tenth stumble, he yanked her hard. He lifted her off the ground. She couldn’t drag her feet.
Her ribs connected with his belt and holster. She winced, swallowing the groan. Was he wearing a gun?
“We’re here,” Carl said.
Light spilled onto the ground.
She blinked. They’d made it out of the woods to the boathouse.
“Inside,” Steve said, lifting her arm again before flinging her forward.
She righted herself in time to hear a gun cock. Hands raised, she stared at father and son. Did she look scared? She hoped so. Hiding her anger from them to portray herself as weak went against every instinct she had. But she had to survive.
Steve waved the gun towards the door.
With a nod, she turned and stepped over the threshold, entering the building and skirting along the back wall. If they wanted to shoot her, she planned to leave blood splatters on every surface she could. Her DNA would speak on her behalf. She would be avenged. She shivered. What a horrible thought after a surprising evening.I should have kissed Christopher when I had the chance.
The truth about her allowance stung her pride. She’d wasted valuable time with her husband by feeling sorry for herself. She couldn’t change the past. By focusing on what she couldn’t fix, she’d lost track of the most important part of the explanation. Her husband loved her and never gave up on her.
Unfortunately, her carelessness would lead to her death. Did she value righting the wrongs in the afterlife more than apologizing to the living? She hated the dire circumstances that forced her revelation.
