Page 82 of Search for the Truth
But it didn’t matter. She knew neither man was going to let Theo or her go.
Now the best she could do was stall for time and hope that the boy had gotten her hint to call Liam.
If he had, then Blake didn’t doubt for a second that the sheriff wasn’t on his way to save them.
Elijah laughed, very much a man with no intention of letting them live.
“Do you know, the last person who tried to negotiate with me found herself at the bottom of a dried-up creek. I suggest what you focus on now is how easy to make this next part for the both of you. Because, believe me, I can make you suffer if I need to.”
Blake narrowed her gaze.
“So you really did kill Missy Clearwater,” she said.
The man rolled his eyes. It was an unbecoming sight.
“All I did was hit her a little. It’s not my fault she took a tumble right after that. If she had simply listened to me and handed over that damned little flash drive, we would have been fine. But, no. All you women like playing hero. I think it’s only poetic that you’ll be the one to end the cycle, considering it was your sister who started it.”
Blake lowered her arms. Theo was right at her back.
“Beth’s car accident wasn’t an accident,” she stated.
“Beth’s car accident wasn’t an accident,” Elijah confirmed. He snorted. “Though it was her fault, not ours. My friend here just wanted to talk about her findings. It isn’t his fault that she got scared and started driving like a lunatic.”
Blake’s hands fisted.
If she hadn’t been trying to shield the teen behind her, she would have lunged at the man. Instead, she tried to get answers.
“Which means that shedidfind something she wasn’t supposed to.”
Elijah was back to smug.
“Do you know how many safety inspectors we’ve had come out to the mill over the years? Do you know how many have turned a blind eye or taken money to overlook an infraction? But no. Not Beth Bennet. She was a woman who wanted to stick her nose where she shouldn’t.”
He laughed.
He actually laughed.
“Who knew that she was so fast? Squirreling away the one thing that could mess up everything?”
“Her laptop.”
Elijah nodded.
“Since we couldn’t find it anywhere after so many months, though, we thought that was that.” He breathed out his annoyance. “Then Missy Clearwater, the beloved daughter of my father’s best friend, used her name to start asking questions. Who did she even think she was? Acting like she had been the one hurt when it was just that good-for-nothing friend of hers Hector?” He shook his head. “Then suddenlyshehad the code and then,then, she had the audacity to try to bring my father into this whole thing? Trying to mess up my inheritance? I don’t think so.”
Elijah blew out another short huff of air.
“She should have known better. After the way this town treated her when her father decided to shut down their business? Can you imagine the flak I would have caught had they found out I was the one trying to burn this place down for a payout?”
Blake’s mouth opened on its own accord.
Elijah saw the shock and seemed to revel in it.
“And there it is,” he said, the smile from earlier returning. “You can’t fake that kind of surprise, Eric. Did you know that?” He patted the bald man’s shoulder. His smugness was returning as well. He looked to Blake again. “I don’t think Miss Bennet here knows as much as she’s pretending to. Let’s see. Miss Bennet, can you tell me what exactly the code is for? Or did you come here for a fishing expedition only?”
Blake hated that she didn’t have a good answer.
She also hated that the feeling of dread in her had tripled.
