Page 114 of Rescued Heart

A gun popped. Nathan grunted and stumbled.

Bianca sucked in a breath.

Blood seeped into the white shirt under Nathan’s open suit jacket.

“Nathan!” No, this wasn’t happening.

“I…” His wallet dropped out of his grip and fell outside the bucket.

A gurgling noise escaped his bloodied lips. Nathan’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed, his head thumping against the side of the bucket on the way down.

A hoarse wheeze flew from Bianca’s mouth. She pressed her lips closed, and tears burned in her eyes. She backed up until she was curled into the corner of the bucket.

Nathan didn’t move next to her. No breath vibrated his chest. Dead.

And she would be next.

Help, Lord. Please.

Her lungs pulled tight. Black spots floated in her vision.

“You’re late.” The gunman’s voice rose above the pulse in her ears. “And you’re not getting half of my money.”

A new man’s voice chuckled. “Rememberyourplace. You moved ahead of schedule, and you and your sister agreed to share a third. Don’t get greedy. You see how that ends.”

“That was before your woman shot someone!”

“I did what I had to do.” Wait. She’d heard that voice before. Smooth yet brash.

I don’t like it when people don’t follow the rules.

It sounded like the angry lady from the auction, the mayor’s assistant, Janice. Was the mayor the other man?

Bianca blinked. Focused on the shadowed clouds and not Nathan’s body at her feet.

“You shouldn’t have shot Nathan. He would have agreed to take my fall again eventually,” the newer man’s voice said.

“He gave an excellent point about his money,” the kidnapper said. “Now we don’t need to call in the ransom. Like he said, we have his credit cards right here. I’m sure it will be all the money we need.”

Bianca still had no clue who the kidnapper was.

The newer male voice echoed in the still air. “You really are an idiot. It wasn’t actually a ransom. You can’t get money from a dead body.”

Carter had mentioned something similar. Did this have to do with the Duke?

But why was she here in this mess? Because of Nathan?

The familiar voice sounded staccato. “You were supposed to keep things under control. Where’s the girl?”

Bianca squeezed her eyes shut.

“Up there with the dead body. She banged her head on the corner when I shoved her into the front-end-loader bucket.”

As if given a cue, pain flashed down her neck from her injured head.

“Fine. Dump and bury them. She’s served her purpose. Your sister will have to get over the logistics of Bia’s death?—”

“I can’t bury them here.”

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