Page 43 of Tyler

For Piper, darkness literally awaited.

Her pulse thundered in her ears as she did as instructed. But she needed to know. “Why are you doing this?”

“You just had to go and buy that damn building, didn’t you,” he muttered. “And you couldn’t leave the walls where they were. We can’t have you exposing secrets, now, can we?”

This was about the gallery?

Her chest tightened. What secrets?

“We?”

He muttered a curse. “My stupid brother got caught, so now I have to do what he failed to do—twice.”

He and Meyers were brothers?

“You were the guy in the other car…”

“Beautiful and smart. Pity I have to kill you. Enough talk. Keep walking.” He jabbed the gun into her back and slid his hand down to her elbow and squeezed.

Pain shot out in all directions, stealing Piper’s breath and her strength, causing her steps to falter.

“Are you deaf, bitch? I’m not playing around. Move.”

“I can’t.” She panted, agony surging through her arm. “You’re hurting me.”

If the guy was going to shoot her, then he was just going to have to shoot her, because she couldn’t take any more of the pain.

Besides, as soon as she moved away from the light of the hospital entrance, she was as good as dead. He’d just admitted it. Piper wasn’t stupid. She could read between the lines. With her dead, renovations wouldn’t move forward, and his secrets, whatever they were, wouldn’t be revealed.

Unless her building was sold again.

A shadow inside the outer shadows caught her attention.Hunter. Hope flickered inside her. She could just make him out. He was holding a finger to his mouth. She blinked an acknowledgement that the gunman couldn’t see.

“Are you going to shoot everyone who buys the building?” she asked, her pulse pounding harder and harder as she stalled.

“Yes, if they touch the walls.”

“Piper?” Ty’s voice sounded from behind. “What are you doing out here?”

Oh, God…Ty!

What washedoing out here?

He still had the hospital gown on over his jeans.

“She’s about to get killed, but it looks like you’re going to be first,” the man said.

When she felt the gun move from her back, and the man twisting around to face Ty, her heart literally stopped. She hadless than a split second to decide whether to trust that Hunter could stop the guy before he shot Ty, or she could do something herself and risk getting shot.

Keeping Ty alive was her goal. She wouldn’t gamble her options.

In one singular motion, Piper wrenched her aching arm from the gunman’s grasp and kicked at the back of his now-turned knee. Hunter stepped into the light, but he didn’t move, because somehow Ty was already there, expertly knocking the gun from the man before punching him several times in quick succession. She had no idea how he was able to move like that with a broken clavicle and ribs.

She’d heard adrenaline could mask pain, but this was crazy.

“That’s for hurting, Piper,” he said, landing another punch. “This is for trying to kill her.” He hit the man again.

“I think he gets the picture,” Hunter said, finally stepping forward to pick up the guy’s gun. “I’ll take it from here.” He already had his knee into the prone man’s back.

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