Page 17 of Master of Lies

Click. Thunk.The growling rasp of the van door sliding open, and oh,shit...

They boiled out before I could inhale to scream. Men in ski masks, rushing me.

I shrieked bloody murder, kicking and struggling, but the wind and snow muffled my voice. They tossed me flat onto my back, knocking out my wind. I choked helplessly for air, and one of them grabbed my hair and jerked my head up. His breath smelled like something long dead. “Bitch,” he hissed, grabbing my throat.

His voice broke off, transforming into a startled, high-pitched grunt, and after a second, he landed on top of me, right on my head. Smothering me. Unmoving.

He was massively heavy. Dead weight, crushing me into the deep, powdery snow. I wiggled desperately, gasping for air, trying to get my head out from under him just to breathe, but it was all just snow, snow, snow. Hot, sticky liquid. Blood.

Muffled grunts, thuds, gasps. Shouts. I screamed with effort as I managed to shift the heavy, bleeding thing lying on top of me just enough to lift my face to see what was happening. Fighting men were silhouetted against the dim glow of the hotel door.

I saw the largest shadowy figure leap up, delivering a chopping blow that knocked him to the ground. Another man attacked the shadow man with a hoarse bellow of rage, but the shadow seized and spun him, faster than my eyes could follow, and rammed his head into the passenger window of the van, caving in the window.

Broken glass tinkled. Someone leaped onto the shadow man’s back. He flung himself and the piggy-backing guy backward against my car. He twisted and spun, grabbing the attacking man’s head.Crack…crack…crunch.Three blows, and the guy slid down in front of the open door of my car and lay there, unmoving.

Thttp, thttp.I heard dull, thudding pops as silenced bullets peppered my car, striking the huge body that lay on top of me like hammer blows. The shadow guy hit the ground, rolling, a gun coming up, taking swift aim...

Bam. Bam.Bam,he shot back. Then, silence, for a long, breathless interval.

The shadow man rose from the ground with the seamless, effortless ease of smoke rising. I focused on the gun in his hand as he moved toward me.

I was frozen. Literally, figuratively. Trapped in the snow under a cooling corpse, my mind blank with terror. He was the angel of death. He would rip out my heart and eat it.

But he just rolled the body off me with a sharp shove of his foot. He grabbed me under the armpits and hauled me to my feet, turning me so the light fell onto his face.

He wasn’t a pit of light-swallowing darkness in the shape of the man. He wore a Kalaharee prison coverall—but it was crimson, not orange. Because he was drenched with blood, head to foot. I just gazed at him, slack-jawed. Shaking violently.

“Hello, Sandee,” he said quietly.

It was Jed Clearwater.

CHAPTER7

Jed

It was official. I had a death wish. An extra special one, with a super-sized portion of stupidity piled on top. But I was too wiped out even to scold myself properly.

Sandee’s eyes were huge with shock. “Wha…wha…what are you d-d-doing…”

“Don’t play dumb.” My voice came out sharper than I intended. “I’m trying keep you from getting killed. God help me.”

“But I…but they…”

“No time to discuss it,” I said. “When those guys don’t report back, he’ll send reinforcements. We need to get gone.”

“He? Who do you mean? Who is he?”

“Later.” I picked up the pace, dragging her along, and then I noticed her shoes. Holy Jesus, those? In a fucking snowstorm?

I couldn’t help her out with that, other than carrying her, which would have slowed us down too much, so I just dragged her along behind me as swiftly as I could through the snow and into the vacant field behind the Dew Drop. I’d parked the Jeep on the other side of it, hoping to keep any security cameras that the hotel might have from catching a glimpse of it. There were two inches of fresh snow already piled on top when we got there. It was coming down fast.

I had gotten to Sandee just in time. Ten more seconds, and she would’ve been in that van with a bag over her head. Another casualty to lay at my door. Another concrete block chained to my foot, pulling me down to the bottom of the fucking ocean. So close.

I opened the door, and she turned, flailing at me, slapping and struggling, and oh, for fuck’s sake. Here I was, trying to save this girl’s life, and she was pitching a fit.

“Shut up, bitch, or I’ll knock you out.” I put on my best super villain tone.

It worked. She went as rigid as a board. More trauma, yay. But fuck it, I’d sort out the damage later. I shoved her into the passenger seat, yanked down the seatbelt. Strapped her in. “Stay right where you are. Or you’ll die tonight.”

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