Page 83 of Preying Heart
“Not kill. Just cause an accident.”
“It’s still murder. It’s the intent.”
“Oh, come on. I have nothing to do with it. Slade is the bumbler who’d cause her demise.”
“How?” I force myself out of the bed to get as far from this maniac as possible.
“I’m not going to know about it. But you’ll be there to guide him. Make sure he doesn’t shoot himself in the foot.”
“I don’t agree with this.” I glare at him from the doorway of my bedroom. “Don’t get me and Slade involved. We’re likely to screw up like you said, and what if we tell her?”
“She won’t believe a word out of your mouth,” Gavin says. “She hates your guts for obvious reasons.”
“So a woman who hates my guts is going to allow my bumbling fool brother to hang around her and cause an accident. This is crazy and it’s criminal. If her father finds out about your plan, he’ll hire real hit man to get rid of you.”
“Her father isn’t going to find out because you and Slade aren’t talking.” He pulls a picture from his pocket. “I have your mom.”
“My mom?” I stare at the blurred color image taken in a dingy room with old-fashioned wallpaper. “What have you done with her?”
“Keeping her in a safe place. Now that you know where I stand, let’s get you showered and dressed. We have celebrating to do.” He loosens his tie and unbuttons the top two buttons of his shirt. He grabs me and steers me toward the bathroom.
“I’m not well. I’ve been throwing up.” I barely get the words out when I hurl at the toilet. My stomach contracts so hard I bring up nothing more than bile.
“We can fix that.”
I hear my closet door slide and when I dare to look up, he’s untwisting a wire coat hanger. He hovers over me like a monster in a horror movie. His eyes are cold, devoid of humanity, and his mouth is twisted in a snarl. It feels unreal, this paralyzing fear clutching my throat. Sweat breaks out over my forehead, cold and queasy.
“Don’t, Gavin. Don’t do it.”
“Then go to a clinic and get it taken care of.” He jabs me with the end of the straightened hook. “And this time, Guy will drive you.”
“No. Let me see Slade first. Bring him here so I can clean him up. We have to focus, Gavin. Not get distracted from your primary goal. Think of a reason for him to cross paths with your wife. You have to provide us access because there’s no way she’d accept an invitation from me.”
The coat hanger shakes in his clenched fist. “I can get this taken care of right now. What difference does it make? Then I’ll set up something for Claudia. She goes jogging the same route every morning, and Slade is an awful driver. He mows her down and voila, I’m a grieving widower.”
My gut turns and a sour tang spurts into my mouth. Pure evil emanates from Gavin like smoke from a smoldering ruin.
“You can’t make Slade do this.”
“No, but you can.” His malevolent eyes rake me with a maniacal gleam.
“Okay, then let me have him for today to coach him through this.”
“No, Remi, don’t think I’m so stupid. You two will make a run for it. But you won’t make it. I have men watching you. They’re staked outside. Don’t even try.”
“No, I won’t try.”
“Good, because it’s time to get rid of that baby.” He drags me back into the bedroom and slams me onto the bed.
“I’ll bleed, Gavin. It’ll be messy. An infection might set in. Let me go to the clinic.” I’m trembling and shaking. Fear coursing through my veins. “I’ll do anything you say if you let me go to the clinic.”
The arm holding the bent coat hanger drops and a triumphant smile lights his face. “Good girl. Get dressed. Guy will drive you to the clinic. Then we’ll have dinner and a date.”
“I’ll be bleeding. There’s no sex after an abortion,” I warn him.
“How long?”
“I don’t know, but you can look it up on the internet.”
