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

Murderous rage flared in her eyes. Fear pulsed through him. Not for himself, but for Jonah and Paige.

“How about Calvin Pope? He would have been vindicated if it were proven that the accident wasn’t his fault.”

“Who cares about Old Goat Pope? Nobody ever liked him in the first place. Just as well he died when he did.”

“And his family?”

“What about them? His old lady was a shrew, and the son was weird. They never amounted to anything fifteen years ago, and they sure don’t now. You can’t compare them to what I’ve accomplished, to what I can do for the state. And beyond.”

But Liam wasn’t listening to her self-aggrandized visions and looked at her incredulously. “Is that your excuse for letting Pope take the rap and destroying five families?”

“Like I said, who cares?” Reva asked in a bored tone. “But now I have to do something with you. I was afraid you and that little friend of yours were getting too close, which is why I hired those first two idiots to take you out. They failed miserably.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned since I’ve been in politics, it’s that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” She shook her head with feigned sadness. “The work ethic of today isn’t what it used to be.” She looked at him thoughtfully. “You’re a hard man to kill, Liam.”

“Should I apologize?”

“No need. I’ll feel real regret at having to shoot you, but you haven’t left me any choice.”

“There’s always a choice.”

“Don’t be naive. You know everything. And how do I know that you weren’t the one blackmailing me in the first place?”

“You really believe that?”

“No. Probably not. You’re too much a Boy Scout for blackmail.”

“That didn’t stop you from trying to kill me.”

“I couldn’t take the risk of believing anyone innocent. Even you. I had to keep staging the accidents until the blackmail stopped. That’s the only way I’d know for sure that I got the right person. It’s too late to turn back now.” Her voice took on an almost pleading note. “You see that, don’t you? I didn’t have a choice.”

“Listen to yourself. You’re justifying murder just to keep your secret.” He didn’t bother concealing the contempt in his voice.

“That secret is the only thing standing in my way of getting out of this small-potatoes town and becoming somebody. I’m going to win a seat in the state legislature and from there...who knows? Maybe a congressional seat one day. And after that? There’s no limit to what I can do.”

Gone was the pleading.

In its place was a haughty arrogance, accompanied by a naked hunger for power. How had he ever thought of her as Marie’s harmless if annoying little sister? This was a woman convinced of her absolute right to do whatever she deemed necessary on her quest to achieve her goals, no matter who she had to kill to get there.

She aimed her gun at him. “You can buy yourself a little more time if you tell me what you have on me. It would really be a shame if I have to kill you right now.”

THIRTEEN

Paige found a rear entrance.

The back of the building was a rabbit warren of hallways leading to rooms filled with manufacturing machines, their hulks casting huge shadows, each providing a hiding place for a predator. The factory stirred up whirling, churning memories of when Ethan had been killed.

Her palms grew wet, her mouth dry.

Three years of nightmares threatened to spill over and out. An inner voice shrieked at her to turn and run, but she held to her course. The only thing that kept her moving forward was that Liam was depending on her to find his son. She began the tedious process of checking each room until she heard sounds from a television coming from a room at the end of a hallway.

Approaching cautiously, she kept to the side of the hallway. The door to the room was partially open, and she saw two men tipped back in chairs, eating and watching TV. In the back of the room was Jonah on a cot, hands and feet bound. Fury rose in her, fury and a deep desire to make the men pay for their part in terrifying a little boy.

Jonah saw her, opened his mouth, but she put a finger to her lips. He nodded in understanding.

She approached as quietly as possible, then disabled the first man with a hard chop to the back of his neck.

The other man jumped up from his chair and spun around. He lunged toward her, reaching for her shoulder. She ducked under his arm and got behind him, grabbed his hand in a sophisticated joint lock, and then forced his hand back over his forearm in an aikido move she’d picked up in her close quarters battle training. She’d excelled at CQB and hand-to-hand combat and was grateful to have them in her arsenal now.

He yowled with pain as she twisted harder, bringing him to his knees. From there, it was easy enough to force him to the floor. She didn’t give him time to recover but was on him and pressed her thumbs to the vulnerable spot in his neck. It was lights out for him.

Quickly, she disarmed the men, tucked their weapons in her vest, then secured their hands behind their backs with the flexicuffs she’d brought with her and tied their ankles together with lengths of rope she took from her vest.

She crossed the room to Jonah. The little boy was as cute as his pictures promised. She knew he had to be frightened and approached him slowly. “Jonah, I’m a friend of your daddy’s,” she said and undid the ropes binding his hands and feet. She blinked back tears upon seeing the reddened areas where the ropes had bitten tender skin. “We’re here to take you home.”

Hope widened his eyes. “Daddy’s here?”

“Yes. We need to find a safe place for you