Love Inspired Suspense April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 Laura Scott (speed reading book .txt) 📖

his side. “I called him to talk about it. He was at the training room.”

That was the quick call from him to Jared that night. It didn’t need to be a long call. Jared would know exactly what Gerald wanted to talk about.

“He met me here. It escalated. He was telling Karen about the affair and the money that I’d spent as well as giving back the tickets. Nothing I said changed his mind. I couldn’t—I just—I hit him with a paperweight that had been lying on my desk.”

Oh, Jared.

“I didn’t mean to kill him. But he stopped moving and I panicked.” He jammed the gun into her back and marched her in the side entrance to his office.

He’d moved Jared to keep from incriminating himself, and no one even looked at him because he was the only dad Jared knew. He barely remembered his real dad. The gun poked her side and she winced, already sore from the car wreck.

“What are you going to do with me?” she asked again. The fact he wasn’t answering that question terrified her.

Gerald wiped his nose on his sleeve. “I have no choice now. Since I couldn’t get the card, I’ve got to get out of town. Leave the country. I’m not going to prison, and I can’t face Karen. So you, Georgia, are the leverage I need to ensure I get out safely.”

She’d gone from armchair detective to hostage in a matter of days.

“I’m going to give you the combination to this safe, and you’re going to open it for me to get some cash and I’m getting out of town.”

Would he kill her? Was there a point?

Didn’t matter. He wasn’t thinking rationally or logically. He’d never make it out alive. But maybe that’s what he wanted—to die instead of facing his fears. Of prison. Of Karen despising him.

Fears had to be faced.

But she wasn’t facing hers. With shaky fingers, she knelt in his office and looked up at Gerald.

“Five.”

She pressed the five button.

“Six. One. Six. Eight.”

The door clicked.

“Open it and put the cash in this bag.” He placed a backpack on the chair next to the safe. Inside the safe was a wad of cash. Several thousand dollars.

“Now what?” She was afraid of the answer.

Gerald’s glance darted from one window to the other and then around the room to the cash. His breath came in gasps and pants as moisture leaked down his face like rivulets of rain on a window pane. Oh, yeah. The signs were obvious. She’d lived with them most of her life.

Panic.

One did not make rational or good choices in this state. But one thing she knew thanks to Celeste...coping skills.

“Gerald, you’re having a panic attack. I understand. You need to breathe.” Not that she wanted to help him, but helping him helped herself. “Deep breath in. And out.”

He wasn’t listening. A million horrific scenes and thoughts were playing out in his head. Growing worse and more dramatic. Been there, done that.

Somehow, she wasn’t panicking. Fear coursed through her. An unpredictable man with a gun was panicking. But there was a calm washing over her she couldn’t explain, other than the peace of God. He was with her. Through this.

“Listen to me,” she said softly. “You have to calm down. Breathe.”

Finally he made solid eye contact and listened and breathed. She walked him through inhales and exhales. “You’ve been through a lot and you’ve made a mess, but don’t make it worse. You need to let me go and turn yourself in.”

“I can’t. I—I won’t! Get up!”

So much for trying to make him see reason, but he had more of his faculties and he wasn’t as shaky; hopefully that sliver of control would keep her alive.

She rose slowly.

“Give me the bag.”

Georgia carefully handed him the backpack, and he slung it around his shoulder; the gun continued to stare her down. Gerald had killed Jared and attempted to murder her and Colt. Who was to say he wouldn’t kill her now?

Georgia had been so afraid of triggers she’d opted out of growing close to anyone and refused to allow herself the freedom to love Colt. She’d flat-out rejected him. Now she was literally staring down a trigger that could cut her off from everything.

Susan’s Would You Rather question looped through her brain, and right here as she fought for her life, all she could think about was Colt and yes, yes, it would be worth it to love him. And if the worst did happen, at least she would carry cherished memories of their love.

And he was willing to risk loving her, and who knew what tomorrow might bring to her? He’d be left to grieve her, but she was worth it to him. Love...love was worth it. Love was living. Taking risks and trusting God with each moment. Believing in Him to guide them and get them through for better or worse. She’d been so stupid. Letting fear control and dictate her life.

Now she might never even get the chance to reveal to Colt how she felt. That she was willing if he would give her a third chance. If she hadn’t hurt him past the point of forgiveness. Could she remind him forgiveness was a thing again and change his mind?

Could she live through this?

“Out the door. Now.”

“Where are we going?” she asked as she obeyed his commands and waited for an opportunity to make a break for it.

“I don’t know. I have to get out of town, and you’re my insurance that I get out unharmed.” He nudged her with the gun and forced her outside and toward the truck.

How far would he take this? Take her?

And when he realized it was a fruitless effort, would he dispose of her?

Colt had never experienced the kind of anxiety and panic Georgia talked of until now. Now he was displaying every symptom, and he could not make his mind shut down as thoughts of a dead Georgia played out on a constant loop in his mind.

Use