Page 72 of Assassin's Mark
“Proof of a murder is easy to fabricate with the dead body.”
Mydead body. I stared at Levi, willing him to tell me what to do, show me, help me help him. He didn’t even look at me.
“Do you know what the sentence for kidnapping and murder is in the state of Georgia?” Derrick asked.
“Doesn’t matter.” Levi took another step.
“Why not?” Derrick asked, shiftingagain. I could see his face now, from the corner of my eye.
“Because you won’t be around to see me convicted.”
Levi lunged, taking Derrick off guard. I watched as time seemed to stop.
Derrick slid around to my side.
The breath stalled in my lungs.
A gun went off. I braced but…no pain.
Derrick grunted. As he started to fall, I saw one hand rising to clutch at his chest. I couldn’t look away.All this time, I’d known the man who fathered me wasn’t good. Didn’t deserve the accolades and applause he regularly received. But—he was my father.
And a murderer.
I couldn’t decide which mattered more as he hit the floor hard, a red blossom of blood taking over the left side of his shirt. I held my breath as the light went out of his eyes, his grip on his chest and his gun going slack. Hetook one long, slow breath that gurgled near the end, then everything just…stopped.
And all I felt was…nothing.
The straps around my ribs tightened momentarily, then fell into my lap. Levi was in front of me a second later.
“Tell me where it hurts, little bird,” he demanded. The hands running over me felt desperate, frantic. They shook. I stared into his panicked gray eyes and tried to findthe words to tell him I was fine, but nothing came. Nothing but the desperate need to focus anywhere but on Derrick, slumped on the floor next to my chair, dead and staring.
Levi lifted my shirt.
Instinct had me pushing my top back down. “No.” Those eyes. I couldn’t think about anything but those dead eyes. Dead. Christ.
“Eli!”
Heavy boots clambered down the steps. Eli rounded the corner,glancing over Derrick’s body as if he saw dead people every day.
Levi lifted me out of the chair. “Get rid of those, would you?”
“Sure thing.” Levi’s brother gathered the straps and walked back to the stairs. They disappeared into a large black trash bag.
A hand ran over my bruised ribs. “Ow!”
My hands came up instinctively to block the painful touch. Levi grabbed my wrists hard and got rightin my face, the fierce gleam of his eyes breaking me out of my trance. This time his worry and fear registered. Levi was panicked—over me. “Be still, Abby,” he growled. “Let me see.” His tone softened the slightest bit. “I need to make sure you’re okay.”
I took a deep, steadying breath and pulled the hem of my sweatshirt up just under my breast. “I am. I promise. I’m in—”
“I’ll be the judgeof that.”
I held my tongue and let him reassure himself that I was only bruised. Eli was cleaning up, and I wondered how in the hell I could ever explain this to the police without Levi getting arrested. I couldn’t live with that, not now. I couldn’t face this alone.
“Safe combo?” Eli asked.
It took a moment to realize he was talking to me. I rattled the combination off from memory.
Eli shovedeverything from the safe into his handy trash bag. “Bro, gotta go.”
