by Paula Cox
“I don’t see anything.” Ellis dropped the curtain and turned to face the group. “It’s quiet out there. I’m worried that it might be too quiet.”
Cliff might have written off Ellis’ words as jumpiness before. They’d told nobody but Janelle where they were, and it seemed impossible that Colin would have found them so quickly. But those were the kind of assumptions that had ended with Peter’s death. Cliff wouldn’t make that kind of mistake again.
“We need to be prepared for anything,” Cliff said, nodding at Ellis. “Everyone’s armed?”
The men nodded, but Liana prodded at Cliff’s arm. “I’m not.”
Cliff was hesitant to give Liana a gun. For starters, she’d never used one before. Not that he knew of, at least. He should have spent some of the time they were away teaching her how to shoot, but he hadn’t wanted to do anything that might draw suspicion or attention to them.
But he couldn’t let her go out there unprotected. Cliff reached into his side holster and pulled out his spare piece, handing it over to her. Liana smiled, checked the cartridge, and whistled.
“Hollow points, huh?” She winked. “You’re really not taking any chances, are you?”
Cliff should have known better than to be surprised by her. “You’ve used a gun before,” he observed.
“Of course!” Liana slid it into the waistband of her jeans. “Did I not tell you that?” She batted her eyelashes at Cliff innocently.
A fierce desire ignited within him. He would have to ignore it if they had any hope of getting married today.
“No, you didn’t tell me that,” Cliff replied.
He tried to convey his lust using only his eyes. Liana immediately directed her gaze to the floor in front of her; a sly smile perched on her lips. She glanced back up a second later, meeting his gaze with the challenge of her own.
“In my defense, you never asked.” Liana smirked. “Maybe later we can spend some time getting to know each other a little better.”
“And I’m going to spend my evening getting to know a bottle of whiskey a little bit better,” Ellis cut in. “But you don’t see me eye-fucking Jack Daniels right now.”
Cliff suppressed a laugh with a cough, shooting the former cop an apologetic grin and eyebrow raise.
At that moment, a cacophony of sirens and beeps started up outside. Cliff flinched. It was loud, even through the thick cement wall of the club. Cliff pushed past Ellis to peek out the window. The alarms in all four of the cars Cliff could see through the window had been set off. By the sound of it, more in the surrounding area were going off too.
And standing right outside the window, looking smug, was Colin Lear.
Cliff swore under his breath, dropping the curtain back in place. “It’s Colin.”
Liana gasped. “Already?” she said. “But we haven’t even had time to get married!”
“I guess we’re going to have to improvise,” Cliff replied. “He’s carrying some sort of suitcase. I don’t like the look of it.”
Colin’s shout could barely be heard over the sound of the beeping car horns and whooping alarms, but Cliff heard him all the same.
“CLIFF! Everyone, come out here right now or this whole place is going to blow!”
Chapter 33
Liana felt like she was going to throw up. How had Colin found them so quickly? And what was his plan?
“What do we do?” she hissed.
The others seemed just as dumbstruck by the change in plan. Only Cliff seemed unfazed, but he always did. He could have been more surprised than he’d ever been in his life and he’d still look calm and collected.
“This doesn’t look good,” Amos said. “But I think we have to do what he says.”
“We definitely have to do what he says,” Ellis grumbled. “He’s unpredictable and unstable.”
Liana looked over at Cliff, beseeching him with her eyes not to go out there. But Cliff shook his head, glancing away.
“They’re right, Liana.” He sighed and took her hand in his own. “Colin is crazy enough to pull through on his threats. I don’t want to risk it.”
All at once, the car alarms turned off.
“I’m waiting!” Colin called. “Out. Now. All of you!”
Liana cringed. “We should call the cops first, though.” She pulled out her cell phone and turned it on. “Hopefully they’ll get here before he does any lasting damage.”
A second later, Liana frowned.
“What is it?” Cliff asked.
“My phone…” She furrowed her brow and glanced up at him. “There’s no service.”
Cliff and the others pulled out their phones as well.
Amos swore. “He’s blocking the signal.”
“I’ll give you until the count of five!” Colin screamed. “One…”
“We’ve got to get out there.” Cliff took off his coat and wrapped it around Liana’s shoulders. “It’s got some Kevlar woven into the fabric. It won’t stop a bullet, but it will slow one down.”
“Two…”
Liana took a deep breath. They all turned toward the backstage door.
“Three…”
“We’re coming!” Cliff yelled. He pushed through the door first. Liana and the others spilled out behind him. Liana took up a spot right beside him, even though he tried to angle his body to move it in front of hers.
Colin looked as insane as ever. He was wearing a button-down checked shirt under a blue windbreaker and a pair of crisp khakis. It was freezing outside. Liana was left to wonder if being crazy helped regulate one’s body temperature more.
The suitcase in Colin’s left hand looked pretty ordinary. Its brown leather exterior and polished silver clasps reminded Liana of the kind of suitcases people traveled with in old movies. Unassuming. Old. She had to forcibly remind herself that there was probably a bomb inside of it.
“So nice of you to finally join me,” Colin simpered. “I was worried I’d have to leave a message.”
“What do you want?” Amos asked. It surprised Liana that he was the first one to speak up. She supposed he was probably almost as eager to be rid of Colin as she and Cliff were.
Colin showed surprise at Amos’ speaking up too. He dragged his gaze from Cliff and directed it toward the smaller man, studying him. Then, calm as day, Colin reached into his pocket, pulled out a gun, and shot.
Amos went down. Liana and Cliff rushed to his side, catching him just before he collided with the pavement. The bullet had hit him in the thigh, and the wound gushed blood.
Liana began to panic. In over twenty years, she’d never seen a single person die. Until Michael. And now it looked like Amos wasn’t long for the grave either. Her hands shook as she applied pressure to the wound. It was the only thing she could think to do.
“Cliff! Stand up!” Colin roared.
Cliff, crouched on the opposite side of Amos, glanced uncertainly at Liana. She nodded at him, tears already spilling from her eyes.
“Be safe,” she whispered. “Please.”
Cliff nodded and rose, walking back to where he’d been standing before.
“It didn’t hit an artery,” Amos said through clenched teeth. “Thank God.”
“If it didn’t hit an artery, why the hell is there so much blood?” Liana whispered.
“Have you never seen the inside of a human being, woman?” Amos chuckled darkly. “We’re full of it.”
Ellis and Julian watched from the other side of Cliff, but Liana knew they were too worried about what Colin would do to come over. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t been shot already. Colin seemed like he was one sneeze away from slaughtering them all.
“Now that we’ve established that I have both a gun and a bomb,” Colin said cheerfully. “Perhaps we can get started.”
“I still don’t understand what you want,” Cliff said bitterly.
“What I always want.” Colin’s eyes flashed with menace. “You, Cliff. All to myself.” He sighed, waving the gun at the others. “But I
can’t have that until all of them are dead. Especially her.”
Liana’s heart froze in her chest. She’d never had a gun pointed at her before. Firing off a few rounds at the shooting range was incomparable to being on the business end of a handgun. And after seeing how well he could shoot, Liana wanted him to point it somewhere else as soon as possible.
“As a man of God, I must warn you that the path you are on will lead only to pain and retribution for your sins,” Amos said.
Liana blinked down at him in confusion. “Man of God?” she whispered.
But Amos didn’t seem to care if Colin overheard. Perhaps it was his intent. “Yes. I served the church as an ordained minister, at one time.”
“Who the fuck cares?” Colin laughed demeaningly. “Do I look like I give a shit what God thinks?”
But then it hit Liana. Amos did want Colin to know about his ordination. More importantly, he wanted Cliff to know. He was trying to send them a message. Amos could do the ceremony. They wouldn’t have to go to city hall to get married.
Which was good, because it didn’t look like they’d be going anywhere.
Liana just hoped Cliff got the message.
“Colin,” Cliff said, drawing the psycho’s attention back to him. “You don’t have to do this.” He sighed. “I’ll cut everyone else off. I promise.”
Colin swung the arm holding the gun back in Cliff’s direction. Liana wondered if it would be worth it to try to shoot Colin. But there was a reason nobody had yet. If Julian, who was probably more experienced with a gun than most hunters, hadn’t fired off a shot yet, Liana didn’t want to push her luck. Colin was dangerous. Whatever was in that briefcase was dangerous. Liana trusted whatever Cliff had up his sleeve more than she trusted her skills with a firearm.
“I can’t be sure that you’re not lying,” Colin said to Cliff. “Taking them all out would just be a little insurance policy. You understand, I’m sure.”
Cliff took a small step toward Colin. Colin stepped back, shaking his gun for emphasis. “Don’t try anything!” he barked.
Cliff stopped and held his hands up in the air. “I always thought it was a mistake that your parents moved you,” he said. “I missed you. I never made another friend quite like you.”
Nausea crept up Liana’s throat. She knew Cliff was lying, but it didn’t make her feel any better about it. Would Cliff actually leave her for Colin just to save them? Would that even work? Or was he just trying to disarm the other man? Liana wasn’t sure.
“You’re just saying that,” Colin sneered. “You don’t mean it. And anyway, she’ll only come looking for you.” He pointed the gun over at Liana again. She gritted her teeth but forced herself to make eye contact with Colin. Amos groaned a little beneath her, making her realize that she’d put a little too much pressure on his wound. She eased off and took a breath. Colin watched her, a knowing smile passing over his lips.
“You’re right,” Liana said. “If I thought Cliff was going with you against his will, there wouldn’t be a place on Earth you could hide from me.”
“I’m sensing a ‘but’ here,” Colin said dryly.
“But… he’s been hurting without you. I’ve seen the guilt and confliction he’s been going through, and I don’t want that for him.” She lowered her eyes, unable to keep looking into Colin’s wild pupils. “I want him to be happy. And being your friend makes him happy. I understand that now.”
“She’s telling the truth,” Julian piped in. The gun swung in his direction. “Cliff used to talk to me about you when we first got to know each other.”
Cliff took another step toward Colin. “Come on, Colin,” he said. “Let’s go. Let’s leave them and get out of here.” He forced a smile. “You and me.”
Colin set the gun back in Cliff’s direction, eyes nearly bulging out of his head. “You think I’m that easy to fool? You’ve resisted me this whole time.” He snorted. “I haven’t gotten this far in life without being able to smell a lie.”
Cliff chuckled. “Remember when we used to play King?”
Colin’s fierce expression wavered. “Yeah. In my backyard.”
“You would always let me be the king,” Cliff said. “I loved that. I loved how you were happiest when I was happy. I never had someone in my life after you who was so selfless and caring.”
Again, Liana felt like she was about to lose her lunch. Cliff was still lying, right? Surely he couldn’t actually be considering going with this psycho?
Amos had set to work on fashioning himself some bandages out of strips from his shirt. He held up the first strip over her hands. “Let go,” he instructed. “I can bind up the wound now. The bleeding has slowed.”
How could he be so calm when he’d just been shot? How was Cliff being so calm? How was everybody being so goddamn calm? Liana wanted to scream.
“I thought you like playing King because you liked ordering me around,” Colin replied.
Cliff laughed. “Of course not. I never wanted to play with anyone else.”
Liana couldn’t tell which was more disgusting—the sight of Amos binding up his wounded leg, or the flirtation going on between Cliff and Colin.
“Come on, Colin.” Cliff took another step forward. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter 34
Colin’s eyes swept over Cliff with uncertainty; Cliff could feel it rolling off the other man like a fine mist. He didn’t need Colin’s guard to go down completely, though. He just needed a tiny crack. And hopefully, he’d get it soon.
“I want you to know that when I put this gun down, the timer in the bomb will start,” Colin warned. “It’s motion activated.”
Damnit. That threw a wrench into Cliff’s plans. But he would still do what he could to make sure Liana and the others got out safe.
“I understand,” Cliff said. “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Colin lowered the gun, slowly but surely. Just as he holstered it at his side, the briefcase began to beep. It was a quiet, almost peaceful beep, but to Cliff, it may as well have been an air raid siren.
“So what do we do from here, Colin?” Cliff asked. “Where are we going?”
Colin smirked. “Nowhere just yet. We’ve still got five minutes to tie up a few loose ends.”
Cliff had to resist the instinct to look over at Liana to make sure she was still okay. The expression on Colin’s face was positively devious. He didn’t like it.
“Loose ends?” Cliff took another small step toward Colin. His arms ached from being in the air for so long, but he feared any small movement could set Colin off. He had reached an all-new level of instability. Cliff could tell just by looking in his eyes. He seemed to vibrate on the spot with nervous energy.
“Stop moving!” Colin demanded.
Cliff immediately stilled.
Colin took a deep breath. “Even if you have realized that we belong together, you must know I’m not just going to let all these idiots walk.”
“I thought that was exactly what you were going to do,” Cliff said. “Because I’m coming with you, and they don’t matter anymore.”
“You need to learn that you can’t fuck with me,” Colin said, voice dangerously low. “I’m so tired of being jerked around by people like your idiot friend Michael and your pathetic ex-girlfriend. Today you’re going to prove to me that what you say is true.”
Cliff barely made it through the tirade without exposing himself by clenching his fist or his jaw. Keeping a neutral expression had never been such hard work before. Colin didn’t even deserve to say Michael’s name. Nor did he deserve the right to break up Cliff’s relationship for him.
“I’m willing to prove it to you,” Cliff said. “Let’s talk about a way I can do that on our way out of here.”
“But that would be too easy,” Colin said. “Especially since the way to prove your loyalty to me is dependent on those currently in attendance.”
Cliff knew exactly what Colin was implying, but he wasn’t ready to acknowled
ge it. He needed more time. He needed to get Colin away from here, away from his friends.
“I’ll give you whatever you want, Colin.” Cliff tried to smile as warmly as possible. “But I think we should leave and disarm that bomb before doing anything else. Time is running out.”
“Time is running out, isn’t it?” Colin mused. “Looks like you’re going to have to make some tough decisions pretty quickly.”
“What do you mean?”
Colin pulled the gun out of its holster again. He looked from it over to Cliff and then shrugged. “I was going to make you shoot one of them yourself, but I don’t fully trust you yet.” He laughed as if it was the funniest joke in the world. “I apologize for removing the possibility for a more personal kill. I’m sure you’ll forgive me with time.”