Page 105 of Sleigh Bells and Snowstorms
Rage seared through me, and I growled through clenched teeth. “I’ll fucking kill you.”
“So angry. I take it you like this one. Good. That makes our game much more fun.”
“This isn’t a game.”
“Isn’t it? But I’m having such a good time.”
“Why her? Why not come after me?”
“I told you. You took something from me. I’m simply returning the favor.”
The dot on the map picked up speed. Was Natalie with Julian? Or did Archer have her?
The wind gusted, and the snow filled my field of vision. I had to stop; I couldn’t see where I was going.
“Let me talk to her.”
“No, we’re not going to do that.”
“What the fuck do you want?”
“I want you to know that I beat you. You thought you won this round, but you didn’t.”
The line went dead.
In an instant, I realized what was happening. Not only was Archer Prince behind the heist of the Emerald Crown but he also had Natalie. And it was a trap.
He knew I’d come for her. He was using her to get to me. To kill me, most likely. Prevent me from interfering in any more of his carefully planned endeavors.
My eyes narrowed, and I gripped the steering wheel. I was going to spring his trap. I had no choice. Saving Natalie was paramount. Nothing else mattered.
But that bastard had no idea who he was dealing with. I was walking straight into an ambush. He knew it. I knew it.
And I was still going to win.
CHAPTER 27
Natalie
Being grabbed in the back of a boutique and shoved into a car at gunpoint had not been on my holiday Bingo card. But there I was.
I lay across the back seat, zip-tied at the wrists and ankles, not wearing a seat belt. You’d think that last one wouldn’t have worried me as much as it did, considering I’d just been abducted. And there was a gun. But the storm made it almost impossible to see, and I didn’t care how fancy Julian’s car was. If we crashed, I was dead.
The so-called self-defense class I’d taken in college had been useless. The whole thing had happened too fast. One second, I was waiting for the restroom, and the next, I was being dragged outside into the cold.
He’d hit me upside the head before I had the chance to scream or fight back. He hadn’t knocked me unconscious, but the blow had stunned me enough that he’d been able to get me in the back of his car. While I was still in a daze, he’d brandished the gun and zip-tied my feet and ankles.
Maybe I had blacked out for a minute because I couldn’t remember him closing the door or getting in the driver’s seat.The next thing I knew, I was lying across the back seat of a moving car with a brutal headache.
“Where are we going?” I asked, my voice hoarse from the pain.
“You’re awake,” Julian answered. “You know, you’re not a bad actress. You actually had me fooled for a while.”
I didn’t reply.
“Stupid mistake on my part. I knew you were with Lakes. I actually bought your story about being his already forgotten one-night stand. I felt sorry for you. What the hell is that?”
“The necklace is gone.”
