Casting a frantic glance around, he caught sight of a large wrench that was lying on the cement floor. He bent down, grabbing the tool, which was made of solid steel. Perfect.
He turned to the side and threw the wrench with all his might toward the nearby rack of fencing posts. As he hoped, it hit a stack of wood on the top with enough force to send several posts crashing to the floor. The sound was deafening as it echoed through the warehouse.
It was a trick that’d been used a thousand times in cheesy films, but sometimes the oldies were goodies.
On cue, Ronnie whirled toward the noise, and Griff stepped around the back of the forklift, his gun pointed directly at the man’s head.
“Turn around and drop your gun,” he commanded.
Ronnie jerked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing as he caught sight of Griff.
“You,” he spat out, his features twisting with fury. “I should have killed you.”
“You could try.” Griff stepped to the side, moving so he could keep his gun pointed at Ronnie but with his back next to the wall.
He grimaced as Ronnie pointed his gun directly at Carmen instead of dropping it.
“Oh, I’m going to do more than try,” he taunted. “First you drop your gun.”
Griff ground his teeth. Did he take a risk and shoot Ronnie with the hope that the maniac didn’t squeeze off a shot and hit Carmen?
Or did he put down his gun and pray that he could somehow overpower Ronnie?
It was Carmen who made the decision. Catching both men off guard, she was abruptly hurtling toward Griff at full speed. His heart stopped as the sound of Ronnie’s gun blasted through the air, but he managed not to panic. Instead, he reached out to wrap an arm around her waist as soon as she got close enough. Then, using the power he’d developed after years of morning jogs, he leaped to the side, taking Carmen with him.
They landed in a tangle behind the forklift, with Carmen beneath him. Griff risked a quick glance down. Anger instantly thundered through his body.
Her face was already showing deep bruises where Ronnie had hit her, and blood dripped from the cut on her swollen lip. He cursed, his finger tightened on the trigger. He wanted to leap to his feet and start shooting. He wanted Ronnie to be sprawled dead on the floor.
But he possessed an aversion to impulsive actions.
Plus, he still didn’t know if Matthew was a traitor and was about to leap out of the darkness.
For now, they were safe behind the forklift. There was nothing but a cement floor beneath them and a thick steel wall behind them. The only way to get to them was around the front of the tractor.
Unfortunately, that meant they didn’t have an easy way to escape. For now, they were trapped.
“Are you okay?”
“No.” She managed a pained smile. “But I will be.”
Despite the danger and the blood that continued to leak from her wounded lip, Griff felt a small flare of relief. She’d been terrorized and beaten by the madman, but her courage hadn’t been broken.
“Come out,” Ronnie called, his voice thick with frustration.
Griff grimaced, brushing a light kiss over Carmen’s forehead before he pushed himself to his knees and inched his way to the edge of the large tire. The forklift sat low to the ground, so he didn’t have to worry about a stray bullet ricocheting off the floor and striking him.
“I don’t think so.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He dialed Rylan’s number and set the phone on the ground. It wasn’t that he hoped his friend could help. Even with his foot heavy on the gas pedal Rylan was probably still a half hour away. But whatever happened, he wanted to make sure his friend heard exactly what was going on.
Ronnie made a sound of impatience. “How did you find us?”
Griff didn’t miss the word us. Was the man talking about Matthew? Or was there someone else in the warehouse? Maybe more than one?
“Does it matter?” he demanded, peeking around the tire to discover Ronnie had taken cover behind a stack of cinderblocks.
“I like to learn from my mistakes,” Ronnie called out, his shadow a thin strip of black across a nearby shelf. “It’s what makes me such a fine hunter.”
Griff frowned. “Hunter?”
Carmen was suddenly crouched beside him. “He killed my parents,” she rasped. “And all those women.”
Griff kept his gaze locked on Ronnie’s shadow as it inched to the side of the blocks. He was angling for a clear shot.
“Tell me how you found me,” Ronnie commanded.
Griff hesitated. He needed to provoke the man into making a mistake.
“It was easy,” Griff finally said. He didn’t know much about Ronnie, but it was apparent that he was consumed with his delusion of grandeur. Which meant the easiest way to rattle him was to prick his bloated pride. “I followed the stench of your cowardice.”
The words easily pierced Ronnie’s thin skin. “I’m no coward.”
Griff made a sound of disgust. “What do you call kidnapping a sleeping woman?”
“Or killing the people who took you and your mother into their home?” Carmen called out.
“They betrayed me. I should have been the one who was treated as the beloved child. Instead, it was you.” Ronnie’s words held an edge of bitterness. “Always you.”
Carmen trembled. Her courage might have survived, but she’d clearly been through enough. She was reaching her breaking point.
“Griff, can we just get out of here?”
Griff shook his head, but he called out loudly, “Sure. Rylan is waiting outside with the cops.”
“Bullshit,” Ronnie growled. “If there were cops outside I would know.”
“I warned them not to use sirens and to park in the back,” he tried to bluff.
“You must think I’m stupid.” He gave a dramatic pause. “No, wait. You believe I’m a coward.”
Griff swallowed a curse. There had to be a reason Ronnie was acting so cocky. Which meant that any hope of finding out who might be involved was over.
They needed to get out of there. But how?
He aimed his pistol and took a shot at the top of the cinderblocks. He couldn’t kill Ronnie, but he wanted to freeze him in place.
The sound of the bullet hitting the block echoed loudly through the vast space, splinters of cement filling the air.
“I called you a coward because you are a coward,” Griff called out.
“Do you know how many people I’ve killed?” Ronnie demanded.
Carmen shuddered, but Griff refused to react. It was exactly what Ronnie wanted.
“It’s tacky to boast,” he instead chided.
“Why? If you have a talent you take pride in it.” Ronnie sounded like a petulant child. “Especially such a rare talent.”
“Being a nutcase isn’t a talent,” he deliberately taunted. “It’s a perversion.”
Ronnie laughed. Apparently, he was used to being called crazy. “‘We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’”
Griff frowned. The words were familiar. “Alice in Wonderland?” he at last guessed.
“You know, I’ve spent months anticipating my reunion with you. Brother and sister shouldn’t be parted from each other.”
Carmen glanced toward Griff with a horrified expression. “I’m not your sister.”
Ronnie chuckled, pleased he finally had the reaction he was hoping to get.
“I dreamed night after night about you,” he told her. “I could actually feel my fingers wrapping around your neck while I watched the life draining from your eyes.”
“You’re sick,” she accused.
“But now I see that killing you is going to give me just as much satisfaction, maybe more,” Ronnie said.
Griff could sense Ronnie’s perverted pleasure in taunting Carmen.
“As I said, you’re welcome to try,” Griff growled, desperate to keep the creep’s attention focused on him.
Ronnie didn’t answer. Instead, the shadow began to move again. Damn. Within a few minutes Ronnie would be in position to kill both of them.
Griff briefly considered his options.
They all sucked.
They could wait there and hope that Rylan magically showed up before Ronnie got into position to shoot them. Or they could try to make a desperate run for it. If they could reach the towering racks, there was a faint hope they could reach an exit. At least as long as they didn’t run across any of Ronnie’s partners.