Page 168 of Christmas Kisses

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Kara limped through the woods seeking a way out of this mess, but she saw no means of escape. The maniac walked two steps behind her, his gun in his hand, pointing right at her. She kept feeling the phantom sensation of a bullet blazing into her back, burning through her flesh, shattering her bones, piercing her vital organs. She knew he wouldn’t hesitate to pull that trigger if she tried to escape. And she kept jerking and wincing as she thought of him tripping over a root or stepping in a hole and shooting her accidentally.

She searched the forest, hoping for some kind of help to arrive, for some kind of sign to show her what she was supposed to do. She kept one hand in her pocket, where she clutched the pink stone Selene had given her, and prayed for a miracle.

Closing her eyes, she thought of Jimmy. She wondered briefly if she would ever see him again. Swallowing hard, she stopped walking.

“What are you doing?” Vinnie demanded. “Get moving, woman.”

She straightened to her full height and turned to face him. “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”

He looked her squarely in the eyes. “Not just yet. Unless you push it”

“Then what are you going to do?”

He pursed his lips. “Use you. You’re my passport out of here.” Then he lowered his head, though he kept his eyes on hers. “I’m going to have to leave the country. That kid was my ticket. Now you’re taking his place.”

“So you knew you never had any chance of staying here, a free man. You assaulted a cop. Kidnapped his son, and now his fiancée.” She swallowed hard. “Angela’s dead.”

“I didn’t know that when I tossed her into the trunk with you. Sorry about that.”

She narrowed her eyes on him. “Don’t you even care that she’s dead?”

“Why should I care? She was worthless. Loved cocaine more than she loved her own kid. Helped me kidnap him for God’s sake. All I had to do to coax her along was keep feeding her that damn powder. Freaking junkies. They’re all the same.”

Kara closed her eyes.

“I don’t have to kill you, you know. Doesn’t matter much that you know who I am. Like I said, I gotta skip the States anyway. And I don’t plan to come back. You cooperate with me, be a good hostage, get me out of here, and I might just let you live.”

She opened her eyes again and searched his. “Do you mean that?”

“I do. I get clear of this place and I’ll let you go. You can run right back to that hole-in-the-wall town of yours. Put on your white dress. Have the wedding you were planning to have, the life you were planning to have. You can be Tyler’s mommy. Hell, you’d be a million times the mom Angie ever could have been. It’ll be great. You’ll have a husband who loves you. A great kid to raise. A happy little family, just like you’ve probably been dreaming about your whole life.”

Kara frowned. “You’re doing to me just what you did to Angela, aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about? I’m offering you a deal. Cooperate, don’t give me any trouble and—”

“And you’ll give me the drug I crave, right?” She shook her head slowly. “You’re good at reading people, I’ll give you that much. You know how bad I want that pretty picture you’ve painted for me. That happy dream. And you’re using it to make me do what you want me—what youneedme to do.”

He shrugged. “I get what I want, you get what you want, right? What’s so bad about that?”

“It’s not going to work, Vinnie. Not with me. Jimmy doesn’t love me. All he wants is a mother for his son.”

He lifted his brows. “You sure about that?”

She nodded.

“You were going to marry him anyway, though.”

“Yeah, I was. For Ty’s sake. But it’s far from my dream come true. If I die out here, Jim will just find some other woman to help him raise Tyler. And he’ll pick a good one, too.”

“So you’re saying no deal?”

She lifted her chin. “I’m not going to help a man like you get away with murder, “Vinnie.”

“Murder. What murder? Angie killed herself.”

“You fed her the drugs. You ordered the murder of Jim’s partner, Colby. You deal in child porn and you kidnapped a little boy—would have killed him, too, if I hadn’t got him away from you.” She shook her head. “Sorry, Vinnie. No deal. If you’re going to kill me, do it and get it over with. I’m not walking another step to help you.”

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