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“Just hold on a sec.” Trent took the right turn, checked traffic, his review and side mirrors. No one seemed to be following them. He pulled over in the first parking spot he saw and jammed the car into park. A yank on the review mirror confirmed her sister hadn’t moved.
Halli, on the other hand, dove for the door and had one foot out of the vehicle before Trent caught hold of her arm.
She fought him. “Let me go!”
“Jesus, Halli, stop for just a moment.” He hauled her back into the car and growled, “Shut the door.”
She rounded on him, blue eyes snapping with fury. “What the heck is your problem?”
“Something doesn’t feel right.”
“Tell me about it. You’re holding me hostage again!”
“Don’t start. Now shut your door until I can figure out what the hell is going on.”
“There’s nothing going on—”
He felt below his seat, located the pistol with its silencer, and brought it up to wedge between his thigh and the seat, the grip free for an easy grab. Halli’s eyes grew round as saucers. He hadn’t let her see him stow the gun in the car when they’d left the boat.
“Shut the door.”
The car rocked with the force of her compliance. Trent drew a deep breath, glancing around to see what kind of attention they’d drawn. Apparently, they were nothing out of the ordinary, because no one cast them anything other than a cursory glance. Especially now that she’d finally listened to him.
For good measure, he thumbed the automatic locks. “Now look,” he commanded. He sunk lower in his seat and twisted around to focus on Rachel, who was just barely visible beyond the corner of the building at the end of the block. “What do you notice about your sister?”
Halli stubbornly remained facing forward. “That she’s sitting there all alone probably scared to death wondering if I’m okay. This has nothing to do with—”
“Dammit, Halli, look at her.”
She turned her head to glare at him, then sighed with annoyance, grasped the headrest, and pulled herself around. “Just like I said. She looks worried.”
“She’s wearing the same clothes she had on in your video. And where’s your brother?”
“They were probably looking for me all night. Ben’s proba
bly checking inside right now while Rachel waits outside so they don’t miss me.”
“Clearly they got your message to meet here, so they knew you were okay and would’ve had no reason to stay up all night looking.”
“Maybe they didn’t get it until this morning.”
Trent held his frustration in check at her single-minded belief that today would be the end of her troubles. Unfortunately, he’d bet a hell of a lot of money they were far from over. And, unfortunately, it was up to him to spell it out, letter by un-sugar-coated letter.
“Okay, then, tell me this. Where’s their Fiat?”
“Their what?”
“The blue rental car your brother was driving. I don’t see it anywhere.”
“Maybe they parked around the corner—I don’t know! Trent, please, let me go to my sister.”
Halli didn’t know what else to do other than beg, but Trent was relentless with his suspicions, hurling question after question after each explanation she lobbed back.
“I watched that video yesterday,” he stated in a low, ominous tone. “Your sister was obsessed with a hair dryer. Don’t you think she would’ve changed her clothes at the very least?”
A ripple of fear cascaded down her spine. Oh, God, he was right. She stared through the back window at Rachel across the street, all alone, and suddenly looking more terrified than worried.
“What are you saying?” She knew the answer, just couldn’t wrap her mind around it.
