Page 214 of Forever Never
“I’m counting on him making the attempt. You don’t think I’d leave without thanking him for his hospitality to my wife and her friend, do you?”
“What made you such a stupid asshole anyway,” Remi asked, trying to buy time. She needed to get help. She needed to get him away from this house.
There was a flash of movement at the top of the ramp, and Remi deliberately drew Warren’s attention back to her.
Hadley, in her pajamas, hovered in the doorway.
“What are you going to do with us, Warren?” Remi demanded.
“I’m going to take you two away from here. I have a place we can be alone. Where I can extract my pound of flesh.”
“Where is that?” Remi asked. Brick would tear the island apart by dawn once he knew what had happened.
She saw William’s hand flex at his side and nearly breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s on the mainland. I’ll borrow a boat for the occasion. Don’t worry your pretty little head about the details. Just know that tonight will be your last, and if you don’t come quietly with me, I’ll go upstairs and murder every single person in their beds.”
Hadley ducked out of the door.
Remi was going to lodge this man’s balls in his skull the first chance she got.
“I’ll go quietly,” she promised.
“I thought you might,” he said with a twisted, triumphant grin.
“I can borrow a boat. My friend Eleanora Reedbottom has one. She won’t notice if it’s gone.”
“There now. It’s not so hard to cooperate, is it? Things are so much easier when you accept your place.”
When he bent to pick up Camille’s limp form, Remi scanned the worktable for weapons. She pocketed a palette knife and prayed for the chance to use it.
“Brick is going to come after you as soon as he finds out you took us, Warren.”
Her gaze darted to the doorway. She couldn’t see Hadley but knew her brave niece was lurking just out of range.
“Your idiot boyfriend is occupied with an unfortunate fire that started in the hotel’s kitchen,” he said, tossing Camille over his shoulder like he would a sack of feed.
“Let’s go,” he said, gesturing with the gun. “You lead the way and keep your hands where I can see them.”
With everything at stake and a mad man at her back, Remi stepped out into the night.
53
Brick swiped his forearm over his brow as he stared up at the Grand Hotel. She still stood. Just as proud as ever. Maybe a little smoky, and her kitchens a lot worse for the wear. But she still looked out over Lake Huron like a beacon of welcome.
It had taken hours and all hands on deck to get the blaze under control.
Arson. That was clear. An accelerant had been used to start and spread the flames. But the arsonist had forgotten one thing. That Mackinac Island stood up for its own.
There had been a few injuries. Some smoke inhalation. But like the hotel, they’d all survived the night.
No one messed with the lady on the hill. They’d had more volunteers than they’d known what to do with. The hotel guests had been liveried off to other accommodations. Some inns, some private homes. Restaurants and cafes had sent food and beverages up the hill to keep the crews fueled.
Both ferry lines woke up their crews and used their boats to ship firefighters and equipment from the mainland.
And as the promise of dawn began to kiss the horizon, Brick took his first easy breath. It was a good time to check in at home, he decided. Sinking down into a deck chair, one of the many that some thoughtful volunteer had pulled off the hotel’s porch and arranged in the grass for the crews.
He opened his texts when his phone rang. It was his own home number.
