"Shut up."

"Molino wants to hurt you." Darnell was smiling maliciously. "It's all he could talk about when I went to pick up my cargo."

She ignored the bastard, her gaze fastened on the sky.

The helicopter carrying Phillip and Davy was almost out of sight.

Good bye, old friend. Please, get well. Good bye, Davy. Stay safe.

"IT'S THE WRONG BRIDGE," Harley said. "There's nothing like that cliff you described. Gentle hills. It has to be Jefferson Parks Bridge to the north."

"You're absolutely certain?" Renata asked. "If you're wrong, it will be too late to get there and back ahead of Molino. It's going to take me at least forty-five minutes to get from here to Jefferson Parks

Bridge."

"Trust me. That house isn't near here."

She never trusted anyone but herself, dammit.

But this time it seemed she would have to trust Harley.

MOLINO'S BLUE-AND-WHITE HELICOPTER landed in the field fifteen minutes after Phillip and Davy had been airlifted out.

She stood straight, back straight, as the helicopter sat down. Don't let him know how frightened she was feeling. He'd like it too much.

Molino opened the door. "What a delight to see you again. You look a bit paler than last night. The sun isn't kind to you." He smiled. "I won't be kind to you either." He turned to Darnell. "Help her into the helicopter. We have to be off."

Darnell stepped forward, but Megan jerked away from him. "I don't want him touching me." She got into the helicopter. "He's as bad as you are."

"Oh, no, he doesn't compare to me in any category." He watched Darnell as he took a step toward the aircraft. "He's cocky and conceited and he makes mistakes. You would have been dead if he'd done his job properly."

Darnell's face flushed. "It wasn't my fault. I thought you realized that I wasn't—"

"I don't tolerate excuses, Darnell." Molino pulled a gun from his coat. "You always have to pay for your mistakes."

He shot him in the head.

Megan watched in shock as Darnell crumpled to the ground. Molino shut the door. "Take off."

"SHIT!"

Grady watched Darnell's body fall to the ground. He didn't give a damn about Darnell's death, but it demonstrated how violent Molino's mind set was at the moment. He could have hoped that Molino would be in a less volatile state.

Less volatile? The son of a bitch was a sadistic maniac.

His phone rang as he was moving toward his car. Harley.

"It's Jefferson Parks Bridge," Harley said. "I'm flying over the area now. I can see a large cedar, two-story house on a cliff facing the river. I can't get too close because I don't want to be spotted but I think there's a helicopter pad to the west of the house. There's no helicopter on the pad."

"There will be in about forty minutes. Molino just picked up Megan. I'm going to meet with Venable now and we'll be on our way. Get the hell out of there. Where's Renata?"

"About fifteen miles from here." He paused. "There's only one road going up to the house and the cliff is almost a sheer drop. There are a few deep ridges near the top and a few dirt outcroppings, but there's no way anyone could climb it from below. There's lots of trees and brush on the hill, but it's going to be hard as hell to get Venable and his men to that house without being seen unless we wait until dark."

"No way. Do you know how much damage Molino could do to Megan while we're waiting for dark?"

"I know that there's a good chance he might kill her if you attack and he thinks he's going to lose everything."

Grady muttered a curse. He knew Harley was right but he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't move quickly. "Why the hell didn't Renata find him before this? We've run out of options."

"She did her best. It was difficult as hell for her."

"Not as difficult as it's going to be for Megan. Molino just opened the game at the helicopter by shooting Darnell in the head. That should tell you what kind of mood Megan's facing now." The thought of her with Molino scared him to death. He'd known it would be a nightmare and he had been right. "I'll try to give it a little time. I'm not going to blunder up there and get her killed. I'll call you when we're in the area." He hung up.

But how was he going to avoid putting Megan into danger if the house was as hard to access as Harley had said?

It's in your court, Megan had said.

His court, his responsibility, his job. Not much of a responsibility at all. Just keeping Megan alive.

CHAPTER TWENTY

"YOU LOOKED SHOCKED," MOLINO said to Megan as the helicopter took off. "And I thought you'd be happy to see me blow Darnell's head off. After all, he's the one who made a vegetable of Phillip

Blair."

"You're the one who did that. You gave the order." She shrugged. "And I don't care if you killed Darnell. It's just one less scumbag to walk the earth. Speaking of scumbags, where is Sienna?"

"He's waiting eagerly for you at the house. I thought you should have a proper welcoming committee."

"I assumed you were joined at the hip."

"We have a mutually beneficial relationship. However, lately I've not been very happy about his attitude. That's why I was comfortable about throwing Sienna to the lions."

"I'm no lion."

"I know. What a disappointment." He chuckled. "You made me look foolish in Sienna's eyes. It wasn't what I had in mind at all. He was still full of ugly thoughts about my Steven when we left you last night." He waved a hand. "But I forgave him before I left to pick you up today. After all, I did promise to let him have you for the first night and I always keep my word."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Well, I keep it when it suits me." He looked out the window. "We're almost at the house. It's almost time for the game to begin. Are you frightened, Megan?" No.

"You're lying. I can see the pulse beating in your throat. If I touched your hand, I'd bet it would be cold and clammy." He smiled. "But I'll wait to touch you until I have you properly tied and ready. Do you know, I learned a great deal from reading the priest's trial accounts of your ancestor, Ricardo Devanez? The tortures used by the inquisitors were both innovative and very satisfying. I used a few of their methods on Edmund Gillem. I can hardly wait to expand my repertoire. There's a particularly exciting one called 'the chair.'"

"What a ghoul you are." She added. "And your son must have been the stupid schizo Sienna thought him.

I doubt if my mother did anything to him. He was probably carrying a recessive gene from you that caused him to go off his rocker."

The smile faded from his face. "Liar."

It had been a shot in the dark but she had evidently hit the mark. "Yes, that must be it. Is there insanity in your family? It's clear you don't have all your marbles. You had to have an excuse because you felt guilty that you'd destroyed your Steven. He was as nuts as—" Her head snapped back as he backhanded her with all his strength.

Darkness. The interior of the helicopter was spinning around her. "Bitch," he hissed. "Whore."

"You did it." The coppery taste of blood was in her mouth. "Sienna proved I was no Pandora. Neither was my mother. You killed your son."

He hit her again. "I'll kill you, bitch. You foul liar. I'll tear you—" He stopped and took a deep breath. "I won't let you do this to me. I'm not going to make it quick." The helicopter was almost on the ground. "You just made the pleasure more intense for me. I can't wait to turn you over to Sienna."