Too Much to Lose (30 page)

Connor gives me a bashful look
and sits back in the corner. I slip into the bathroom, lock it and pull out
Mitch’s phone. Sure enough, there’s a thread of texts from Hunter on there. I
pause when I see my name.

It’s on. Going to offer Jess to
him.

My heart leaps against my ribs.
What the hell? I push aside the foolish notion that he might betray me and keep
reading. I sag onto the toilet as Hunter’s plan unfolds before my eyes. Stupid,
stupid man. Who does he think he is? Superman? He’s underestimated Lucas and
he’s going to get hurt, I can feel it in my heart. While Lucas might have been
greedy and vicious, he wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly how to manipulate people
and I’m willing to bet he won’t fall for Hunter’s plan.

 I pause at the address he’s
given Mitch. It’s only about ten minutes from here but there’s no way Mitch or
Connor will agree to take me there. Could I persuade them to go to him? It’s
clear from the texts that Hunter has ordered them to keep me safe. I’m not sure
they would. Unless I’m there.

I have to get to Hunter.

Placing the phone on the side,
I step out and consider the man in the corner. I pause and feign a fearful gasp
before putting my eye to the peephole. When I turn back, Connor is on his feet.

“T-there’s someone out there.”

He pushes past me and checks
the peephole. “Are you sure? I can’t see anyone.”

“They must have heard me. Are
you sure they’re not hiding? Do you think it’s him? Connor, please check. I’m
scared.”

His hard gaze travels over me
and his shoulders sag in resignation. I’m going to have some apologizing to do
after.

“Stay in the room and stay
back,” he orders as he unlocks the door. He eases himself through the small
gap. I approach quietly and when he’s far enough away from the door and peering
down the corridor, I make a break for it. I sprint for the elevator. Connor
calls out my name and heavy footsteps follow. I don’t know if I can outrun him
but I have to try.

The door of the elevator is
open when I approach and I jump in, grateful to see it’s empty. I jab the close
door button repeatedly and don’t let out a breath until the doors slide shut. I
glimpse Connor’s furious face peering through just as they slide to.

Now I’ve got to worry about
whether he’ll beat me down the stairs but this elevator is quick. I’m sure I
can make it. I lean back against the wall and watch the numbers while trying to
calm my racing heart. When it reaches the ground floor, I bunch my muscles,
ready to run again. The doors slide open and I barrel out. People cry out in
indignation as I push past and nearly go flying over a pile of luggage.

There’s too many people around
to know if Connor is amongst them but hopefully that will work in my favour. I shove
through the hotel doors and onto the street. Several taxis are waiting in a
nearby taxi rank and I jump in and give the cab driver the address.

For a brief moment, I lean my
head back against the seat and draw in ragged breaths. I’m going to be in big
trouble with Hunter and his friends. But it doesn’t matter. I can’t let Hunter
get hurt because of me. He said he’d never leave me again. I need to make sure
that he makes good on his promise.

Hunter

The rifle aimed at my gut
shouldn’t make me laugh, but it does. I knew someone was shooting at Jess. I
like being right, I guess. The man holding it raises a brow and motions for me
to move. Hands lifted in surrender, I sidle over to the metal chair in the
corner.

“Sit,” Lucas barks.

“Hey, man, take it easy.” I
ease myself into the cold metal, gaze firmly on the barrel of the gun.

“Where is she?” he demands.

“She’ll be here.”

“You said you were bringing
her.”

“I was but things changed. She
said she’d be here shortly.”

“Why would she agree to that?”

“Because she trusts me.”

Lucas laughs, then narrows his
dark eyes at me. “She’d better turn up or you’ll end up with a nice big hole in
you.”

I shake my head. “You don’t
want to do that. Several people know where I am. You pull that trigger, they’ll
be quick to find me and point the finger at you.”

I study Lucas. He doesn’t look
as crazy as I thought he would. Short, dark hair—a very bad dye job—tanned
skin, white creases around his eyes where the sun hasn’t touched, and an average
build with a small middle-age paunch. I could take him if he didn’t have a gun,
I surmise.

Damn. When I agreed to meet
with him, I never expected a gun.
Foolish, Hunter.

Today was going to be the day this
all ends. It will be the day it all ends, one way or the other. I won’t have
Jess in danger. Lucas must have thought my greed outweighed my love for Jess
when he agreed to pay a large sum for me to kidnap her for him.

I flex a hand against the arm
of the chair. Shame I haven’t managed to get a hit in yet. I’d really looked
forward to throwing about some threats. With the info Mitch has on his
financial dealings, I’ve got plenty of bargaining power. If I live that is. Of
course, if that failed, I’d intended to take out a few of my frustrations on
him. I doubt very much he’d go to the cops, not with his history of dodgy
dealings, so I figured I’d be free to exact whatever punishment I felt
appropriate. A broken nose perhaps. Some bruised ribs. Something for him to
remember me by. To ensure he regretted ever thinking he could have Jess.

But this rifle pointed at my
head messes with my plan a little. Dammit. What has that woman done to me? Ever
since I caught sight of that cute ass she’s consumed me. I wouldn’t have it any
other way now, but I sure regret not thinking this through. All I wanted was
her safe.

“I’ll be out of the country
soon,” Lucas muses. To himself or me, I can’t tell.

“Thought you were setting up a
new production company.”

“Yeah, well I couldn't get any
backing. All my supporters dropped away after one of the stupid whores started
flinging around accusations.” He snorts. “Like they care what happens to the
women. But one of them threatened to go to the papers. They can’t afford to
have people digging into what really happens to them.”

I curl my fingers around the
metal of the chair, heat stirs in my veins. “Yeah, well, they deserve what they
get, right.”

Lucas blinks at me then grins.
“God, yes. What do they expect when they want to fuck for money? They’re all
whores. Jess though… she was the biggest of them all. Stuck up little bitch.
She acted better than the rest but at the end of the day she still spread her
legs for money.”

I draw in a breath through my
nostrils, beg myself not to react. I can barely keep the fury from showing on
my face. “Not for you though.”

“She will soon enough.” He
strides over to the window and peers out. “She’d better get here soon. I’ve got
everything ready for her.”

The bright white bedding, the
camera in the corner and the studio light tell me everything I need to know.
He’s planning to film himself and Jess. If that gun wasn’t pointed at me, I’d
be spilling Lucas’s blood all over that pristine bed. Why hadn’t I been more
cautious when meeting the man? I ask myself for the billionth time. 
Because
Jess has messed with your mind.

Still, I have Lucas in front of
me which is more than I could say before. It’s far better to have your enemy in
front of you rather than sneaking around and cutting brake lines, surely? Even
if he is holding a gun.

“You’re going to film her?” I
prompt. It’s not every day you deal with a gunman, even in my profession, and
especially in England. Gun crime tends to be limited to the gangs. But keeping
him talking seems the best way to distract him. If I can get that barrel
pointed away from me for long enough, I’ll take a chance.

A gleam enters his gaze. I
suspect he’s imagining every sick and twisted thing he’s going to do to her and
my stomach curdles.

“Yes. It’s going to have… a
very special ending. Jess is going to regret turning me down very, very much.”

“Special ending?”

“You ever heard of the term
‘snuff’?”

Coldness drenches me, seeping
under my skin and wrapping itself around my heart. “You’re going to kill her?”

“Yes. Fuck her and then kill
her and have it all on camera.”

“You killed that girl didn’t
you? The one in the newspaper today.”

“She was more a trial run.” He
smirks. “Told you she would regret it, didn’t I? So you see, I don’t really
care if I have to shoot you. One more death won’t make much difference but I
don’t really want to mess up this room yet.”

The stark white bedding becomes
all the more sinister when I imagine Jess’s blood marring it. Before I realize
what I’ve done, I’m on my feet and barrelling toward Lucas. No pain comes, as
anticipated. No gun shot. Only the smack of flesh on flesh as I slam into his
stomach and take him to the ground.

“Never,” I grind out as I bring
my fist across his face. The crunch of bone and warm splatter of blood does
little to appease my anger. I can’t help a sadistic grin when the man struggles
to get out from under me, still tightly clutching the gun.

Somehow the slippery fucker
wriggles out from beneath me and slams the gun into my arm, the one still
recovering from the accident. I release a hiss and fight to gain superiority
again but he keeps using the butt of the rifle to hit out and I have to release
him to fend off the blows. Then the wood connects with the side of my head and
everything goes white. I sag and roll to one side. Peering up through the mist
crowding my vision, my heart sinks when Lucas comes to his feet and towers over
me. I picture Jess and her hurt expression. I hope she forgives me. If I never
see her again, I hope she forgives me.

Lucas takes the time to tie my
hands together with some red rope—presumably something he’d intended to use on
Jess. He loops the rope through the radiator, the metal cold against my hands. My
sprained arm twinges in protest. Why hasn’t he killed me yet? I guess he’s
still hoping Jess will make an appearance. I can’t help but grin then. Mitch and
Connor will protect her for as long as it takes. They should be watching over
her now and they’ll do whatever is needed to bring Lucas to justice.

A footstep sounds on the outer
stair, ringing against the metal and stalling my breath. Then another. Cramps
of dread strangle my insides. There’s no way it could be, but I can’t help
think… I lean my head back against the wall while my tender arm throbs. It
can’t be her. Please, God. Don’t let it be her. Lucas grins and I stare at the
door, unable to look away, unable to do anything. Powerless.

Several more footsteps and Lucas
flashes a grin at me. “Let’s surprise her, shall we?”

He flicks off the light, throwing
the room into darkness. Only the faint dusting of light through the open window
allows me to track Lucas’s movements as he positions himself by the door, rifle
in hand.

The door opens, letting in a
sliver of orange glow from the street. “Hunter?”

“Run, Jess!”

But it’s too late. Her scream
as Lucas lunges for her tears through me. Jagged pain shoots through my heart.
I failed her. When he flicks on the light, he has her pinned against him. He
juggles the gun and thrusts it into her side while his other hand comes across
her mouth. Jess’s gaze connects with mine and she sobs against his hand. 

I curl my tied hands into
fists, aware I’ve signed the death warrant for both of us. “I’m sorry,
princess,” I murmur.

***

Jess

Hunter’s bruised and battered
face, his bound hands and the wash of despair in his expression force another
sob out of my throat, barely quashed by Lucas’s sweaty palm. The uncomfortable
jab of metal against my ribs tells me all I need to know about the situation.

We’re in big trouble.

Lucas drags me backward and
shoves me onto the bed. “If you move,” he barks, “I’ll kill him.” He motions
with the rifle toward Hunter.

My mind whirls as I try to make
sense of the situation. I have no idea if Lucas will make good on his threat
but he nearly killed us by cutting Hunter’s brakes. What other choice do I have
but to play along?

With rough movements, Lucas
binds my hands behind my back, then ties my ankles together. I keep myself
tight, fight the temptation to struggle. Hunter’s life is at stake.

“Motherfucker,” Hunter spits.
“Bastard. Motherfucking bastard. I’m going to kill you if you touch her.”

Lucas smirks and I throw Hunter
a pleading look. Leaving me for a moment, Lucas climbs off the bed, strides
over and punches Hunter. I squeal and Hunter spits blood onto the floor.

“You’re in trouble, Lucas. No
way you’ll cover this up. If the police don’t get you, my buddies will. They’re
trained in shit like this. You’ve fucked up big time.”

“Shut up.” Another hit.