Page 107 of Hours to Kill
Razo jabbed his finger in the man’s chest harder. “Remember that.” Then he spun and marched over to her, his boots thudding in the quiet night.
She looked up at him. “We know you sold the guns to Ross, Woods, and Turner with the sovereign citizens. You’ll never get away with delivering the guns. We’ll see to that.”
“We?” He scoffed. “You won’t be part of anything for long. And so what if you know? I’m a whole lot smarter than any of you.”
“So you admit these guys are your buyers,” she clarified.
He responded with a deep growl and rolled a large stump into the clearing. He looked at Holt. “Get the lights and camera from my trunk. I’ll get the ax.”
Ax?Addy’s heart clutched, and she had to swallow not to be sick on the spot.
Razo took off into the dark and came back carrying a large ax, the blade glinting in the streetlight. “We usually reserve this punishment for people who steal from us, but the severing of your hands will still be effective in warning off any other agents who would try to come after me.”
He laughed, and the brittle sound carried behind him like a sick melody meant to haunt. Maybe to scare. And it did. Clear to Addy’s bones.
He didn’t want to kill her, so now was her chance to run, and she had to hope he didn’t shoot.
She jumped up and bolted. Plunging through the deep snow that threatened to take her down.
“After her!” Razo shouted.
She plowed through the snow, stiffening her back for the potential gunshot.
She heard footsteps behind. Coming closer. Closing in.
She kicked up her speed. Her feet got caught in an icy ball of snow, and she tumbled face-first into the snow. Air rushed from her mouth. Winded, she lay for a second.
No. Get up.Go!
She clawed her way to her feet. Started to move.
Holt flew through the air and dragged her back down. She landed face-first again, the icy cold cooling her body, heated from the run.
He grabbed her by the hair, hauled her to her feet, and jerked her back against his body. “He’s gonna make you pay for that,” he whispered.
“Probably you too,” she snapped back.
“Shut up.” He grasped her wrist, punishing her already raw skin with a bruising force. He dragged her forward, and she had to run to keep up with his long strides.
Razo glared at her and pointed at the stump. “Drop her there.”
Holt shoved her to the ground. She knelt in the wet snow, her legs freezing, her body starting to shiver. From cold or fear, she didn’t know, but soon it wouldn’t matter.
Razo made a big production of setting up his camera on a nearby tripod. She lifted her face to the sky. To the fluffy white flakes falling. Gorgeous. Just as God planned.
I know you’re here, God. I can see you. Feel your presence.
Razo eyed her from behind the camera. “Place your hands on the stump, and if you pull back, I’ll put a bullet in your head.”
She rested her zip-tied hands on the cold stump, breathed in the chilling air, and closed her eyes to ease her fear. She couldn’t possibly watch while Razo maimed her with his sharp ax. As he hefted it overhead and swung down, she could simply pull back. She wouldn’t. No matter how much her brain would scream for her to do so. He’d told her he would put a bullet in her head if she did. Better alive with no hands than dead.
She oddly felt at peace. Her only regrets were not being able to say good-bye to her mother and not telling Mack she loved him in case she bled out and died up here.
“You will think twice about coming up against me, no?” Razo asked.
She didn’t answer. Why would she when it would just stroke his ego? Better to let him do this without her flinching or reacting. That way he wouldn’t get as much enjoyment from it.
She took a long breath and held it. God was with her so everything would be okay. She just had to keep repeating that to herself, and all would work out for her good.
