“We’re going to clear out your email,” he growled, yanking cruelly at her hair. “You’re going to give me back the original and any copies you made, and then I’m going to let you go. It’s as simple as that. All you have to do is cooperate, and this will all be over with.”

All except for Josiah and his investigation.

Ha ha.

“And if I don’t?” Just as she couldn’t hit him with her magic, she couldn’t throw the damn gravel in his face while he had her pinned on her stomach. The angle was wrong.

“If you don’t, I’m going to hurt you a lot more than I have already. Believe it or not, I don’t want to do this.” He grabbed her wrist and shook it. “Drop what’s in your fucking hand or I’ll tear out your fucking hair.”

She opened her hand and let the rocks drop to the ground.

When she was done, he twisted her arm behind her back, and his weight lifted from the base of her spine.

She had no time to feel relief. The world tilted and agony screamed when he used her twisted arm to haul her upright. Staggering, she fought to get her balance and turn so she could face him, but he kept her arm twisted behind her back and hooked an arm around her neck, bending her backward and keeping her off-balance. Keeping her under control.

“We’re going to walk to my car.” His breath touched her cheek, and she caught a whiff of alcohol and garlic. Apparently he had enjoyed a nice meal before he came out to the house to kick the shit out of her. “Then we’ll drive to wherever you’re staying. You’re going to give me everything, and we’ll wipe your email account and your computer, and I’ll leave. We’ll be done, and we’ll never have to see each other again. You understand?”

“Got it,” she croaked.

He frog-marched her through the backyard to the side street that bordered the property. A grinding red agony flared with every step. He had cracked a few of her ribs. As they went, she tried to look around, squinting through a stinging wetness in one eye.

Half the neighboring houses were dark. It was Saturday night, and many people would have gone out. He was abducting her, and there wasn’t anybody around to witness it.

Austin had tucked his BMW unobtrusively in the shadow of a large maple, around the corner from the house. When she saw the shadowed car, something happened to her blurred vision.

The outline of the car faded. She distinctly saw red plastic gasoline containers and coils of rope in the trunk.

Gasoline and rope.

What a shock. He had no intention of letting her go after destroying all the copies of the bank statement and wiping her email.