Read Online THE MARINE'S LAST DEFENSE by Angi Morgan - Free Book Online Page B

cohort’s face at the animal clinic.
    “What do you want?” she asked Larry and his underling. They’d ignored her since taping her to the chair. She hated not knowing why they’d kept her alive. It honestly surprised her since they’d killed Brenda Ellen in such a horrible way.
    Not much time had passed since the lake. Her clothes were still wet. Each minute seemed like five while she froze in the drafty warehouse. Colder now that he’d taken so much delight in cutting her coat. Remembering the blunt side of the blade against her skin made her shiver more.
    Shafts of light filtered inside from windows high above her head, too high to climb out—if she could get free. It proved the sun was still shining. But the time didn’t make much difference. Not really.
    No one knew where she was, and no one knew she was in danger. Jake hadn’t called his department or asked for backup after he’d found her.
    These men could kill her and leave her body anywhere. Her parents already thought she was dead. Absolutely no one would know. She had to get free and, if nothing else, turn herself over to the police to stop more innocent people from dying.
    Jake Craig was a hero who died trying to save her. He had a family. Brenda Ellen had parents. Those families deserved the truth. Their deaths weren’t going to be in vain. The tears for a man she barely knew threatened to spill, but she couldn’t lose control. She’d cry later.
    The two men were masked and she couldn’t identify them if she did manage to escape. They’d changed cars and she’d bumped around in the trunk for a short drive across downtown.
    Escaping didn’t seem possible. But could she convince them to release her?
    Money!
    “You don’t know where the money is, do you? That’s why you’re keeping me alive.”
    “Shut up. Just shut it. I won’t be tellin’ you again,” the terrifying Larry said, punching a fist in her direction.
    Facing this man was nothing like confronting Griffin in their offices. She’d been scared six months ago but able to fight. Tied and feeling helpless, she was more frightened of these men, who stood twenty feet from her. Still near the second car, they argued. Jake’s murderer kept looking at his watch and then checking his cell phone.
    They’re waiting on instructions.
    She twisted against the duct tape that barely shifted against her wet clothes. And then the handcuffs jingling made her think of Jake’s body floating facedown in that water. She wanted to shriek, shout, use some of the self-defense she’d learned to hurt the man who’d killed Jake. It was an unreasonable desire, but his death seemed unreasonable, too.
    She barely knew the detective, but his needless death had pushed her further than she could handle. Get a grip on yourself and get out of here so their deaths aren’t just a number!
    “You can have the money. All two million of it. You don’t have to turn it over to Griffin. Have you thought of that?”
    Both men stared at her. The younger started to talk, but the other hit the side of his head.
    One phone call would get them their money. She’d left the briefcase with the only person from her family who knew she was alive. It would be easy to meet him—but not to save herself.
    All she needed was to use one code word and her uncle would bring the police to the meeting. She might go to jail, but she was a witness to the murder of a police detective. She could put these men away for life. Jake’s death would mean something.
    “It’s finally time,” Larry said.
    The younger guy dialed the phone he’d been holding. The mean one yanked it away, stormed across the warehouse and stuck it in front of her face.
    “Hello, Sabrina.” That smooth voice was her partner’s—her former partner.
    “You stinking coward. How’s your leg, Griffin? Rotting off, I hope.”
    “I’m afraid I’m better than your policeman,” he said without skipping a beat.
    She swallowed hard to hold off the tears. Two people