Read Online Sunset Key by Blake Crouch - Free Book Online

enough to keep it there.
    Someone on the second floor yelled his name.
    “Down here!” he shouted back.
    “ You got he r ? ”
    “Sort o f !”
    Letty moved her thumb toward a green icon on the cell phone’s keypad that she assumed would initiate the call.
    As the other men came running, James said, “Who you calling?”
    “Nine-one-one.”
    “Why don’t we talk about that, okay?”
    Letty’s right biceps had begun to cramp from holding the Raging Bull with one hand.
    She could hear the other men in the hallway now.
    James yelled over his shoulder, “Everybody stay back!”
    “What exactly do we have to talk about?” she asked.
    “How dialing that number is going to get you killed.”
    “Way I figure, I’m dead either way.”
    “That’s not true. But if you involve the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, we’re going to have a problem. Why don’t you put that gun down? I’ll do the same. And we’ll talk.”
    “I’m not putting anything down. You people tried to kill me.”
    “What if I were to guarantee your safety?”
    “I’d call bullshit.”
    “You put the gun down. I’ll get you some clothes. And I’ll have you back on Key West within the hour.”
    “You must think I’m really stupid.”
    “No, ma’am.” He shook his head. “This can work out for everyone. Of course, you’d have to do a few things for me.”
    “Like?”
    “Like never mention any of this to anybody. Ever.”
    “What about that famous dead man on the beach? Aren’t some people expecting him tomorrow?”
    “We can damage-control the mess you made of Mr. Fitch.”
    “The mess I made.”
    “It’s you I’m worried about.”
    Over James’s shoulder, Letty spotted a man creeping into view.
    “Your buddy right behind you is about to get you shot, James.”
    “Go sit in the living room!” he yelled. “All of you!”
    “James—”
    “Right now, Scott.”
    She heard them falling back.
    James looked at her. “Better?”
    “For some reason, I don’t think you’d be so interested in talking to me if I didn’t have this big goddamn hand cannon pointed at your chest.”
    “Now that’s just not true. You put it down and see.”
    “I don’t think so. Tell me again how you’re planning to ‘ damage-control ’ your boss.”
    “If all goes well,” James said, “if you and me don’t have a big shootout, you’ll see some breaking news tomorrow morning. It’ll go something like this…convicted CEO of PowerTech found dead on his private beach. He took his own life the night before he was scheduled to report to prison. There will even be a suicide note.”
    “Oh, you can fake his handwriting too?”
    “No, he already wrote it.”
    Letty’s strength was failing. She didn’t want to, but she set the cell phone on the floor at her feet and took a two-handed grip on the revolver.
    “Asking yourself why he might’ve done such a thing?” James asked. “Regardless of what you may think of him, Fitch is a brilliant man. He saw this as a possible outcome of what he had planned for tonight. He didn’t want anyone to take the fall. Not me or the other guys. And not even you, the woman who killed him.”
    “Prince of a man.”
    James patted his lapel pocket. “I’ve got his note right here.”
    “That’s a pretty story,” Letty said. “And you’re a world-class con man.”
    “Call my bluff. Put that gun away and see. I’ve got a lot of work to do before the sun comes up.”
    “I’m thinking if I put this gun down, you’ll do one of two things. Shoot me straightaway and bury me on this island. Or take me out into some deep water. Dispose of me there.”
    “I can certainly understand you thinking the worst. All things considered.”
    “So then, how can you honestly believe I’d ever put this gun down with you still breathing?”
    “Because when you think it through, you’ll see there’s no other way. Maybe I’m lying. You’ve got three rounds left in that Taurus. You’d kill me. No doubt. If