“Don’t lie to me,” he spit. “I followed you and that cop boyfriend of yours from the training center. I know you already searched the place.”
He followed them? And knew about Finn? Eva’s hopes of escaping and being rescued plummeted to the soles of her feet.
Before she could gather herself to ask more questions, he removed his arm and yanked her from the wall. He turned and held her shoulders in a steely grip while pushing her out of her room and into the hallway.
Her attempts to fight against him were like swatting harmlessly at a pesky fly. He fended off her flailing hands easily and wrapped his strong arms around her chest, squeezing hard. Half dragging, half carrying, he took her down to the main level and shoved her onto a kitchen chair. A chair that he must have dragged into the living room, as she could see a hint of light streaming in through the window facing the street.
He’d obviously planned this from the very beginning. Why he’d brought her down here, she couldn’t be sure, other than she didn’t have any furniture in her room. Less objects for her to bump into, the better.
“What are you doing?” Her voice was hoarse with fear.
His dark shape towered over her. She couldn’t help shrinking away from him, anticipating another physical assault.
“Silencing you for good. The police have got too close and our boss is worried Roach is going to turn us in. It’s time to get out of Dodge.”
Eva tried not to react to his statement but was afraid the truth was reflected on her face. She heard a ripping noise and felt something sticky against her wrist. When she realized he was using duct tape to secure her, she fought him off with every last ounce of strength she possessed.
He used his knee to keep her pinned in the chair, leaning all his weight on her as he finished securing her other wrist. Then he did the same with her feet. “Too bad you never found the package. You could have avoided all of this.”
Rendered completely helpless by his binds, she could only watch as he bent over to pull some sort of backpack off the floor. More proof that he’d come prepared. He’d brought his bag of tricks, including the duct tape, to finish her off once and for all.
“This will never work.” She tried to infuse confidence into her wobbly voice. “Finn will hunt you down, no matter where you run. And killing me won’t prevent Roach from turning evidence against you and your boss.”
“Finn? Is that his name?” Stinky surprised her by dropping something furry in her lap. The puppy let out little yips of fear, squirming against her. Cocoa! She hoped the puppy would remember her scent and be reassured by her presence. “Don’t worry, I’ve already taken care of him. And Roach won’t live to see another day to implicate us, either. We can get to him even while he’s in jail. You should know anything is possible for the right price.” After uttering that last statement, he slapped a four-inch length of tape over her mouth, silencing her.
No! Finn! Her heart squeezed as horror washed over her. Was it possible the stinky guy would find a way to kill everyone who knew what they were up to? All because of a package of drugs worth fifty grand?
Cocoa buried his face against her stomach and she wished she could cuddle him close.
Stinky disappeared from view. She thought maybe he’d finally left her alone in the house, and then the acrid scent of gasoline hit hard.
In that moment she knew that he intended to burn down the entire house with her and Cocoa trapped inside.
Smoke wafted toward her. Had he started by putting the living room furniture on fire? Using her shoulder, she rubbed at the edge of the tape covering her mouth. It took several attempts before she could feel it coming loose. She bent her face to her hands and used her fingers to pull it the rest of the way off.
“Help! Please, help!” Fearing no one was close enough to hear her screams, she bent over and used her teeth in an attempt to get the binds loose. Cocoa pushed his nose between her face and her wrist, getting in the way. She didn’t want to hurt the puppy—he’d been through enough—so she tried to merely nudge him aside. But he persisted and helped her by using his small sharp teeth to assist in ripping the tape from around her wrist.