Chapter 35

My body won’t move.

I’m paralyzed under Colby’s control. His arm tightens around my neck though I don’t think he’s doing it on purpose this time. He’s scared. He has every reason to be scared.

I’d be shitting my pants too if I had two former Navy SEALs pointing their guns at me, determined to kill me if I don’t release my hostage. God, the way Eric and Chase look at me. Their icy blue eyes searching my face, saying so much without any words. I feel their fear, their concern, their stubbornness. They’re not walking out of here without me.

But as long as Colby keeps waving his gun around, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know if I’m going to survive. When I told him about the pregnancy, it did stop him from hitting me again. Something broke inside his head, though. Deep down, he’s well aware that this isn’t his child. He knows it. He just can’t cope with it .

“I told you not to move!” he snarls as Chase’s boot advances an inch across the old wooden floor. “Stand back!”

“I just want Halle to be safe,” Chase replies, in a remarkably calm tone. “If she’s pregnant with your kid, Colby, we need to make sure she’s safe and the baby is safe. And that means you need to put that gun down.”

“Do I look fucking stupid to you?” Colby mockingly laughs. “How about you two get the hell out of here and leave me and my wife alone?”

I give Eric another look. He’s awfully quiet. Seething beneath the surface. Not moving a single inch. The Danson twins seem to have switched personalities, somehow, and I’m not sure what to make of it.

Chase is trying to fill Colby’s head with lead. Eric would normally be the one doing most of the talking in such a situation and it is mesmerizing to watch.

“Colby, Chase is right. My well-being and my health come first,” I tentatively say. “You tased me earlier, you hit me. We need to keep the baby safe.”

“You asked for it,” he grumbles. “You made me do it.”

“And I’m sorry, I really am. I pushed you, and I shouldn’t have,” I play along even though it makes me sick to my stomach. “But that’s done and over with now. We need to focus on the future. You have to put that gun away. Eric and Chase are not going to shoot you, are you?” I address the last two words to the twins.

Chase curses under his breath. “I don’t wanna shoot you, Colby.

”

“Get out of here, and then I’ll put the gun down,” Colby insists.

He may be off his rocker but he’s not suicidal. He’s just a cornered animal rejecting reality, who refuses to surrender. His ginormous ego cannot accept the defeat. He can’t put the gun down. He can’t let go of me, either. In his sick mind, if he pretends that we’re still married, still a happy couple who have had their ups and downs, then everything is going to magically work itself out.

“We’ll walk out of here together,” I say. The sirens are getting louder. They’re close, now. “We’ll walk out, just the two of us.”

Colby gives me a confused look. “What?”

“You and me, baby. It’s what you’ve always wanted,” I tell him, well aware of the glances I’m getting from Chase and Eric. It’s a huge gamble but it’s worth a shot. “Let’s leave. Right now. Start over somewhere else. Mexico is close enough. We’ll cross the border in a few hours.”

“What about Sammy and Luna?” he asks, doubtful of my intentions.

“They can’t come,” I sigh. “You never really wanted them, anyway, did you?”

“Of course I wanted them. We need to bring them along.” He pauses then glowers at Eric and Chase. “We’re getting out of here. And we’re taking our kids, too. Y’all can go to hell for all I care.”

Chase shakes his head. “You’re not gonna make it out of here alive, Colby. The minute you walk through the door they will take you down without hesitation. I’m trying to give you another shot at life here.

”

“Life, you say? In prison? No, thanks.”

“There’s nothing else waiting for you,” Chase insists. “You brought this upon yourself.”

“Out of my way!” Colby loses it.

We’re running out of time. I can feel him shaking, quivering with rage. He’s losing grip on the last little bit of hope he had left. Colby is falling apart as his world crumbles around him. Reality is about to shift, and I only have a second left to do something, anything, to stop him from dragging me down into the pits of hell along with him.

Like a worm on a hook, I wriggle, just enough to get myself out of his grip. I slip downward, just a couple of inches.

He gasps.

POP.

The bullet goes right through his head. I scream. I’m breathless as I collapse onto the floor, my knees reduced to jelly as I realize what just happened. I hear his body hit the hardwood with a heavy thud. I hear the last of his breath slip past his lips.

I look up in a haze. There’s a tendril of smoke coming out of Eric’s silencer.

He’s the one who fired the shot. Not Chase.

Colby is dead. I glance down at him and relief washes over me. The adrenaline blows through my body and out, loosening my joints. I exhale sharply, as if the world itself has just fallen from my shoulders. Deep breaths soon turn to ragged panting. Everything is catching up with me, the nightmare I was living has finally come to an end.

My tormentor is gone.

I am free.