Page 1 of Vicious Sabotage

Chapter One

Livia walked straight up to a big construction worker sitting at her bar and tapped him on the shoulder. “Everyone out. Sorry.”

Swinging his gaze to her, he lowered the burger from his mouth. “What?”

“I need you to leave. Your friends too. There’s a problem with the…um…building.” She searched her brain to come up with an excuse to back her lie.

He set his burger on his plate. “You want me to check anything out? I am in construction.”

The last thing she needed was heroics. The urgent necessity to get all the lunch customers out of her bar made her stomach cramp. Only minutes before, one of her dear friends had been kidnapped—right here, in the parking lot behind her bar.

She shoved a foam takeout container at him. “No, no. I’ve got a contract with a service provider through the insurance company. You can take your food with you.”

Quickly, she moved down the line of barstools, passing out the containers as fast as possible.

Livia’s stomach burned with fear for her friend. She and Ivy didn’t get a lot of time for things like pedicures or girl talk, but they always had each other’s back. That sinking sensation in her stomach was a heavy reminder that she had failed her friend.

How could she know that, after picking up enough food for the entire Gracey Ranch, Ivy never made it to her truck?

Rushing to the exit, she held open the door. “Everyone out now!”

People began to file past her, looking confused, carrying their boxes of food.

“Thanks for coming. Make sure to come back later in the week.”

Would Badlands Bar and Distillery even be open later this week? The cops could shut it down. After all, it was a crime scene.

As the crew of regulars ambled past her, she slapped a bright smile on her face. But her stomach wobbled with fear.

Ivy was gone.

Her truck was still out there, the food dropped on the ground. When one of the guys from the Gracey Ranch told her what happened… Well, Livia couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Until she opened the back door a crack and peeked out to see for herself. Sure enough, Ivy’s truck with the Gracey Ranch logo was parked there.

Livia had a suspicion that someone was lurking around, keeping an eye on it. If Livia were a criminal, she’d be watching.

After the last patron left, she did a quick sweep of the back of the bar to make sure no one lingered. With a lot of trepidation in her throat, she peered out all the windows too.

Undecidedly, she turned in a circle. Everything about her bar was the same as usual—it smelled like beer and the rum she distilled on Wednesdays. Each morning she tidied up, wiped down the tables and mopped the floor.

But everything was wrong.

She rushed to the back door and paused, hand hovering over the handle. Her fingers trembled.

Should she take another look outside? It wasn’t like the kidnapper would return Ivy, no matter how much of a pain in the ass her friend could be.

Even that thought didn’t make her smile.

She strode to her office and leaned over the desk. Only occasionally did Livia pull up the footage from her security cameras placed on the perimeter of the building. Usually to see if someone who’d had a few too many had caused damage to personal property or a vehicle.

She was glad she had the security system in place, but she dreaded what she would see.

She pulled up the view of the parking lot on the screen.

At that very moment, a guy pulled in.

Without hesitating even a heartbeat, Ivy whipped around and pulled the gun and her Taser out of the desk drawer. Both were hand-me-downs from her late father. He always told her that if one didn’t work against a threat, then use the other.

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