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Gina took the rope and gestured to Harper to put her arms out in front of her. She did so reluctantly. Gina looped the rope around her wrists and made some fancy knot. Then she took the other end and handed it to Harper. “Take it and loop it around my wrists.”
Harper did as she was told but when it came to knot-tying, she was hopeless. Lockerby came over and rested the gun on the windowsill as he knotted the rope around Gina’s wrists.
He retrieved the gun and stepped back. “This is how this is going to go. You are going to go down the stairs. Gina first. You’re going to do exactly as I say, and if you try to run or escape I will shoot Harper. Gina, you will never be able to drag her and get away. Harper, the same goes for you. If you try anything, I’ll shoot Gina and you will have to drag her body. Does everyone understand?”
Both women nodded but stayed silent. Harper had no clue what the hell Gina was thinking but her own mind was frantically searching for some sort of plan. Any kind of plan that didn’t involve her dying.
“Why did you kill Astrid?” she asked. “And why did you bury her on the bluffs?”
Lockerby lined them up and then nudged Gina. “Walk slowly.” He glanced at Harper. “In point of fact, I did not kill Astrid. Someone else did that and then buried her. I’d have just tossed her body into the ocean and let the fishes feed on her corpse.”
They’d arrived at the top of the stairs. Gina took the first step down and then the second which made her pull on the rope and Harper stumbled down the stairs, hitting Gina in the back and knocking her down the next two steps into the wall on the landing with Harper directly behind her.
Lockerby cackled. “Now you know how hard this is. Don’t do anything stupid. Walk slowly.”
Gina righted herself and then moved, taking the next set of steps one at a time. Harper kept her balance this time. They made it safely to the bottom.If Lockerby didn’t kill Astrid, who did?
“So you just had your fun with Astrid and then someone else killed her?” she asked, her voice soft.
“That sums it up nicely.”
They moved quietly along the hallway. Harper wanted to scream and shout and kick the walls but she knew Lockerby would probably shoot her before anyone came to her rescue. And there was Gina to think about. As much as she loathed the woman, she did not want Lockerby to kill her.
“Go straight,” Lockerby said when they came to the intersection between passages.
They were going to the basement door. Maybe she could attract some attention when they left the unfinished part. Surely someone would see them, wouldn’t they?
They got to the top of the stairs when Lockerby told them to stop. “Up against the wall,” he ordered and then proceeded to move past them. He tweaked Harper’s breast painfully on the way by.
She hated this man with every fiber of her being. Adrenaline poured anew into her. She wanted to vomit. He did the same to Gina. Gina looked away and met Harper’s gaze. In this, she was a victim, too. That thought came out of left field, but Harper knew it to be true. Whatever Gina was doing, she felt she had no choice. However she got involved, she was not here by choice. It didn’t excuse anything, but it sure gave Harper more context.
Lockerby went down to the second to last step and leaned over to the side wall. He touched the far side of the door frame and after a quiet click, a second door swung open, blocking the first one. The smell of saltwater hung in the air and the sound of waves reached Harper. He was taking them through the tunnel to the beach.
Fear sweat broke out across her body. This was not good. The beach was secluded. In order to see anyone by the rocks, the person needed to be standing on the edge of the bluff. With all the cars and commotion of the event, everyone would be looking the other way toward the tents. They weren’t even letting cars up the driveway. They were parking down by the trees and having people walk across the open lawn to the tent area. It was a never-ending nightmare.
“Move,” Lockerby said and waved his gun at them. Gina stumbled forward. Harper waited a beat and then followed along. They got to the bottom of the stairs. Lockerby stood in the doorway. Gina hugged the opposite wall trying to get past without touching him. He laughed as she shrank by. “There was a time when you wanted my touch.”
“Don’t kid yourself,” Harper said without thinking her words through. “She was paid to make you happy.”
Lockerby glared at her. She tried to move by him, but he pinned her to the wall and pressed his body into hers.
He put his face right next to hers and whispered, “Be careful, honey. You don’t want to make me angry. It will be much worse for you.” Then he bit her ear.
She pushed at his chest trying to get him off her. The hallway was too narrow to get any leverage. She tried to knee him in the balls but that didn’t work either.
He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back. “You want to be feisty? Then you and me are going to have some fun.” He shoved her forward and she banged into Gina. The two started walking again.
This part of the passage was solid rock, damp, and smelled of mold. The single hanging bulbs did little to illuminate the surroundings. The path was dark, dank and slippery. Gina’s feet skidded out from under her and she ended up on her ass. Harper managed to catch herself and just leaned down to help Gina up as best she could.
“Almost there,” Lockerby chortled.
A slight bend in the tunnel meant Harper couldn’t see the water but the sound of waves crashing was getting louder, as was the smell of the salt and seaweed. As they moved around the bend and the beach came into view, Harper’s heart sank. They weren’t on the beach. The water came right into the tunnel. A small motorboat was tied up to a ring fixed in the rock. They were beyond a jut out in the bluff, so no one would be able to see them from the Manor, even if they were on the bank. They’d have to walk almost over to the next property.
Gina halted at the edge of the water. She would have to jump the rock slab on the side of the tunnel to get to the boat if she didn’t wade through the water. Lockerby came up behind her. “Move,” he said.
“I can’t. Not with my hands tied. I can’t jump to the side. I’ll have to go through the water.”
Lockerby came up next to her and put the gun to her head. “I don’t care if you’re going to get wet. Move!”
