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“Did you find her?” Kaden asked, not wanting Jolene to recall that Lia had been a witness.
“Eventually. She had crawled beneath a thick clump of bushes to hide, which meant it took forever. But in the end, it was a lucky break for me.”
Kaden shuddered at her blunt words. “Why lucky?”
“She was dead by the time I located her. The fact that she was already hidden meant I didn’t have to try to drag her body somewhere.”
Kaden clenched his teeth at Jolene’s blunt explanation. Was she deliberately trying to evoke his disgust? Did it give her pleasure to reveal her psychopathic lack of simple decency?
“What about Vanna’s car?” He abruptly changed the direction of the conversation, refusing to play her sick game. “She had to drive out here.”
Jolene smiled, as if smugly pleased with her talent for concealing the evidence of her crime.
“I parked it in the woods. The next day I called a wrecker from Grange and had it towed to my grandfather’s farm. He was in the nursing home by then and no one ever bothered to go out there. When I eventually sold the land, I had it hauled away, along with the old equipment to be scrapped. Yet another problem solved.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Kaden could see Lia had at last reached the bunk beds.
“Actually, your problems are just about to start,” he drawled.
The words had barely left his lips when he heard Lia abruptly call out, “Kaden!”
With a confused frown, Kaden started to turn in her direction. It was only then that he heard the footsteps directly behind him.
Too late.
The pain exploded in the back of his head as something hard smashed into his skull. He had enough time to curse himself for not having searched the rest of the building to make sure there weren’t more bad guys hiding in the dark before he was tumbling forward to land face-first on the wooden floor.
Rookie mistake . . .
Chapter 29
Lia had been reasonably confident in their chances of surviving the encounter with Jolene. As long as Kaden was with her, she felt strong enough to face any demon. Including one with a puff of blond hair and deceptive dimples. Plus, she’d taken the opportunity to dial 911 on the cell phone she had tucked in the pocket of her parka while the older woman was distracted. She’d been forced to turn the sound down so Jolene couldn’t hear the operator. And because she couldn’t risk pulling the phone out of her pocket to explain what was happening, she had to hope they hadn’t already hung up, assuming it was some sort of prank call.
Now, she wasn’t nearly so confident as she watched in horror as Kaden crumpled to the ground. Dammit. She’d been so focused on inching her way toward the bunk beds, she hadn’t noticed Sunny enter the room until she was swinging a heavy board toward the back of his head.
Why hadn’t they searched the building . . . no.
Lia shoved aside futile recriminations. What was the point? Nothing was going to change the fact that Kaden was knocked out cold and it was up to her to keep them alive.
And there was only one way to do it.
With a rush of adrenaline, Lia dove toward the bunk beds and knocked the suitcase aside. The pile of money spilled onto the floor as she grabbed the gun, along with several passports and a burner phone. Clearly, Tate Erickson had prepared for the day he might have to go on the run. His only mistake was marrying a woman with more brains and bigger balls than him.
Wrapping her fingers around the grip of the weapon, she pointed it directly at Jolene, hoping no one could tell she didn’t know what the hell she was doing.
“Put your gun down,” she commanded, her voice remarkably steady as she kept her gaze trained on Jolene. She had to assume Sunny would have shot Kaden if she had a weapon.
“Don’t be a fool,” the older woman chided. “I’m willing to pull the trigger. Are you?”
It was a direct challenge. Like a deadly game of chicken. Lia instinctively understood she had no choice but to play.
“Let’s find out. On the count of three.” With a cold smile, Lia swung her arm until the gun was pointed at Sunny. “One, two—”
“Don’t!” Jolene cried out, the word sharp with genuine horror.
Lia swallowed a sigh of relief. Certainly, this was far from over, but even if the cops weren’t coming, Kaden could wake up at any moment. And the Jeep was outside running, she reminded herself. It wasn’t that late at night. Someone might come along and see the vehicle. They would be certain to stop to see if they needed help.
She just had to stay alive until then.
