Page 29 of Two Hearts' Subterfuge

“Do not shame me again,” Ash’s uncle said harshly. “You are my nephew, so I will protect you. But no one should have ever discovered those funds. Our precautions insured that. Why would you create a new account with a banker who was not obligated to protect our privacy?”

“I was going to be exposed. I told you that,” Ash whined loudly.

And then fury suddenly kicked in when Aylin realized that her brother must have been grooming her forthisfor years.

“We don’t have time for this, Uncle. We need to hurry,” Ash said loudly, sounding more in control. “The chopper will be arriving at the golf course shortly.”

When there was a quick rap at the window, Aylin jumped from the bed.

She exhaled an unsteady breath. Someone wearing a ski mask covering his face was standing at the window.

When he pointed at the middle lock, it finally occurred to her that whoever it was intended to help her escape.

Aylin approached the window, attempting to unlock it. But that’s when she realized that the window was screwed shut.

The man outside held up a staying hand, as he showed her the screwdriver in the other.

“Hurry,”she mouthed.

Inserting the screwdriver between the window and sill, he tapped it with the hammer he must have brought along too.

Afraid they were going to hear him, she went back to the bed to pick up a pillow, returning and pressing it to the window bottom to muffle the sound.

Fortunately, the bottom of the window must have been partially rotted because he quickly began peeling away layers of spindly wood.

Inserting both gloved hands beneath the window frame, he yanked hard, actually pulling out the entire bottom half of the window.

“Come on,” he whispered. “Let’s get you out of here.”

She was a little wobbly as she attempted to climb through the open window frame, so the man grabbed her by the waist, seeming to effortlessly pull her out.

He reached for her hand, starting to run toward the river where there was a visible path they could follow nearby.

Something went whizzing by the man’s head.

“We need to run as quickly as we can to the lodge, Aylin,” he shouted, yanking hard at her hand to help her keep up. “Someone’s shooting at me. But they wouldn’t want to hurt you. I hear sirens, so I’m thinking that will register with them too. Hopefully, they’ll forget about us so they can try and get away.”

“They said something about a golf course and a chopper when they left the room.”

“As soon as we’re in the clear, I’ll make the call and let the authorities know. Maybe they won’t be too late to catch up with them.”

That’s when Aylin heard the sound of tires squealing as a car sped along the road above.

“That has to be them getting away. We should be safe now,” the man said as the lodge he’d been talking about came into view. “Let’s get to the door.”

Once they reached the lodge entrance, he pulled out his phone. “Dad? Aylin is safe. We’re going inside the Riverbendto wait for you. She heard them saying that there’s a chopper waiting for them at the golf course. Maybe you’ll be able to catch up with them. They must have continued north because I never saw their car cross back over the bridge.”

“Look,” he said, reaching for her hand as he gazed toward the parking lot entrance. “Everyone’s already here. Come on. I’ll bet your family’s frantic.”

As he led her across the parking lot, Dad came running, pulling her into his arms. And then quickly, he led her off, heading towards the SUV that he’d parked along the curb.

“We need to get you away from here, Aylin,” Dad said. “It appears that I made a huge miscalculation. It was Ash that took you, I presume?”

“It was, Dad, along with his uncle,” she answered, suddenly breaking down, sobbing. “Hesoldme to his uncle. He told me that he did it years ago.”

“What?”Dad growled out a few cuss words as he rolled down the SUV window to fill in the man who appeared to be in charge of the situation. Aylin was pretty sure it was Jake Loughlin, the owner of the Dragonfly Pointe Inn.

When Dad started to pull away in the SUV, Aylin’s eyes searched the crowd.

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