Page 31 of A Midlife Vanishing Trick

“Good to see you again,” Johan said. “I was wondering when you’d join us.”

Allison’s eyes were wide with terror. Her chest heaved with each breath. Stanley’s pulse roared in his ears. He glowered at the Collector, who merely grinned back at him.

“Finally,” he said. “It’s been a while since I sank my claws into someone’s throat.”

Chapter Eleven

“Frost Mountain Was My Home”

Stanley reacted quickly, making a dash for the porch steps quicker than he could form another coherent thought. But there was only so much good his speed could do him with Allison still firmly in Johan’s clutches.

“Not another step closer,” the Collector snapped, his grin widening slightly, “or I’ll have to kill your lovely wife.”

Stanley halted and stared daggers at the man. His inner snow leopard bared its teeth viciously.

“That’s it,” Johan said. “I want her to watch you die before I rip her throat out. It would be such a shame to have to kill her first.”

Stanley gritted his teeth. The man was insane. No, not insane. He was simply a murderer. A thieving, murdering marauder. The man must have snuck into the house and grabbed Allison. How the hell had he done that without anyone noticing? Not a single alarm had been raised. The ranch was quiet except for a gentle breeze and the sound of his pulse jackhammering in his ears.

His gaze traveled over his wife’s body. Allison looked frightened out of her senses, but other than that, she was unhurt.

It had better stay that way,Stanley thought.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Johan said, tracing a clawed finger across Allison’s throat; it didn’t pierce her flesh, but a shudder rocked her body. “If we were back on Frost Mountain, I’m sure the Ice Melter would have loved to keep her as one of his treasures.”

The idea of Allison being stuck in that massive cave with Grim Jim made Stanley’s gut clench. “We’re not on Frost Mountain anymore,” he said. “Things don’t work that way here.”

“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” The smile was suddenly gone from Johan’s face. “You took me from my world to this ... this place.”

Stanley sensed movement somewhere in the distance. One or two of the cowhands must have noticed something was up. Hopefully, they wouldn’t come and try to help. Two or three men could overpower Johan without much of a struggle, but they’d be risking Allison’s life in the process.

Besides, this wasn’t their fight. It was Stanley’s.

“I never meant to bring you here—” he began.

“You meant tokillme,” Johan cut in. “You thought I would die in that pit.”

“Isn’t that why you shovedmeinto it?” Stanley countered. “You were ready to sacrifice me to please your master.”

“The Ice Melter gave you a choice!”

“And I chose to die because it was better than joining you to murder and steal from innocent people. Turns out your pit of death was nothing but a way off Frost Mountain. You’ve been giving people freedom instead of sending them to their deaths.”

Johan scoffed. Before him, Allison gave a whimper that caused Stanley’s heart to throb painfully.

“Freedom,” the Collector said. “Is that what you call this? This strange world with its strange rules?”

“Welcome to America, asshole,” Stanley spat. “What you’re experiencing is calledorder.Must be a major culture shock since you’re used to chaos.” He shook his head, still glowering at the man. “You’d really rather be stuck in a dimension that was designed to trap and kill you? Not to mention not knowing when someone might rob or murder you in your sleep?”

He doubted trying to talk sense into Johan would suddenly give the man a change of heart, but if it bought Stanley enough time to come up with a way to get Allison out of his clutches and to safety, it was best to keep talking.

Johan’s gaze flickered for a second. Stanley got the feeling he was looking at his scars.

“Frost Mountain was my home,” he said.

That gave Stanley pause. Up until now, it hadn’t really occurred to him just why the man might find being on Frost Mountain more bearable than coming to Earth. It seemed absurd at first glance—why would anyone prefer to be stuck in a freezing death trap? But now it made a bit more sense. Being here meant Johan had been cut off from every aspect of his life back on Frost Mountain, including Grim Jim and the Collectors. It was a feeling Stanley could empathize with.Hehad been stuck on the mountain for four years. The thought that he’d forever lost his old life, his ranch, andAllisonhad been devastating.

Not that it justified Johan’s actions.

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