Page 60 of Scent of Peril

She didn’t answer. As much as she hoped Teddy had found Logan or Doug or someone else from the law enforcement team,she knew without a doubt Teddy would return. Hopefully with enough help that her beautiful and smart K9 wouldn’t be hurt.

“We need to get out of here,” the newcomer said. His voice was low and nasal. “The others won’t be far behind.”

“We’ll need to get rid of them, one by one,” the guy behind her said. “Moving is out of the question. We have too much product here to leave behind.”

“The product can be replaced,” the nasal guy said. “The best approach is to kill her, leave her behind, and bug out.”

A strange calmness washed over Jess. If these were her last minutes on earth, then she may as well make the most of them.

By taking these guys down with her. At the very least, she could prevent more drugs from being made and sold to innocent people out on the street.

“Do you have any idea how long it will take to replace that product?” the guy behind her demanded. “We’re already behind thanks to these idiots.”

On the wordidiot, the guy behind her jabbed his gun into her back.

“I told you; we didn’t return because we were suspicious of you. We only came back to get a piece of the plane.” She shot the guy a frustrated glance over her shoulder. “You’re the idiot for thinking it was more than that.”

Another sharp jab to her back made her stumble. Somehow, she managed to stay upright.

She understood their arguing worked in her favor. They were moving deeper into the cave, though. And she didn’t much like how the walls were closing in. The air seemed stale, and she could feel her chest tighten with fear.

When they rounded the next corner, though, she saw brighter lights illuminating from a room up ahead. Her heart sank. More bad guys?

How many could she take down before she died?

She strained to listen but couldn’t hear anything helpful. She instinctively slowed her steps, which was a mistake. The guy behind her jabbed her with his weapon again.

“Move,” he barked.

She straightened her shoulders, twisting her wrists in hopes of loosening the bindings. Reaching her weapon in her right-hand jacket pocket wouldn’t be easy considering the guy she believed to be Craig Benton had tied her hands together at her back.

Yet the bulky gloves had provided some cushion. She twisted her wrists again. The cuff of her gloves moved enough that the rope was now lying against her bare skin.

Providing just enough room to wiggle free.

“What’s in those boxes anyway?” She voiced the question to hide her efforts to release her wrists. “If you’re going to kill me, you may as well tell me what you’re up to.”

“I’m not telling you squat,” Benton said. “Shut up.”

“She saw the boxes?” the nasal voice asked. “Why did you bring her in here?”

Good, more infighting, she thought as she worked against the binds around her wrists. She was almost there. Just a little more...

“Shut up already.” Benton sounded like a man teetering on the edge. “Or I’ll just shoot her now and take you down with her.”

“I’m the brains of this outfit,” nasal voice shot back. “You wouldn’t even be here if not for me!”

Her right hand slipped free. Keeping both arms tucked behind her back, she quickly balled the rope into her left palm so it wouldn’t fall to the ground, giving her away.

The light up ahead grew brighter. She still didn’t hear any voices, so maybe there weren’t additional bad guys up ahead.What if Benton noticed her hands weren’t tied once they stepped into the light?

It might be better to take these two down right here and now. She swallowed hard, not liking the thought of taking a life.

Yet she didn’t see another option.

Without giving herself time to reconsider, she goaded Benton. “I’m not surprised he’s the brains. You’ve already proven to be dumber than a box of rocks.”

He jabbed her in the back again, the way she’d known he would. She stumbled forward, but this time, she purposefully fell to the ground.

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