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“You need to gag them, Johnny,” she said coldly.
Daisy’s eyes went as big as saucers, and she glanced at Sally and then at the man she’d called Johnny. Dale’s mind raced. Hadn’t Daisy mentioned she’d heard Sally on a phone call a few nights ago to a man named Johnny? His stomach roiled, and bile rose up his throat.
Did Sally have something to do with Karri’s murder? Was she covering up for this guy?
Dale went to open his mouth to ask Sally all those things and more, when Johnny shoved some kind of rag in his mouth. Dale gagged and nearly choked on the disgusting thing, unable to breathe. Johnny shoved it in harder until it hurt, forcing Dale’s head backward and bringing tears to his eyes.
Then he did the same to Daisy.
Sally stood back, arms crossed, watching Johnny. “Tell me what happened,” Sally demanded. “How the fuck did you let this get so out of control?”
“Me? Let things get… Don’t make me fucking laugh.” Johnny went up and took Sally by the throat. “This is all your fault and don’t you forget it.”
Dale blinked. Whoa, this guy wasn’t pulling any punches. He was obviously in control, and he was making sure Sally knew it.
Sally lost some of her arrogance, her mouth pulling up in a grimace as both of her hands wrapped around Johnny’s, a pleading look entering her eyes. They stood for many seconds, staring at each other.
“Sure, Johnny, you’re right, I stuffed up,” Sally finally said, her voice a little strained from his grip on her throat. He let her go. Her body language seemed submissive, but Dale noticed her narrowed eyes, even if Johnny didn’t.
There were some odd dynamics going on between these two.
Johnny went over and took a seat on an old, fallen log ten yards away, resting his hands on his knees and blowing out a breath. “Like I said to you on the phone, this idiot showed up in the middle of the night.” Johnny waved his gun in River’s direction. “I caught him snooping around my stuff. He must’ve figured out how to get into the shaft.”
Sally cautiously approached River. He remained unmoving, and she nudged him with her toe. “Is he dead?”
“Nah, not yet, I don’t think.” Johnny said it with such pragmatism that Dale got the distinct impression this man wasn’t unused to killing.
“Why would he do that? Who the hell is he?” Sally sat down on the opposite end of the log, completely ignoring Dale and Daisy.
She’d do well not to look at him, Dale thought, because he was sure he’d be able to impale her with just his gaze, he was so furious. This woman had worked for the station for over two years. He trusted her. Implicitly. How dare she use that trust against him?
“It wasn’t till he mentioned he had a sister named Daisy that I twigged how he was connected.”
Daisy’s head shot up. She made some grunting noises and struggled to break free of her bonds. Even though it was useless, Dale admired her tenacity. He understood how she felt, because he wanted to go up and punch this man in the face nearly as much as she did.
“He didn’t know I had a gun. He tried to pull a knife on me.” Johnny gave a theatrical laugh. “Said that he was going to call his sister and this guy,” Johnny tipped his chin in Dale’s direction, “and they’d come out here and sort me out.” Johnny snorted. “That was never going to happen.”
“So, you shot him?”
“Yep.”
“But he’s not dead?”
“Nope.”
Sally sighed loudly, but when Johnny gave her a sideways glare, she subsided into silence for a second. “So, what are we going to do with him? And with them?”
Dale stilled. For the first time, Dale felt real fear slither down his spine.
“Well, obviously, we need to get rid of them. And then we need to hightail it out of here. You can’t stay at Stormcloud any longer, the gig really is up.”
Shit, shit.Did Johnny mean what he said? Or was he just talking tough to scare them? Staring at Johnny, Dale decided he could carry out his threat. He needed to think fast. How was he going to get him and Daisy out of this?
“Do I have time to go and get my stuff? I wish you’d told me that on the phone. I left in such a rush. I don’t—”
“No, you don’t have time to get your stuff,” Johnny yelled, standing up.
“But all my good clothes. And my jewelry,” Sally huffed. “Besides, there’s paperwork, receipts, and lists of credit card numbers that could incriminate me.”
