He smiled.
“Well, I was right about something,” he said.
“What?” she asked.
He didn’t respond. He grabbed her arm and she jerked back.
“Don’t touch me,” she said.
He pointed the gun at her head. “Get in. Now.”
She stepped across the threshold. He spun her around, held her by the neck, looked right and left outside the house. “I know you didn’t come alone.”
“Aren’t you smart.”
“But it doesn’t matter.” He disarmed her, finding both her knife and gun. She’d expected as much. But at least the weapons were in the house. He put the gun in the small of his back and the knife on the top of a bookshelf. She wouldn’t be able to reach it easily.
He patted her down again, pinching and hurting her on her thighs, her stomach, her breasts. She didn’t cry out.
He pushed her onto the couch. “Where’s Lucy?”
“I came instead.”
“I’m killing you,” he said matter-of-factly. “I want Lucy.”
“You can’t always get what you want.”
He punched her with his fist. Her head snapped back and she winced, but didn’t speak.
“She’ll come. I’ll cut off her precious brother’s hand, and she’ll come.”
“She can’t. Jack is sitting on her. They’ll never let her out of the house. If Dillon has to die, they accept that.”
“Do you think I’m stupid?” He stared at her incredulously.
“On the contrary, I think you’re one of the most brilliant killers I’ve ever faced. Putting you in prison will be very satisfying for me.”
He laughed. Kate raised an eyebrow but didn’t speak. Everything Dillon had told her about Adam Scott swirled around in the back of her mind. His huge ego, deep arrogance, hatred of women, sexual dysfunction. And, above all, that he didn’t believe he could be caught. He’d walked free for too long. He thought he’d never face imprisonment.
“You’re right. I didn’t come alone. The feds are all over this place. So kill Dillon, kill me, but you’ll be captured or dead.”
“You do think I’m stupid. The feds would never sacrifice a civilian for the ‘common good.’” He laughed again.
“You killed two federal agents. One civilian is collateral damage.”
“You’re good, but I don’t believe you.” He shook his head, a smile still on his cold, hard lips. “But it doesn’t matter. Even if they are willing to kill Dillon Kincaid, they’re not willing to kill a couple dozen innocent civilians.”
He leaned over to where he had his computer set up on a table. The fear Kate had kept restrained as she walked into this situation began to seep out. He had a program running, but she couldn’t see what it was.
“See, I’ve been around with not much to do over the last day or so. Except make a couple bombs. One of them is in the engine of a black SUV I noticed parked in front of Lucy’s house. Belongs to Jack, doesn’t it? Wonder where it is now.”
He tapped a couple of buttons.
An explosion rocked the house.
Scott shook his head, a satisfied smirk cutting across his lips. “Well, Kate, you weren’t lying. You didn’t come alone. Hope Jack got out of his truck in time. Or not.”
He held out the cell phone he’d taken from her pocket.
“Call whoever you brought with you. I want Lucy Kincaid. Now. Or I’ll continue blowing up targets all over San Diego.”
THIRTY-SIX
“WHAT THE HELL was that?” her father exclaimed. Deep concern clouded his face.
Lucy feared the worst. Jack and Kate and Dillon, who had saved her life, were all in jeopardy. What if they died because of her? Because she’d been so stupid as to get involved with that evil man Trevor Conrad in the first place.
“I’m going to my room,” she said, jumping up.
“I’ll come with you,” her mother said, distracted. They heard sirens in the distance.
Carina and Nick came in through the front door. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. There was an explosion.”
“We heard. There’s smoke coming from about a block away from Dillon’s house. Agent Peterson just called us about the hostage situation.”
Lucy’s cell phone rang. Fear squeezed every cell in her body. It was him, she knew, telling her everyone was dead. And it was her fault.
“Lucy!” Carina exclaimed. “Who’s that?”
She shook her head, tears in her eyes. Carina picked up the phone. “Who’s this?” Relief crossed her face, quickly replaced by fear. “I’ll take care of it.” She hung up. “Adam Scott planted a bomb in Jack’s truck. That’s what exploded.”
Lucy’s mother cried out. The anguish in her voice added heavily to Lucy’s guilt. She backed away from her family. She had to get out.
“Who was that?” Nick asked, putting a hand on Carina’s arm.
Carina accepted Nick’s quiet strength, doubly glad he was with her now.
“Jack. He’s alive,” Carina said. “We need to get out of the house. We don’t know where else this bastard has planted bombs. I’m taking you all to police headquarters, where I know you’ll be safe.”
“I’ll drive,” her father said.
“No. No Kincaid cars. He’s been in town for over twenty-four hours, he knows what you drive. I’m calling a taxi, and we’ll walk to the park on the corner.”
“Mama, I’m so sorry,” Carina said when she saw the stricken look on her mother’s face.
Rosa nodded. “It’s okay. Everyone is okay right now. Everyone will be okay.”
Carina called the taxi. “Okay, let’s go.” She looked for Lucy. “Lucy!” Carina called. When she got no answer, she ran upstairs. “Lucy! Come on!”
A minute later she called down. “Is Lucy down there?”
“No,” Nick said.
They searched the house quickly, but Carina knew Lucy was gone.
Carina tried to call first Jack, then Agent Peterson. Neither picked up, but she left the same message for each of them.
“Lucy is gone. I think she’s headed to Dillon’s house.”
Kate was at a loss.
Adam Scott was willing to kill dozens, hundreds of people, right here from his computer.
The power went out in the house.
Adam laughed.
“They think that if they shut down the power they can stop me? I have four backup batteries for a total of twelve hours of juice. Enough time to do anything I damn well please.”
“They’ll never let Lucy come. I’m here. Take me. It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”
“Take you? Take you?” He stared at her. “You want me to fuck you? To tie you down?” He took a step toward her. “To cut off your air?”
He grabbed her throat with one hand. She grabbed his wrist, but she was seated and he towered above her. She couldn’t get up to kick him, and she couldn’t stop him from cutting off her air.
She couldn’t breathe.
His voice was low. “You’ll feel my cock penetrate that tight hole of yours. Fill you up. And the last thing you’ll know as you lay there dying is that I will be taking intense pleasure in fucking your body. You are a worthless whore, just like the rest of them.”
He released her and she took deep breaths to refill her lungs. Her vision returned, but her throat burned. She swallowed several times before she could talk.
“Fine,” she said, coughing. She had to stay out of his reach. Scott was strong, but it was his rage that worried her more. Yet it was also his rage that she could defeat him with if she was smart. And careful. “I’m not worried. I watched that recording you sent. You can’t even get it up.”
He pistol-whipped her, and she fell across the couch. Her vision blurred. She would be no help to anyone if she got herself killed before Dillon escaped.
“You fucking bitch.”
“Go ahead. Try me.” She squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath, opened them. Better.
He shook his head. “A willing participant is no fun. That fucking whore Denise liked it. She’d do anything I asked her to. What’s the fun in that? I could have killed her and she wouldn’t have cared. Yeah, she was an actress, she pretended she was scared, but she liked it. She came back for more. But Lucy…you took her from me. You and that fucking shrink.”