Cold Spite (Cold Justice: Most Wanted #5)

Chapter 67

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

D elilah found herself lifted up off her feet and manhandled so she couldn’t reach her weapon. He slammed her against the tree, winding her so bad she couldn’t catch a breath. Then he snatched her Glock from the holster in her waistband and banded one arm around her waist, placing a meaty hand over her mouth, smothering her cries. He carried her into the dark garage as she struggled wildly. He closed the side door behind him with his foot, and she bit down on his palm hard enough to taste blood.

He pulled his hand away and punched her in the side of the head, the same place where the bullet had grazed her yesterday.

She grunted.

“Virgil?” A man’s voice called through the dimly lit garage.

He clamped her jaw shut with a strength that felt like it might crush her bones. He stretched her neck back, and she had no problem believing he’d snap her in two if she uttered a sound.

“Yes, Pop?”

“I’m going to go grab a coffee. You want one?”

“Nah. I’m good. But lock up the front, huh? I need to do some paperwork.”

The man’s erection pressed into her ass, and a new brand of fear assailed her .

She began struggling again, but the other man had already left, and she found herself half carried, half dragged to the back room that served as an office. And the man who’d ambushed her pushed her inside and locked the door behind him with a quiet snick.

They stared at one another, breathing hard.

His eyes narrowed, and she suddenly knew this wasn’t Virgil. This was Joseph. And she was trapped inside this small space with a man who hated her guts and had already tried to kill her once.

“You know, most people would be shocked at the idea you’d murder your own brother to switch places with him. But not me. I always knew you were a psychopath.”

His eyes flared, and maybe the fact she’d told him she’d guessed his secret wasn’t the smartest move on her part.

“You think I’m the only one who’s gonna figure it out? You should run, now, while you still have a chance. Steal a boat and head to Mexico. The FBI is in town. But you knew that already.”

“I probably should run, but I have waited too long and fantasized too hard about this moment, and they’re still out there, chasing their tails. Now I’m gonna put your smart mouth to good use.”

She snarled. “If you wanna risk it.”

He grabbed her by the shirt and ripped the buttons apart. She remembered her self-defence training and brought her fists up and into his lower jaw, snapping his head back. But he caught her by a fistful of hair and yanked her around and slammed her into the desk, head first.

Her bones wanted to turn to jelly as he fought with the button on her pants. He was going to rape her—like he’d promised all those years ago. Her hands scrabbled across the desk, knocking off papers, searching for anything to use as a weapon. Her fingers closed around a pencil, and she gripped it firmly, hope and desperation surging in equal measure .

He got his hand inside her zipper, and she rolled on top of it, trapping it so he couldn’t move.

Impatiently, he flipped her up and slammed her onto her back, once more knocking the wind out of her lungs. He dragged her jeans down her legs, and she kicked him in the face, relishing the yell of pain he released, but he grabbed on to her ankles and forced her legs apart. He unbuckled his pants and freed himself, then leaned down to leer at her.

“When I’m finished with you, I’m going to throw your body in the bayou where the fish will eat the rotting flesh off your bones and the gators will feast on what’s left.”

Her heart raced so fast in her chest she thought it might give out. Blood rushed through her ears in a steady whoosh. She smelled his sour breath in her face. Felt him hard between her thighs. His hand wrapped around her neck and squeezed hard enough to let her know exactly how he intended to kill her.

“Joseph,” she whispered and licked her lips. She gripped the pencil tighter. She’d have one chance at this. He had more than a hundred pounds advantage, and it was all solid muscle. Plus, he was smart in the ways of killing and hadn’t hesitated to bash in Val’s skull or shoot his own brother.

He leaned closer to hear her words.

“You know I hate you.” Without dropping his gaze, she drove the pencil into his left ear with her whole might.

He collapsed on top of her, unmoving, pinning her to the desk so completely she could barely draw breath.

She needed to get him off her, but she didn’t have the strength. She didn’t know what the father would do if he found them like this. The thought this battle might not be the end of the war had her trying to shift Joseph’s bulk, but her arms were too weak.

Tears of frustration welled up.

And then sounds came. Sounds she craved. Sounds that filled her with joy and relief.

“FBI. Open up.”

Sounds of agents making their way inside the garage .

“In here!”

Her whole body was shaking. She didn’t want her colleagues to see her this way but the sooner she could get away from Scanlon’s touch and smell the better.

“In here.” Her voice was thin and scratchy.

The door crashed open, and there was the man she loved with her whole heart standing with a stricken look in his eyes. Two other men she didn’t know flanked him.

“Joseph’s dead. I killed him with a pencil.”

She almost giggled at the absurdity of what she’d just said but that was the shock kicking in. Nothing about this was funny.

Cas dragged Scanlon off of her by the scruff of his sweatshirt and quickly shrugged out of the camouflage jacket he wore.

She still couldn’t move.

The other men averted their eyes as Cas eased her gently upright and wrapped the jacket around her shoulders. He held her gaze, the deep yellow of his eyes reminding her of a haunted tiger.

“Are you…?”

She pulled up her pants with shaky hands. “He didn’t rape me. He was going to. He planned to kill me and dump me in the river afterwards, but I grabbed a pencil off the desk and remembered what you guys said earlier in the SUV.” She felt sick. “I didn’t think it was going to work.”

Tears filled her eyes then and flowed down her cheeks. “Thank you for finding me.”

“Thank you for killing him.” Cas zipped up the jacket and then picked her up in his arms and carried her out. And in that moment, she knew exactly how much she loved this man and how much she wanted to spend the rest of her days with him.