Stolen(96)

No time to clear the cabin.

He kicked open the door and breached the entry.

Christ.

Cayman lay motionless on the floor, blood pooling around him. Chaucer loomed center stage, pressing a knife to his daughter’s throat.

Spense pointed his pistol at Chaucer. “Let her go.”

“Lower your gun, and I’ll put down the knife. This isn’t what it looks like.” Chaucer’s words were calm, but his face was red. His eyes jerked back and forth between the door and Spense.

Spense sighted his shot. He could take it, but if Chaucer anticipated him, he might cut Laura’s jugular before he went down. There wouldn’t be time to get her off this mountain before she bled out.

“Laura shot Cayman, and then she tried to stab me with a knife. But I got it away from her,” Chaucer said. “Terrible thing. But she doesn’t know what she’s doing. She’s off her medications, so we can’t hold her responsible.”

Man, he was good. If Spense didn’t know better, he might even believe him.

“It’s over, Senator.” Caity’s voice sounded behind him.

Dammit.

She should’ve stayed back. Chaucer could have a gun on him somewhere. Spense’s gaze flicked to Chaucer’s pant leg—but he didn’t see the bulge of an ankle holster. His gaze darted back up to the senator’s face, then back down to Cayman.

A pistol lay just to the side of the dead man.

Caity saw it, too, and before Spense could order her not to, she scooped it up and pointed it at Chaucer’s head.

Laura was eerily still, her face a deathly white.

“You’re okay, Laura. Just hang in there with me. He’s going to let you go, and when he does run straight out the door. You don’t have to say anything. Blink twice if you understand,” Caity spoke directly to Laura, as if they were the only ones who could hear.

Laura blinked twice.

Caity took a step closer to the senator.

“You crazy bitch.” The motherfucker actually laughed.

“Me or Laura? Which crazy bitch are you speaking to?” Caity said, her tone even and calm.

“Drop the knife, and let Laura go,” Spense commanded.

“I told you, she shot Cayman.”

Laura started to blink rapidly.

“Just relax Laura, remember what I told you. When he lets you go, run straight out that door,” Caity said.

“We’ll sort it all out at the district.” Spense addressed Chaucer. “You can call your lawyer, but right now, anything you say may be used against you in a court of law.”

“My daughter’s not in her right mind. I can explain all of this.”

Laura’s pupils were giant pools of black, but she didn’t move a muscle.

“You want to keep talking, sir, or do you want to let Laura go so your lawyers can work their magic?” Caity took another step toward the senator and his hostage.

Chaucer’s lips snarled. The deadly look he sent them was like bullets firing straight out of his eyeballs.

He and Caity shared a glance. They’d faced down evil before. Spense’s heartbeat slowed from a gallop to a trot, and his shoulders relaxed. He trusted her. She trusted him.

Advantage good guys.

“You can’t possibly be stupid enough to shoot me, Caitlin. All I want to do is walk out of here with my daughter. Agent Spenser, tell her to put down her weapon.”

“No can do.” Spense moved in, too.

“I’m not stupid enough, but I just might be crazy enough.” Caity took one more step. “My aim’s a lot better at close range. Just ask my partner.”

“Drop the knife. Let Laura go,” Spense repeated. They were within tackling distance of him now. “Two of us. One of you.”

“Two guns. One knife.” Caity locked her gaze on Chaucer’s forehead. “Do the math.”

Chaucer’s white-knuckle grip on the knife pinked up, his elbow dropped. Caity held out her hand. “Give me the knife.”

Chaucer relaxed his hold on his daughter.

Before Spense could move, Laura ripped the knife from her father’s hand, whirled and buried it in his chest.

As blood bloomed across Chaucer’s shirt, he grunted and stumbled backward.

Laura lowered her arm, and the blade clattered to the floor. While her father coughed and gasped, she stared hollow-eyed at Caity. “The monster had to die.”

Chaucer crumpled to the ground, his eyes open and lifeless.

Caity went to Laura and put an arm around her, then walked her over to the bed. “It was self-defense, Laura. Isn’t that right, Agent Spenser?”

Spense knelt beside Cayman. His skin had grown cold, and there was no pulse. It was too late for him. “Clear a case as I’ve ever seen. Your father had a knife on you. You struggled. That’s all that happened here. Try to remember that.”