Page 99 of This Moment

We walked about a mile to a road that appeared to be an old driveway. Another half a mile down that road and I sawa black Toyota 4Runner parked. My heart started to pound so hard in my chest I thought for sure I was going to have a heart attack. I slowed down and suddenly felt the pistol back in my side.

“We’ll get into the car, and you’ll be quiet. When I say I don’t want to hurt you, I mean it, but if I have to, I will, Katy.”

“Where in the world do you think we can go and be safe?” I asked as I climbed into the SUV. Michael shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side the entire time he pointed the gun at me.

Once he was back in the SUV and started it, he spoke. “I found a cabin that I think is a rental, maybe. The few times I went by, no one has been there. Doesn’t look like anyone lives there. We’ll stay there tonight and then it’s back to Boston.”

A part of me wondered why he wouldn’t want to get the jump on everyone since I highly doubted anyone had missed me yet. We weren’t that far from Boston after all.

“You think we can just drive to Boston?” he said, reading my mind. “They’ll be watching the roads today, Katy.”

He swallowed hard. “I have to get you back. If I don’t, he’s going to hurt Melanie.”

My stomach lurched. “You don’t have to do this, Michael. Just let me go and I swear I will never tell anyone what I saw. I promise you. Tell your father something happened, and I died, or you had to kill me. You can go back to Melanie.”

“He has her, Katy. He has her. I have to bring you to him. He knows you’ve talked to the feds. Whatever you told the FBI, they’ve been poking into everything. The bank, thedeath of the guy you saw me kill. They’re coming down on the family hard; if you’re still living, you’re a threat. At least in my father’s eyes.”

“And you don’t think I’m a threat? You’re the one who killed him.”

We drove silently for a few minutes, and when Michael spoke again, I jumped.

“If you would have just stayed in the ballroom. What in the hell were you doing back there anyway?”

“Looking for you to tell you I was leaving.”

He cursed under his breath. “Why didn’t you just leave?”

I let out a disbelieving laugh. “I thought that would have been rude.”

Turning to look at me, he asked, “Did you know about my family?”

When I didn’t answer, he gave a nod.

“I didn’t think you were involved in any of that, though. I thought you just worked at the bank, and your dad did what he did.”

He gripped the steering wheel tighter. “I didn’t want to be involved in it. At all. My father pressured me.”

“Couldn’t you have said no?”

“I did, Katy, for years. He told me it was my duty to the family. He started by having me do small things. Still all illegal, but it wasn’t murder.”

His voice sounded defeated and made me feel slightly sorry for him.

“First it was me moving money around. Then it was setting up fake businesses so he could launder his money through them. Every time he called, I would hold my breath and wonder what he would want me to do next. When hefound out Andrew Wagner was stealing from the company and had been in contact with a friend in the FBI, my father told me I needed to take care of it. I thought he meant he wanted me to fire the guy.”

Laughing, I shook my head. “Are you serious, Michael? Fire the guy? Even I would know what he meant bytake care of it.”

He pushed his hand through his hair. “I’m not a killer, Katy.”

I raised my brows. “Really?”

“I didn’t want to kill him. I just wanted to work at the fucking bank and do my job.” He turned and looked at me. “I never wanted any of this. I wish I would have just left home and never looked back.”

Turning, I stared out the window. It didn’t take me long to figure out where we were headed.

“Why are we going in this direction?”

“To the cabin I told you about.”

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