Chapter 46

Trevor walkedalong the upstairs hallway, looking for the stranger who had been watching everything from above.

He wasn’t an employee at Sleeping Bear Elevator. So who was he? And what was he doing here?

That was what Trevor needed to figure out.

Gun in hand, he walked down the dark hallway. He didn’t want to call any attention to himself, so he hoped nobody had seen him slip this way. They all seem to be focused on Guy anyway.

He could already hear sirens in the distance, coming this way.

He wasn’t sure what had happened to the man. But he suspected he had been either drugged or poisoned. The good news was that he still had a pulse, and his breathing was still steady. And if the paramedics got here in time, Trevor thought Guy would be okay.

He peered into the first room he passed, but darkness stared back. He flipped on the light switch, cleared the room, and then moved on.

He did the same at each doorway he came to.

He stepped inside the last room. It appeared to be the master bedroom. He searched the perimeter. The closet. The master bath. Under the bed.

Nothing.

Where had that man gone?

He glanced up at the patio doors on the other side of the room.

The balcony. It was the only place he hadn’t checked.

Cautiously, he walked toward it, and slowly opened the door.

As he did, someone lunged at him.

Trevor hit the floor, and the gun skittered from his hand.

It was a man—someone he didn’t recognize.

But the guy was on top of him, and his hands circled Trevor’s throat.

If Trevor didn’t act quickly, then he wasn’t going to walk away from this.

* * *

Before Sadie could turn, a hand slipped around her mouth, clamping her lips shut.

Then she heard a click and felt something hard press into her ribs.

A gun.

“Make a sound, and I’ll kill you. Do you understand?”

She forced herself to nod.

Did she recognize that voice? She wasn’t sure yet.

“We’re going to walk to the end of this hallway without making a scene,” the man continued.

A tremble captured her muscles, but she moved forward.

If she started fighting back, would she remember all the defense moves she’d no doubt learned as an FBI agent?

She wasn’t sure. Considering the fact the man had a gun, she didn’t want to risk it.

She shouldn’t have gone to the bathroom.

With Trevor upstairs confronting that other man and everyone else distracted with Guy, she had thought it would be okay.

She’d been wrong.

The gun pressed harder into her side as they walked to the back of the house.

“Open the door,” the man ordered.

With trembling hands, she did as he asked.

Then they stepped onto the patio.

She halfway expected to see someone else out here, but there was no one.

Just the two of them.

Overhead, she heard a thump and froze.

Was that Trevor? Was he in trouble also? Exactly how many enemies did they have here?

“What are you going to do with me out here?” she asked.

“You’ll see.” He continued to push her forward, closer to the cliff that awaited in the distance.

Her thoughts raced.

A gunshot wound would be too obvious.

Falling off that cliff?

Someone might think it was an accident or maybe even suicide.

At once, what this man was planning became all too clear.

“You’re not going to get away with this,” she said.

He let out a chuckle. “I think I am.”

“All so you can secretly transport drugs? Why the elevator company, of all places?”

“It made the most sense. The shipments are large, with plenty of places to conceal the things that we need to move. It was a win-win.”

This guy obviously thought it all through.

They got closer and closer to the cliff.

Sadie wanted to turn. Wanted to see this man’s face. Wanted to ask more questions.

Then the man stopped. Shoved something in her hand.

“Take this,” he ordered.

She looked down and saw the pill in her hand.

No way was she going to swallow that.

She flung her hand, and the pill toppled over the cliff.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” the man growled. “We’re going to have to do this my way this time.”

Then he grabbed something from his pocket. The next moment, he shoved it in her mouth.

A pill.

He was trying to force her to swallow it.

His hand clamped over her mouth. Sadie could feel the pill on her tongue, beginning to dissolve.

As panic rose in her, she reminded herself not to do anything rash.

She reminded herself that, whatever she did, she could not swallow.