The Safe Bet (Hidden Truths #1)(66)

“I guess you didn’t need your gun.”

He set the pizza down in the kitchen next to the bottle of soda and put the gun back in his bedroom. When he came into the kitchen, he found Kate peeking inside the pizza box. “Looks like someone is hungry, after all.” He grinned at her as she reached for a slice of pepperoni.

She rolled her eyes at him and slipped the pizza into her mouth.

He grabbed a slice, too, before reaching for his phone, hoping for a text, at the very least, from Jake. The sun was beginning to set. The gold light spilled onto the lake, and his concerns grew with each passing minute.

After finishing two more pieces of pizza, Kate spoke up again. “What’s the plan?”

He moved away from the back door and faced Kate. Before he had a chance to answer, his phone began to ring. “Must be Jake.” He grabbed his phone off the table by the couch. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you,” he answered with pained irritation.

“I’m sorry. We’re trying to get some stuff worked out. Can you head over to our hotel?”

“I don’t know if we should leave right now,” Michael answered, contemplating the risks involved in traveling, especially at the late hour.

“You shouldn’t stay there.” There was a pause on the line. “Michael, did you know David had a paternity test run at the hospital the day Kate was born? Something has been bothering me about him, and I looked into a few things last night.”

Michael looked over at Kate, wondering how she might react if she knew. And then there was a beep on his phone. “I’m getting a call, hang on.” He transferred to the other line. “Hello?”

“Hello, Mike. Or is it Michael now?” The voice was low but smooth around the edges. It echoed loudly from the receiver—he must have bumped the speakerphone button by accident. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“Oh my God,” Kate whispered.

His eyes locked on hers just as the power went out. The last bit of sun hanging above the water filled the room with blue shadows.

He moved toward her, gripped with sudden alarm, needing to protect her. “What the hell do you want?” Michael growled.

“Judging by the swarm of officers at the nearby hotel, I assume you all have figured out who I am.” There was a deep and eerie snicker on the end of the line. “I guess the real game is about to begin.”

Before Michael could respond, the call ended.

“We need to leave,” Kate whispered, pulling herself tight against him.

“That’s what he wants. I need to call Jake.” But when he tried to call him back, he realized he didn’t have a signal. “Shit.” He blew out a heated breath. “Lost service. He’s probably using a jammer, which means he’s close.”

“So we should go, right?”

They couldn’t stay there, but if they left . . .

With quick steps, Michael kept Kate at his side as he moved from the semi-dark living room to the bedroom where he retrieved his gun. “I don’t want to take you out of here, but I guess we don’t have a choice.” Kate would be in danger no matter what he did—and it was all his fault. He should never have brought her to the cabin. He should never have fooled around with her last night when Dustin was out there, discovering his weaknesses.

They rushed outside, and he held his gun in one hand and the flashlight in the other. Kate pressed her hand against his shoulder, following his lead to the car.

He studied his Audi with the light, checking for any signs of tampering. “Stand back,” he cautioned as he unlocked the vehicle and turned it on. He pulled up the LCD screen and tapped a few buttons, performing a quick, systems check for interference. He couldn’t risk the car blowing up with Kate inside.

“All clear,” an electronic voice from the car announced.

“We’re good. Get in.”

She secured her belt and shifted in her seat to better face him. “I’m scared, Michael.”

“I know, but it’ll be okay.” He couldn’t look her in the eyes as he spoke, because he wasn’t sure if he was being honest. His gut was telling him that they were already screwed.

He kept his eyes trained on the thick wood surrounding them as he drove down the long driveway. They needed to get out of the dark, and fast.

He tightened his grip on the wheel with one hand and repositioned the other to grasp hold of the gun in his lap, even though he wanted to be holding onto her, instead.

Where are you, you son-of-a-bitch? His eyes flitted each direction as they drove down the back road. There were still a few miles to go before they reached safe—or safer—ground.

When he caught sight of two bright headlights flashing on from an upcoming side road, he immediately braked.

But he was too late.

The sound of the two metal objects crashing into each other was deafening. The airbags were like a harsh punch in the face as they exploded inside the car.

His Audi slid off the road, only to be stopped by a tree, which caused a secondary jolt of his head forward and back.

Kate’s screams shot through him. He tried to move, to free himself from the seatbelt, but the airbag was in his way. He searched blindly for his gun with a blood-streaked hand.

His hands slipped against the seatbelt buckle.

Get the fuck out. Get to her. His brain shouted desperate orders to his battered body.