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I pull out my gun and hold Savannah against me. I draw my weapon and brandish it. “Let’s go. You’ll have to get through me to get to her.”
“That’s one of them,” she says, pointing to the two men in the front. They stare at me for long seconds. The one she identified turns tail and runs but I shoot, and I don’t miss. I hit his leg and he sprawls on the ground. Fabien materializes and takes him.
It was too easy. Too simple. The threat of our attack when we’re outnumbered isn’t enough to make them run.
A gunshot rings out and Lyam curses, running after someone who’s taken off.
“Did they get him?”
“Nicked his shoulder,” Fabien says. “He’s fine.”
“Where’s the other one?”
Savannah shakes her head. “I didn’t see him. He didn’t come.”
“Coward.”
Fabien and Lyam return, Fabien with one of the murderers in custody and Lyam bleeding, but it’s a shallow wound.
“We’ll use this one to take us to his friend,” Lyam says through gritted teeth.
“I’m going,” Savannah says.
“No fucking way.” I don’t want her hurt.
“There’s no time,” she says. “I’ll stay safe, Thayer, but if we don’t get him now, we’ll never have peace.”
Returning to the car, Lyam slides into the driver’s seat and I get in the back with Savannah. He turns the key.
The world around me erupts in smoke.
TWENTY-TWO
Savannah
We’re alive. Am I alive? How are we alive?
Smoke billows around us. Was it a smoke bomb? Meant to distract and not to kill?
“Thayer!”
I feel strong arms around me. I gasp and struggle as a painful prick bites my neck.
I try to push them away. I try to flail my arms, but I’m overpowered. I reach for Thayer, but he’s behind a wall of flames and smoke. I fall to my knees as my vision blurs. I open my mouth to scream at the sight of a black hood, but my voice is feeble. With a flash of alarm I remember the test I took earlier, as the hood goes over my head and my world fades to blackness.
When I wake, it’s impossible to tell what time it is because I’m in a darkened room. I try to sit up, but my head is heavy, and my limbs won’t move. I blink, trying to make sense of my surroundings.
“She’s awake, Sir.”
I look over to see the redheaded woman Thayer interviewed sitting beside a man in a dark mask.
“You did well, pet.”
I know that voice. Where do I know that voice from?
“They almost escaped, but with your help, they didn’t.”
“Thank you, Sir. I’ve learned my lesson and I do my best,” she says quietly, her hands folded in her lap. “You’ve asked that I follow your instructions without question.”
I’ve heard this before. I’ve heard them before, but it’s hard to know where or when because my head is so fuzzy.
“Good. Very good.”
My wrists are anchored in front of me in an awkward position.
Someone prowls in front of me and shines a light at me. “Put the lights on.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Dim lights flood the room.
“She is awake,” the man says. “You did so well, pet.”
The redhead beams and sits beside me. “Do you know why you’re here?”
I try to open my swollen lips. “I can guess.”
“Why?”
I sigh. “Because I’m the only witness and he doesn’t want to go to jail.”
The redhead gives me a grim smile and takes out a long, slender knife. She presses it to my neck. “The officer you saw Thayer Gerard murder. You witnessed it firsthand. That night, you were in Paris and neither of you have an alibi. You’ll destroy the statement you made and make another.”
My head swims. I try to shake it. I didn’t see Thayer kill anyone…
“We’re giving you a choice, Savannah. We could’ve killed you very easily.”
“You were only pretending to audition for a job,” I say through puffy lips.
She shrugs. “Someone had to get in there.”
Behind her, her master crosses his arms. “Press harder.”
The knife scrapes my skin. I hiss in a breath at the sting.
“You saw him murder that officer, didn’t you?”
I grit my teeth. I have to stay alive. This isn’t just about me anymore. But if they have me on record testifying against him—God. They could make me betray the only man I’ve ever loved.
She leans in. “We know who you are. We know your sister obtained millions from the Gerard family for being a whore.” My pulse spikes. I shake my head. “We know that everything you own is because of her slutty choices. We know that after your parents died, she abandoned you, then tried to make it up with her blood money.”
I shake my head. Tears blur my vision as I turn away but turning away only makes her press the knife harder. I stifle a cry as I feel my skin tear.
“We know what you saw. And this is a warning, Savannah. You will testify against Thayer in court. If you don’t do what we say, we promise, no one you know will be safe. Not Nicolette, or her husband, and least of all Thayer.”
