Page 115 of Statler

She metaphorically crossed her fingers, hoping he had, and would be listening to what was going down.

Eliza’s other hand, during this move, had remained poised on her weapon, ready to take Jeremy out if he tried anything.

“Where’s Granny?” Eliza snapped.

“Up at the shack,” Jeremy said with an innocence so feigned, that Eliza instantly knew he was lying.

“Bullshit,” she bit back. “There’s not enough of that fishing shack left for you to have stashed her inside. Try again.”

“Fine. She’s not inside,” he prevaricated. “She’s tied up on what’s left of the doorstep.”

Just in case Statler had forgotten about the shack—if he were monitoring the conversation—Eliza gave the man she loved another hint as she disputed what Jeremy said. “Wrong answer. The lake rotted out that doorstep decades ago. Too many fishermen laying their wet things there.”

Jeremy shrugged and took one step closer to Eliza.

Her fingers itched to bring up her gun and shoot the bastard, but she needed to be sure of Granny’s whereabouts before she committed to any course of action.

“So maybe I already got rid of the bitch,” he shrugged. “Drowned her in the lake. Just like I’m going to do with you, after we’ve had some fun. And you know what? There’s nothing you can do about it,” he taunted.

His bluster regarding Granny seemed phony, so before Eliza addressed the—gag—“fun” Jeremy thought he was going to have with her, she called him out, because goading him right now seemed to be the best road to take.

“She got away, didn’t she?” Eliza sneered. “She outsmarted you. You’re such a loser, Jeremy. But no surprise there. You never were very good at anything. The only reason my father even keeps you around is because you kiss his saggy butt so sweetly.” She chuckled and shook her head. “I bet Granny kicked your sorry ass before she took off.”

Jeremy growled. “You are so wrong. If I’d found that stupid old cunt, I would have been the one kicking ass, and she’d be dead already,” he sneered.

Eliza felt her shoulders release.

Jeremy didn’t have her. He never had.

The cold, calm that Eliza had experienced earlier, settled over her again like a welcome shroud, and with it, more clarity.

The longer she could keep Jeremy talking, the more time Statler would have to head to the scene and haul the asshole off to the proper authorities.

“You never even found her?” Eliza laughed deliberately. “You are so stupid, Jeremy. Outsmarted by an eighty-year-old woman.”

If there had been more moonlight, Eliza would have been certain that the man’s face was bright red. It was Jeremy’s normal look when things weren’t going his way.

“I wasn’t outsmarted,” he hissed. “I lured you out here, didn’t I?”

“Not you, Jeremy,” Eliza shot back. “My father. He’s the one who told me to come. If you’d called, I would have laughed in your face.”

Maybe not.

But her father’s fury certainly carried a lot more weight than Jeremy’s whining.

“You won’t be laughing very much longer,” he glowered. “You’re going to be my bitch for a few hours, and after that you’ll be at the bottom of the lake. Then your father will thank me for ridding him of a problem he’s had since the minute you were born.”

Eliza guffawed long and hard in a mocking way, ignoring Jeremy’s intended provocation, and going for the low hanging fruit.

“Hours Jeremy?” she dared. “Seriously? I’m going to be your bitch for hours? I doubt you can perform for more than a couple minutes. Unless, of course, you’ve taken your Viagra.”

Clearly, she’d goaded him beyond his limits, because he snarled, then reached around to pull a gun from the rear of his waistband.

But Eliza was ready.

She’d seen him twitch.

Before he could bring his weapon up to aim, Eliza raised her Sig and pulled the trigger, hitting Jeremy squarely in the bicep.