Chapter 47
Chapter Forty-Seven
“You.” Danica’s dinner rose up. Bile stung in her throat.
Her father’s chief of security strode toward her. His heavy shoes thudded against the concrete driveway.
“I want to know why.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. We have a lot to deal with first.” Blake turned to Lindley. “I believe I told you this was finished. You weren’t to contact me again.”
The gun still pointed at Danica, but Lindley scowled at him. “You think you can destroy my life, and then walk away when your plan falls apart? They’re going to trace back the things I did to help you. But you were supposed to help me in return. You’re leaving me with nothing except the blame.”
“So what is it you want?” Blake asked. “I’m willing to deal, even if you’ve now exposed me in turn and caused me any number of new problems. What does it take for you to go away?”
Danica’s eyes darted left and right. If she could get to cover, hide…
“I want two million,” Lindley said.
“That’s far more than we promised you. It was supposed to be five hundred thousand.”
“The extra is to compensate me for my emotional distress.”
The gun had drooped. Lindley was getting distracted.
Danica shifted her weight to the balls of her feet.
“And how do I know you won’t say something to the wrong person?” Blake asked.
“I just want to disappear. I’m going to take the cash and leave West Oaks forever. Leave the country, maybe.”
“You expect me to have two million dollars in my money clip?”
Lindley pointed at Danica with the gun. “You’re going to ransom her, right? Wasn’t that the whole point?”
“Ms. Colter, I don’t believe you thought this plan through. It would’ve been far better for you if you’d taken my advice and pretended none of this had happened.”
Danica was going to make a run for it. In three…two…
Lindley kept growing more agitated. “But I already told you—”
Without warning, Blake put his hand inside his jacket, produced a long-barreled handgun, and fired. It emitted a small pop, and Lindley collapsed onto the ground.
Danica was too shocked even to scream.
Then her attention caught on Lindley’s fallen gun.
“Don’t even think about it.” Blake turned his weapon on her. It had a suppressor on the end of it. He picked up Lindley’s gun, hooking his pointer finger on the trigger guard. “Walk to the front door of the house.”
“No. I won’t.”
“This is your one chance to live through this. You already know I’ll shoot. I said, walk.”