Page 55 of Falling Fast

A terrified scream erupted from her throat as she pitched over the edge and fell into nothingness.

Chapter Fourteen

Dean’s entire body burned with fury as he watched Charlie plummet into the foundation hole.

She landed on her back in the dirt a few feet away from where Jamie lay on his side. For a moment she struggled to roll to her side and then her knees. Rather than look up at him, she scurried through the tangle of rebar to Jamie. He was conscious, trying to get up and go to her, and Dean couldn’t see any blood from the bullet wound.

“Don’t bother,” Dean muttered to her under his breath, still fuming. Knowing they were going to die didn’t ease the rage eating at his insides. Someone from his inner circle had betrayed him. It was the only way the DEA or whoever else could have set this entire thing up.

And the one name that immediately came to mind, was Tim. He was the one who had set up the meeting with “Spider”/Charlie in the first place.

Because Dean had asked him for help.

A whole new level of anger hit him. He’d trusted Tim. With his business, and his life. For years. Had the feds made him an offer he couldn’t refuse?

If Tim was behind this, he would die. Slowly, to maximize suffering. Baker didn’t like to do the dirty work personally these days, and he knew plenty of people he could hire to make that kind of torture last for weeks, for the right price.

It would be money well spent to spread the message he was not to be fucked with.

Turning toward the first concrete truck, he gave the driver the signal. The chute was already deployed into the foundation hole.

Within seconds, wet concrete began rushing down the chute. It splattered a few yards away from his victims and quickly spread out in a thick gray wave. He pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm his racing heart, reminding himself to be calm, that it would only be a few minutes more.

The last time he’d done this, he hadn’t stayed to watch. This time, he wasn’t going anywhere. He wanted to stay while these traitorous motherfuckers flailed and struggled to escape the tide of death slowly coming for them. If they tried to climb out of the hole, he’d have his men shoot them. Dean wanted them both alive when the concrete finally closed over their heads, suffocating them, entombing them forever in the foundation.

And every time he thought of this place, he would remember this moment. His victory, however hollow it might be.

Because the two people he was about to kill had ruined everything.

Even if Charlie had only managed to transfer a small percentage of his files, it was still too much. Any data transferred to the DEA and whatever other agencies were investigating him put him at risk.

His only option now was damage control. As soon as these two assholes were dead, he’d leave the country for a while.

His pilot should be arriving any minute, to take him to a private airfield where a small charter jet was being readied. He’d ride out the storm from the sunny shores of Panama, figure out what kind of damage this would cause him and his business. His clients would want answers. Some of them might want to end doing business with him.

Some might want him dead.

Down in the pit, Charlie and the DEA agent were trying to scramble out of the rebar grid before the wave of concrete reached them. Dean stood there, staring down at them because he didn’t want to miss a moment, that hard, searing knot of rage burning a hole in his chest.

He should have fucked her while he’d had the chance. If he’d stopped her from leaving his office, he could have at least enjoyed breaking her before bringing her here.

But this would have to do.

A muted thump from overhead brought his head up. Craning his neck back, he saw the sleek Bell 407 slice through a puffy white cloud, already in its descent.

Right on time.

He turned back to the pit with a grim sense of satisfaction, ready to enjoy the show.

****

Have to get out. Have to save Charlie.

Jamie’s entire body felt like one gigantic, pulsing bruise. The bullet had missed and he didn’t think he’d broken anything in the fall, but maybe the roar of adrenaline in his veins was muting the pain.

He bit back a groan and struggled to his feet as the tide of concrete continued to rush toward him. He wrenched his head to the side, ignored the sickening stab of pain in his head that threatened to send him back to his knees. The world tilted, went blurry for a second, but he maintained his footing and found Charlie.

She was several yards away struggling to stand, her arms still bound behind her, but no tape across her mouth. Her deep brown eyes met his, wide and terrified. “Can you walk?” she called out.

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