cover to get her out of there. She owed him her life. She’d hoped that Liam would find her, but if he had been the one to come for her, he might have paid with his life this time.
A beam of light shined beneath the bathroom door.
The door slowly opened, and light shined bright in her face, blinding her to whomever she faced now. Rae shielded her eyes and braced herself as she imagined the feeling of a bullet slamming into her body. Or would she simply die without feeling the pain?
Every neuron in her body shook with fear. She didn’t want to die. But one thing she knew, the fear would paralyze her if she didn’t do something before it was too late.
Rae stood. “Who are you and what do you want?”
The beam lowered and the figure behind it became clear.
Malcom Fox?
But . . . where was Jack? Oh no . . .
“You? I—”
“You weren’t expecting me. When I learned that Enzo had requested Wayne snatch you—against my wishes, I might add—I redirected Wayne to bring you to this cabin. I wanted to see who would come for you here. I suspected another undercover agent—like Liam Mercer, I mean, McKade. Turns out it was Astor’s bodyguard. Enzo is as sloppy as Simon was. And now, here we are.”
Fox waved her out of the bathroom but remained in the doorway. Heart pounding, she tried to make herself small so she wouldn’t brush him as she passed. Could she sucker punch him? Elbow him in the nose?
He held a gun, so she had no chance unless she got it away from him. Guns were the great equalizer. Fox urged her down the short hallway and into the living area.
“What are you going to do with me?”
“I had everything where I wanted it when Astor interfered.”
“Enzo?”
“No. Simon.” Pointing his gun at her, he urged her to sit.
She eased onto the sofa, her mind racing with possible escapes, but she could think of no way out. The wind howled outside, and a cold draft curled around her. What if she asked to get the fire going again? Maybe she could hit him with a log.
“And now, I’ve been asked to deliver you in exchange for my five million dollars.”
“Five million dollars? What are you talking about? I don’t know anyone who has that kind of ransom money.” Nor did she believe for one minute that Malcom Fox would simply hand her over, even for five million dollars.
“Oh, but you do.”
Rae hated the tears that chose this moment to surge. “Who?”
“Simon had become a part of my circle of friends. Then he ran into an old friend—a woman he’d wanted. His obsession got the best of him and he took her, during which time she gained enough information on my operations to take me down. But she didn’t.” He leaned in, his face inches from Rae’s. “Do you know why?”
He had to be talking about Zoey, but Rae didn’t understand. She shook her head.
“She was too scared—at least until you were abducted last year as a way to bait the mole in our operation. A stinking undercover cop. Your friend tried to use her leverage to free you, but McKade was there to save the day. I intended to take him down. Even though I went to prison for a time, I made plans to get to McKade and worked to find the woman who’d stolen from me five years ago. I had thought it was Simon, so I killed him. He’d been sloppy and needed to die anyway.”
“You killed him?”
“He was a liability.”
“Why are you telling me all this?” Because I’m now a liability. She shivered with fear as well as cold.
He chuckled. “You’re a reporter, aren’t you? You wanted the story when you started digging around in my trafficking operations. Now you’re getting it.”
He offered a sinister smirk that left no doubt about his plans for Rae. That was a story she would never be allowed to run with. To share with the world, even if he successfully traded her to Zoey for that money. Zoey had taken five million dollars . . . Rae struggled to comprehend what he was telling her.
Oh, Zoey. Rae squeezed her eyes shut. Please, please don’t give him what he wants. He’s not going to let either of us live.
Zoey had to know that. If what Fox said about her was true, she had tried to save Rae last year when she’d gotten herself in trouble