Page 75 of Last Ticket to Paradise

“You and Jamie were sisters, twins. You even shared men. She must’ve told you, left you a clue.”

Georgette closed her eyes. Had Jamie left a clue?

“I don’t know anything about the drugs. There was no clue. I would tell you.”

“I hope so, because that will save your life.” Gunther cocked his head to the side. “You don’t seem very drugged up now, do you? I assure you. I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. I won’t be as kind to you as I was with Jamie. You will burn alive unless you tell me where the drugs are.”

“How can I tell you what I don’t know?” Georgette turned her head to the side to take a quick glance behind her. Could she crawl over this rock to the other side and make a run for it?

Even if she told him about the drugs she’d found, he’d kill her. She had no doubt about that.

She drew her knees up to her body, placed her feet against the rock, and wrapped her arms around her legs. She could roll off the side.

“Bones.” Gunther snapped his fingers. “Prepare the site.”

Bones stepped away from the tree and pulled some rope from Gunther’s bag. He hopped up beside her on the rock.

Holding her breath, Georgette lunged forward and grabbed Bones’ legs. She pulled them toward her with all her strength and brought him down.

She scrambled across the rock on her hands and knees until she heard a click behind her. She froze and then cranked her head over her shoulder.

“You didn’t think I’d make this little excursion unarmed, did you?” Gunther leveled the gun at her and growled at Bones, “Get up, you fool.”

Bones staggered to his feet and kicked Georgette in the stomach.

She choked and fell forward onto the rock.

“You’re gonna burn, bitch.” He placed one foot on the back of her neck as he tied the ropes to two branches hanging across the flat surface of the rock.

Then he pulled her to her feet and tied the rope around each of her wrists as she squirmed and twisted. He rewarded her efforts at escape with a couple of backhands and a punch to her gut.

“Now, Gunther? It’s too bad it’s just the two of us. The Palaristas enjoyed the other two rituals.”

“This one has made too much noise as it is. Better to keep it quiet, even from the Palaristas.” Gunther climbed onto the rock with the switch still in his hand and smacked it against his palm in front of her face. “But first you’re going to tell me everything your sister told you.”

Georgette raised her head and spit in Gunther’s face.

He smacked her cheek, and tears sprang to her eyes.

Bones laughed, and his eyes lit up. He reached behind her and ran his hand over her derriere, his calluses catching on the smooth material of her shorts. “Let me have her for a while. I can make her talk.”

She kicked out her legs, making contact with Bones’ crotch.

He yelled out and grabbed the band of material covering her breasts, ripping it from her body.

“That’s enough, Bones.”

Bones grabbed the rope attached to one of her wrists and yanked it. “The sacrifice is supposed to be naked—the other two were. What makes her so special? She wants it just like the others.”

“Oh, this one’s different, all right. Smarter. She’s going to help me figure out where those drugs are hidden.” Gunther poked her in the belly with the tree branch. “I’ll keep you here until you do, my sweet Georgette.”

“I told you, I don’t know anything about the drugs. Jamie never told me, never left any hints. I didn’t even know she was involved in drugs until...”

“That’s right.” Gunther traced the point of the switch from her throat, between her breasts, down her stomach, and rested it at the elastic band of her shorts on her hips. “Until you came down here, snooping around and figured it out. You even talked to Fiso and Bones’ mother. Put that brain to work, Georgette. You don’t have Kincaid breathing down your neck now, distracting you.”

Her jaw tightened. “He never slept with Jamie, did he? You wanted me to believe that to keep us apart, to make me go home.”

“Poor little Georgette—tied up, ready for the sacrifice, and still all she can think about is her man with her sister.” Gunther’s nostrils flared as Bones lit a match. “I knew I’d be able to use your insecurities to manipulate you. Jamie told me all about how she bedded her twin’s fiancé, arranged it so that her sister would find them playing sex games together. Said she told you she did it for your own good, but then she laughed and told me she did it because she could. Because she wanted to. Don’t feel too bad about her death, Georgette.”

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