“Yes.”
“There’s one approaching now. Looks like a fishing boat, but?—”
“Better to be safe than sorry. Okay. Time to speed this up. Grab him.” He snaps his fingers, and two of the guards rip me off of the ground.
I fight, thrashing my body, but the grip they have on me is far too strong.
“If you ask me, you’re getting off easy,” the guard to my left growls.
I don’t bite—because my focus is on the open safe in front of me. Just large enough for two people to slowly suffocate to death.
They shove me inside.
Emma screams.
“Don’t worry, little dove, you’re going in there too.”
“No! Leave her alone! This is between us. I’m the one you’re mad at.” If she makes it off this boat, she stands a chance at escape. My brothers will come for her. I know they will.
Heath shoves her into the safe with me. “I have no use for her. Mattheus just signed over the entire Karver fortune to a corporation that I own.”
“Your plan all along?” Keep him talking.
Heath grins. “Now I want you to die knowing that I plan to tear that ranch apart even if it means burning the entire town of Pine Creek to the ground.”
Rain falls in a single sheet, soaking the boat deck in an instant. The ship rocks, creaking as it rises and falls with the waves. Emma closes her eyes tightly, her hands squeezed into fists right in front of her face.
“This isn’t the end,” I tell him. “Even if we die here today, what’s coming to you is so much worse.”
“And what’s that?”
“Judgment day.”
He smirks. “I don’t fear fiction, cowboy.”
“My God is very real, and you’re going to find out way too late if you go through with this.”
“I’ll take my chances.” He steps back, gun still aimed at Emma. “Seal it up, then throw it over.”
Emma sobs, her entire body shaking.
The door to the safe slams shut, and the locks engage, plunging us into darkness.
God, be with us. Please, Lord. If it’s not good, then I know You’re not done.
“Baby, breathe.”
I can feel rather than see Emma shake her head.
Outside, I hear the faint hum of a motor seconds before the safe is lifted. I pull her closer to me, hugging her to my chest. Step one, make sure we survive the fall.
Thunder booms.
Step two, find a way to get out of the safe.
Step three—Lord, please let there be a step three.
The movement stops.
