Page 704 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

“Listen, Syd. I’ve been playing along with these thugs to gain their confidence, but I’m on your side. If you’ll shut up and trust me, we might just both get through this alive,” he whispered in her ear.

Kendall came back. Sydney cried out when she saw that Kendall was carrying a container of kerosene. “Come on,” he said to Sean. “Let’s get this over with.”

The abandoned warehouse loomed over Sydney like the gate to hell as Sean dragged her to it. Her mind clicked through the scene like the frames of a camera. She saw the ripple of water as it lapped against the shore, felt the icy air whip her cheeks, sawa cluster of black birds flying overhead. Was this where it was destined to end? Here in this isolated place?

When they reached the building, Kendall tugged on the wooden door. It was so swollen with moisture that it took him a couple of tries to get it to budge. The damp scent of decay hit Sydney full force. Sean shoved her inside.

“Sit down.” His voice was so brutally forceful that she feared she’d only imagined the words he’d spoken a few minutes earlier.

He made her sit on the cement floor with her back against the wall as he tied up her feet and then wound the rope around her legs, holding her in a sitting position.

“I’m going to spread this kerosene around the outside,” Kendall said.

The horror of it all was swiftly overtaking Sydney. Even though Kendall hadn’t ignited the kerosene yet, she could already feel the searing heat and smell the burning flesh. Her breath was coming faster now, and she knew it would only be a few seconds before she started hyperventilating. The door was open, allowing enough light into the dark building so that she could see the outline of Sean’s face.

He touched her hair. “Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth,” he whispered.

“Don’t leave me.”

He leaned in so close that she could feel his warm breath on her face. “I’ll be back. I promise.”

And with that, he was gone.

Sean leftthe building and Kendall came around the corner. He held up the empty container of kerosene. “I didn’t haveenough to put around the entire thing, but I think there was enough to do the trick. Did you get her taken care of?”

Sean nodded.

“Good. Now all we have to do is close the door and barricade it.” He placed the container on the ground and turned his back to Sean.

“Where’s Walter?”

“At the truck getting the matches.”

It was now or never. He only hoped he had enough time to take them one by one. Sean pushed Kendall hard, smashing his face into the side of the warehouse. Kendall stumbled to the ground, but it only took a minute for him to get his bearings. He swore under his breath and jumped to his feet and faced Sean, his eyes blazing.

Kendall lunged at Sean, knocking them both to the ground. The two traded blows, rolling in the dirt. Kendall was the first to get to his feet. Sean got up on his hands and knees and Kendall gave him a vicious kick in the ribs that was so powerful Sean felt like his body was being ripped in two. He braced himself as Kendall kicked him again and again. Sean did a side sweep with his foot and tripped Kendall, dropping him like a brick. Sean pinned him to the ground and pounded his face. Kendall reached to grab Sean in a choke hold but couldn’t get a strong enough grip to do any damage.

Just when Sean knew he had Kendall under control, a sharp pain tore through the back of his head and everything went black.

Sean went slack,and Kendall looked up to see Walter standing above him. It took Kendall a moment to realize that Walter hit Sean in the head with the handle of the pistol.

Walter’s eyes took in Kendall’s bloody face. “Looks like I got around here just in time. A few more minutes and he would’ve taken you.”

“He turned on me.”

“Yeah, I never was too sure about him anyway. It just goes to show that you never can trust an outsider. He was always a little too good to be true.”

Kendall used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe away the blood that was still trickling from his nose.

Walter nudged Sean with the tip of his shoe. “He’s out cold. Put him in the warehouse.” He paused. “Make sure you get his keys and cell phone. The last thing we need is for him to come to and try and make a phone call.” He motioned to Sean’s truck. “Take his truck and drive it into the river. It will have sunk to the bottom by the time anyone sees the fire.”

But Kendall just stood there, looking at Walter. The world stopped spinning as their eyes met. Kendall’s face crumbled. “I can’t do it.”

“What?”

He ran his hand through his hair. “I just can’t do this to Sydney.”

Walter took a deep breath. “Let’s think this thing through. You know I’d never ask you to do anything that wasn’t necessary.”

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