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“Maybe my brother gave it to me.”
“Maybe. But I’m thinking if he did, you wouldn’t be holding a gun on me right now.”
I gasp.
“Please,” Buck says, “leave, Aspen.”
But my feet don’t want to move.
I can’t leave Buck.
Buck, who has become everything to me.
“You want to tell the story now?” Buck says. “Or after I shoot you in the shoulder?”
“Have you forgotten I’m holding a gun as well?”
“Yeah, but I’m thinking I’m probably a better shot. I used to be a sniper.”
Within a flash, Wallace’s arm moves, and the gun is pointing at me.
“How about now? You willing to take a chance?”
I gasp, fear racing through me and making my blood curdle in my veins.
My stomach lurches, and I think I’m going to puke. Or soil myself. Probably both.
This fear, this fear…
This is something Buck knows, and my God…
I’ve been through the worst hell someone can imagine, but at least I lived.
And I may not live now.
“Buck,” I say, my voice shaking, “I don’t understand what’s going on here.”
I’m armed, of course. My gun is strapped to my shoulder underneath my T-shirt.
I can’t get it without moving, and Wallace will shoot me dead before I can get hold of it.
Why didn’t I leave when Buck told me to?
I went through all that hell on the island, over five years, and now I’m healing, and I found someone who I want to spend my life with.
But now my life may be over.
It’s not fair. It’s just not fair.
“Care to explain?” Buck says.
“Not particularly.”
“Let her go,” Buck says. “This is between the two of us.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let her go.” He turns to me. “You should’ve escaped when you had the chance, Missy. But now, I’m afraid I’m going to have to take you both out.”
“Why?” I cry. “I don’t understand.”
“If I had to guess,” Buck says, his voice never wavering, “I’d say the albino wasn’t lying about the elder Wallace, and that Harry here is the one who actually went to that island. The one who abused and tortured you girls. And then he framed his brother for it.”
“You know you can’t know all of this and live,” Wallace says.
“If I die, you die.”
“What about your lady here?”
Buck stiffens. “Let her go. And then you and I can have it out. Last man standing.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let either one of you out of here alive.” Still training the gun on me, he reaches into his top drawer and screws on a silencer. “Tell you what we’re going to do. I just had my office redecorated, and I really don’t want blood all over it. So we’re going to walk out of here, slowly, as if nothing’s wrong.”
“And you really think I’m going to let you do that?”
He cocks the trigger. “Yeah, I think you will, or I kill your girlfriend.”
43
BUCK
I must stay strong.
I must protect Aspen.
Damn, I should’ve gone with my instinct.
I should’ve never come here, or at the very least I should’ve never brought Aspen here.
Why didn’t I follow my hunch?
If something happens to her…
How can I live with that?
I’ve been through hell. I’ve been tortured, violated, shot, stabbed.
None of it broke me, though it came close.
Losing Aspen? That will break me.
I won’t recover.
If he’s going to shoot Aspen, he may as well shoot me.
But I can’t let it happen.
Aspen must live. If I have to die, so be it. But Aspen must live.
If the gun were still pointed at me, I would take the shot. The shot to his shoulder, and I would take the chance of him killing me.
But while the gun is pointing at Aspen?
I absolutely cannot take that chance.
I’m not sure how Wallace thinks he’s going to get us out of here, with his entire staff right outside the door. He’ll find a way though. Clearly this isn’t the first time he’s been in this situation.
“It was you,” Aspen says quietly, her voice soft and shaking. “It was you, not your brother. Taylor went to you.”
“Well, I am her father.”
“Why disown her then? Why? When you’re the one who—”
“Quiet!”
Aspen shuts her mouth and visibly shudders.
“This is between you and me,” I say to Wallace through clenched teeth, steeling myself. “Let. Her. Go.”
“And I’ve told you before. This is all about her. She’s the one who set all of this in motion.”
“No, you’re the one who set all of this in motion. You’re the one who put her on that island. And why? So your daughter’s girlfriend could have her spot on the team? And then you disown your own daughter? What aren’t you telling me?”
“You really think I’m going to answer any more questions?” He’s cold as ice. “I’ve got my gun on your girlfriend here. And believe me, I’m not a novice at this.”
I believe him. But for every trigger he’s pulled, I’m pretty sure I’ve pulled about a hundred.
