Page 41 of Liaising Kai

She sobbed against his neck. “Barlow, please?—”

The front door of the mansion slammed open, and he was suddenly out of time. He shoved her hard into the room and closed the door of the safe room on their sad, terrified faces. Stepping back out into the study, he pushed the button that concealed the entrance. He walked to his desk and sat down. If he was going to confront Freddy with a weapon, he was going to do it from his seat of power.

As soon as he was seated, the door to his study burst open and Freddy stood there, some big-ass gun in her hand, blood on her flawlessly beautiful face, flanked by two thugs with cold, dead eyes.

He looked over her shoulder at one of the thugs, the one who had his head covered by a dark, tight cap. “Search the house.”

They left her alone with him, and he palmed the small twenty-two caliber he’d purchased after he’d gotten into bed with these people. It wasn’t going to save him, but he was all right with that. If he could take her out, that would be the head of the snake and maybe protect his family.

She entered the room, his heart still slamming in his chest, the need to panic nearly overwhelming his common sense. “Where is your lovely family, Barlow?”

He didn’t move a muscle, fearing he would give away the location of the safe room. His heart accelerated, and he was shocked that his voice came out calm and in charge. “They are safe and out of your reach, Freddy. You don’t need them. You just need me.”

She gave him a sad, condescending expression as if she were addressing a child, shaking her head. “Barlow, I work for an exacting and savage man. You knew that when we got into bed together,” she said with a soft smile as if there were something between them, but he didn’t miss the double entendre. “Tell me where they are and this will be much easier on you,” she said low and with menace. She stared at him, her jaw twitching, her anger making her eyes blaze.

“You think so?” he said, knowing that any physical pain was going to be short-lived compared to the torture of seeing his family murdered. Shame washed through him, and Barlow felt the heat of it all the way to his scalp. He had humiliated himself and his family in the worst possible way, and it was a guilt he would carry until the moment he died. He could feel death’s breath on the back of his neck.

The two thugs came back. The one with the cap walked up to her and said, “The place is empty.”

She turned back to him, her dark eyes ruthless and frustrated. She gave him a bitter smile filled with disgust. “You can’t hide them from me. Where are they?”

He clenched his jaw and lifted his chin. Pointing the gun under the table, he set his finger against the trigger, collecting what courage he had.

“It won’t matter if I kill them today. There is nowhere they can hide from us. They will be joining you shortly. We don’t leave any loose ends,” she said without inflection in her voice, but the spoken threat tied him up in knots. He could only hope that once law enforcement got involved, they would protect his family. But he was determined Freddy wouldn’t survive. He was counting on it.

A new wave of desperation filled him. “I’m begging you, Freddy. Please leave them alone.” His heart raced, his voice breaking. “They know nothing about any of my dealings with you. Please.”

She shrugged, a humorless smile lifting one corner of her mouth. “That’s touching, but I warned you what would happen if this went bad. Everyone involved dies. That’s the deal. You took it. Now, tell me where they are.”

“No!” he shouted, lifting the gun and pointing it at her.

The thug reacted. “Gun!” He pushed her out of the way just as his pistol discharged. The bullet struck the man, propelling him backward until he fell onto his back on the rug.

Before Barlow could react and change his aim, Freddy brought up her gun. The round hit him in the upper chest, sending him backward off his chair.

He couldn’t breathe around the excruciating pain, knowing he deserved it. Gasping for air, he tasted blood at the back of his throat.

He turned his head, searching for the gun, but it had fallen too far from him, and he couldn’t retrieve it. Then Freddy’s face was near his own, an angry set to her jaw, her profile taut and unrelenting. He stared off across the posh rug as his vision started to gray.

“For that, I’m going to make them suffer for a long time, you stupid bastard.”

He had failed them again, and it was too late, too late.

He never saw the bullet coming before it impacted his head.

When they reached Barlow Finch’s estate, the gates were open.

“Body!” Austin called from the left as they fanned out.

“There will likely be more,” Derrick said grimly.

They found several more men down in the front of the mansion, the front door partially ajar.

“Spread out,” Kai said, her voice strained. “They may still be here.” With her gun poised in the traditional grip of one hand wrapped around the guard with the index finger alongside the trigger guard, and the supporting hand stabilizing the weapon, she added, “Austin and Amber, take the back.”

They entered the house, and Davis’s focus narrowed down to scanning for intruders. Derrick broke off and headed upstairs, while Jason went left. Kai took the main living area, and Davis headed toward the back of the house. He searched the rooms until he came to Finch’s study. He nudged the door aside to find a huge stain on the rug. With that amount of blood, someone had died there. Finch?

He circumvented the room and discovered Finch lying on his back, two slugs in him. As his colleagues started to call out, “Clear,” Davis stared at the small gun lying next to Finch. He had tried to defend himself.

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