Page 62 of Love Over Time

“I said you could have herafterI was done with her. Don’t do that in front of me.” Francesca’s mouth twisted a bit at the corner. At least we agreed on this bit: this creep was disgusting. “I need her to bring Henry to me. But if he comes and finds her in less than good condition, he’ll be furious. Believe me, it’ll be easier to deal with Worried Henry than Furious Henry.”

Scott stopped touching my leg to rub his jaw instead. “I can handle Furious Henry.”

Yeah, you did a great job last time.

“I’m paying you a lot of money for this. We’re doing things my way,” Francesca said.

Scott snorted and turned his attention to the window, where everything was pitch black. Where the hell were we? We’d been driving for at least twenty minutes, but I hadn’t a clue how long we’d been on the road since Scott grabbed me at the bar. Had Henry carried out our plan? Had he followed Jonathan to where he was hiding Tessa?

“Shouldn’t she be awake by now?”

“She’s been awake for a while.” Francesca let out a shrill sound, like a laugh, but not really. She stopped the car and turned to me. “What did you do with Tessa’s security box? Emma Kate happened to mention you were at the bank yesterday.”

Perfect Emma Kate.I’d bet she went running to Francesca the minute we left the bank to see if she could force Henry into taking her out to dinner or some bullshit date. Just as Francesca had done when we were in school. When would Emma Kate get the point? Henry didn’t want her. He wanted me. He didn’t care who or what I was.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I pursed my lips and made no effort to move.

“Don’t deny it. I have footage of you and Henry going into the vault.”

Right. For sure Mr. Paredes and Emma Kate were more than willing to do a favor for our crazy “Madam Mayor.”

“Now tell me where the contents of the box are,” she said.

“I don’t have them on me.” I gave her a one-shoulder shrug.

“Did you give them to Lisa?”

“What?”

“Scott followed you to the prison earlier today. He searched your car, the hotel.”

I chuckled. “That’s the problem with minions. Not too smart.”

She reached back and grabbed a bunch of my hair. “I’m done playing stupid games, and I’m tired of playing nurse to Tessa. This ends tonight. Thanks to you, Tessa lost her only insurance policy. We’re finally free of her. And now she’ll have to do what we say.”

A crazed look in her eyes weakened my knees. Francesca had always been mean, a complete bitch to Lisa and me. The way she’d been angry at us sometimes made us wonder if she was all there. But this was a new level of crazy, and that scared the shit out of me.

“Scott is going to cut your ankles loose. You try anything, he’ll pump you full of drugs again. You understand?”

I nodded, glaring at her.

Scott leaned back and made a show of pulling out his knife. I wasn’t afraid of a little knife, but the look in his eyes told me he’d be more than happy to use it on more than just the ties. I swallowed. A cold rush left my toes and fingers frozen, numb. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t know how to handle the situation. I was out of words and smiles. I held my breath as he sliced the cable tie, letting his hand linger on the top of my feet.

“Walk.” Francesca opened the car door.

I couldn’t feel my legs, but I kicked them into action anyway. Getting away from Scott and his stench was motivation enough to get me moving, no matter how tired I felt, how much my body hurt.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked. “You’re wasting your time if you think Henry will come after me. He thinks I left town.”

Her eyes widened, as if she were considering something. She waved her hand in dismissal and chuckled. “And here I thought you knew Henry. He’ll come. If not for you, then for his dearest mommy. Walk.” She pushed me in front of her.

I did as she asked, though I couldn’t see anything in front of us. Dry grass crunched under my shoes, but that wasn’t enough for me to figure out where we were. The place was eerily quiet, the air still and hot.

We crossed the entrance to a sewer line, and my spirits lifted. Francesca was taking me to some kind of hiding place. Just as I’d thought, they were planning to use Tessa and me to get to Henry, to get him to hand over the chip. Maybe the chip alone wasn’t enough proof of the crime they’d committed, but between the recording and James’s original will, Henry had enough to create reasonable doubt for Lisa and reopen an investigation with Jonathan as the main suspect—enough to prove to this town Lisa was innocent.

“So this is your thing, huh? Jonathan says jump and you jump,” I said. Behind me, Scott sniggered. “Is being Mrs. Cavalier, Paradise Creek’s first lady, that important to you that you’re willing to sleep with a killer?”

There it was again, that hair-raising laugh of hers. “You have it all wrong. I’m in charge here. Not Jon.”

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