Page 75 of Wanted by the Lawman

CHAPTER 26

WYNN GASPED WHEN the door opened and, because it was dark, she could barely see Lansing’s frame as he stepped across the room toward her. A flashlight came on, blinding her, and she held up a hand to block it, but a second later she felt a harsh grip as he dragged her to her feet. She tried to pull away, but his grip was unrelenting, burrowing into her flesh like a vice.

“Listen, bitch, change of plans.”

“What?” Would he kill her now?

“Looks like we have company. I knew this might happen, just had hoped not so soon,” he spat out the words.

Hope blossomed in Wynn. Zander had come. She knew he would. Lansing dragged her roughly across the room. “Give this up. You won’t get away.”

“Yeah, true, but neither will you,” he said.

“Zander will kill you with his bare hands,” she hissed.

He dragged her into the shadowed hallway and stopped. She lifted her chin to look at the disgruntled man, trying to get a grip of why he was truly doing this. “Nothing will bring her back. Not killing the other women. Not killing me. Go ahead though, do what you must, but I savor the fact that you’ll get what’s coming to you. Maybe they’ll spare your life so you can spend the rest of it in prison, being used by cell mates just as you’ve tortured women.”

The smack came like a flash of lightening. Quick and without warning. She wobbled slightly, but his tight grip on her elbow kept her from dropping to her knees.

“Listen, bitch! Stop talking or I’ll fling you out the window. I’m sure there’s a lot you can do, but flying isn’t one.”

His tight jaw, his charged eyes, all warned her that he wasn’t sane, so she couldn’t talk to him, attempt to try and get him frazzled enough that Zander could sneak in. She was beginning to lose hope that she’d get out of this alive.

“Come on, bitch!” He tugged her toward the stairs.

“Downstairs?”

“No, up the stairs,” he mocked her. “Where the fuck else do you think but down?”

Wynn found herself being shoved just as Lansing withdrew a gun from the back of his waistband. Her chances of survival plummeted. She began descending the stairs slowly. He was right behind her, his tight hold on the back of her neck, a silent threat that if she made one wrong move, she’d find herself tossed like a bag of potatoes down the stairs. And if his fingers biting into her skin wasn’t enough, he leaned forward and whispered, “Don’t think I won’t push you. I’d get a lot of enjoyment hearing the bones of your neck break.”

The image made her cringe. Thinking of falling and lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs on the floor made tears fill her eyes, but there was no way in hell she’d allow him to see defeat in her. She’d fight until her last breath.

Once they were downstairs, he used the gun to point to the chair where he wanted her to sit. She did without argument. The man had a seat on the crazy train and she didn’t want to push his buttons.

The shattering of glass made her recoil. “I know you’re out there, Cade. I have your bitch so if you want to see her still breathing, you’ll not piss me off more than you already have.”

Silence ensued, but if Wynn knew Zander, and she felt she did, he wasn’t alone. He was smart enough to have back up and she’d bargain his brothers were along. No doubt he and his team heard the gruff words by her captor. She trusted they had a plan.

Lansing took a step away from the window, turning his mangled gaze upon her. “Your boyfriend thinks he’s so much smarter and tougher than I am. Hell, he thinks he’s smarter than anyone. Just look how he swept in and took over the case. He didn’t even have a clue who the killer was.” His laugh was raw. “I outsmarted him.” He paused dramatically. “And I’ll do it again.”

“If you’re so smart than why did you bring me to the very spot where you knew he’d find us?” she challenged.

“Don’t you believe that’s all part of the plan? I really wanted the fucker to arrive to hold you as you sipped your final breath. Maybe that can still happen.”

Wynn believed his plan was tainted with his screwed-up ideas.

“This is all for you, my dear,” he said as if he was speaking to someone else in the room.

Looking around, Wynn verified they were alone.

“Soon we’ll be together again,” he continued.

“Is that what you really think? Evil belongs in a place all of its own and you fit the bill for bat-shit evil,” she sneered.

“Shut up, cunt!” he growled, pointing the gun at her, his finger positioned on the trigger. “What do you know? Maybe they have a special place for cunts who spread their legs for every man she comes across. Yeah, it didn’t take Cade long to tap that shit, did it? I can’t wait for the fireworks.”

“Fireworks. We’re a little early for the fourth of July.”

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