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Gerald would be all right. Kit knew he and Georgia had been at the hospice. She had the letter. She’d put two and two together and protect the son. The mother wasn’t long for this world as it was.
Roxanne made an angry noise. “Pull over here. Take your SUV over the brush and behind those trees.
This is it.
Sam guided his RAV4 over the bumpy road. He’d driven over similar terrain hundreds of times, so he knew his vehicle could handle it.
They weren’t far from the campground, but not so close that anyone would see them. Especially since darkness had fallen. The campground was primitive—no electrical hookups—so the only light came from the area around the shower building.
No one was going to see them.
Sam pulled behind the trees as instructed. His SUV couldn’t even be seen from the road. Goddammit. “What are you going to do to us?”
“Well,” Roxanne said slowly, like he was a child, “you’re going to leave your keys in the ignition and then we’re all going to get out of the SUV, walk into the trees, and…pow. I’ll take care of the dog afterward so you don’t have to watch. If it makes you feel better, none of you will feel any pain.”
“That does not make me feel better,” Georgia snapped.
“And if we refuse?” Sam asked. “If we stay put?”
Which I should have done all along. At least she would have had to shoot me in a busy neighborhood, versus out here in the middle of nowhere.
What had he been thinking?
He hadn’t been. He’d had a gun to his head. So he’d have to cut himself a little slack. I’d be dead either way.
“I’ll make it hurt,” Roxanne said steadily, “and trust me, I know how to do that. I’ll make Georgia suffer a lot and your dog, too. So get out. Now.”
He did trust her on that, so he got out of the car, managing to get to Georgia’s door despite his knees buckling with every step.
“I’m sorry,” he said, taking Georgia’s hand. “You don’t deserve any of this.”
“Neither do you, my boy.” She took his hand, gripping it firmly. “I wish I hadn’t listened to your detective. I left my gun at Shady Oaks.”
Sam laughed, the sound more than a little hysterical.
“Move it,” Roxanne snapped. “Now. I don’t have all night.”
Georgia slid from the SUV, grimacing when her feet hit the dirt. “I’m moving as fast as I can. I’m eighty-two years old, for God’s sake.”
The trees loomed before them, not so large but forbidding in the darkness. A park ranger would find their bodies eventually.
“Stop here,” Roxanne said.
So they did.
The nurse pulled her phone from her jacket pocket, while holding the gun steadily pointed at them. She’d added a silencer to the barrel, probably while Sam was getting Georgia out of the SUV.
“Don’t move or it’ll hurt,” Roxanne said coldly. “I promise.”
“I believe you, you bitch,” Georgia muttered.
Roxanne smirked. “Under the circumstances, I’ll allow you one ‘bitch.’ But no more.” She dialed and lifted the phone to her ear, never taking her gaze from them. She waited, frowning. “What the fuck?” she muttered, clearly upset.
“Who’s she calling?” Georgia whispered.
Sam had no idea, so he said nothing.
“Where the fuck are you?” Roxanne demanded, after a long enough time that Sam assumed that she was leaving a voice mail. “You’d better be at my rig. Come and get me. Now.”
