Her father parked beside Kassie and stormed out of his car. “Hope you have a good reason for skipping practice. You have a big race this weekend,” he pointed out.
“I’m ready for the race. Unfortunately, we have something more important to discuss.”
They followed me inside and we all sat down at the kitchen table. When I had their attention, I blew out a heavy sigh. “Apparently, someone out there wants us both dead. The hits have been planned.”
Kassie gasped and slapped a hand over her mouth. “Planned? What do you mean?” Richard stared at me, mouth gaping.
“They want me dead first,” I explained, looking straight at Kassie. “That way, they can get to you. They plan on kidnapping you and asking for a ransom, then killing your father when he shows up with the money.”
Kassie grabbed my hand. “How do you know all of this?”
I glanced at Richard and he answered, keeping his eyes on mine. “From his partner. Looks like the plan actually worked. No wonder they asked him to be the one to kill us. The man’s got a volatile temper.”
“Wait,” Kassie demanded, jerking her hand from mine. “How come my father knew about this and I didn’t?”
I grabbed her hand back. “It had to be done. We needed everyone to think me and him were enemies. I’ll give you one guess at who you think it might be.”
It took her a few seconds, but then she froze. “Holy shit. Micah?”
I nodded. “He’s my partner and a good guy. Everything you’ve heard about him is a farce we put together to make people believe he’s dangerous. Looks like it worked.”
“So what do we do?” Richard asked. There was fear in his voice and I could see it in his eyes.
“This will go down two days from now. Micah will be the one to pull the trigger. It’ll be blanks. After he shoots you, I need you to be perfectly still and pretend to be dead. Whoever shows up for the money will probably be someone you know. Whatever you do, don’t move until I have him in custody.”
“Where is all of this taking place?”
I showed him the directions and he caught his breath, a look of terror on his face. “What is it?”
“I know that place,” he choked. “It’s a rundown cabin in the middle of nowhere.” He glanced at Kassie and lowered his head. “It’s where I used to gamble.”
So many scenarios ran through my mind, I couldn’t put them together. “How many people know about this place?”
Richard shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“What about the people in the racing world. Any of them know about it?”
“Not that I know of. It was used as a gambling house. None of my friends were into gambling like I was.”
It was a mystery. Everyone I’d researched checked out to be fine, including the men he’d gambled with before. There was something I was missing, a piece of a puzzle that’d been hidden.
Richard put his arm around Kassie’s shoulders and hugged her close. “What about my girl? I don’t want her getting hurt.”
“She won’t, I promise. I’m going to be right there. As soon as our guy shows up, it’ll all be over.”
His phone beeped and he huffed when he looked at it. “I have to go. The parts for Miller’s bike just got shipped. I need to give them to Ethan.”
“Okay, we’ll meet tomorrow to go over the plan in detail.”
He leaned down and kissed Kassie on the cheek. “Be safe, peanut. I never wanted you to get involved in this.”
She stood and hugged him. “I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl.”
We followed Richard outside and watched him leave. “Do you know who wants you dead?” she asked, her voice low. Her body trembled and I could tell she was afraid.
I put my arm around her and led her to the front steps so we could sit. “It’s a man, that’s all I know. They had some sort of voice manipulation device on the phone. The good thing is, they don’t want you harmed.”
Her eyes widened. “Then it has to be someone I know. Why else would they not want me hurt?” My thoughts drifted to Sean, but I didn’t want to needlessly upset her. We sat in silence. I had two days to prepare her. “How is all of this going to happen?” she asked.
“The day after tomorrow, you’re going to come over to my place. We don’t know if anyone will be watching but we have to assume they will be. Micah’s going to get to you first so he can drug you.”
“What?” she shrieked, pulling out of my arms to face me.
I shook my head. “He’s not going to actually drug you. That’s what this other person wants though, so you won’t know what’s going on. What I need you to do is pretend. Keep your eyes closed and your body slack, no matter what happens or what you hear. Micah’s going to protect you and I’ll be close behind. I wouldn’t have agreed to this if I didn’t think you could do it. It was better than the alternative.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Which was?”