Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“Lenny?” Panic rushed through me, but I kept my voice calm.
“Oh, my gosh. You have to help me.” He lifted both hands into the air. “You don’t understand. They’re going to kill me.”
I took a step back. “All right, all right. Come into my office, we’ll lock the door, and then we can call the police.”
“No, we can’t call the police,” he sputtered. His gray hair stood on end, and his coat had been buttoned haphazardly. “We have to go. Just come with me. I’ll explain everything.”
“I’m not going with you.” I took a step back.
Surprisingly, he smoothly pulled a gun from his back waistband and pointed it at me.
The weapon wasn’t nearly as big as Tricia’s had been, but I was sure it could do some damage. “What are you doing?” I hissed, dropping my coat to get a better hold of my handbag. I had a gun in my purse, and if he moved right, I could get to it.
“Drop your bag,” he said, his voice going stone-cold.
Damn it. I gingerly put my purse on my older gray coat since my newer one had been ruined. “Lenny, this is a bad idea. Honestly. So far, you haven’t hurt anybody, and I can help you. We need to call the police.”
“No,” he said. “I just need to think. Come with me.”
“I’m not going with you,” I said.
He steadied his aim and lowered the barrel of the gun toward my leg. “I will shoot you. I know I’m short and pretty fat, but I can still carry you out of here if I have to.”
“You’re not short. You’re about my height,” I protested, my mind scrambling for a way out of this mess.
“Yeah, short,” he said. “Come on.” He gestured with the gun.
“I need my purse,” I said. “It has all sorts of girly things in it.”
He looked over his shoulder and then back at me. “Do you have a gun?”
“A gun?” I widened my eyes. “Of course, not. Why would I have a gun?”
He narrowed his gaze. “All right, you can bring your purse.”
I tried not to let the glee show in my eyes as I lifted it and put it over my shoulder. “Lenny, let’s just go to my office so we can talk. Nobody knows you’re here. No one else is in there. I just locked the door. It’s the safest place for us both.” If I didn’t have to shoot him, I could stall him at least long enough for Aiden to arrive. But I kind of wanted to help the guy. He truly looked panicked. “Let me help you,” I said. “I’m friends with Detective Pierce, who’s working this case. I can get you a deal.”
Lenny shook his head wildly, his eyes freakishly wide. “No, you don’t understand. He will kill me. I know he’ll kill me. I’ve been hiding out and don’t have anywhere to go. Your office is the last place we should be.”
Okay, he was hysterical, and he wasn’t listening to me.
A burble of spit slid from his mouth. “Now, come on. We just need to go somewhere safe. I will shoot you, Miss Albertini.”
It caught me how odd it was that he was being so formal with my name, especially since he’d called me Anna while coming up the stairs. “Considering you have a gun on me, you can call me Anna,” I said, trying to personalize myself a little bit.
“Okay, Anna.” He gestured. “Thelma and Georgiana say you’re a very nice person, and I truly adore your Nana O’Shea.”
My Nana O’Shea would kick him in the balls for this. “She likes you, too. Thus, I strongly suggest you don’t kidnap her granddaughter.”
He shook his head. “I’m not kidnapping you. We’re just going to talk somewhere safe, away from here, where they can’t find me.”
“Why would they look for you here?”
He gestured. “I’m not kidding.”
I could read the truth in his eyes. “Fine.” Keeping my hands free, I walked ahead of him and down the stairs. I didn’t think he’d shoot me, but I wasn’t entirely positive. His hand shook on the gun as I passed, so I took several deep breaths and tried not to make any sudden movements. I walked out the back of the building toward where the cars were parked, wishing Aiden would pull in. But it was still probably fifteen minutes too early.
Snow fell lightly to cover the vehicles, and Lenny nudged me in the arm, coming up beside me. “Over there. The brown truck.” A battered brown truck sat closer to the alley. I stepped over a patch of ice, wincing as my knee protested.
“This is a really bad idea, Lenny,” I said.
“I agree,” came a dark, deeper voice from the shadows.
Lenny and I swiveled as one to see the lead Cupid, standing from where he was crouched behind an SUV to walk around to the front, his arrow nocked and pointed at us. He wore the tight black shirt, showcasing his cut biceps and ripped abs. Lenny yelped and dropped the gun, raising his hands.