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What the hell weretheydoing here?
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Chapter Seventeen
Rafe looked at Wade and Davy as they came into the compound. He had no idea why Buckner had brought them, but he had no doubts they’d soon find out.
No doubts either that Buckner planned to kill them all.
But that was a plan Rafe had to make sure failed.
“What the hell is this?” Wade demanded. “You said you had Tessa…” He looked at the platform then, and cursing, he tried to bolt toward them.
The man who came in behind Davy and Wade put a stop to that. He muscled Wade back, pinning him to the wall. “They’re both disarmed, boss. Weapons are outside.”
“Tessa!” Wade shouted. There was so much emotion in his voice. Fear, confusion, anger.
Rafe was feeling plenty of those same things, and he was also battling the flashbacks from hell. He wouldn’t let the past play into this though. He had to focus, had to stay ready.
All the while those numbers ticked down on the bombs.
Yeah, Rafe had seen that right away with the sweeping glance he’d first made when he’d stepped inside. He’d been right about the bombs, and unless they were just props in this dangerous game Buckner was playing, then they only hadnineteen minutes and a handful of seconds. Not much time to stop what this sonofabitch had set into motion.
Another muscled man in combat clothes came in and shut the door. He gave Buckner a nod that Rafe wished he could interpret. He hoped it didn’t mean Jericho had been spotted and neutralized.
Rafe glanced around. Definitely no sign of Jericho, but he saw another camo-wearing man perched up in the rafters.
“Okay, listen up, everybody,” Buckner called out. “We’re about to have a tell-all, and then the hero here, the former Combat Rescue Officer, will get the chance to save one of the two women. Which one will he choose? His former lover? Or his current one? We shall see.”
Buckner’s words were light. But not his tone or expression.
“Let’s go back eighteen years when bitch Tessa recorded me saying I was going to be her accessory after the fact and bury her stupid, gullible half-sister. Yeah, I sort of tanked Sandy Lynn up on a little meth and aimed her at Tessa. Like I did to Patricia when I had her go after Tessa. But unlike the whole Tessa-Patricia deal, I didn’t expect Tessa to shoot Sandy Lynn. That’s not a catfight. That’s murder.”
Buckner stopped and looked at Tessa. “I want the recording, or your daddy dies. If that doesn’t work, I kill Davy here. Poor pitiful Davy, who might be wondering why he got dragged into this shit.” Buckner shrugged. “Then again, he might know exactly why.”
Rafe had no idea what that meant, but damn it, Davy did look guilty of doing something. What exactly?
“Quit talking in riddles,” Wade snapped. “Tell me what the fuck you want so I can get my daughter out of here.”
“What I want is the recording.” Buckner took on an even more lethal edge. “But unlike your love child, I am not gullible. Ifigure Tessa has copies stashed in multiple places, so giving me a single copy won’t cut it.”
Even though Tessa tried to keep a poker face, her expression confirmed that. And it made sense to have that kind of insurance against a piece of shit like Buckner.
“Once Tessa gives the locations of the recordings, I’ll retrieve them,” Buckner went on. “Of course, I’ll have to hold her to make sure she hasn’t held anything back. But all of you get to live. If you tell anyone what’s happened here, then I’ll make Tessa pay. Not by killing her. I was thinking of cutting off fingers, toes, ears, and, well, you get the gist.” He got right in Wade’s face. “Pain. Lots and lots of pain.”
“You’re going to pay for this,” Wade snarled and looked ready to launch himself at Buckner again.
“Whoa, settle down,” Buckner demanded. “And let me finish. Because step one is getting all the recordings from Tessa. Step two is a confession. Which one of you buried Sandy Lynn?” he asked, volleying his gaze between both Davy and Wade.
And there it was. The guilt practically pouring off Davy.
Hell.
“How did you get involved in this?” Rafe asked.
“What do you mean?” Tessa called out. “Buckner buried Sandy Lynn.”
“Nope,” Buckner said. “I’m guessing it was you.” His attention settled on Davy. “It was pissing down raining when I went to get the body, just as Tessa begged me to do. But when I got there, parked on a side road and walked to the house, lo and behold I saw someone carrying poor dead Sandy Lynn in a fireman’s carry over the shoulder. I couldn’t tell who it was, but I snapped a couple of pictures.”
