Chapter 14
Bitter fear coated Bryn’s mouth. The moment she’d heard the muffled thud from beyond the office space, she’d known things were about to go from bad to worse.
She’d tried to resist when the gunman had roughly grabbed her and pressed the muzzle of the gun against her temple, but he was too strong.
She was so close to him that she could smell his rank oniony breath.
He was cruel and ruthless. So much so that she anticipated he’d pull the trigger to end her life at any moment.
She had known Micah wouldn’t leave her but seeing him standing there with his hands palms up and facing forward brought a wave of regret. Not only had Micah been put in the position of killing Phil, but he was going to die there today alongside her.
She held Micah’s gaze, hoping he could read the unspoken regret and apology in her eyes for the way she’d put him in this situation. If he did note her apology, he didn’t let on. Micah’s attention was laser focused on the gunman.
“Okay, fine.” Micah’s voice was calm and deliberate. “I’m going to toss my gun aside, okay?” He slowly pulled the gun from his holster, then lowered into a crouch to set it down.
“Kick it toward me.”
Bryn tried to swallow, but her throat was too dry. This was it. Once Micah was unarmed, the gunman had no reason to keep either of them alive.
All she could do was continue to pray. She knew that once she was dead, her soul would live on with Jesus. Her biggest regret was that she hadn’t done more to bring Micah closer to the Lord.
So she prayed for him far more than she prayed for herself. She knew Micah was a good man. If he’d been raised with faith, he’d have already accepted Jesus as his savior. Believing without a doubt that Jesus had died for his sins.
She really, really didn’t want things to end this way. But God was the one in control here, not her.
“Here you go.” Micah kicked the weapon toward her. For a moment, she was confused, wondering if he thought she might be able to get her hands on it, but then she realized he wanted to make sure the guy holding her couldn’t easily grab it.
She didn’t know why that mattered. He could kill her and turn the weapon on Micah to kill him, too, within a few seconds.
“Now Phil’s gun,” the guy holding her said. “And don’t try to be a hero.”
Micah moved slowly, reaching behind him to remove the gun from the small of his back. Again, he crouched to set the gun down.
“Kick it to me!” the gunman snapped in anger. Bryn winced when he pushed the tip of the gun painfully into her skin. “Stop playing around!”
“I’m just following your orders,” Micah said mildly. Then he swept out his foot to kick the gun toward them. It slid to a stop right next to the first weapon.
“Okay, now let’s go.” The pressure of the gun against her skin eased a bit. Not enough that she dared to attempt to escape, but at least he wasn’t hurting her anymore.
“Go where?” Micah asked.
“Outside to the SUV.” The snide tone was back in the gunman’s voice. “We’re going for a little ride.”
Micah didn’t move. “Look, you got what you wanted. I’m unarmed, and you have the upper hand.
But if you’re smart, you’ll reconsider your plan.
This whole murder-suicide scenario isn’t going to work because I already told my buddy everything that’s happened so far.
Trust me, no matter what evidence you’ve planted to implicate Bryn, the truth will come out.
You’re better off letting us go. Take your chances with Bryn going through the legal system. ”
“Nice try,” the guy sneered. “You don’t have any idea about the magnitude of what’s at stake here.
This isn’t just about a data center; it’s about more money than you could dream of.
And since you don’t know anything about that, there’s no way you could have told your buddy, anything.
” The emphasis on buddy reeked of sarcasm.
“My buddy knows enough that you’ll never get away with this. Not with the evidence I’ve passed on to him,” Micah said, his reasonable tone seeming to irritate the gunman.
She felt the guy holding her tense when Micah mentioned evidence, but it was gone so quickly she was forced to admit she may have imagined it.
“Shut up already. It’s too late for that. We’re ending this now. The only reason I’m driving you away from here is that I don’t want your deaths to postpone the project any longer than necessary.”
“It’s already been delayed,” Micah said with a negligible shrug. “Why bother about that now?”
She frowned, wondering why Micah was poking at him.
If the gunman got antsy and killed them here, it was all over.
If the guy was able to get them out to the SUV to drive them to a different location, they might have the opportunity to get away.
A slim chance, maybe, but it was better than being gunned down here and now.
To her surprise, the gunman responded. “The city council meets first thing tomorrow morning, and I’ve been assured the project will be approved.” From his overly confident tone, Bryn assumed that one or more of the council members had been bribed to go along with the plan.
No wonder these attacks had escalated against her so quickly.
This guy wanted her and Micah out of the way so their plan could move forward without a hitch.
The only saving grace that she could find was the video that Micah had gotten on his phone earlier.
It was the evidence that he’d hinted about.
She was a little surprised the gunman hadn’t pressed for more information.
Was that audio conversation enough to derail the project indefinitely?
Or would Richard and this guy holding her at gunpoint have a way of overcoming that obstacle too? Knowing Richard, she felt certain he would have a backup plan. Especially if there was a significant amount of money at stake.
Bryn tried to read Micah’s gaze to understand if he’d called the police.
She couldn’t hear any sirens yet, which was far from reassuring.
And Micah hadn’t mentioned calling the authorities to the gunman as a warning, although that could be because he wanted to buy more time.
If the gunman knew the police had been called, he’d force them to the SUV.
Or just outright kill them both.
Neither scenario was good. She didn’t want to know what would happen if this guy was able to get her and Micah out of there before the police had a chance to respond?
“I said move!” The gunman pressed the gun painfully into her temple again. Despite her efforts to remain calm, fresh tears welled in her eyes. “We’re leaving now.”
“Okay.” Micah didn’t appear concerned. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The gunman snorted and eased up on his grip. Still, Bryn couldn’t relax. She blinked the tears away, pulling herself together with an effort. Trembling in fear only played into the gunman’s hands.
He wanted them to be passive and afraid. Two emotions she felt sure Micah would never display.
She tried to gather strength from him. From knowing he would do his best to save them. Even if he failed, she was grateful for the time they had together.
Yet she wished she’d told Micah how much she loved him. How much she’d always admired him and that she would have gone anywhere with him if they weren’t running from the authorities.
Maybe she should have taken him up on the offer to leave the country. It was too late now, but in hindsight, she could admit that having even a few more weeks with Micah would have been better than being shot and killed there today.
“What about Phil?” Micah asked, lightly kicking the fallen man on the floor. “Are you just leaving him here? Or is he going with us?”
“Phil doesn’t matter anymore.” The gunman’s callous tone sent chills down her spine. He really didn’t care about anyone but himself.
And the massive amounts of money this data center project was supposedly going to bring in.
“Fine with me.” Micah took a step backward as if finally complying with the demand to head outside to the SUV.
At that moment, Phil let out a low groan. The sound startled the gunman, as if he was shocked that Phil had risen from the dead. She was surprised, too, but realized that Micah didn’t take killing as lightly as the man holding her hostage.
“Phil? Get up, you idiot.” The sharp tone didn’t work. Phil didn’t get up. He barely moved. Bryn wondered if maybe Micah had killed him, and the groan was nothing more than a death rattle.
“Phil! Can you hear me?” With his attention focused on Phil, the gunman’s grip loosened enough that she could take a deep breath. She met Micah’s gaze, trying to let him know that if he was going to make a move, she was ready.
And that he’d better hurry before the gunman realized Phil really was dead.
Micah gave an imperceptible nod. Bryn drew a deep calming breath, mentally gathering herself to break free of the gunman’s grip. Better to die trying to escape than standing there like a sacrificial lamb.
As if on cue, Phil groaned again.
Bryn twisted her head to the side and wrenched free from the gunman’s grip. She dropped to the floor and scrabbled for one of the guns. Unfortunately, her jerky movements only pushed the weapon that had been closest to her farther away.
Micah sprang forward at the same moment that she’d wrenched free. How he’d covered the distance so quickly, she had no idea. But the brief distraction of Phil’s groans had been enough to catch the gunman off guard.
He screamed in rage, trying to fight Micah off. The sharp report of the gun was deafening. Bryn’s ears rang as she crawled to the gun.
Then the two men toppled over, still wrangling for the weapon in the gunman’s hand. Micah was younger and stronger, but she was afraid the bad guy’s evil determination might be enough to hold him off.
Her fingers finally found the gun. She grabbed it and struggled to her feet. Clutching the gun in two hands, she pointed it toward the two men.