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Violetta didn’t move, but Gavin’s eyes were trained on her, and he could see the muscles in her legs tensing under the denim of her jeans. “I assume you already ticked Julian Newcross off that list?” DePalma didn’t confirm verbally but he did incline his head slightly. “Pity,” Violetta said. “I was hoping to turn him against you.”
“Julian was easy prey. Not much fun to be had in cleaning up after him. All it took was a single morphine pill to knock him out, then a carefully placed injection of Botox to the heart.”
“I adore how you’re confessing to me like I won’t live to tell the tale,” Violetta said. Gavin all but rolled his eyes. Seriously, she had a gun, couldn’t she get on with things?
“Because you won’t. You may be tall, but at the risk of sounding cliché, you’re no match for me,” DePalma said, advancing even closer toward her. Violetta took a step back and then to the side. Suddenly, Gavin knew what she was doing. By circling around DePalma until he had to face the quarry to keep his eye on her, she might be able to lure him into charging her. And forcing DePalma over the cliff, rather than shooting him, would be cleaner. It would also buy them time to continue the investigation. She—they—wouldn’t feel quite as compelled to report his death if they weren’t the ones to, literally, pull the trigger.
Clever woman.
“I didn’t think you knew words like ‘cliché,’ DePalma,” she taunted, taking a step closer to the quarry.
“Where are the women?” he asked, suddenly drawing to a stop as he put two and two together.
Violetta cocked her head. “Oh, you mean Abyasa, Candra, and Shinta? So kind of you to ask. They’re doing great. Teaching cooking classes and taking self-defense.”
Gavin could only make out the side of DePalma’s face, but he bit back a laugh at the way the man furrowed his brow.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” DePalma said.
“What didn’t you understand, you barbarous, tongueless foot-licker?”
The last part of her comment was spoken in Italian, and Gavin dropped his head and shook it. Violetta definitely had a unique way of going about things.
“What did you say?” DePalma asked.
“Nothing you would understand, fool,” she shot back.
“This is getting tedious.”
“Ooo, another big word. Youareimpressing me today, DePalma. A couple of murders, some big words thrown in, I’m curious what’s next. Although let’s be clear, I’m onlymildlycurious about what’s next because mostly I don’t give a shit. Oh, and too bad you’re such a dumb fuck that you can’t see there’s no way to clean up the mess you created. But you know, go ahead and try to keep killing people. It will only give the prosecution more ammunition.”
“So Julian wasn’t lying? Wheaton had videos?”
For the life of him, Gavin couldn’t figure out why DePalma was continuing to talk unless he hoped to get something out of Violetta. But to her point, DePalma was a big-ass dumb fucker. If he hadn’t figured out by now that she was running circles around him, he had no hope. Not that he had much anyway, not with the two of them standing against him.
“Jeremy had a lot of things. I have them now, though.”
From his vantage point in the woods, Gavin saw what DePalma’s next move was. Before he could think, he burst from the woods as the man pulled a gun from the waistband of his pants.
“Gun!” he shouted. He didn’t look to see how Violetta reacted but kept his entire attention on DePalma, who turned in surprise at his sudden presence. The surprise didn’t last long but it was enough for Gavin to dive-tackle him as the gun fired. Dirt kicked up near his left foot where the bullet struck the ground, but he was already in motion. A split second later, he had his arms wrapped around DePalma’s legs and the man was coming down.
A miscalculation had DePalma bouncing off his SUV and falling to the side, rather than straight back. Gavin tried to turn but ended up in the awkward position of having his side pressed against the vehicle. With his movements restricted, it wasn’t easy keeping his grip on DePalma. He did, however, hear a sound that was music to his ears—the distinct thud of DePalma’s gun hitting the ground. At least the man was no longer armed. Or at least he was no longer armed with a gun.
DePalma might have been surprised, but it didn’t last long. He strained against the hold Gavin had on him and pulled a knee up as far as he could then kicked out. His steel-toed boots could have broken Gavin’s nose or taken out an eye, but Gavin managed to tuck his head so that the blow landed on his shoulder. Unfortunately, the impact was jarring enough that his arms loosened.
DePalma scrambled away and Gavin followed, the two men leaping to their feet simultaneously. Like fighting dogs, they circled each other until, like Violetta, Gavin had his back to the quarry. With a quick glance, he judged he had twenty feet to play with before the edge of the cliff became both a danger and an opportunity.
Concern for Violetta flashed through his mind, but he didn’t have the luxury of checking on her. Not yet. Especially not when DePalma made a move, rushing Gavin like a WWE fighter and trying to hook his arm around Gavin’s neck. Gavin ducked, but not fast enough, and DePalma’s elbow glanced off his cheek.
Ignoring the pain, Gavin spun and stepped between DePalma’s feet, then twisted his body to bring the bigger man down. Violetta’s plan had included the possibility of DePalma dying, but if he could manage it, Gavin wanted him alive. Much as Violetta had wanted Julian alive to bring him to justice, Gavin would much prefer to see a man like DePalma—a man who abused women and sold children—in prison. Of course, his death wasn’t entirely off the table, but he always felt it important to have a plan A and plan B.
DePalma landed on his stomach but didn’t waste any time and flipped around, catching Gavin’s neck in a hold between his legs. Familiar with the move, Gavin employed his least favorite—but most efficient—way to escape the awkward position. He reached up and gave a sharp jab in the man’s balls.
Instantly, DePalma’s legs released and pulled up. Gavin leaped to his feet and eyed the man lying on the ground. It was a painful hit—Gavin knew from experience—but it wouldn’t keep a man like DePalma down for long.
Taking advantage of the brief lull, Gavin scanned the area for Violetta. Unwilling to turn his back to DePalma, he swung his gaze to the left, where he’d last seen her. But she wasn’t there. Panic lanced through him, but he forced himself to stay calm and swiveled his attention to his right. Only to find her standing fifteen feet away, arms crossed over her chest, watching.
“I figured I’d stay out of it,” she said, then she winked at him. He might have been halfway in love with her before, but he was pretty sure he tumbled the rest of the way just then. “You might want to keep an eye on him, though,” she said, nodding to DePalma, who was starting to rouse.
