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Mason nodded to Brad, and his friend eased the door open just enough.
Brad aimed through the opening and shot the woman in the shoulder. She shrieked and was thrown back against the barrier. The knife fell into the snow on the patio.
“Love!” the man screamed.
Mason yanked the door all the way open.
The man whirled to face the threat, keeping Arianna in front of him as a shield. Her eyes were full of terror.
Leaping through the door and to the left, Mason held all the man’s attention. His pistol was aimed at the man’s head. “Release her and back away,” he demanded.
Brad eased through the door before it clanged shut and slid to the right on the darkened balcony. Cold air swirled around them. Had the Gifted Genius taken the patio lights out?
The man didn’t seem to notice him, so focused on Mason. “My wife,” he cried out. “You shot her!”
“I’m alive,” the woman squeaked.
“I’ll kill you if you don’t release Arianna,” Mason said evenly.
“I hold all the cards here,” the Gifted Genius shrieked.
Brad should secure the woman, but she didn’t appear to be a threat. She held her shoulder with her other hand, blood seeping through her fingers. She looked to be in shock but also relieved. “I couldn’t kill her,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“You’ll pay for that later, dearest.” The man spoke evenly, no malice in his voice, though it was obviously a threat.
The woman shuddered and looked down.
“I’ll take care of the problem,” he continued, “and we’ll fly to safety.”
Brad inched to the side, the snow thankfully muffling his steps. He had to get behind the man. The wife glanced up at Brad, locking eyes.
His gig was up. When she shouted a warning, he’d have to jump at the Gifted Genius.
The lady blinked at him, nodded slightly, and then looked away.
Brad was stunned. Did she want her husband captured? If the bruise on her cheek, her split lip, and his ‘you’ll pay for that later’ comment added up to abuse like Brad assumed, maybe she did.
He kept inching to get behind Arianna and her captor. The man edged closer to the balcony’s edge. The packed snow gave him a natural step up. If Mason shot him, he could easily pull Arianna off.
Mason, Arianna, and the wife consumed the man’s attention. For the moment. Did he have other weapons on him? He was obviously as brilliant as his moniker claimed, to have killed six women in highly visible spots without being captured or identified. Brad had to assume he had a backup plan and multiple weapons.
“Release Arianna and step back,” Mason repeated. “Or I kill you and your wife spends her life in prison.”
“I have to kill number seven first,” the man cried out. He sounded unhinged, desperate, capable of anything. “She’ll fly to her death!”
The Gifted Genius shoved Arianna toward the barrier that surrounded the balcony.
Brad leaped, grabbed both of the man’s arms from behind, and ripped him away from Arianna. The man tried to turn to him, but Brad yanked both hands tight behind the man’s back and shoved him down onto the snowy patio. He dropped onto the man’s back, digging his knee in. The man cried out and squirmed but was no match for Brad’s strength or size.
“Brad,” Arianna cried in relief, pivoting to stare down at them.
“Don’t move, ma’am, or I will shoot,” Mason warned, his pistol now trained on the wife.
“I won’t. Please. I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I don’t want anyone else to die.”
Brad was sick for the lady. She appeared to be a victim and a pawn.
The man stopped struggling and whimpered, “I think you broke my arm and maybe my back.”
