Page 101 of Take Your Breath Away

I made some noise behind the tape that sounded something like, “Why me?”

“This whole thing’s kind of a shot in the dark,” Matt said. “Hoping to confirm something for myself, and I might need help with that. That’s where you come in. Even for you, might not be easy, given all the time that’s gone by.”

He paused, gazed out into the woods, appeared thoughtful. “I hope I can find the spot. It was right close to a rock. Long as that rock’s still there, we should be okay.”

Matt turned his attention back to me. “I’ve got a reputation to maintain, you know? Word of mouth is everything, no matter what you do. So I get a call that I botched a job, that concerns me.”

I’m going to die. That’s the only way this ends.

“Get on your stomach and I’ll snip the cuffs off. Don’t try anything funny. You can take the tape off yourself.”

I rolled onto my belly, my head turned so I could catch a glimpse of him standing over me. He reached down and I heard a snip and my wrists fell apart. Matt took a quick step back as I slowly rolled onto my side, then got up onto my knees. I peeled the tape off my mouth, balled it up, and tossed it into the tall grasses by the road.

“Up you get,” he said.

I stood. There was a good ten feet between us. If I tried to rush him, I wouldn’t get halfway there before he pulled the trigger on the Glock. And let’s say I got lucky and he missed. He was still a big guy. Wrestling the weapon away from him would not be easy.

Then I thought, what if I simply turned and ran? A moving target wasn’t that easy to hit, unless Matt was a real sharpshooter. And if I ducked and weaved the whole time, I might have a chance. A slim one, but a chance.

And yet, there was a part of me that wanted to know why I was here.

“Grab the shovel,” Matt said.

I pulled it out of the ground and held it, horizontal, with both hands.

“Don’t hold it like that,” he said.

“Like what?”

“Like you’re some fucking gladiator getting ready to take a swing. Hold it with one hand.”

Hanging on to it with one hand, I let the shovel swing earthward. “How’s that?” I asked.

Matt fixed his eyes on me and didn’t say anything. We had a little staring contest for about five seconds before I said, “You killed my wife.”

Matt said, “I thought so.”

I couldn’t think of a thing to say.

He pointed his thumb at the woods. “Let’s go, pardner.”

Forty-Two

The woman with the black Volvo looked shaken.

“What did you say?” she asked Tyler.

“You heard me,” he said. “Are you Brie Mason?”

“Why would you ask me that?” she said, her voice shaking.

That was when he knew for sure. The way she said it. The look in her eye.

“Jesus, it’s not a hard question,” he said, his voice cracking as well.

“No, I’m not Brie Mason. Now leave me alone.”

“If you’re not her, then who the fuck are you?”