Page 100 of Burning Justice

Shock emanated from Gemma’s eyes. Brett’s stomach went rock hard, then his heart started beating faster than he thought possible. Fear and panic nearly obliterated his vision and his ability to think clearly.

Because the barrel of that gun was not only jammed against Gemma’s temple, but Kelly Hawkin’s finger was wrapped firmly around the trigger. One wrong move or decision by any of them…

Gemma would be dead in less than a heartbeat.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Cold sweat broke out on Gemma’s forehead. Brett was talking, his lips moving, but the only sound she heard was the pounding of her racing heartbeat in her ears.

Brett, Deck, and Evan had pulled their weapons, but the way Kelly was positioned behind her, bent low and ducking her head down, none of them had a clear shot. The more she tried angling away from the barrel of the gun, the harder Kelly jammed it against her skull. What she wouldn’t give to have her framing nailer right about now. She’d empty the entire clip of nails into the woman’s chest.

“Get on the ground,” Brett ordered Hawkin. “Face down and with your hands behind your head.”

Hawkin started to comply, dropping to his knees.

“He goes free,” Kelly said in a high-pitched voice, shoving the mini-Glock’s barrel harder against Gemma’s head. “Or she dies.”

Hawkin’s gaze darted back and forth between Brett and his wife. Gemma wasn’t certain which one of them he was more afraid of. Hawkin’s eyes rounded on his wife. “What in God’s name are you doing?”

“Cleaning up your mess.” She hauled Gemma tighter to her chest, still using her body as a shield. Hot breath washed against the side of Gemma’s head, mixing with the nasty chemical odor in the air. “I knew you’d fuck this up. I told you not to buy that house, but you just had to keep it for yourself. Burning down that dump was the easiest way to get rid of it and recoup at least some of our money.”

“Nash was blackmailing you, wasn’t he?” Brett asked, inching closer, and Gemma recognized the tactic for what it was. A distraction. Behind Brett, Deck and Evan fanned out laterally. “That’s why you killed him.”

She made a scoffing sound. “Nash was a greedy, stupid little shit. He had to go. When you two started piecing it all together, you became another problem I had to get rid of.”

Gemma gasped. Kelly Hawkin had ordered the hits on her and Brett, not Michael, like they’d wrongly suspected.

Brett took another step closer. Blaze followed, uttering a low growl.

Without batting an eyelash, Kelly aimed her gun at Brett’s chest, stopping him. “Don’t move. I have no qualms about killing her or a federal agent. That goes for the rest of you.” She glanced at Deck and Evan.

From the rigid stance of both men and the way their jaws were clamped tighter than a vise grip, like Brett, they were waiting for the right moment to disarm the woman.

“Are you crazy?” Michael shouted. “Put the gun away. You’re only making this worse.”

“Nothing’s changed,” Kelly snapped, repositioning the gun’s barrel against Gemma’s temple. “The plan is still the same. We’re getting out of here, and they can’t stop us.” She edged closer to the plane, dragging Gemma with her. “Move!” she shouted in Gemma’s ear, making her flinch.

“You’ll never get clearance for takeoff.” Brett’s low, deadly voice filtered through to Gemma’s fear-laced brain. “Let her go.” He aimed his gun at the ground in front of Gemma’s feet. His narrowed eyes glittered like blue glass. Evan and Deck had also aimed in, but she knew none of them would shoot while Kelly had the gun mashed against her face. She had to do something, had to give them an opening.

“Clearance?” Kelly laughed. “You think I give a shit about clearance?”

Slowly, Brett shook his head. “There’s no way out of here. Even if you do take off, there’s no place you can land where I won’t hunt you down. The FAA will track you. Wherever you go, I’ll never stop coming for you.” A look of rage, so pure and unadulterated, shone from his eyes. “Let. Her. Go.”

Blaze’s big head lowered, the hair on his spine at full attention. The dog might not speak English, but he knew whatever was happening was bad.

“I don’t think so.” Kelly tightened her hold around Gemma’s waist and backed up to the Cessna’s open door.

Brett took another step toward them, clenching his jaw.

“Don’t!” Kelly dragged the barrel from Gemma’s temple to her cheek. “What do you think a bullet will do to this pretty face? She won’t so look so pretty, will she?”

Maintaining a position of safety, hunkered down behind Gemma, Kelly shoved the pilot’s seat forward. Grunting, she hauled herself up and onto the rear seat. The barrel of the gun now pressed firmly against the back of Gemma’s head. “Get in!”

Moving backward slowly, and half expecting her skull to be blasted into smithereens any second, Gemma climbed inside the plane and onto the rear seat. Again, Kelly wrapped her arm around Gemma’s waist, tucking in tightly behind her.

“Michael, let’s go,” Kelly shouted, then pulled the pilot’s seat back into place. When he hesitated, Kelly screamed louder, “Come on!”

Michael shot to his feet, then jumped into the pilot’s seat and yanked the door closed.