Page 99 of Captivating Anika

Her face is completely distorted as she surges toward me, grabbing my hair and shoving the gun between my lips as she forces me to my knees.

“I hate you. I hate the fact you sign my paychecks and I have to be grateful for every crumb you throw my way. Flaunting your precious salon, your sports car, your new house in my face.”

There is so much venom spewing from her lips, I’m completely thunderstruck. I barely notice the barrel scraping my teeth or the taste of metal in my mouth.

“But that wasn’t enough, was it? You had to steal him too.”

Wait. Him? Hog?

“I thought my luck had turned when you decided to play hero to that whimpering little bitch, Kim. That idiot husband of hers was an unguided missile, I figured all I had to do was aim him in your direction and he’d take the blame when the time came, unless he killed you himself first.”

She’s out of her mind. How can I not have seen this? I look around me and all I see is raging water and trees, here and across the river. I consider yelling for help, but I’m afraid I’d only speed up the inevitable. Even if someone could hear me, it would already be too late.

“Looked like it was working too. Trashing your car was a stroke of genius, if I say so myself.”

Abruptly she laughs, this weird high-pitched giggle, as she pulls the gun from my mouth and presses it against my ear instead.

“Did my little gift get your attention? And of course, all eyes went to Chris right away. Everything was falling in place until that fucking moron got himself killed. How was I supposed to know what the stupid bastard was mixed up with?”

When she lets go of my hair, I suddenly notice she’s wearing the black gloves we use at the salon. Something clicks.

“It was you who killed Kim, wasn’t it? What did she ever do to you?”

“It’s not like I had a choice. We were closing up the day Hog ended up in the hospital, and I caught her looking over my shoulder just as I was texting her husband. At least it kept the cops busy.

“You see, I have no problem doing the dirty work myself,” she says in a low voice, sneering at me.

She shifts the gun again, the gun pressing into my eye, as she backs me up to the edge of the churning river.

“And killing you will be an absolute treat. It’ll look like it was all too much for your fragile mind, and you decided to blow your brains out.”

“Nobody will believe that. I don’t even own a gun,” I point out.

I get an eerie grin and she scrapes the barrel down my face before shoving it under my chin.

“That’s what you think.”

Monique will never let me go, that much is clear, and there’s only one way out. I’d rather take my chances in the river.

“Hey!” I hear her yell as I throw myself backward into the cold water.

Then I hear nothing more as I’m sucked under, only to be spit up again a moment later. There’s nothing but the roar of the water I am completely helpless against.

My shoulder hits something as I’m tossed around, and I remember someone telling me once you had to point your feet downstream so you don’t hit your head first.

It takes some doing, and there are a few moments I’m afraid it may not be worth the effort, but I finally end up with my feet in front of me. Not only that, I’m closer to the shore where the water appears a little calmer.

Downriver, the water meanders back toward the railroad tracks and therefore civilization. Keeping my eye on the shore as best I can, I notice a large tree limb overhanging the river coming up, its smaller branches just skimming the surface. If I can grab hold…

The current is fast, and I almost overshoot the tree before I have my arm fully outstretched. My fingers brush something, and I close my hand around it, suddenly dead in the water as the river keeps trying to move me along. I’m able to pull myself a little closer and reach with my other arm, my hand finding purchase on a thicker branch.

Holding on for dear life, I start yelling for help as loud as I can.

Hog

Despite Evans keeping the pedal to the floor, the drive across town feels endless.

“Any idea where she’d access the park from?” Evans asks as he veers around some asshole who doesn’t get out of the way.

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