Rich (Benson Security #5) - Janet Elizabeth Henderson Page 0,115

her handbag sat.

“You selfish bitch,” Samantha screeched. “Can’t you do something for someone else, just once? Stop fighting me. Make this easy on both of us.”

Rachel glanced back to see Samantha climb out of the pool. Right beside that smiling gnome Sebastian had given her. The strange sight of her would-be killer and that freakish sculpture almost made Rachel question reality. Maybe she was already drowning, and this whole thing was just a hallucination. The walls moved in and out around her, her limbs barely moved, and her brain was a shattered mirror—reflecting pieces of thoughts rather than letting her think any one thing clearly.

“I should have given you a higher dose,” Samantha snapped as she stalked toward her.

Rachel swung back around to the small table and tugged at the handle of her bag. It toppled to the floor, spilling its contents everywhere.

“Trying to call your fiancé for help,” Samantha scoffed, her talons encircling Rachel’s ankle again. “It won’t make any difference. He won’t get here in time.”

Rachel ignored her cousin’s taunts, focusing what strength she had left on getting what she needed. There. Under the lounger. She just had to reach it.

Her arm stretched, and her fingers skimmed the butt of the gun Callum had given her.

And then she was moving again.

Being dragged on her stomach, back to the water.

“No,” Rachel shouted.

Her legs too weak to kick anymore, she was shivering from the cold and the drugs. All she could do was scrabble for anything that might slow her cousin down.

Her hand hit something solid. Cold. Her phone. She grabbed it, twisted, and threw. The phone smacked Samantha on the cheek, and she yelped. It was enough to make her loosen her hold.

Rachel lurched forward, sliding on her belly and reaching for the gun as Samantha screamed with frustration. The gun slipped into her hand, and with one last burst of adrenaline, she fired.

And missed.

For a second, Samantha looked stunned, and then she laughed. “At last, I’ve found something you can’t do.” She reached for Rachel’s leg.

“No,” Rachel shouted before squeezing the trigger over and over. But between her shaking hands and her blurred vision, her aim was completely off.

“I don’t know how I’m going to explain the bullet holes,” Sam said calmly, as though they were having a polite conversation. “But I’ll think of something.”

With nothing but hope and desperation, Rachel aimed and took her last shot.

And it hit.

Almost…

The bullet skimmed the side of Samantha’s head, leaving a line of red across her temple. Stunned, she staggered back, her hand lifting to the wound. The look of absolute horror on her face when her fingers came away bloody might have been comical under other circumstances. But nothing about this situation was funny.

With pure stubbornness to drive her, Rachel dragged herself across the tile toward her cousin. And while Samantha stood there in bewildered shock, Rachel kicked at her knee.

It was weak. But it was effective.

Samantha’s legs buckled, and she staggered backward. With a scream, she hit the gnome, and together they tumbled into the pool.

Rachel didn’t wait around for her to surface again. She had to get somewhere safe to wait for Harvard. He would come for her. She knew it.

Half crawling, half dragging herself across the floor, Rachel made it through the open doorway and down the few steps to the hall. There was no way she could stand; her strength was gone, and she was close to losing consciousness. All she could do was pray she managed to stay awake until she made it somewhere that Samantha couldn’t get to her.

The stairs down to the bedroom level were harder to negotiate and Rachel bumped and slid her way down them, landing in a heap at the bottom. She moaned with pain but didn’t stop moving. There was no time to lose. Crawling, she made her way along the hall to the door that led out of her apartment. The emergency door with the small hallway between it and the outside exit. With trembling fingers, she tapped in the code to open it. It took three attempts but, at last, the door gave way. She toppled through, and the door slammed behind her, locking automatically.

And that’s when Rachel crumpled, letting the darkness at the edge of her consciousness claim her. All the while, hoping Harvard would find her.

Rachel’s apartment was eerily silent as Harvard slipped inside. He signaled to Lake and Callum, and the three of them spread out to cover the room. They checked the kitchen