My Deadly Valentine - By Valerie Hansen & Lynette Eason Page 0,69

in a bruising grip. Holly cried out and stumbled in the direction he pushed her.

Holly grabbed the offended area on her arm and stared at Alex. Cold chips of ice stared back at her. Real fear hit her. He was deadly serious.

Behind him, she saw Duster stop and stare up the mountain. The he took off toward her. He’d heard her cry.

Swinging her gaze back to Alex, she stuffed down her fear. So, it had been him all along. “You were the one who was scaring me to death?”

He snorted. “Apparently I wasn’t doing a very good job. You were supposed to come running to me for protection. You didn’t, so I had to come up with a plan B.”

Holly just stared at him. “What do you want from me?”

“Your land. Pure and simple. Developed right, it’s worth millions.” His eyes narrowed and she shivered. “If you had just agreed to keep dating, we could have been married by now and all this would never have had to happen.”

“You’re not my type,” she spat.

His hand shot out and caught her across the jaw. So shocked, she couldn’t even scream as the pain raced up the back of her neck and radiated from her cheek and jaw.

Oh, God, do something!

“Get her in here,” he ordered the lawyer. Mr. Parker looked stunned at Alex’s physical violence.

She decided she’d have to appeal to him for help. “Mr. Parker, come on, you’ve known me all my life. My mother trusts you….”

“Shut up.” Alex grabbed her arm and shoved her once more. This time, she made it through the door. Duster burst in right after her to plant himself against her left leg.

She heard Alex mutter, but he didn’t do anything to the dog. Then the sight of her mother lying on the sofa brought her to a screeching halt. All thought of her own pain left her. “Mom!”

She rushed to the woman’s side and grabbed her hand.

“She’s just resting comfortably.”

Holly whirled, rage and terror battling it out inside her. “What did you do to her?” she demanded.

“She’ll be fine. She was so nice when I stopped by to inquire about all of the strange things going on with you. Seems she didn’t have a clue about them. When she invited me in for a cup of coffee to discuss the danger you were in, I told the officer on duty to take a break and sat down to chat with your mother.”

“What drug did you use?”

“A couple of sleeping pills. I thought I might have to force them down her throat, but like I said, she was very obliging. Dropped them in her coffee when she turned to get the cream.” Holly didn’t think it was possible, but his eyes turned even colder. “She’ll be fine as long as you follow directions.”

Fury bubbled up inside her and she stared at his gun, wondering if she even had a chance to get it.

Then he laughed, obviously reading her thoughts. “Don’t even think about it.”

Turning back to her mother, Holly saw that she did indeed look like she was just in a peaceful deep sleep. Her chest rose and fell with each breath.

So, her mother would sleep through this and hopefully be back in her bed when she awoke, attributing her nap to recovering from chemo.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked in a low voice, even as her mind scrambled for a plan.

Alex snapped his fingers at the lawyer who stood cowering in the corner. “Give her the papers.”

With a trembling hand, Jarrod Parker reached inside his coat and pulled out a handful of papers. He shoved them at Alex, then stepped back, eyes darting between Holly and Alex.

The sheriff slapped the papers and a pen down in front of her. “You did me a real favor running out on ole Eli tonight. I told Jarrod to get over there to that restaurant, get you alone and tell you your mother needed you ASAP. Now, sign them.”

Sign away her land? Her home?

She looked at her mother and took a deep breath. If that’s what it took to get her mom home safe, then…

Holly picked up the pen.

Duster settled at her feet, lifted his head and whined. She shushed him. “Am I at least getting paid for the land?”

“As soon as you sign, the money will be wired to your account.” He grinned, a feral splitting of his lips. “All nice and legal-like.”

Her mind clicked along. Did he really think she was that dumb?