Her Wilde Marines (Wilde, Nevada 4)

“Em is in trouble, Mac. Call us if she returns.” He and Bane ran out the door. His heart was pounding hard in his chest. “We’ve got to find her. Let’s try her house first.”

“Yes. I’ll call Caleb.” Bane brought out his phone as they jumped into the truck. “He can put out an APB on Larry. He and Sheriff Champion can check the diner and other places in town.”

He and Bane had rescued many fellow soldiers on hundreds of battlefields against thousands of enemies. They’d been called heroes, though they never felt much like heroes. They were only doing their duty.

As he hit the gas, Adam knew he’d never wanted to rescue anyone more than now. He and Bane would give their lives to save Emma, their one true love.

* * * *

Emma kept twisting her hands, trying to free herself of the duct tape Larry had used to fasten her wrists and ankles to the chair.

He placed the gun on the counter. “Place looks nice, Emma. Too bad you won’t live long enough to enjoy it.”

Every part of her tensed and her heart skipped several beats. “I don’t understand this, Larry. You said you don’t want the girls. It doesn’t make any sense. Why are you doing this to me?”

“Because you gave me no choice. Do you have a stepladder, Emma?”

“Yes, why?” She needed to keep her cool with him if she was going to survive this.

“So many questions.” He reached for the pistol. “Remember who has the gun here, Emma.”

She nodded, continuing to attempt to free herself without his knowledge. “I remember. There’s a stepladder in the garage.”

“You want to get me out of your sight so you can try to break free? You’re not as dumb as you were when we were married. Good for you. I’ll use a chair.” He pulled one out and pushed it to the wall. “You want to know what this is about. You’re ex is a genius, that’s what.”

He climbed on the chair and took off the air vent in the kitchen. He reached in the duct and pulled out some things she didn’t recognize.

“What are those?”

“These are how your sisters were able to talk to you.” He laughed. “Genius, right?”

“You? You were the one behind the voices.”

He laughed wickedly. “You’re not going crazy, Em. I just needed you to think you were.” He held up the jumble of wires he’d pulled out of her vent. “Surveillance equipment that I modified with speakers for my purposes. There are more in all your vents.”

She was shocked at what he was saying. “Why, Larry?”

“It was plan A, which I much preferred. In that plan you didn’t have to die. You only had to be committed. But when you refused to sign the papers, I had to go to plan B. I have to be in charge of the girls.”

Oh God, no. He’s crazy. I don’t want him near my girls ever again.

He put the vent back in place, stepped off the chair, and placed the equipment he’d retrieved on the kitchen table. “I can get the rest after I take care of you.”

She didn’t like the sound of that one bit. “My boss is going to miss me at work.”

“I’m sure she will. And those two fuckers you’ve been sleeping with will, too. By the time they come around, I’ll be long gone.” He pulled out a glass from her cabinet and filled it with water. “I’m about to become a very wealthy man.”

“What money? You’re not making any sense.”

He grinned and pulled out several prescription bottles from his coat pocket and placed them next to the water glass. “Your grandparents’ land is sitting on top of one of the largest oil reserves in the country. Now that you and the girls are their only heirs, I knew what I had to do. That’s why we are here. After Helen and Leland learn about your suicide, they will be devastated. That will give me an opening. They will welcome my help with the girls. After a few days, I’ll be able to set the ball in motion to take them out. No one will question the deaths of two old fucks, especially when I make it look like it came from a gas leak. Like you, Emma, they will die peacefully in their sleep. Yours from pills and theirs from carbon monoxide poisoning.”

He grabbed the pills and the glass of water and stepped in front of her. “Once you take your last breath, I’ll remove the duct tape and place you in your bed. Whoever discovers your body will find the pills next to you and will assume you took your own life.”

“Larry, you can’t hurt the girls like this.”

“Baby, don’t worry about Autumn and Andrea. I’ll make sure they go to the finest boarding school my money can buy. Be a good girl and open your mouth for me.”

“You can’t make me swallow those pills. I won’t.” She clamped her lips together, tightening her jaw.