Chapter 33
“It’ll all be over soon,” Miller muttered as he crouched by the open doorway.
Rowan was at an odd angle on his back and it was too dim to make out what he was doing, but he could see wires. And a backpack next to the wires. So…Miller had set up a bomb, was currently prepping it.
The birdsong from outside and the sunlight trying to break its way into the boarded-up building through little crevices and openings was at odds with the weapon Miller wanted to unleash.
“For who?” Rowan asked.
“Adalyn Bonnevie.”
“And me?”
“You’re collateral damage—but you shouldn’t have trusted her so you can blame yourself.” His tone was all matter-of-fact as he stood.
“So you set up Omar Ali? That’s actually pretty smart.” Rowan wanted to keep the guy talking as much as possible.
“Wasn’t too hard to lure him here. Just had to reach out to some contacts and set things in motion. And if I’d failed, he’d have been none the wiser.” Miller sounded smug about it.
So Rowan pushed on, wanting to feed the guy’s ego. Not because he thought the man would change his mind, but he needed him to keep talking. He needed as many details as possible. “So what’s your endgame after killing Adalyn and me? Because people will come after you.”
Miller just snorted and moved away from the door to one of the boarded-up windows, starting fiddling with something. A wire, it looked like. Rowan continued working his wrists, ignored the burning against his skin as he tried to loosen the ropes. He just needed a small opening.
“No one’s going to find me where I’m going.”
Ooookay, that could be because the guy was planning a murder-suicide or something else.
“And I’m done answering your questions.” He stepped away from the window, stalked toward Rowan, his footfalls making the floor rumble right as a crack of thunder rolled across the sky.
This was it, Rowan thought. He was dead.
And he’d never gotten to tell Adalyn that he loved her. He should have just told her, everything else be damned. Because…he did love her. Everything about the strong, complicated woman called to him. She was it for him, something he should have acknowledged to himself long ago instead of burying his grief and masking it with anger.
Even though his legs were tied, he kicked out with his whole body when Miller got close, almost hit him too.
But considering the guy had use of both his feet and legs, he dodged to the side with ease. Cursing, he pulled out a pistol, trained it on Rowan’s chest. “Try anything else like that and I’ll shoot both your knees and let you bleed out. It’s a shitty way to go. Trust me on that.” He said it with the authority of someone who’d seen someone die like that.
Rowan went still as he approached, didn’t hide his surprise when Miller crouched, sliced the ropes at his feet free. A sense of freedom flooded his veins, but he remained still, waiting for the right time to strike.
Miller stepped back, kept his weapon up, then motioned toward the front door. “Get up and walk. You’re too heavy to drag.”
Rowan rolled up into a stand, adrenaline punching through him as he contemplated charging Miller. Even if he lost, Miller would lose his bargaining chip because Rowan would be dead. He’d have nothing to bargain over with Adalyn. Which would keep her safe.
Not that he thought Adalyn was going to come here alone. Or hopefully not at all. But he knew her well enough that if Miller reached out and challenged her, she’d meet him head on.
Miller kept enough distance between them that even if Rowan charged, he wouldn’t make it far enough without getting shot.
Rowan headed for the doorway, stopped when Miller said, “Freeze. All right. Sit down in the entryway. She’ll have a good view of you from here.”
Though it went against his instinct to follow the orders, he sat in the middle of the doorway as a cold breeze filled with the scent of incoming rain rolled over him.
Another rumble of thunder followed, then the sky beyond the covered patio lit up with two fast cracks of lightning, bisecting the charcoal sky. He felt more than heard Miller move up behind him, slip something over his head.
A vest with a bomb. “This one’s on a dead man’s switch,” Miller murmured right in his ear, his voice pure glee. Then he slapped masking tape over his mouth.