Chapter 23 #3
“You think that you’re distracting me. It’s cute. Really. You’re trying to get me to keep talking because you believe that help is coming. It’s not. I want you to know this. Mostly because I want to see the hope die in your eyes. It’s great when that happens. Such a rush.”
Harper was silent behind her.
“Logan is truly dead,” Carmichael informed her.
“Dead. I was watching the video feed, of course. I saw you pull the trigger, but I never saw a spray of blood. Kind of telling, don’t you think?
Could have been from the angle, granted, but I believe in being thorough.
So after you left the suite, I sent a helper I had in to finish up the job. ”
Her drumming heartbeat echoed in her ears.
“He’s not coming to help you.” Blunt, brutal words. “Logan Sterling is dead. After you left him, Evans McCall, Logan’s own VP of Security, headed into the suite and shot him. Logan is dead. Dead. The dead don’t rush to the rescue.”
Had he just carved out her heart? Felt that way.
Logan… Dead…
No. No.
She’d seen a flash of light in the darkness. A signal.
I trust Logan. He would not dare die on me!
“Charlotte.” He drew out her name. Seemed to enjoy the sound of it.
“You are going to die with me. You will beg me to end you. And, when you’re in pieces, then I’ll vanish.
Ares will take the fall for my crimes. Did I mention that Evans was going to help me set him up?
He was. Very helpful guy, that Evans. Sure, he’s a terrible gambler with one serious debt that he needed to pay off, but he has come in handy.
He even made arrangements for Ares to be at Logan’s hotel today.
Got to have the guy at the scene of the crime, right?
Evans called Ares. Told him that Logan wanted to see him.
Sure, Ares was trying to slip out of Vegas, but when he realized Logan wanted to see him, that changed his plans and he agreed to come for a meeting. ”
The bastard thought he was so smart.
“Ares will go to prison,” Carmichael assured her. “You’ll be buried. Logan will rot in hell. All tied up with a pretty, bloody bow.”
No, no, that was not happening. “Come in the cage with me.” Low.
“Sorry? Don’t think I heard you.” He angled an ear toward her. “Maybe say it louder. And beg.”
“Come in the cage with me.” Louder. Harder. Not begging. “You think you’re so tough. So strong.” So smart. “Come in the cage with me. Face off with me when I’m not unconscious and drugged like your other victims!”
But he made no move to come closer.
Why not?
“Morris was following my orders,” he revealed to her.
Did the bastard just like to hear himself talk or what?
“He didn’t run this place. I did. That’s how I knew Evans had so much debt.
That’s also how I knew I could keep you and Harper prisoner in my wonderful, electrified cage.
I’d recently made the upgrade. Thought it would be fun.
Was planning to put Logan’s wannabe ball player, Jake, in here and watch him get fried when he tried to run away from a competitor.
But Logan screwed that up, didn’t he? So I figured, hey, if his fake son can’t fry in the cage, then how about his fake wife? ”
He knew they’d gotten married? Had Evans revealed that intel?
If so, “Nothing fake about me,” she blasted.
Her gaze darted over the fencing around her.
If Logan was out there, then he needed to know…
“Is it still turned on?” A yell. One that she made sure carried.
“Is the fence going to electrocute me if I touch it right now? Are you just waiting for me to try and get out so I can get knocked unconscious again? Is that part of your game?” Was that why he hadn’t come inside with her?
Logan isn’t dead. He’s here. He is listening. Waiting for the perfect moment to attack.
“That’s why you’re being so careful, isn’t it?
” she charged. Trying to keep his attention on her.
Trying to make sure her voice was loud enough so that Logan was warned about the cage.
“You’re not touching the fence. You’re staying just beyond the cage.
It’s wired to fry anyone who touches the fencing.
You think I’ll break down, I’ll try to escape, and I’ll be knocked out again! ”
“Eventually, you will have to try. Not like you can just stay in there forever.” His right hand slid toward his side.
Toward the pocket of the gray sports coat he wore.
“And it’s fun to watch you fry. It’s fun to watch your whole body shudder and quake when the voltage pours through you.
Maybe next time, you’ll even piss yourself when you go down.
Or maybe your heart will stop for a few precious moments, and you’ll be still and cold as—”
A roar cut through his words. A roar from the darkness.
Carmichael tried to turn and look back toward that sound, but it was too late.
A shadow broke free from the enveloping darkness and lunged at him. Carmichael’s body was thrown up against the cage. He slammed into the fencing, and electricity immediately surged through him as he began to shudder and scream.
Logan—a very much alive and furious Logan—had tossed Carmichael against the fencing.
“Time for your heart to fucking stop,” Logan snarled.