Page 75 of Montana Heat

“Jesus,” Baldie said. “What is this, twenty questions? Shut the fuck up.”

“Did you meet Alan in jail? Is he the one who hired you?”

Tall Man spun to look at me. “For fuck’s sake, lady, neither of us have ever been in jail. Just be quiet.”

Hadn’t been in jail. But he could be lying. Alan could still be behind this.

“Did Alan put you up to this?” I demanded. My voice rose with each question.

Baldie snorted as he sped up on an incline. “We don’t know an Alan.”

“You’re telling me you don’t know Alan Ard?”

“Fucking hell, woman. We don’t know anyone named Alan anything.”

Baldie’s frustration was evident, but I still didn’t know if I believed him.

It didn’t matter anyway. Whether he was telling the truth about Alan or not didn’t change my plan.

“Look, I’ll pay you. I’ll pay you more than whoever hired you is going to give you. I’ll pay you anything if you just let me go.”

Tall Man turned, scowling at me. “Shut up.”

So, more money didn’t capture their attention. Was it a matter of delivering me to Alan dead or alive? Did they care? “Have you been hired to kill me?”

“I said, shut up,” the tall one repeated louder.

I ignored them and tried again. “Why are you doing this?”

“Final warning. Shut. Up.” Baldie barked the order at me and caught my eye in the rearview mirror. I could see his full face in the reflection.

That couldn’t bode well for me, could it? If I could identify them, they must not be planning on allowing me a chance to talk to law enforcement.

It scared me enough that I stopped asking questions. I had to figure out another plan.

Eventually, we turned off the paved road and onto a dirt path. The car bumped and jostled, and I struggled to keep myself upright with my hands bound. No buildings stood nearby. We had to be somewhere remote.

But this was Montana. Damn near everywhere was remote.

The only thing I could see in the moonlight was the snowy landscape as we drove down the rough path. We were going slowly enough that I could jump out now. But what good would that do? I was in my pajamas with no coat, only slippers. It would take them mere seconds to catch me.

Finally, we slowed, and I saw a single vehicle waiting up ahead. Through the darkness, I saw a person stepping out of the waiting car, and I stared, not able to process what I was seeing.

I realized Tall Man and Baldie hadn’t been lying about Alan, if this was who had paid them to kidnap me.

It was a woman. And it was clear they were expecting to meet her in this remote spot in the middle of nowhere.

As she strode closer, a faint memory was triggered.

I knew her. She’d been to one of my workshops a while ago. Had asked some normal questions about commercial real estate. Nothing that had made me think twice about her.

I recalled my conversations with this woman, and while I struggled to place her and why in God’s name she’d hired two men to kidnap me, Baldie got out and opened the back door.

I didn’t have a chance to try to bolt. The door was wide open, but I was blocked by the woman striding up to me.

She lifted her arm, and before I could open my mouth to ask what the hell she wanted with me, she activated the stun gun in her hand. I cried out and jerked as my body convulsed in spasms of pain and white-hot heat.

I felt the tiny sting of a pinprick, and everything went black once more.

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