Page 28 of Hollow Moon

Yeah, maybe that would satisfy his need todo something,Knox thought. He glanced around and said, “But one of us keeps guard to make sure nobody sneaks up on Jonah while he’s working.”

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Maggie figured she was in deep shit as Campbell hustled her into the house and up the stairs. She’d seen him go off the deep end a time or two, and now he showed the classic signs of paranoia.

“I’ll handle this,” he said to the other two men.

They stayed on the first floor while she was forced up the stairs to the bedroom she’d used when they’d come out here on family vacations. Picking her up like a sack of oranges, he tossed her onto the bed where she crashed against the wall and bounced on the mattress. She stared at him wide-eyed as she struggled to catch her breath. She’d thought he was out of control—but notthisbad.

“Okay—stop playing games with me,” he snarled.

She made an effort to speak calmly. “I’m not playing games.”

“You were with the guy. You fucked him in your tent.”

“No.”

“You’re lying.”

She pushed herself up so that she was sitting with her back pressed against the wall.

“My relationships are none of your business.”

“Not my business?” he spat out. “That guy is a spy. He was going to compromise my whole operation.” He paused for a moment, considering. “What, were you in on this from the beginning? Is that why you were out there camping? You didn’t just happen to meet him in the woods.”

She wanted to ask if Knox was a spy or a werewolf, but she bit back the question.

Campbell was making an illegal drug. If she knew anything about him, he was probably using it himself. But that wasn’t what had made him unstable. From the first, he’d been the favored child. He hadn’t had to work hard for their father’s approval—until he’d gotten to high school and then college where he couldn’t keep his grades up.

He’d been jealous of her academic ability but scornful that she’d gone into a low-paying profession like nursing. In the past few years, she’d mostly kept away from him. But she’d heard from her father about some of her sibling’s get-rich-quick schemes.

Dad always seemed impressed when her brother started out on some enterprise—like using low-cost loans to buy crappy houses, fix them up and sell them for big bucks. Then he’d be disappointed when the scheme fell through. In the case of the housing, it was because Campbell hadn’t been willing to pay enough to hire workmen who could produce a good product.

Now he was into some drug scheme. Did Dad even know about it? Or was it a big secret—until success was assured?

All that ran through her mind as she struggled to come up with a way out of this mess. But she didn’t see one. She didn’t want to talk about Knox. And even if she did, Campbell wouldn’t believe her. Or if he believed part of it, he’d insist she was holding something back.

“Well?” he asked.

She lifted one shoulder. “Whatever I say won’t be what you want to hear.”

“Not in your current state. But I think there’s an effective way to interrogate you.”

“You’re going to torture me?”

“No, I’m going to give you an injectable dose of the stuff.”

As she heard the words, a zing of alarm went through her.

Her brother was still talking. “I think the drug we’re making will break your iron will.” He laughed. “You can’t lie if you’re too wigged out to think straight.”

“No!”

He grinned. “You don’t have much choice.”

“Campbell, don’t mess with me like this.”

“You made your own bed.” He laughed. “Now you have to lie in it.”

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