Grace had to get to Rick. She simply had to warn him.
So she kept running.
Tommy’s steely tone followed right behind her.
“There’s a chance—a small one, mind you—that he might survive against Boone. My man prefers a fair fight if he can get one, but we both know that I’m not above cheating to get what I want. You come back here, come to me, and we’ll see if he makes it. You try to get away again, and he’ll be dead as soon as Boone has him in his sights.”
There was a chance.
A chance Rick might not have to face off against Boone. A chance she might escape from Tommy.
Could she throw Rick’s life away on the chance that he wouldn’t capture her again in minutes? That she could get to Rick in time?
Grace stopped.
“‘Atta girl,” Tommy murmured when he saw she had turned back to face him. He extended his hand out to her, gesturing for her to come closer. “Come back now, sweetheart, and maybe I won’t have him taken care of after all.”
He might’ve blackmailed her into giving up her head start, but that didn’t mean she was foolish enough to believe him. If he was thinking any clearer than she was, Tommy would’ve known that she wouldn’t have been able to outrun him when he had his vehicle. He didn’t need to resort to threatening Rick.
Except he did. A master manipulator, he knew exactly what to do and say to get Grace to respond the way he wanted her to. At that moment, threatening Rick was probably the only thing he could do to stop her from running.
Her heart was racing, her body tensed and ready to dash off again. Because there was something else she knew. Tommy was also a consummate liar. He might mean everything he said. Then again, Rick was probably as good as dead anyway.
If he wasn’t already.
Don’t think like that, her panicked thoughts screamed at her. Don’t let him in.
Too late.
In the bright light of the Jaguar’s beams, Grace watched the smug satisfaction settle on Tommy’s features. He thought he had her right where he wanted her. For once, he’d found a way to get her to willingly come to him.
No.
She glanced over her shoulder, the gulley a dark line and a gaping pit behind her. There was nothing but black and, still, it was a far better sight than the blond devil in front of her.
“Come to me now, Grace.”
No.
This time, when she ran, she didn’t run in the same direction. She didn’t head toward Tommy like he was expecting, either. Instead, her arms pumping as her dress hampered her flight, she darted for the gulley.
“Grace!”
Grace spun around. She felt her hands shaking as she gripped the folds in the dress and hitched it up high. One step back. Another. The edge of the gulley bit into her bare heel. If she scooted backward any further, one wrong move and she’d be swallowed up the black abyss behind her.
“Stay back.”
Tommy marched forward, hidden by the shadows as he left the Jaguar’s side. “Grace, my love, don’t be ridiculous. Get away from there. You’ll fall if you’re not careful.”
Didn’t he get it? “Come any closer and I won’t fall. I’ll jump.”
Tommy went motionless. In the dark, she couldn’t see the expression on his face. His body language revealed his battle, though: reaching for her with his hands, leaning in her direction, while his shiny, shiny shoes stayed rooted to the cobbles. He desperately wanted to grab her, drag her away from the gulley, keep her safe, but he didn’t want to risk calling her bluff.
She could almost hear him thinking it. Would she jump?
“I’ll do it,” she threatened. “I… I swear.”
Tommy hesitated. Then he said, “You leap, I’ll leap right after you,” and she felt her heart lodge in her throat.