“Tell them you’ve got things to do,” a rough voice ground out in a near whisper. “Or I’ll shoot you first, and them second.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, adrenaline racing through my veins. “Sorry, guys,” I apologized, trying desperately to keep my voice even for their safety. “I have some things to take care of. You go on ahead without me.”
“Sure thing, Miss Simmons,” Grant said cheerfully as I closed the door, his attention already turned back to Yejin and the screen.
The door clicked shut, sealing my fate, and hopefully saving their lives in the process.
“Good,” the man said. “Now, you’re going to turn around slowly and walk over to the couch.”
I didn’t argue. I did exactly as I was told, fearing the worst. The raw emotions that threatened to choke me in that parkinggarage’s stairwell crawled back up my throat and suffocated me once more. Fighting them back was a struggle, but if I didn’t get control of them, it could mean my death, and that of the ones that meant the most to me. Innocents.
Yejin. Jun.
Behind me stood a man I’d seen once before, at the wheel of a car that’d tried to run me off the road when I was eight months pregnant with Yejin. A man who tried to kill me on more than one occasion.
“So glad you showed up when you did, Miss Simmons. I’ve been expecting you. And I’d have hated things to get messy.”
The man who’d put a gun to my head in a stairwell a week ago and threatened me.
You should’ve just gotten rid of the kid when we told you to.
The man who’d made threatening calls to me, warning me this would happen.
Ding. Fourth floor.
A man who now held a gun to the side of my head, with my daughter in the next room.
“Let them go,” I said calmly, though I was anything but. “They’re not who you want.” My hands clenched the cloth fabric of the couch at my side, hoping he’d shift so I could get to my phone and call the panic line, or 911.”
“You’re very smart, Miss Simmons,” he droned on, sliding around to my left. “But so are we.”
His gun moved around to the left side of my head, and I flinched to cover the subtle shift of my right arm as I slipped it into my pocket and held down the button to emergency dial.
I just hoped speed dial worked like it used to.
“What do you want from me?” I asked slowly, hating that I had no way to know if help was even on the way or not. The urge to get up and wrestle with him for the gun was building withevery second that passed by, but doing something stupid like that would only make things worse.
“You could have solved this whole problem seven years ago, you know. But the foolish girl you were back then thought she could beat a powerful record label.” His gun slipped down the side of my cheek, cold and unwelcome and frightening. “You couldn’t have just died when we tried to kill you, either. No, not you. You were stubborn.” The barrel found the underside of my chin and tipped my head back, making me look my assailant in the eyes. “You survived, you skipped town, and then you left that kid with the one person who would guarantee we wouldn’t touch her.” His hands fisted in my hair, holding my head back as he traced the line of my throat with his gun. “We had to take him as damaged goods or lose out on him entirely.”
“Having a kid doesn’t make him damaged goods,” I argued, needing to buy time. “Why did you come to Mr. Kim’s house if you were after me?” I hoped the security team was on the other end of the line. That they could hear the clues I was dropping. They’d track my cellphone eventually, but saving them time might be the difference between living and dying.
And I wanted so very badly to live right now. At least until I could see the interior of my own townhouse one more time.
“Having a kid means he’s a liability. An uncertainty. But we’re willing to deal with that.”
I watched his eyes flick to the theater room, where Yejin and Grant were holed up, unsuspecting, unaware. How long before Yejin decided she needed a drink, or Grant’s lesson was over? How much time did I have before this became a situation involving them as well?
“So you’re here to kidnap her and force his hand,” I said suddenly, realizing the true intent behind their bullshit.
“Well, we’re also here to tie up loose ends, too. You see, being smart isn’t always a good thing, Miss Simmons. And since youknow what we’re capable of, and now what we’re planning, I think you understand why we can’t let you live.”
Can’t let me live?“I don’t plan on dying any time soon.”
“You don’t get a choice in the matter,” he growled, yanking me to my feet.
How much could I struggle against him without alerting Yejin and Grant in the other room?
He tugged on my arm, and I grabbed him with a snarl, digging my nails into the soft skin of his bicep. He didn’t cry out, but the pain on his face gave me a little joy that buoyed me up even as his gun barrel dug into my side again.
