“No.” She would tell him anything if it got him to move that gun away from Rye’s head.
He pointed the gun at her and took a deep breath. “You walk in front of me. I hear one scream out of you, and I shoot him and that other fucker, you understand?”
She nodded and started to walk. Tommy pointed to the woods they’d just driven through. She started up the steep climb. It led back to the road she’d nearly driven off of earlier in the week.
“How did you find me?” Rachel asked quietly as she climbed. Quigley panted beside her. She wished that Max and Rye had trained the big, dumb dog to kill. Here was an animal of mammoth proportions, which should have been a vicious predator, and instead he ambled along beside her, probably hoping for a treat.
“I found you because I’m smarter than you, Liz,” Tommy rasped. She could hear he was already struggling with the altitude. They were going up a slow, steady incline. Tommy was in shape, but he came from a place that was barely above sea level. Rachel had weeks of acclimation on him. They were still too close to the house, she thought as they walked into the woods. When they got farther up, she would run. She had no intention of docilely getting into his truck. If he wanted to kill her, he was going to have to work for it.
“That backhills sheriff you’ve been fucking called around looking for information on one Rachel Swift,” Tommy explained. “Stupid. I figured out you had help a long time ago. I traced a line from that nosy, interfering nurse to a man named Lonnie Hayes. He’s a two-striker, Liz. He helps out the nurse, but his main business is fake IDs for kids and people who want to disappear. I leaned on him. He spat out your fake names faster than my fists worked. No one wants to go to jail. Those high-and-mighty principles go straight out the door when a person is faced with hard time.”
Rachel’s heart was pounding. She thought about all the people who helped her along the way. What kind of danger had she placed them in? “Did you kill him?”
Tommy laughed. “No, but he didn’t work for a while. It’s hard to type when your hands are broken. I did kill old Auntie Sadie, though.”
Rachel stopped and turned. She had a sudden vision of her sweet, elderly aunt. She’d been so kind to her as a child. “You killed my aunt?”
Tommy shrugged. “I knew you would come see her one last time. You couldn’t help yourself. She was on her way out anyway. I just gave her a shove in the right direction.”
Rachel’s hands started to shake, and it was with a righteous anger. That anger was blocking out fear and all of her survival instincts. This man had taken everything from her. He’d terrified her and made her life miserable. He’d driven away her friends and killed her dog. She’d lost her job and her aunt and her home to him. And why? Because she wouldn’t go on a second date with him? Because she wouldn’t cede her body to him and take his abuse?
“You bastard,” she said, not recognizing the growl that came from her throat. It was a predatory growl, not the sound of a prey animal.
“You watch your tongue with me, girl,” Tommy said. His every word dripped with threat.
“How dare you?” Rachel snarled. “You pathetic piece of shit. Do you have any idea the hell you’ve put me through?”
“No less than you’ve put me through, Liz.” His dark eyes were glassy. “You women think you can take and take from a man and never have to give back.”
“I didn’t take anything from you!” Rachel screamed. “You are delusional if you think for one second that we had any kind of a relationship.”
“I loved you!” Tommy didn’t seem to care now that his voice resounded through the trees. “You treated me like shit, and I won’t take it. I don’t take that from any woman.”
She was through, she realized with a shock. She was through running, and she was through taking his crap. With a rage she hadn’t known herself capable of, she launched herself at him.
His eyes widened as she threw her body at him. It seemed to take him off guard, and his hand flew back. Rachel heard the gun go off as it hit the ground yards away. Quigley barked and ran away. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was showing Tommy Lane that she wasn’t his victim anymore. Rachel let herself go. She screamed and scratched at him. She used her nails on his face and tried to get at his eyes. She was satisfied with his groan as she planted her knee in his belly when he fell back to the ground.
It didn’t take him long to recover. After a moment of trying to guard his face, Tommy shoved at her with his strong arms. He pushed against her chest, and she flew back. She hit the ground and tried to scramble up. It was too late. He was fast. He was on his feet in an instant, hauling her up by her hair.
“You think I need that gun, Liz?” He spat the question in her ear. She gritted her teeth against the pain in her scalp. He pulled her close. They were chest to chest. “I was never going to use that gun on you. It’s too fast. It wouldn’t teach you the lesson you need to learn.”
His mouth was pressed to her ear. She struggled, but he held her firmly.
“I brought this for you, Liz,” he whispered as though he’d brought her flowers he wanted her to admire.
Rachel swallowed as he pulled out a wicked-looking knife. The silver knife glittered in the sunlight. It was long, and there was no question what it was used for. Some knives had a utilitarian purpose. This knife had been made to kill.
“It’s for you, Liz. I made it special, and I’ll bury it with you.”
He started to pull the knife back. Rachel knew she had mere seconds before he shoved it into her belly. She brought her knee up as hard as she could and aimed directly for his testicles. He groaned as she made rough contact. His hand let go of her hair. She stumbled backward.
“You bitch!” Tommy screamed as he cupped himself.
Rachel didn’t think. She turned and ran. She felt Quigley running beside her, but she couldn’t afford to look down. She just ran, knowing Tommy was behind her every step of the way. If she could just make it to the road, she knew Mel’s house was right across the way. She would start screaming. If she had any luck at all, he would hear her and come running.
Tears streamed down her face as she ran. Branches and shrubs cut into her. She ignored them. Her lungs burned. Still she ran. She could hear him catching up.
“I’m going to make you scream, bitch!”
She moved to the left. She could see the road come into view. She was almost there. Then she was falling. She hit the ground hard. The breath was knocked from her lungs as she slammed down. Her ankle twisted painfully.
She forced herself to turn over and tried to get up, but she’d tripped on a rock. Her ankle was swelling before her eyes. Her heart seized. They would find her here. Max and Rye—please let him be alive—they would find her body here. They would be so heartbroken. She would give anything for just one more minute with them.
“Poor Liz,” Tommy said, walking slowly toward her. The knife was in his hand. He looked satisfied that she couldn’t run anymore. It was apparent from the light in his eyes that he wanted to play with her.
Quigley nudged her with his nose, and Rachel realized he had something in his mouth. He dropped it on her lap. Quigley had gone after the gun. Someone had thrown it, so in his doggy mind, it was something to be fetched. His huge mouth had easily carried the handgun.
Without hesitation, Rachel picked up the gun and fired. There was no warning. He had given her none. There was no request to stop or she would shoot. There was not even the inkling in her mind that now she could send him to jail. There was only the need to be free of him once and for all. Rachel pulled the trigger again.
He looked down at the expanding red blossom on his chest. His eyes registered a dull sort of shock. He staggered toward her, still holding the knife as though he would take her with him.