‘The money? If the money is what you want, you can have it. I’ll sign it all over to you.’
He picked up another knife and waggled it at her. ‘No, no, no. I know that’s not true. Do I look stupid, you sneaky bitch? Do I look like Mr Gullible? Do I look like I can be tricked?’ He jabbed the knife at her, the tip of it cutting into her arm, making her flinch even though she couldn’t truly feel it, the limb so numb from the tightness of the rope. He didn’t even seem to notice he’d cut her as he rambled on. ‘You’re a sneaky bitch, Sam, running off and having my son and not telling me anything about it. If I’d known, I would have done things different. It didn’t have to be this way.’ He looked down at her. ‘It’s all your fault.’
She sucked in a breath. Had he killed Sam too? She realised she’d asked the question as the words rang between them.
He stared at her for a moment, blinking, eyes focusing on her, seeing her again. ‘I didn’t kill Sam. I had nothing to do with that. I was sad when I heard she’d died. If only the old bat had told me.’
‘Told you she died?’
‘That Sam had had a baby. That she was dead. That she’d left her money to Sam’s baby because she felt bad. I didn’t know any of it until the Will was read.’ He jabbed the knife out again, slicing her on the shoulder. She hissed in pain, feeling that cut, the trickle of blood as it ran down her arm, soaking into the rope.
‘Do you know how it feels to realise what you need has just fallen through your fingers because everyone around you is a liar?’
She nodded, trying to make him feel like she empathised with him, that she understood, to keep him talking.
‘I wouldn’t have killed the old bat if I’d known she’d leave it all to Sam and the kid. Not until I’d made her change her Will.’ He snorted, as if it was the funniest thing ever.
‘You killed Sam’s aunt?’
He looked at her, head tipped on the side as if what she’d said was the most curious thing. ‘Of course I did. She had what I wanted.’ His mouth twisted into an obscene parody of a smile. ‘She’d hoarded so much crap—her place went up so quickly, I almost didn’t get out in time.’
She stared at him, knowing she was going to die. He’d killed Sam’s aunt. Killed Cherry. Possibly Mac. And now he was going to kill her. She was going to die and she’d never told Flynn that she loved him. She’d said it when she hadn’t realised he’d been listening, but she’d never just said it to him. Never shared with him what that meant. Never see Carter grow into the man he was going to be.
Carter.
This arsehole was after Carter and the money that had come to him. She didn’t even know how much money it was. Hadn’t cared. She hadn’t wanted to talk to her papa about that side of things, only the fact someone was trying to take Carter from her. If he’d been a good man, she might have almost been okay with it.
Who was she kidding? It would have killed her. Carter had become everything to her. Had shown her how important family and love truly was. Had opened her up to a whole world of possibilities and change that she’d never imagined for herself, let alone embracing it and loving each crazy, unknown step forward. She was going to die and he was going to be within this man’s grasp.
No.
No. She would never let that happen. Never.
She glared up at him. She had to get out of this. Only, her arms were tied to her side so tight, she couldn’t feel them. Could barely move. But she had to find a way. She had to. Flynn or someone else might never arrive. If she was going to live through this, she would have to find her own way to survive.
‘What are you going to do?’ she asked, hoping, desperately, that keeping him talking would give her a chance to survive.
‘I’m going to burn it all down.’
Chapter 29
‘You can’t.’
He didn’t register her shriek, didn’t stop doing what he was doing. He picked up a plastic container like those you put petrol in at a petrol station, and began to splash it over the table and the wooden floor. ‘I’m just going to spread a little more of this around to do the job properly before I light it up.’
‘Someone will see you.’
‘Why would they? I drove down here in your car, which I’ll leave out the front. Your friends will think you came down here to do some work before opening tomorrow and that there was some kind of kitchen accident and you were caught inside.’
‘They won’t think that. The police will come looking for you.’
He smiled at her. ‘I told you this isn’t my first time at the rodeo. I learned my lesson the first time I was caught.’
‘You have a record? You’ll never get Carter.’
‘I was a juvenile offender at the time. My record’s expunged and they’ve not caught me since even though I’ve been setting fires for others for years. It’s what I do. They’re not going to catch me. They’ll think it’s one of the others I’ve set up.’ He tapped his finger against his chin. ‘Hmm, do I leave the incriminating evidence—’ he lifted the container, waggling it a bit so the liquid inside sloshed around, ‘—in your gay hubby’s car, or maybe in that blow hard, Bob Thompson’s ute? Decisions, decisions.’
‘They’ll figure it out. There’s been too many fires. You have to be on the police’s radar for the
