Chapter 10 Loose Ends #2
Taking things into her own hands apparently included murdering Uncle Cary and kidnapping his niece.
Yay, me. Aurora drew a sharp breath, sensing that her time was running out.
Where are you, Aaron? Of all the times her brother had breathed down her neck about personal security, now would be a good time for him to get back to doing that.
Please, God! Rattle his and A.J.’s chains for me! She doubted it was a proper prayer, but she was kind of new at the whole praying thing. Surely, the great, big God of everything would overlook any lapse in heavenly protocols on the part of a newbie believer.
“Slow down, will you?” She spoke without thinking, hoping the truck would run out of fuel before her driver flipped it into a ditch.
Her words caused Elise to mash the accelerator all the way to the floor.
Mercy! Another glance at the dashboard quenched Aurora’s hope as quickly as it had bloomed. Aaron’s gasoline tank was registering as full.
She was out of ideas for how to extricate herself from the mess she was in.
It was her fault for ignoring A.J.’s warning and walking into it with her eyes wide open.
She’d literally jumped into her brother’s truck.
Talk about looking before you leap—right into her abductor’s clutches instead of her next bickering session with her brother.
The world’s most incredible brother, whom she might never see again.
The thought made her draw a ragged breath.
I should’ve told him. A tear slid down her cheek.
She should’ve thanked him for all the sacrifices he’d made for her, instead of taking a bite out of him every chance she got.
I should have told him how much I love him.
More tears dripped hotly down her face. Hardly knowing where the words came from, she hollered, “You’re never going to get away with this! You know that, right? Even if I don’t survive, they’re going to find you and arrest you.”
“What?” Elise abruptly let up on the gas pedal. “Oh, honey!” She dissolved in hysterical laughter. “The sad part is you really believe that.”
“Because it’s true.” Aurora wasn’t sure if their reduction in speed was a good thing or a bad thing.
“You want to talk about the truth? How about we talk about my truth?” Elise fell into another fit of laughing.
“My truth is, I hacked into your parents’ assignments from the JSA and discovered they’d been put on a joint task force with the FBI to retrieve the Collector’s stolen gems. My truth is, I altered their marching orders and sent them on one fool’s errand after another while I back-drafted them like a NASCAR driver, snatching the gems from beneath their noses.
My truth is, when they figured out what I was doing, I sabotaged the steering mechanism on their helicopter and collected their life insurance, then made it look like your uncle had pocketed the money.
My truth is, I continued using the Cannons’ trophy children to continue retrieving the last of the Collector’s treasure.
My truth is, I silenced your uncle after he got suspicious and installed a pair of security cameras to spy on me.
My truth is, I almost succeeded in taking Diamondback’s successor CEO out of the picture, and you can rest assured I’ll finish the job before nightfall.
My truth is, you won’t be around to warn him.
Should I keep going, or have you heard enough? ”
Aurora was too numb to say anything. When Elise had first bragged about “taking things into her own hands,” Aurora hadn’t grasped just how dark her soul was.
But now I do.
It was a secret she would likely take to her grave. Elise Hathaway wasn’t simply getting even or getting revenge. She was on a mission to wipe the Cannons out of existence. Somewhere along the way, her twisted mind had chosen their family to blame for every cut and bruise she’d ever suffered.
Aurora’s heart sank to realize Elise had hacked her way through levels of security that the average person didn’t even know existed.
Clearly her brother’s ex-girlfriend had done more than shop her way through college.
Beneath her snobby attitude, heavy makeup, and expensive clothing was a dangerous criminal who’d been hiding in plain sight.
“Relax,” Elise commanded in a cheerful voice that chilled Aurora to the bone.
“It’ll all be over soon. I’m not one of those heartless creatures who enjoy pulling the legs off spiders.
Once I make up my mind to do something, it’s quick and clean.
You won’t suffer.” She snickered before adding, “Much.”
The rumble of an engine sounded overhead.
Elise ducked her head to peer through the windshield, swerving dangerously close to the edge of the road.
“Watch out,” Aurora yelped as she caught a brief glimpse of rotating helicopter blades. If Elise wasn’t more careful, she was going to kill them both before she got to the next phase of her present crime spree.
Elise didn’t answer. She was too busy squinting, swerving, and swearing at the helicopter descending above their heads.
A fresh round of tears streaked down Aurora’s cheeks at the realization that they’d been found.
Thank you, Lord! Even if she didn’t survive what came next, there was comfort in knowing the two men she loved most in the world had tracked down her cell phone.
One way or the other, Elise was going to jail—not her truth, but the truth!
The sound of the helicopter grew louder as it dipped closer to the road in front of them. A man dressed in black was descending from it on a rope.
It was A.J.
Recognizing his broad shoulders and the cocky tilt of his head, Aurora gave a laughing sob of elation. It was quickly replaced with horror when Elise rolled down the windows and aimed her gun at A.J.
“Stop,” Aurora pleaded, but it was too late.
Elise fired her gun, and the road in front of them billowed with smoke. She let out a scream of rage, gripping the steering wheel with both hands as smoke filled the cab.
Aurora could no longer see the gun or the road.
Though they were no longer going very fast, they were surely going to crash at any second.
She leaned back in her seat, letting go of the dashboard at long last, and fumbled blindly for her seatbelt.
It felt like forever before her fingers closed over the buckle.
Before she could pull it over the front of her body, however, strong arms encircled her and carried her out the window.
Her heart nearly stopped beating.
“I’ve got you!” A.J.’s shout filled her ears, and her heart started beating again
They swung through the air together, floating ever closer to the helicopter. More hands curled around her shoulders, hauling her aboard the aircraft. The smoky highway below them grew smaller as she and her rescuers ascended and left it behind.
Before they flew out of sight, Aaron’s truck burst through the cloud of smoke below them, making her jolt in A.J.
’s arms. She watched Elise gun the motor and pick up speed, then lose control.
The hapless truck spun toward the median and flipped, rolling over and over and over again before it came to a stop.
“It’s over,” A.J. muttered in her ear.
She knew what he meant, even though it didn’t feel that way to her. She’d just been granted a new lease on life, and it was just beginning.
“Quit hogging my sister!” Her brother spoke from somewhere nearby, pulling her into a bear hug.
A.J. relinquished her into his embrace.
“Thank you!” She laughed and cried against his steady shoulders that had taken a bullet and borne more than his share of burdens for her. “I love you,” she added. She hadn’t said it nearly enough while they were growing up, but she intended to make up for it now.
“I know.” He hugged her tighter. “I love you, too.”