Page 124 of Disarming Caine

Olivia sniffed, just as smug and condescending as the last time I’d seen her. “Because by then, we’ll be long gone.”

When Antonio first knocked, David sprang to the door with his gun and Olivia gave me the rushed instructions before ripping the tape off my mouth. I’d deviated only enough to pass the message to Antonio. Thank god, he’d understood and they hadn’t.

The clock near the door read 11:17 p.m. I had thirteen minutes before Antonio came back.

But David still had the gun. If Antonio barged through that door in fifteen minutes, David would kill him. If I screamed, David would kill me.

I had to get the gun out of the equation. “Alright. What did you have planned for the next thirty minutes? Want to write up a confession about the forgery, blackmail, and murder? Maybe tell me how you kept ahead of the police so long?”

David spun from the door, pointing the gun at my head. “Those are lies. Kathy’s framing my mother.”

That was another change in David. I couldn’t have imagined him attempting to kill someone, but the way he waved the gun around told me he could.

“And I bet you’d never drug and kidnap anyone, either, would you?” I surged forward, telegraphing how I couldn’t get out of the chair while trying to weaken the tape. If I could get one arm free, or even a leg, I could do something.

“David.” Olivia placed a hand on his arm, encouraging him to lower the weapon. “Don’t let her provoke you. We’re better than that.”

“I know.” He dropped the gun onto a writing desk along the wall by the door, massaging his fingers into his temples.

A slight popping sensation against my left shin as the duct tape tore a fraction of an inch. That was a start. “What’s your plan? Why come back to Brenton when you got away with everything?”

“We’re here to pick up—” David started, but a glare from his mother silenced him.

“You,” she purred. “I’m accustomed to a certain lifestyle, and I have a feeling you can help provide that for me.”

The room swam again and I tipped my head down, breathing through it. What was she talking about?

A buzzing noise sounded, but not from the direction of my phone. David said, “He’s almost here. We need to get her downstairs.”

“Load up the syringe.”

I groaned, eyes still clamped shut, trying to free my leg. “You’re not a murderer, David. Don’t do this.”

“Murderer?” chuckled Olivia, as she fisted a hand in my hair and yanked my head up, spiraling the room out of control. “What use are you dead? Alive, I’m sure your boyfriend would spend at least a couple million to get you back.”

I sucked in a breath to scream, but David slapped the duct tape over my mouth again and Olivia let me go.

I glanced at the clock. Maybe it was 11:28 p.m. I couldn’t be sure. But if I was right, I had two minutes until Antonio arrived. Two minutes to get the gun out of reach.

But if the room didn’t stop moving, I wouldn’t be able to do anything.

11:29 p.m.

A shiver wracked my body. I didn’t hear Antonio coming. All I could do was hope I hadn’t misread things. Trust him and assume he was going to be there on time.

I leaned forward in the chair, and the tape on my left leg snapped. With the chair still attached to my arms and one leg, I lurched as best as I could at David and the writing desk, knocking the desk over, sending the gun clattering to the ground. I landed on the floor on my side, and the tape on my other leg snapped.

David scrambled after the gun while Olivia charged after me.

“Little bitch!” Olivia yanked the scarf from her neck and wrapped it around my throat, pulling tight.

With my arms still secured to the chair, I couldn’t get enough leverage to roll us or get her off me. She pulled hard, preventing any air from reaching my lungs. It loosened for a moment, then tightened, a hard knot in the fabric at the back of my neck.

The door exploded inward, Antonio’s shoulder leading the way. “Samantha!” He rushed in and threw Olivia off me.

Jimmy came in next, service weapon drawn. He smiled when he saw Olivia. “Well, what do we have here? Where’s Dav—”

I yelled behind the duct tape, trying to warn Jimmy, but David launched himself from his spot behind the door and tackled Jimmy to the ground.