A Matter Of Justice (Grey Justice #4)(2)

“You know what’s going to happen if you continue to disobey me, don’t you?”

The words registered. He saw the panic turn to something else—obedience. She took a step forward.

“Leave the girl alone,” Andrew Bishop shouted. “This is between us and you. She’s not part of this.”

“Oh, I beg to differ. She’s the most integral part.”

He was safe, hidden behind the thick wall. He couldn’t see the man or the woman, but he knew where they were. He would keep a wary eye open for his opponents, but he focused most of his attention on the girl. She was his key to staying alive and his ticket out of here.

“Get over here. Now!” he whispered harshly.

She took another step forward. Shots exploded toward him. Pieces of plaster and shattered wood stung his face. Dammit, she would pay for that, too.

“Come here or else.”

“No! You don’t have to do this,” Natalie Bishop screamed. “We can—”

He fired a shot toward the woman to shut her up. The girl might change her mind. She was a weak, malleable puppet, but dammit, she was his. He had created her and would use her for as long as he wanted.

“I said, come here!” he barked.

The quick shake of her head told him he was going to have to take a more direct approach. He blew out a breath. He hated to make concessions, even fake ones. He had no choice. He was as good a killer as there had ever been, but these two were almost as good. Two against one was not a fair fight.

He began to talk to her, whispering promises he would never keep. His voice was one of his most powerful attributes. Even when she wouldn’t respond to anything else, his voice had a mesmerizing quality that never failed. He spoke low enough so only she could hear. His words were incessant as he repeated key phrases that would elicit a certain response. Each one penetrated her weak defenses.

She believed him. He could literally see her changing her mind as he continued his litany of persuasion. She took a step toward him, then another. Her movements were stiff and automatic, as if she were in a trance.

“No!”

The woman’s shout was too late. The instant the girl was close, he grabbed a fistful of hair and jerked her toward him. Wrapping his forearm around her neck, he put his mouth close to her ear. “Stay still, you little idiot, or I’ll snap your neck like a twig.”

The girl was stiff in his arms, but defiance vibrated through her body. Fury exploded. She would pay for her betrayal.

He and the girl were almost the same height, making her the perfect shield. He stepped out from behind the wall.

“Let the girl go,” Bishop said in a quiet, moderate tone. “We’ll all back away and forget this happened.”

He almost laughed at the lie. Letting the girl go was not an option. He’d be dead the instant she was out of harm’s way.

“That’s not the way this game is played,” he snarled. “Put your weapons down and the girl lives. That’s your only option.”

“The girl means nothing to you,” the woman snapped. “We’ll leave you alone. Just give us the girl.”

“You’re not hearing me. She is mine. Mine to do with as I please. However, I’ll spare her life. All you have to do is drop your weapons.”

“He won’t kill me,” the girl cried out. “Please. Just go! Get out of the house and—”

“Shut up,” he snarled. Tightening his arm around her neck, he let her feel the impending threat. She knew he would kill her. She’d seen him do it to others.

She shifted slightly in his arms, relaxing a bit. Good, he was finally getting through to her. Now he just had to—

Agony exploded. He glanced down to see a knife sticking out of his upper thigh. The little bitch had stabbed him!

Ignoring the searing pain wasn’t easy, but the anger helped. Game-playing was over. She would pay for her defiance, for the pain and aggravation she had caused. He wrapped an arm around her arms and then tightened the hold he had on her neck, cutting off her blood supply and ability to breathe.

She struggled vainly in his arms, fighting the inevitable.

“Stop it!” the woman screamed. “You’re killing her.”

“Put. Your. Guns. Down,” he ground between clinched teeth.

“You kill her and you’re a dead man,” Bishop snapped.

“She’ll be dead in less than a minute. Drop your guns.”

The man and woman looked at each other. They knew there was little choice. Either the girl died, or they did.

As if they could read each other with their eyes, they lowered their weapons at the same time.

The girl was unconscious, but she would remain his human shield until this was over. She wouldn’t die, but she’d suffer greatly for what she had almost cost him.

An ear-piercing blast exploded, as a bright, eye-searing light flashed. Temporarily blinded and disoriented, he held on to the girl and started firing as he limped to the door. The stun grenade had been a dirty trick. It wouldn’t kill him but would definitely slow him down. They wouldn’t shoot for fear of hitting the girl, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t try to trap him.

The instant he felt cool air touch his back, he knew he was safe. Ignoring the pain in his thigh, he flung the girl over his left shoulder and ran down the steps and onto the sidewalk. Twenty feet away, he dared a glance back. They were still in the house. He could see them through the window. With a smile of triumph, he pressed a switch in his pocket and then took off running as hard as he could.