Because You're Mine(83)

Barry marched Alanna to the stairs and followed his captives. She tried to think of how she could be disarming him. All she could do was sidle down the steps and watch for an opportunity to avert whatever he had planned.

The group reached the hallway. Liam stumbled once as he led them along the curving path to the staircase to the first floor. Alanna started to go to him, but Barry jerked her back against him. She put her hand on her belly. Somehow there would be a way out of this. Her baby was depending on her for life.

Liam reached the foyer, then leaned against the wall. Alanna expected him to go sliding to the floor any second. His face was paper white, and his eyes were glassy.

“Help him,” Barry barked to his mother. He nodded at Liam who closed his eyes.

Patricia started to shake her head, then evidently reconsidered when Barry’s eyes narrowed. Huffing, she grabbed Liam’s arm before he could sink to the floor.

“What are you going to do to us?” Alanna asked. If she could keep him talking, maybe they could figure out how to be getting the gun away.

“Out there!” He nodded to the front door. “While the eye is going over.”

Alanna hadn’t noticed the quiet, but she heard it now: the sudden absence of wind, rain, and thunder.

Grady stumbled to the door and opened it. He held it open for his stepmother to help Liam out to the porch. Barry prodded Alanna forward with him. “I’ve got the door,” he told Grady. “Go on out. But no funny stuff.”

The scent of ozone and moisture rushed over her face when she stepped into the yard. Overhead the clouds swirled around the edges of a blue sky. The effect made her dizzy. The barometer would be low. Maybe that accounted for the way she struggled to breathe. Or maybe it was not knowing what Barry planned.

Barry motioned them toward the lake. “That way.”

Having flooded their banks, the lake waters were only thirty feet from the mansion. The ground squished under Alanna’s bare feet, and the cold and clammy mud chilled her. Moments later they stood at the edge of the water. Did he think they’d willingly walk into the water and drown? He must be daft.

The gun barrel in her ribs was beginning to bruise her skin. She pulled away slightly, and Barry shoved her away. She fell to her knees in the mud. Liam jerked away from Patricia and knelt by her side. He was shaking as if from a fever, but his skin chilled her when she touched him. She didn’t like the breathless panting she heard from his chest.

He needed a doctor. And quickly.

“Get up,” Barry said.

She was more than ready to obey, because she heard a splash in the water, followed by the now-familiar gator roar. Pete was nearby. Holding tight to Liam, she rose. Liam leaned heavily against her.

“Into the water with you.” Barry sounded almost happy.

Patricia folded her arms across her chest. “Absolutely not.”

“I could shoot you instead,” Barry said. “The gator will dispose of any evidence. If you go in of your own will, at least you have a chance to swim to safety.”

A false assurance. Alanna was quite certain Pete wasn’t the only gator in this lake. She’d heard too many bellows. The lake churned with flotsam from the storm. She wasn’t a strong swimmer. Liam was too weak to put up too much of a fight. Grady might make it, but she suspected Patricia couldn’t swim at all. She was much too prissy to want to get her hair wet long enough to learn.

“How are you going to explain the fact that we all went into the water?” Alanna asked.

Barry shrugged. “I’ll push the Mercedes in after you and tell the police that Patricia was suffering from chest pains so you tried to get her to the hospital. The driveway is flooded. The Mercedes would never get through.”

Alanna glanced to her right. Everything he’d said was true. The police would believe him too. She could see a scenario like he’d stated playing out perfectly. The plan was too audacious. No one would think he had planned and carried out a plot to kill all four of them. She saw Grady glance at the knife in Liam’s belt, then his eyes flickered away.

She had to keep Barry’s attention on her. Forcing a smile, she took a step toward him. “Barry, I’m your wife. We can work this out.”

His expression went even colder. “A cheating wife. You’ve never once let me past the bedroom door.”

She took a step closer. “That can change. We can begin again.” Had Grady managed to get the knife? She couldn’t look.

“Quit dallying. The eye will be past soon.” His cold gaze settled on Grady. “You first, brother.”

Grady smiled. “Let’s talk about this. We’re brothers, Barry. You won’t want to have no family left at all.”

“Some family I have. I’ll be better off with you all dead. Then I can do what I want.” He gestured with the knife again. “In you go, brother.”

Grady started toward the water, then hesitated and half turned as if to say more to Barry. His hand came up out of his pocket.

Alanna saw the gleam of metal, then a knife sailed through the air and buried itself up to the hilt in Barry’s chest.

Barry’s eyes widened. His hand clutched the knife as if he meant to yank it out, then his mouth opened and blood poured out. He fell to his knees and pitched forward. He lay there only a moment, then got to his hands and knees and staggered to his feet. His arm wavered, and he started to raise the hand holding the gun.